21 Today

The RAAF’s first Pilatus PC-21s are due to touch down in Australia, starting a new era in pilot training

Australia has been central to the development of the Pilatus PC-21, the next-generation turboprop trainer that enters service this year to replace the venerable Pilatus PC-9.

Stans, Switzerland-based Pilatus made the decision to develop what became the PC-21 in 1995 after Beechcraft won the joint US Air For and Navy Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) program with a licence-built development of the PC-9 that would become the T-6 Texan II.