Harbin Y-12

History

The Y-12 is a modern high-wing twin-turboprop multi-purpose aircraft designed, developed and manufactured by China Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Corporation. The aircraft first flew on July 14, 1982, and has been in steady production since it entered service in 1985.

The genre serves a variety of operators on multiple continents, with customers ranging from Cambodia and Djibouti to Uganda and Zambia (though its main users remain). China). Its versatile design enables the aircraft to serve at the military, government and civilian levels.

The high-wing configuration provides excellent lift and drag characteristics, giving the Y-12 equally excellent short-field and coarse-field capabilities. The main aircraft is supported by thick struts extending from the underside of the fuselage. The cockpit supports its two crew members in a side-by-side seating arrangement with good visibility over the short nose cone.

The fuselage has a plate-side design to better serve the internal volume, and the tail rises as it tapers back. Rectangular windows run along the sides of the hull. The tail is completed by a truncated vertical tail and low-set horizontal surfaces.

For simplicity and sturdiness, the Y-12's tricycle landing gear is fixed.

The origin of the Y-12 is based on the earlier Y-11, which was also a Harbin-developed aircraft, another high-wing twin-engine aircraft of similar form and function (though only about 50 were produced) . ). The purpose of the new plan was to account for the stronger qualities of the earlier Y-11, so improvements were introduced throughout the design. As the project progressed in the early 1980s, dimensions were increased and entirely new major aircraft components were forged.

A prototype was used to demonstrate the sound of the Y-12 design.

After approval, the Y-12 entered production with 30 early form aircraft designated "Y-12(I)". The aircraft carry a pair of U.S.-Canada Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) PT6A-11 turboprop engines, 500 hp each. Subsequent further improvements, including the introduction of an upgraded PWC PT6A-27 engine, were awarded the "Y-12(II)" designation after service.

In 1985, the series was officially allowed to enter Chinese airspace.

The "Y-12(III)" was powered by indigenous WJ-9 turboprops, and the brand eventually became the Y-12C in service. The 19-seat "Y-12 (IV)" was registered around 1995 and was an improvement with an increased wingspan and improved wingtips.

The Y-12D provides parachute training missions for the Chinese Army, equipped with a four-blade propeller unit. Registered circa 2006, the Y-12E seats 18 and is powered by 2 PWC PT6A-135A engines and four-bladed propellers.

The Y-12F is a heavily modified variant with an all-new main wing aircraft, larger fuselage, more powerful engines (PWC PT6A-65B) and fully retractable wheeled landing gear. This model has improved performance over the previous brand.

The aircraft's first flight was recorded in December 2010, and the model was certified before the end of 2015. The Y-12G is the proposed cargo-oriented variant.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes