The very first airliner manufactured in Japan after World War II was the NAMC YS-11. Powered by two of the famous Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines, it first flew on 30 August 1962. Hiroshima based Toa Airways put the aircraft into service in April 1965.
Typically seating 60 passengers, the YS-11 was designed to replace Douglas DC-3s on short haul routes. In production from 1962 to 1974, 182 aircraft were delivered, including 75 sold abroad to 19 customers in 15 countries.
NAMC YS-11 Video
Following on from last weeks video about the Boeing 747SP, this week we head to Japan for a look at the NAMC YS-11. NAMC stands for Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation, in case you were wondering.
The video above runs for about 24 minutes. There is no narration but it does show you the YS-11 inside and out, with an interesting music soundtrack. You also get parts with no music and you can hear the sound of the Darts. From 13:28 to about 16:00 it switches to YS-11 memories with some cool vintage footage. Skip through it to whatever interests you!
NAMC YS-11 Operations in the United States
Hawaiian Airlines was the first operator in the United States, taking three on lease, one in November 1966 and two the following month. They only kept the for two years before phasing them out in favour of Douglas DC-9 jets.
As reported in the New York Times, the NAMC YS-11 was the only one that could operate in an out of small, mountainous airports on an economical basis. Piedmont flew them from 1968 to 1982, a solid 14 years of accident free service.
Overall Thoughts
Japanese commercial operations ceased on 30 September 2006, though they continued on with airlines such as Asian Spirit in the Philippines and elsewhere after this date. None remain in commercial service, so there are no opportunities to fly on a YS-11 any longer.
Happily, Japan is currently working on a regional jet called the Mitsubishi SpaceJet, which is due to enter service sometime in 2020. In addition to Japan Airlines and ANA, both SkyWest and Trans States have ordered them in the USA. That means you’ll see them in the colours of a mainline airline there too.
Have you ever flown aboard a NAMC YS-11? What was it like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Peter Cook via Flickr.
Hawaiian Airlines by Elliot Epstein on Jetphotos.net
ANA YS-11 cabin by Cassiopeia sweet via Wikimedia Commons.
Flew on a Piedmont YS-11 from DCA to RIC in 1979. This was one of my first flights. The weather was extremely windy. My flight out of DCA was delayed due to weather. I remember waiting in the boarding area, when a passenger from the inbound flight announced “you’ll never make it.” Well, the flight was like a roller coaster ride but, I arrived in Richmond safe and sound and a few hours late.
That’s comforting, having someone come off the inbound telling you that you’ll never make it!! Not very reassuring at all. Great that you had the opportunity to fly on the YS-11 though, even if it was like a roller coaster (which could actually be quite fun!). Thanks for the comment!
Wholly cow. That’s the same city pair we flew for our one and only trip onboard a Piedmont YS-11. The airborne segment was routine, but before take-off wasn’t. Though I was a wee lad at the time – and DCA isn’t a large airport – they taxied the plane away from the active runway, deplaned all of us and searched our baggage. It seemed someone phoned in saying there was a bomb onboard the aircraft. Those were the days where such things happened from time to time. My memory isn’t clear on how they did it, but somehow they got all of us back to the terminal, we re-boarded our sturdy YS-11 and away we went. That was my first ride on Piedmont and continued to fly with them until the line was merged into USAir.
Interesting that you all had to be searched after a crazy called in with a bomb threat. Great story there and nice that you’ve been on the YS-11! Thanks for that!
Another one I didn’t get to fly on but I remember seeing the Piedmont ones at DCA and IAD a few times. Was a really “exotic” aircraft in it’s day, especially in North America. Sharp looking plane.
It definitely had the looks – pretty smart for a turboprop. Would have been interesting to try one, that’s for sure! Thanks for the comment!
I flew a YS-11 on long defunct Trans-Central about 1970 or 71. The only oddity I recall is that you had to lean over the low window to see outside. I was less than 6 feet tall, but I guess that’s tall for the Japanese
I didn’t even know there was a Trans-Central Airlines but there’s a picture of a YS-11 in their colours in 1984 on airliners.net so it sure looks like they had them for a long time. Awesome that you got to fly on board one – and interesting about the windows. I’d say you’re correct there! Thanks for the comment.
Agree on the comment that the plane seats and windows were designed for short, skinny people. I am 6 foot, but was only 160 in 1982 (or so) when I flew YS-11’s between HNL and OGG on Mid-Pacific Airlines. Could barely fit into the seat, but then the fare was all of $9 or so back then.
Wow, another airline I didn’t know existed! I see it was a low cost carrier founded in Hawaii in 1981. Talk about a unique experience there. Sounds like the fare was extremely cheap! I guess that and the fact Aloha and Hawaiian operated jets, caused it to fail. Thanks for the comment! Love hearing about “new” airlines.
My wife and I also flew Mid-Pacific’s YS-11’s in the early 1980’s on a day trip from HNL to Kauai. I remember that the illuminated signs were in Japanese.
That’s interesting, I wonder if that was deliberate or whether it was too much effort to change them? Sure would have been noticed! Thanks for the comment.
I never flew on a YS-11 but I did fly Piedmont frequently (GREATEST airline in the world but that all changed with the US Air merger). At the time, I knew several military pilots. They routinely called Piedmont’s YS-11s “Rice Rockets”.
Hahaha – that’s fantastic!!
As far as greatest airlines, the original PSA in California is a close second. There was their captain-in-a-wheelchair prank. You can read about it right now in a 1989 article from The Los Angeles Times. I found it by searching on Google for “PSA” and “captain” and “wheelchair”. The original PSA changed drastically after also merging with US Air. US Air did a good job in messing up some great airlines.
Yes, they really did! I’ve only heard good things about PSA as well. I’ll look that up, thanks for the tip!
I was one of the Mechanics that had the pleasure of working on the 6 YS-11A’s that Trans Central Airlines acquired from Mid-Pacific Airlines. The years were late 1982-1983. The 6 aircraft went to Fort Worth Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas until the airline went bankrupt. Those aircraft operated from 1983-1985. They were sturdy work horses. The cooling needed improvement for hot humid operations. The Dart 542J and K model engines were alcohol injection to assist for take off. I’m not sure what happened to the aircraft after the bankruptcy of Fort Worth Airlines.
I’ve heard the cooling needed improvement on the Darts for certain conditions, so that is not too surprising. Great you got to work on them, as they were hardly common aircraft, that’s for sure! Interesting on the alcohol injection for take-off, that I wasn’t aware of. Thanks for the comment, must have been fun to work on those planes!