Pilatus SB-2 Pelican

The Pilatus SB-2 Pelican was a Swiss civil utility aircraft designed by a development bureau at ETH Zurich for the Federal Air Authority and built at the newly formed Pilatus company. It was meant to help define the criteria for possible airfields in narrow Alpine valleys, and was a slow-flying aircraft with good short takeoff and landing and steep climb. It seated five, had a tricycle undercarriage that was unusual at the time and a slightly forward-swept wing, and was powered by a Pratt and Whitney Wasp Junior radial. It first flew on 30 May 1944 and only one was built. It was sold to Alpar of Bern, flipped over at an air display on 13 June 1948 and was removed from the Swiss register in 1949.