Earlier this month I mentioned a new British TV series about pilots with Susi Air in Indonesia flying Pilatus PC-6 Porter STOL aircraft. There’s been a fair amount of interest expressed by readers, and Murphy even said he wanted to buy one of those planes. (I’ve flown in one in Africa, and it’s pretty darn impressive, I can assure you.)
To satisfy your interest, here’s a longer video clip about PC-6 operations by a Susi Air pilot in Indonesia during a single day’s flying. Note the landing strips carved out of the hillsides – straight up or down! Watch it in full-screen mode for best results.
And for those interested in Pilatus aircraft of all types, here’s a video report of the launch, earlier this month, of the company’s new PC-24 business jet. Examples of all its previous aircraft, from World War II to date, put on an air display before the launch. You’ll find them all listed here; click each plane’s name to go to its Wikipedia page for more information. I again recommend full-screen mode to get the most out of it.
As Flight Global noted about the ceremonies:
Sometimes in the life of a globetrotting Flight International scribbler you can forget what country you are in.
Not so for our colleague who attended the roll-out of Pilatus’s first jet, the PC-24. The firm’s Stans location, in an Alpine valley, is as chocolate-box Swiss as you can get. For the ceremony itself, guests were treated to yodelling and alpenhorns as the aircraft was pulled in by horses, before chairman Oscar Schwenk appeared in traditional costume – complete with edelweiss-decorated traditional shirt.
The only thing missing was a giant cowbell round the nose of the jet.
Peter
Pilatus is a class act, and they build a damn good bird!
Awhile back my nephew had to goto Switzerland to get a piece of printing equipment. After inspecting the machine, he said "the Swiss make the Germans look sloppy".