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The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a Swiss single-engined STOL utility aircraft built by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland, first flown in 1959 and produced in both piston and turboprop forms over a 63-year production run. Renowned for its ability to operate from short, rough, high-altitude strips, it became a workhorse for bush operators, skydiving clubs, missionary and military users worldwide, and remains of interest to sim pilots for its extreme short-field character. Production ended in December 2022 after 604 aircraft had been delivered.
The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a high-wing, single-engined Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) utility aircraft designed and manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland. Conceived as a rugged all-terrain transport, it has served civil operators, humanitarian and missionary organisations, skydiving clubs and several air forces, including those of Austria, Myanmar and Switzerland. It was also built under licence in the United States by Fairchild Hiller, and later saw manufacturing work shared with facilities in the Czech Republic and China.
The first PC-6 prototype, fitted with a 254 kW (340 shp) piston engine, made its maiden flight on 4 May 1959. A turbine-powered version, the Turbo-Porter, followed in early May 1961, powered by a Turbomeca Astazou II turboprop; this variant offered greater gross capacity and higher top speed than the piston model, along with the benefits of the turbine's automatic handling functions, at the cost of higher purchase price and fuel consumption. Reliability concerns with the Astazou II led some operators, notably Air America, to retrofit their aircraft with the Garrett AiResearch TPE 331 engine. In May 1966 the first PC-6 fitted with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A engine flew, and the PT6A went on to become the dominant powerplant for the type. To manage rising Swiss labour and manufacturing costs, Pilatus distributed production work abroad, with Letov Kbely in the Czech Republic beginning manufacturing activity on the PC-6 in 1993. In 2013 Pilatus formed a joint venture with Beijing Tian Xing Jian Yu Science Co., Ltd. to build the PC-6 (and the newer PC-12) in Chongqing, China, initially performing fuselage subassembly before taking on wings and moving surfaces, with the intention of eventually transferring global production there; the first Chinese-assembled fuselage was completed on 11 December 2014, and by 2014 the majority of that year's deliveries were to Chinese customers. Fairchild Hiller produced roughly 100 PC-6s under licence in the United States, mainly for civil buyers, though a number were procured for military use during the Vietnam War as the AU-23A Peacemaker. Pilatus announced it would close the PC-6 orderbook from summer 2018, with the final aircraft expected to roll off the line in early 2019, though parts production was to continue for at least 20 years; pandemic-related delays pushed the actual last delivery to December 2022, bringing total production to 604 aircraft over 63 years, including about 90 Fairchild-Hiller-built examples and around 425 PT6-powered aircraft.
The PC-6 is a high-wing STOL utility aircraft, the majority of production examples powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop driving a fully reversible, constant-speed Hartzell propeller, either a three-bladed HC-B3TN-3D or an optional four-bladed HC-D4N-3P, through a reduction gearbox. Its undercarriage is designed to provide high wing and propeller clearance, making it more resistant to damage from rough or uneven terrain than aircraft with conventional nosewheel undercarriages. Optional landing gear configurations include floats for water operations and skis for snow, giving the aircraft considerable versatility across terrain types. Early production aircraft were fitted with a full instrument panel. Later production standard, the PC6/B2H4, introduced a larger dorsal fin fillet, revised wingtips, a strengthened airframe structure and an improved undercarriage, alongside a further increase in maximum takeoff weight over earlier B-series models.
The PC-6 was designed from the outset for genuine STOL performance, requiring only a very short takeoff run before rotation, and it is capable of operating from unprepared rough airstrips, remote areas, hot climates and high altitudes in all-weather conditions. The Turbo-Porter's Astazou II engine gave it greater gross capacity and a higher top speed than the original piston-engined Porter, along with automatic engine-handling functions that reduced pilot workload, though at higher fuel consumption. The type holds the record for the highest landing by a fixed-wing aircraft, at 18,865 feet (5,750 m), on the Dhaulagiri glacier in Nepal.
The original Porter was piston-engined, first flying in 1959. The Turbo-Porter, powered initially by the Turbomeca Astazou II, flew in 1961, with some operators later retrofitting the Garrett AiResearch TPE 331 in place of the troublesome Astazou. The first PT6A-powered example flew in May 1966, and the PT6A subsequently became the standard powerplant across most production. Model designations progressed through the PC6/B, first delivered in 1964 with the 410 kW (550 shp) PT6A-6 or -20; the PC6/B2-H2, first flown in 1970 with the PT6A-27 and an increased maximum takeoff weight; and the PC6/B2-H4, the final production standard, with a further maximum takeoff weight increase, a larger dorsal fin fillet, revised wingtips, a strengthened airframe and an improved undercarriage. Fairchild Hiller built roughly 100 examples under licence in the United States, some of which were adapted for military use as the AU-23A Peacemaker, armed with a side-firing 20mm XM-197 Gatling cannon, four wing pylons and a centre fuselage ordnance station.
The PC-6 has served a wide range of civil and military roles, from cargo and passenger transport to skydiving, aerial survey and utility work in mountainous and remote regions. Air America operated Turbo-Porters during the Vietnam War era, retrofitting some with TPE 331 engines. Fairchild Hiller-built AU-23A Peacemakers were used briefly by the US Air Force during the Vietnam War but proved troublesome in service and were withdrawn to storage in the continental United States after only a year. In 1979 a pair of UV-20s were assigned to the aviation detachment of the Berlin Brigade in Germany, valued for their suitability in heavily restricted airspace and configured to carry cargo, up to eleven passengers, or three litters with four medical attendants. Military operators of the type have included the air forces of Austria, Myanmar and Switzerland. In more recent years the PC-6 found a growing market in China, where by April 2016 around 20 were in operation, often used as a cheaper-to-operate replacement for the Antonov An-2.
Flying the PC-6 means engaging with an aircraft built purely around short-field capability: a fully reversible propeller for aggressive braking on landing, a high-wing layout with generous propeller and wing clearance for operating off rough or unprepared strips, and a certified ability to work from floats or skis as well as wheels. Its STOL design, requiring only a very short ground run before rotation, and its record-setting glacier landing at 18,865 feet on Dhaulagiri give a sense of the extreme terrain and altitude environments the type was built to handle, which is central to its appeal for pilots drawn to bush and mountain flying.
