P-4
Model of the Pilatus P-4
Role Five-seat cabin monoplane
National origin Switzerland
Manufacturer Pilatus
First flight 1948
Retired 1957
Status Cancelled
Number built 1

The Pilatus P-4 was a Swiss five-seat cabin monoplane designed and built by Pilatus, but had little sales success.

Design and development

The P-4 was not designed specifically as a passenger aircraft but rather as a versatile working aircraft. The aim was to build a robust aircraft with good slow-flying handling, requiring only short takeoff and landing runs and little maintenance.

The P-4 was a high-wing monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage. The aircraft's fuselage was of fabric-covered steel-tube construction, with the wing, which was braced to the fuselage by steel V-struts, was of wooden construction.[1][2] It was powered by a 190 hp (140 kW) Lycoming GO-435 engine (later replaced by a 240 hp (180 kW) GO-435-C2a) driving a two-bladed variable-pitch propeller.[3] Its enclosed cabin could accommodate a pilot a pilot and four passengers, with the provision for carrying two stretchers, photographic equipment or crop spraying equipment. Alternative ski or float undercarriages could be fitted.[2]

The prototype P-4, aircraft registration HB-AET took off for its maiden flight on 22 March 1948.[4] Although the aircraft was exhibited at the 1949 Paris Air Show, it did not enter production owing to a lack of production capacity, Pilatus being busy refurbishing the Swiss Air Force's P-51 Mustang fighters and later, license-building de Havilland Venom jet fighters.[2]

On 13 October 1957, the P-4 crashed in the Susten Pass region while on an exercise with the Swiss Air Rescue Service and was completely written off. Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. had always owned the P-4 until that time.

Specifications (P-4)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1951–52[1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one
  • Capacity: four passengers
  • Length: 8.6 m (28 ft 3 in)
  • Wingspan: 11.85 m (38 ft 11 in)
  • Height: 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
  • Wing area: 20.9 m2 (225 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 910 kg (2,006 lb)
  • Gross weight: 1,500 kg (3,307 lb)
  • Fuel capacity: 230 L (61 US gal; 51 imp gal)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-435 , 140 kW (190 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 245 km/h (152 mph, 132 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 152 km/h (94 mph, 82 kn)
  • Range: 1,000 km (620 mi, 540 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 5,000 m (16,000 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 4.5 m/s (890 ft/min)

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Bridgman 1951, p. 190c.
  2. 1 2 3 Genève 1989, p. 5
  3. ↑ Genève 1989, pp. 5–6
  4. ↑ Genève 1989, p. 7

Sources

  • Bridgman, Leonard (1951). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1951–52. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.
  • Genève, Alain (December 1989). "50 ans d'activités aéronautiques au pied du Mont Pilatus". Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French). No. 241. pp. 5–12.
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
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