Pilatus B-4
The Pilatus PC -11 ( also Pilatus B4 ) is an all-metal glider aircraft manufacturer Pilatus Aircraft.
The development of the B4 began in the 1960s at the company works Rhine Valley G. Basten ( designers: Manfred Küppers, Ingo autumn and Rudolf Reinke ), which also produced two prototypes (first flight V1 D- 7201 on November 7, 1966). The V1 had a solid, the V2 is a retractable main wheel and a larger in proportion to the fin surface rudder surface. The wings were connected separately to a spar in the fuselage. The non- aerobatic -legal Basten B4 was not produced in series.
1972 Pilatus bought the license, modified the design ( the wing spars were now connected directly to each other ) and started mass production under the name PC - 11th The first aircraft of this type made its maiden flight on 5 May 1972, received the registration HB- 1100. But few glider pilots know the official name of PC -11, in general, the aircraft under the name B4 is known. Here, the B stands for the original developer Basten.
The B4 is a standard class glider and was due to their all-round properties ( pleasant flight behavior and both aerobatics as well as for cloud flying permitted ) and is robust in a popular group aircraft. However, their performance has not correspond especially in high-speed flight range to today's needs. For a long time she was able to compete in aerobatic competitions in the advanced classes, today you meet them only in the beginners class.
The original PC -11 was only for the "simple " aerobatics (ie only for positive figures) permitted. With the more advanced PC -11A also inverted flight and rolls were possible, and a little later the PC - 11AF appeared with a reinforced fuselage, which was also approved for cracked characters and thus for the unlimited aerobatics. There was a program that could be retrofitted to the AF version later with the already built B4. For aerobatics are disadvantageous with 240 km / h speed limit quite low and the correspondingly low maneuvering speed and the low in comparison to other aerobatic single-seater roll rate.
Until the sale of production rights to the Japanese firm nippi in June 1978 322 gliders of this type have been delivered worldwide. Nippi built 13 copies. Based on the B4 nippi also developed a two-seater, the 1983 its maiden flight, but never went into series production.