Pilatus PC-21

The Pilatus PC-21 is a turboprop-powered advanced trainer with a stepped tandem cockpit, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Pilatus funded its development from November 1998 as a complete training system rather than a single airframe. A key aim was to let future jet pilots do most of their training on the type, with a wide performance envelope, a pressurised cabin, Martin-Baker zero-zero ejection seats and an embedded simulation system. The first prototype flew on 1 July 2002, the second crashed in January 2005, and Swiss type certification was granted in December 2004. It is promoted as the Twenty-first Century Trainer and has provision for external stores in a light counter-insurgency role.