Shanghai Y-10
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The Shanghai Y-10 or Yun-10 ( zh, s=运-10, l=Transporter-10) is a four engined narrow-body jet airliner developed in the 1970s by the Shanghai Aircraft Research Institute. The plane used Boeing's 707-320C as reference, designed according to Federal Aviation Regulation (Part 25, 1970 edition). Due to unavailability of the intended WS-8
turbofan A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the add ...
engines the prototype aircraft used
Pratt & Whitney JT3D The Pratt & Whitney JT3D is an early turbofan aircraft engine derived from the Pratt & Whitney J57, Pratt & Whitney JT3C turbojet. It was first run in 1958 and was first flown in 1959 under a B-45 Tornado test aircraft. Over 8,000 JT3Ds were prod ...
-7
turbofan A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the add ...
engines, acquired as spare engines for CAAC's small fleet of
Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...
aircraft. The cabin could be configured to seat 178 in high-density, 149 in economy, or 124 in mixed-class and the large flight deck accommodated five crew members:
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
,
co-pilot In aviation, the first officer (FO), also called co-pilot, is a pilot in addition to the captain, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command of the aircraft. Requirement Hi ...
,
flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is a member of an aircraft's flight crew who is responsible for monitoring and operating its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referr ...
,
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...
, and
radio operator A radio operator (also, formerly, a wireless operator in British and Commonwealth English) is a person who is responsible for the operations of a radio system and the technicalities in broadcasting. The profession of radio operator has become l ...
.


History

Development work, given code name 708, began in Shanghai in August, 1970 for
Civil Aviation Administration of China The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the civil aviation authority of the People's Republic of China, under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and inv ...
(CAAC). The plane was intended to serve as a demonstrator and help the Chinese industry obtain experience in large aircraft design and flight testing. The Y-10 development costs totalled 537.7 million yuan. The Chinese government prided itself on the program, citing a Reuters report which said, "After developing this kind of highly complex technology, one could no longer regard China as a backward country." The project was heavily tainted by politics from the beginning because it was spearheaded by
Wang Hongwen Wang Hongwen (December 1935 – 3 August 1992) was a Chinese labour activist and politician who was the youngest member of the Gang of Four. He rose to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), after organizing the Shanghai Peo ...
, one of the
Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...
. The guiding philosophy during the 1980s the political-economic reforms and opening up which emphasizes importing technology from the west and exporting low-end goods diverted resources from domestic high-tech manufacturing and R&D. The strategic vision of an independently developed large transport plane had long been voiced by
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
and, in 2006, a similar project with updated design goals made its way into the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, periodic strategic socio-economical development plans drawn up by the Chinese government. Three aircraft were built by the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory (now known as Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Company) at Dachang Air Base north of Shanghai. The first prototype (01) was used for static testing, the second prototype (02) was used for flight testing and the third (03) for fatigue testing. The plane first flew on September 26, 1980, making 130 flights with 170 hours of flying time, visiting
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,
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, Urumqi,
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,
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,
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Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...
and
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before its retirement in 1984. The Y-10 is an indigenous Chinese design. In 1970, the factory got a Pakistan Boeing 707 that crashed in Hetian, Xinjiang to study it.运-10研制经纬谈
While the planes were
reverse-engineered Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompl ...
copies of the
Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...
—one report claimed that after Chinese engineers disassembled a 707 to study it, neither the reassembled original nor the copy would fly—both the Y-10's designers and Boeing denied this. While the Y-10 resembles the 707, its dimensions are closer to the Boeing 720 than the 707, and the internal design is very different. By the time the prototype was first flown, debate about its viability surfaced, based on a design that was already 30 years old. CAAC, which already owned a modest Western fleet, would not purchase the plane. China was beginning to embrace trade with the West, and some saw the isolationist design as an inefficient throwback to
Maoism Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...
. China in the early reform era was ruled by rehabilitated cadres previously persecuted in the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
by
Wang Hongwen Wang Hongwen (December 1935 – 3 August 1992) was a Chinese labour activist and politician who was the youngest member of the Gang of Four. He rose to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), after organizing the Shanghai Peo ...
, the project initiator, resulting in the cancellation of the project in 1983, officially due to cost and market concerns. During its maiden flights, no governmental officials attended the ceremonies for fear of the connection to Wang Hongwen and the Gang of Four. By 1985, Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory had been granted production licensing for the
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...
and shifted all efforts towards that program. A model of an AWACS variant has been seen, resembling the Boeing
E-3 Sentry The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing. E-3s are commonly known as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-weath ...
AWACS aircraft. File:Y-10-1.jpg, Cockpit File:Y-10-5.jpg, Overhead File:Y-10-3.jpg, Flight engineer's station File:Y-10-4.jpg, Navigator's station


Specifications (Y-10)


See also


References


Further reading

Taylor, W. R. (Ed.). Jane's All the World's Aircraft, 1980–81. (London: Jane's Publishing Company), pp. 40 ff.


External links


Official Shanghai Y-10 website

Photo of Shanghai Y-10
(airliners.net)
Various published photos of the Shanghai Y-10
{{PRC transport aircraft 1980s Chinese airliners Shanghai aircraft Abandoned civil aircraft projects Quadjets Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1980 1980 in Shanghai Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear