Aircrafttotal Encyclopedia


General information
Type	Trainer
National origin	Switzerland
Manufacturer	Pilatus Aircraft
Primary user	Swiss Air Force
Number built	55
History
First flight	27 April 1945
Retired	1981

The Pilatus P-2 is a trainer aircraft designed by Swiss manufacturer Pilatus in 1942 and first flown on April 27, 1945. It was used by the Swiss Air Force from 1946 until 1981. The Pilatus P-2 emerged from an unbuilt project of the Pilatus P-1, which can be seen as a single-seat version of the P-2.

Design and development
The P-2 is a low-wing monoplane of mixed construction (metal, wood and fabric) with a fully retractable tailwheel undercarriage and dual control tandem seating. To save cost, several parts came from older Swiss Air Force machines, for example landing gear parts from their Messerschmitt Bf 109s. There were two series of production machines, one (P-2-05) unarmed and the second (P-2-06) equipped as weapons trainers, with a machine gun above the engine and wing racks for light bombs and rockets

Variants

P-2-01: First prototype (HB-GAB/A-101/U-101), Argus-powered.

P-2-02: Non-flying static testframe.

P-2-03: Hispano-Suiza HS-12Mb upright V water-cooled engined prototype. Large ventral radiator.

P-2-04

Armed version of P-2-03.

P-2-05: Production version of unarmed machine, Argus motor. 26 delivered to Swiss AF.

P-2-06: Production version of armed machine, Argus motor. 26 delivered to Swiss AF

Development

Operators

Haiti

Haitian Air Force ^{[citation needed]}

Switzerland

Swiss Air Force

Pilatus Aircraft Ltd.

Pilatus P2-06 'G-Bone' is a trainer aircraft

General Info

Crew: 2
Length: 9.07 m (29 ft 9 in)
Wingspan: 11 m (36 ft 1 in)
Height: 2.70 m (8 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 17.0 m² (183 sq ft)

Powerplant

Powerplant: 1 × Argus As 410A-2 V-12 inverted air-cooled piston engine, 280 kW (370 hp) rated at 2,000 m (6,600 ft) ; 347 kW (465 hp) for take-off Propellers: 2-bladed Argus constant-speed propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 340 km/h (210 mph, 180 kn) at 2,500 m (8,200 ft)
Cruise speed: 332 km/h (206 mph, 179 kn) maximum at 3,300 m (10,800 ft)
Economical cruising speed: 306 km/h (190 mph; 165 kn) at 4,500 m
Landing speed: 105 km/h
Never exceed speed: 720 km/h
Range: 865 km (537 mi, 467 nmi) in still air at Economical cruising speed with full fuel
Rate of climb: 6.5 m/s (1,280 ft/min)
Take-off run: 231 m from grass
Landing run: 157 m on grass

Aircraft of comparable role

Pilatus P-1

Special Links Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. Pilatus P-2 is a trainer aircraft

Links to Youtube & Others

After the end of their Swiss Air Force service, the survivors (numbering about 48) were sold into civilian service. In 2008 at least 23 appeared on the national registers of Switzerland, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the United States

Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. Pilatus P2 Trainer

They proved to be a popular civil flyer's airplane and have often appeared in Luftwaffe garb

Youtube Link

The P-2.06 version (matriculations U-102 to U-128 U-132 to U-157) had a machine gun permanently installed in the fuselage - with a firing path through the propeller circle - and two bomb racks for three practice or fragmentation bombs each.

Pilatus Aircraft Ltd.
Pilatus P-2 G-Bone trainer aircraft