Pilatus has completed the first flight of a PC-21 trainer produced for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), ahead of starting deliveries in the second half of this year.

Photographed on the ground at the airframer’s Stans site in Switzerland on 26 February by Stephan Widmer, the aircraft sports its RCAF service number – 157201 – along with a temporary flight-test registration (HB-HXA).

Acquired for Ottawa via the SkyAlyne-delivered Future Aircrew Training (FaCT) programme, 19 of the turboprop-powered advanced trainers will be operated under the service name CT-157 Siskin II.

Canada will become the 10^th nation to field the PC-21, following Australia, France, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Two of the type are also employed by Qinetiq in the UK as part of its Empire Test Pilots’ School fleet.

Representing a complete renewal of Canada’s military pilot training system, the C$12 billion ($8.7 billion) FaCT contract – placed in 2024 with CAE/KF Aerospace joint venture SkyAlyne – will provide a total of 71 new aircraft.

The first two of 23 Grob Aircraft GT120TP basic trainers arrived in Canada last September, with aviation analytics company Cirium recording a further three examples as now having been accepted.

Seven Beechcraft King Air 260 twin-engined turboprops will deliver multi-engined instruction, while De Havilland Canada will provide three Dash 8-400s to instruct airborne systems and sensor operators.

The FaCT system’s rotary-wing provision will be delivered using a 19-strong fleet of Airbus Helicopters 19 H135s.