PC-21
ICAO PC21A turboprop that behaves enough like a jet to replace one. Live PC-21 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No PC-21 is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Pilatus
- Role
- Advanced turboprop training
- Class
- L1T — Landplane, 1 turboprop engine
- Crew
- 2
- First flight
- 1 July 2002
- In service
- 2008
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the PC-21
The PC-21 is Pilatus taking the logic of the PC-9 further: a turboprop trainer with enough performance and enough cockpit simulation that air forces have used it to remove a whole jet training stage from the pilot pipeline entirely.
Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, France, Spain, Qatar, Jordan and the Royal Air Force through a contracted provider all fly it. France in particular replaced both a turboprop and a jet type with it.
It is a hard aircraft to spot as a trainer, because from a distance the performance and profile are closer to a light fighter than to the primary trainers it sits alongside.
Callsign prefixes
- SUI
- Swiss Air Force
- CTM
- Cotam — French Air and Space Force
- ASY
- Aussie — Royal Australian Air Force
How to recognise it
- —A single turboprop with a five-bladed scimitar propeller, which the PC-9 does not have.
- —A sharply pointed nose and a stepped tandem canopy set well forward.
- —Wingtip fuel tanks on most examples.
Common questions
+ How is the PC-21 different from the PC-9?
More power, a five-bladed propeller, a digital cockpit that can simulate a fast jet's systems, and considerably better performance. It looks similar but is a substantially newer design.
+ Can a turboprop really replace a jet trainer?
Several air forces have concluded it can for most of the syllabus. France and Australia both removed a jet stage after adopting it, sending students from the PC-21 more or less directly to an operational conversion.
+ Who flies the PC-21?
Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, France, Spain, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, plus contracted training for the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.