Designed by: PILATUS Aircraft Ltd, Stans, Switzerland
Year of manufacture: 1982
Purpose: Basic, aerobatic and instrument schooling (IFR), transport flights
Crew: 1 Pilot, 1 Student
Commenced service: 1982/1983
Number of aircraft procured: 40
Number of aircraft still in service: 28 (as per April 2011)
Registration: A-902 to A-941
The PC-7 is a two-seater "Turbo Trainer" utilized in the training of modern military pilots. As an initial training aircraft, the PC-7 introduces trainees to aerobatic flight and instrument navigation (IFR). Today the PC-7 is counted as one of the most advanced aircraft world-wide within the category of aircraft trainers. Since 1982 these aircraft have been operated by the Swiss Air Force pilot school.
In October 2006, the two first PC-7 aircraft with the converted new cockpit (NCPC-7) were delivered to the air force. On 30 September 2003, armasuisse flew the prototype for the first time. A glass cockpit, GPS, autopilot, a second VHF radio system as well as a new paint scheme are the most prominent alterations. This upgrade provides a significantly extended range of operations. The aircraft can now be deployed in accordance with civilian IFR procedures and used for flight training according to JAR FCL. On 29 February 2008, altogether eighteen NCPC-7 aircraft were officially handed over to the air force in a small ceremony. The simulator built by RUAG Aerospace will be operational in spring of 2008.
Since 2007, flying aptitude (selection) and basic flight training at the air force pilot school have been carried out exclusively with the NCPC-7 in Locarno. IFR training is supported by Instr Fl Sqn 14. In addition, some aircraft of the fleet are flown by the PC-7 Team and deployed for special air policing missions. In 2007, for the first time, examinations for civilian IR revalidation were carried out. In the same year, pilots engaged at the air force pilot school as flight instructors, pilots of Instr Flt Sqn 14 as well as members of the PC-7 TEAM 
were re-trained to fly the NCPC-7. This upgrade provides a further step towards modern pilot training.
In addition to the 28 NCPC-7 aircraft that have been upgraded to the same technical level, there will be no more than five ’old’ PC-7 planes operating for the air force by autumn 2009, which for various reasons will no longer be upgraded. Four aircraft will remain in the air force until the end of 2009 and approximately by the end of the first quarter of 2010 all the ’old’ ones will have left or may be offered for sale by armasuisse and will thus be liquidated as far as the air force is concerned. An aeroplane (A-903) with a broken nose gear (technical problem during landing) was sold to Pilatus, two PC-7 will be delivered to the air force AAA museum at the Air Force Centre in Dubendorf (ZH) and another machine to the Musée de l'Aviation Militaire de Payerne ’Clin d'Ailes’. The remaining five planes are still available for persons interested.
| Max. speed: | 270 kts (500 km/hr) |
| Max. rate of climb: | 2'000 ft/min (11 m/s) |
| Max. flightlevel: | FL 250 (8'200 m/asl) |
| Flight endurance: | 3 hours 30 minutes |
| Range: | 780 NM (1'444 km) |
| Structure: | Cantilever, low-wing, all metal fuselage |
| Length: | 9.8 m |
| Height: | 3.2 m |
| Width span: | 10.4 m |
| Max. take-off mass (MTOM): | 2'100 kg |
| Engine: | Model Pratt & Whitney PT 6A-25A (550 PS) |
| Propeller: | 3-bladed variable pitch propeller |
| Equipment: | Dual flight controls, radio and navigation equipment, retractable gear |
Additional photographs of this type of aircraft are available here:
