Pilatus Porter - my brothers favorite plane

 

My oldest brother who flew missions in SE Asia for Air America and a couple of other "Fly by night" companies had 2 aircraft he favored. He loved to fly the C7A Caribou (My favorite for jumping and dropping "Kicking" cargo) but his #1 favorite was The Pilatus  Porter. I have to admit, I love this aircraft also.

 If you ever get bored and watch the movie "Air America" you can see many scenes with the Porter. It is a single-engined short take off and landing (STOL) utility plane designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the PC-6 was produced at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans, Switzerland. It has been built in both piston engine- and turboprop-powered versions, and was produced under licence for a time by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. After around 600 deliveries in six decades, Pilatus announced the end of production in 2017.

The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) utility aircraft. The majority of aircraft are powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop engine, which drives a fully reversible, constant-speed, three-bladed HC-B3TN-3D (or an alternative four-bladed HC-D4N-3P unit) Hartzell aluminium propeller via a reduction gearbox. Pilatus claims that it possesses unique STOL capabilities, capable of landing in places only otherwise accessible by rotorcraft. It is fully capable of being operated from unprepared rough airstrips, in remote areas, hot climates and at high altitudes in all-weather conditions. In particular, the undercarriage employed provides for high wing and propeller clearance For further landing versatility, various types of landing gear may be optionally installed allowing it to operate from different types of terrain; options include floats for water landings and skis for landing on snow.