Created by Fairchild Hiller to sell the Turbo Porter aircraft, this
industrial film gives a great overview of the plane and shows it in
various roles including as a military platform. The Pilatus PC-6 Porter
is a single-engined Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) utility aircraft
designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the
PC-6 continues in production at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans,
Switzerland. It has been built in both piston engine and turboprop
powered versions and was produced for a time by Fairchild Hiller in the
United States

The first prototype made its maiden flight on 4 May 1959 powered by a
254 kW (340 shp) piston engine. The first Turbo Porter, powered by a
turboprop, flew in 1961. The Turbo Porter received an engine upgrade in
1963, which increased its power to its present value of 410 kW (550
shp).

The Porter was also manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in
the United States during the early 1970s for operations during the
Vietnam War. It was also used extensively by the CIA for clandestine
operations in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. It received the designation
AU-23A Peacemaker for service with the U.S. Air Force and UV-20
Chiricahua for service with the U.S. Army. The Peacemaker was fitted
with a side-firing 20mm XM-197 Gatling cannon, four wing pylons and a
centre fuselage station for external ordnance, but proved to be
troublesome in service; all aircraft were returned to the U.S. for
storage after one year of operations.

The PC-6 is noted for its Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) performance
on almost any type of terrain - it can take off within a distance of 640
feet (195 m) and land within a distance of 427 feet (130 m) while
carrying a payload of 2,646 lbs (1,200 kg). Thanks to its STOL
performance, the PC-6 holds the world record for highest landing by a
fixed-wing aircraft, at 18,865 feet (5,750 m), on the Dhaulagiri glacier
in Nepal.

Due to these characteristics, they are frequently used to access short
grass mountaintop airstrips in the highlands of Papua Province
(Indonesia) and Papua New Guinea.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest
historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage
collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available
for licensing in 24p HD and 2K. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com

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