Pilatus SB-1


The Pilatus SB-1 was a single-engined twin-propeller utility transport development project of Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG from Switzerland, during World War II,.

Design and development

The SB-1 was intended as a pure experimental aircraft, designed with a mid-wing monoplane with accommodation for pilot and observer side by side in the cockpit and two passengers in a cabim directly behind the cockpit. The fuselage was to have built-up from welded steel tube covered with light-alloy and fabric. The aircraft would have been powered by a single Argus As 10E / Argus As 410 air-cooled V-8 engine, located at the center of gravity, in the fuselage, below the wing centre-section. The engine drove two-bladed propellers, driven by V-belts and idlers, mounted on the wing leading-edges either side of the fuselage, reducing drag and imbuing favorable low-speed flight characteristics due to the air flow of the propellers acting directly on the leading edge of the wing. The SB-1 was designed with a fixed tail-wheel undercarriage and also had a twin-fin tail unit. A study was also made of two engines mounted in the fuselage, each driving a separate propeller. Development of this project was abandoned before metal was cut.

Pilatus "SB" projects

;SB-1: Intended as a pure experimental aircraft, commercial use was not planned.
;SB-2 Pelican: The only SB project to be built and flown.
;SB-5: An enlargement of the SB-2, abandoned before construction began.