ENAER T-35 Pillan (Volcano)

History

For most of its existence, the Chilean Air Force has relied heavily on foreign-type buildings to store its active flight inventory, which includes a modest fleet of base trainer aircraft. Under pressure from the 1976 U.S. arms embargo, the country asked Piper Aircraft to help design and develop a new trainer.

The first flight of this machine (as a prototype) took place on March 6, 1981. As a result, the ENAER T-35 "Pillan" ("Volcano") arrived in 154 prototypes, most of which were assembled on site in Chile. Production time span from late 1984 to 1991.

Piper built two airworthy prototypes, named "XBT" and "YBT", under the company name "PA-28R-300" (XBT was later lost in a crash in Chile). The original production form became the "T-35A", which entered service with the Chilean Air Force in August 1985. The design is very traditional, with students and teachers sitting side by side under a large side-opening canopy. The engine was mounted on the nose as usual, and a single tail with a low mounting level was mounted on the tail. The wing main aircraft is mounted low on the side of the fuselage and placed directly in front of the center of the boat.

The tricycle landing gear is retractable.

Dimensions include a length of 26 feet, a wingspan of 28.9 feet, and a height of 7.7 feet. Curb weight is 1,835 lbs and MTOW is 2,900 lbs. The air-cooled 6-cylinder Avco Lycoming AEIO-540-K1K5 engine produces 300 hp. Top speed is 195 mph and cruising speed is 165 mph.

It has a range of up to 750 miles, a reported service cap of 19,000 feet, and a climb rate of 1,525 feet per minute.

While the T-35A designation was used to cover the main flight training model, the "T-35B" entered the market as an instrument training platform. The "T-35C" became the main trainer form destined for Spain (finally assembled on site by CASA) for the Spanish Air Force, locally known as the E.26 "Tamiz".

The "T-35D" is a similar model, but shipped to Panama and Paraguay. The "T-35DT" is a 420 hp turboprop engine matched to the original Allison 250-B17D engine. It was originally called "T-35XT".

"T-35S" became a high-performance single-person aerobatics model, and T-35T "Aucan" was an upgraded turboprop model.

"Pillan 2000" is a modernized form of the original T-35.

Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay and Spain have added the full list of operators. All these powers continue to operate the aircraft in varying numbers, with Spain being the largest country as of 2017 (35 examples).

The Chilean Air Force today (2017) relies on about 19 T-35 trainers.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes