Y-20 heavy transport aircraft News & Discussions

[Dungeness]

There seemed to be two stops in the middle. Introduction of WS-20 may reduce that to one though.

Flying to some unfamiliar place with unclear weather and airport conditions made this task kind of risky and the planning and route choice must be conservative.
The crew must keep enough fuel and be prepared to actually use the backup airports that may be far away from the destination on a small Pacific island.
It's not to test max range anyway.

Three stops.

"空中运输编队飞行途中曾3次经停沿途国家机场加油。执行本次空中运输任务的空军某部保障部部长边玉风告诉记者，“这次赴汤加运送救灾物资，航程远，地形、气象、机场环境复杂，但是我们全体机组人员团结奋战，克服困难，坚决完成好此次任务。”

 

[Beast]

For a big plane like Y-20, mid air refuel capabilities is not that critical. We have seen Z-8F helo fitted with internal fuel tank inside the passenger bay.

If Y-20 is required to a cargo of 25 tons and the item is not such oversize stuff. Surely there is space and payload available to fit an additional fuel tank inside the cargo bay to give it another 3000km-4000km of flying range.

 

[Shotgunner51]

Green #781 with four WS-20 (HiRes Pic)

 

[Scorpiooo]

How many Y20 are in service till date any idea

 

[sheik]

Green #781 with four WS-20

View attachment 812373

Best gift for the Chinese New Year!

 

[Shotgunner51]

How many Y20 are in service till date any idea

Chinese wiki said, more than 50
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中国人民解放军空军
And they still pumping up this thing from Factory

Quoting from the same source (seems like is updated recently), quantity by now still low at around 70+.
Well I'd like to see more birds flown on new WS-20 engines.

 

[Daniel808]

Quoting from the same source (seems like is updated recently), quantity by now still low at around 70+.
Well I'd like to see more birds flown on new WS-20 engines.

Happening at this moment They are pumping it

https://twitter.com/x/status/1481511414288236548

Btw, Happy Chinese New Year bro @Shotgunner51

祝大家：新春快乐，虎年吉祥，万事如意，恭喜发财

 

[Shotgunner51]

Happening at this moment They are pumping it

Btw, Happy Chinese New Year bro @Shotgunner51

Thanks! Same to you bro, 新年快乐, 虎年万事大吉!

I hope they manage the pace in order to maximize the use of WS-20, cos only with this engine the jet will achieve original design purposes such as short range takeoff & landing, ability to operate from unpaved runway, rated payload etc. Well those 70+ without WS-20 are still good for strategic airlift, ferrying between proper airfields, just need some waiting for their turn to retrofit.

 

[Beast]

I hope they manage the pace in order to maximize the use of WS-20, cos only with this engine the jet will achieve original design purposes such as short range takeoff & landing, ability to operate from unpaved runway, rated payload etc.

Watch from 0.17s onwards. I don't think Y-20 short take off is affected even in current configuration. The very slow progress of WS-20 maybe a big reason to prove WS-20 requirements is not as urgent as it thought.

 

[Shotgunner51]

Watch from 0.17s onwards. I don't think Y-20 short take off is affected even in current configuration. The very slow progress of WS-20 maybe a big reason to prove WS-20 requirements is not as urgent as it thought.

Given D-30KP-2 or WS-18 is a stop gap move, this takeoff is not bad indeed! Imagine what this bird can achieve when the originally planned WS-20 is ready.

 

[Beast]

Given D-30KP-2 or WS-18 is a stop gap move, this takeoff is not bad indeed! Imagine what this bird can achieve when the originally planned WS-20 is ready.

I dont expect a big improvement for take off but WS-20 will definitely helps in cargo payload and range improvement.

Btw, this is a take off timing of a IL-76 TD, of cos, we do not know whether there is any payload inside but seems very long required.

Watch from 4:10m onwards.

 

[ahtan_china]

 

[NW-Blue]

Green #781 with four WS-20 (HiRes Pic)

View attachment 812373

It's interesting that no one commented on the significance of this photo is the new WS-20 high-pass turbofan engines on this plane. This is a very significant achievement in the continued development of the Y20 production! What this means is that China finally got the new high-pass turbofan engine development mastered, and this will boost power, fuel use efficiency, and enhanced endurance for the Y20 product line - the new planes with this engine will be able to carry heavier loads, fly further and use less fuel, as well as longer engine life.

I actually saw a friend who has connections to the AVIC post the first flight of this plane with all 4 new high-pass turbofan engines installed a few month ago in my WeChat friends circle, right after the first wave of the Covid pandemic in China got under control and people started returning back to work, sometime in the early summer of last year. He posted a fuzzy photo with this plane on the runway, but I was able to tell that it was the new engines on the plane, and I asked him "are all these the new high-pass engines?", and he replied, "满血复活!" (full blood resurrection!) - meaning that a totally new life started now.

So congrats to China's aviation industry! - after decades of R&D, now they finally got the indigenes WS-20 high-pass turbofan engine manufacturing under the belt. We are going to see a fleet of this "chubby girl" in the years to come, including variations in AWACS, tankers, and other special purpose heavy carriers. Entirely likely that one of these types find its way to the PAAF in the future.

https://www.britannica.com/technology/high-bypass-turbofan​

 

[GiantPanda]

It's interesting that no one commented on the significance of this photo is the new WS-20 high-pass turbofan engines on this plane. This is a very significant achievement in the continued development of the Y20 production! What this means is that China finally got the new high-pass turbofan engine development mastered, and this will boost power, fuel use efficiency, and enhanced endurance for the Y20 product line - the new planes with this engine will be able to carry heavier loads, fly further and use less fuel, as well as longer engine life.

I actually saw a friend who has connections to the AVIC post the first flight of this plane with all 4 new high-pass turbofan engines installed a few month ago in my WeChat friends circle, right after the first wave of the Covid pandemic in China got under control and people started returning back to work, sometime in the early summer of last year. He posted a fuzzy photo with this plane on the runway, but I was able to tell that it was the new engines on the plane, and I asked him "are all these the new high-pass engines?", and he replied, "满血复活!" (full blood resurrection!) - meaning that a totally new life started now.

So congrats to China's aviation industry! - after decades of R&D, now they finally got the indigenes WS-20 high-pass turbofan engine manufacturing under the belt. We are going to see a fleet of this "chubby girl" in the years to come, including variations in AWACS, tankers, and other special purpose heavy carriers. Entirely likely that one of these types find its way to the PAAF in the future.

https://www.britannica.com/technology/high-bypass-turbofan​

Kudos to the those who got the WS-20 onto the Y-20.

But this is the tip of the iceberg. Wait till the CJ1000 comes online for the C919. The high bypass engines for transports and commercial aircraft will create a sea-change in China's aviation industry.

 

[Shotgunner51]

significance of this photo is the new WS-20 high-pass turbofan engines on this plane

Indeed this is perhaps a game-changer-level event! It's far more than about boosting Y-20 performance, it's about changing our aviation industry military & commercial.

Look forward to Chinese civilian jets powered by WS-20 variant or other high-pass turbofan, and these civilian airframes can be repurposed for military use like tankers, AWAC, ASW, ELINT, etc.