YS-11

The NAMC YS-11 holds a unique position within the aeronautical industry of Japan, being the only genuine airliner the country has produced. As a regional workhorse, the YS-11 played a major part in laying the foundation for the world's busiest domestic market and Toa Domestic Airlines could not have done without it.
In 1956, a year after the ban on building airplanes - existing since the war - was lifted for Japan, a project was announced by the Federation for Research and Design of a Transport Plane, Yusouki Sekkei Kyokai, with the designer of the 'Zero' being one of the members of the federation. Project work started in 1957 and out of two plans for both the fuselage and engines the first option was chosen, both numbers '1' in other words. Knowing this, one can now derive the type designation.

The YS-11 became a short-haul turboprop seating 64, twice as much as the F27 equipped with the same power plants: a pair of Rolls Royce Darts. The Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Company was founded on June 1, 1959 by Mitsubishi, Fuji, Shin-Meiwa, Nihon Aeroplane, Showa Aeroplane and Kawasaki and in 1962 this company started building the YS-11 at Nagoya-Komaki. Out of 182 airframes built no less than 46 flew with Toa Domestic, JAS and its daughter JAC, and those are listed below. The run-down should be self-explanatory but still an example may be helpful: construction number 2157 (JA8776) was operated by Japan Domestic, became part of the TDA fleet on May 15, 1971 as a result of the merger and through the next merger became a JAS aircraft on April 1, 1988. It was this plane that carried out the last JAS YS-11 flight on March 8, 1996. Subsequently it continued its career with JAC until November 25, 2002 and eventually became a museum exhibit. Aircraft listed below and anywhere else in this article were delivered from factory (but not necessarily new), unless otherwise noted.

[1] Ex Japan Domestic Airlines.
[2] Ex Toa Airways.
[3] Into JAS inventory on 1 April 1988.
[4] To Japan Air Commuter.