Pilatus PC-7

The Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer is a low-wing, tandem-seat basic training aircraft designed and built by Pilatus Aircraft in Switzerland. It grew out of the piston-powered Pilatus P-3, mainly by taking a turboprop engine, a bubble canopy and a new one-piece wing. A converted prototype first flew on 12 April 1966, the programme was shelved after an accident, and it was revived in 1973 after the oil crisis. The first production aircraft flew in August 1978 and civil certification followed in December of that year. More than twenty air forces have used the PC-7 for initial training, it can fly aerobatic, instrument, tactical and night sorties, and some have flown armed. It was later succeeded in the Pilatus range by the PC-9 and PC-21.