China already had 17 before YY-20 entered service. The are way past that point.
China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft
- Thread starter Totoro
- Start date
PLA only had 17 tankers if one includes HY-6 tankers, which I think are not reasonable to be considered equal with YY-20 or Il-78s.
Indeed. Yankee mentioned that docking with HY-6 could be difficult, especially for older generation aircraft with poor slow speed performance like the J-8II. After introducing HY-6 for a year the refueling nozzle still looked brand new, indicating a lack of training due to pilot hesitance.
Even leaving flight performance aside, the limited fuel offload really means they don't deserve to be considered in the same category as YY-20 or Il-78 imo, going back to the "17 tankers before YY-20A" thing
4 Y-20B together ... at XAC???
Not entirely sure if they are all production aircraft or - since the one right has high visibility markings - if they are still prototypes. At least they are all grey now and one carries IFR-pods.
Not entirely sure if they are all production aircraft or - since the one right has high visibility markings - if they are still prototypes. At least they are all grey now and one carries IFR-pods.
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lcloo
Captain
From the shape of the hangar doors, these Y20B looked like they are parked at the Assembly halls area, indicating possibly they are newly manufactured aircraft. If they are prototypes, most likely we will find them in CFTE area at the other end of the runway.
Old photo of the hangar/assembly hall.
this is another indication of WS-20 engine entered in serial production..
Guess the AECC poster really was a hint /s
I think I spot 5 actually. I can see three tails on the right side.
But since we can't see its engines it might be an A model, but I doubt it.
Another surprise ... so far all YY-20A tanker had 20851 to 20947 assigned to the 13th Transport Division, 38th Air Regiment based at Wuhan-Paozhuwan, but now allegedly number 20544 was seen!
So are they being renumbered or indeed a new batch of numbers?
(Image by SEN BAI from Jetphotos)
So are they being renumbered or indeed a new batch of numbers?
(Image by SEN BAI from Jetphotos)