Posted on 06/20/2016 10:43:19 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
China has taken delivery of the first two Xian Y-20 strategic airlifters, according to photos published on social media. They show the aircraft in full People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) markings at an undisclosed airbase.
However, the serial numbers on the aircraft (11051 and 11052) indicate that they are assigned to the PLAAF’s 4th Transport Division, 12th Air Regiment based at Qionglai in Sichuan Province. The division comprises of three regiments based in the PLA’s Western Theatre Command, operating the Shaanxi Y-7, Y-8 and Y-9 transports.
The Y-20 is a high-wing, T-tail four-engine design capable of strategic airlift. It was first flown in 2013 and made its public debut at the Zhuhai airshow the following year. Designed for short takeoff and landing (STOL) operations, the type is fitted with a modern glass cockpit and features significant use of composites to reduce weight and 3-D printed parts to reduce manufacturing costs.
Its maximum payload is reported to be 66 tons, although this is possible only when higher-performance, high-bypass WS-20 turbofan engines currently being developed by the Shenyna-Liming company in China become available. Reportedly based on the WS-10 currently powering China’s J-11B Flanker combat jets, the WS-20 was first flown on an Il-76 engine test-bed at the China Flight Test Establishment at Xian-Yanliang in 2014. Until it is available, the Y-20 will be powered by the Russian Soloviev D-30KP turbofan used on the Il-76.
The Y-20’s entry into service will fill a significant gap in the PLAAF’s airlift capability. It is also that the Y-20 could also be developed into an aerial refueling tanker in the future, with China’s Xian H-6 (Tupolev Tu-16) tanker being limited by fuel capacity and obsolescence issues. The PLAAF currently operates slightly more than a dozen Ilyushin Il-76 airlifters and three Il-78 Midas tankers, but its attempts to acquire more have been hamstrung by troubles finding suitable airframes for refurbishment.
Those are not high by-pass turbo fans. Looks like they belong on a 707.
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Let’s give them a break. There is only so much they can steal at one time.
But the wings are mounted high on the fuselage, forming a hump on the top. High T tail. No winglets. Much smaller landing gear. Looks a whole lot more like an IL-76 than a C-18.
Everyone’s picking up on those less than hi bypass turbofan engines.
Would the ChiComs rather point proudly to 707 style engines made right there in the Middle Kingdom, rather than purchase foreign made turbofans?
IIRC, Mao Tse-tung’s proudest moment was his ride in a Red Flag automobile, the first car produced entirely in China. I think they managed to produce six and one half of them.
Reminds me of the old Johnny Cash song about the guy who worked at the auto plant and assembled a car with stolen parts over a number of years.
C-130 nose.
C-141 tail.
C-137 engines.
C-what-in-the-world main wing assembly.
Hey, when the chingchangs build something using stolen blueprints, things can get mixed up from not knowing which goes with what.
I was startled by the announcement that maximum load is 66 tons, but that’s with an engine they not only don’t have, but which is merely in development. They never did say what it can haul using currently available engines.
Of course it’s a copy.
I think it’s going to be easier to just figure out a way to get America off this planet and onto another one.
The Chinese, the Musloids... It’s all just moving mankind backward. All these rejects can do is copy stuff. half of the earth’s landmass is occupied by garbage.
All knock-offs sold at Harbor Freight with lifetime warranty.
Since the C-18A would be a Boeing 707 and the Y1C-18 was a Boeing Monomail which the government decided to not buy.
They can't make one that generates reasonable thrust and lasts for more than 12-20 hours.
Even with the precise engineering documents they have stolen.
Hush this!
I’m sure they know. The Chinese are not stupid people.
The Russkies had the same problem. Unable to make precision bearings that would endure extreme duty. In the book, “MIG PILOT”, subtitled, “The Final Escape of Lt. Belenko,” after he had defected to the west via Japan, as he was being debriefed by our people, we were amazed to learn of the MIG-25’s speed limitations, having tracked one at some ridiculous speed, above Mach-1? I forget.
Anyhow, Belenko stated that the flight we tracked had been staged as a snow job for our people. He said that after that extended burst of speed, the engines were shot and had to be replaced. He said that Russia couldn’t make good bearings.
That was a very revealing book.
It looks like a C-17 had sex with an IL-76.
That’s the “C-what-in-the-world” you were thinking about.
The aircraft set over 20 altitude and speed records...and STILL holds 7, inclusive of altitude achieved under it's own power at 123,000ft.
When operated below Mach 2.5 the engines held up to normal timeframes.
However, the aircraft was made from nickel steel alloy, weighed 64,000 pounds and could be seen from several hundred miles away with the most primitive radars.
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