Fat Girl

摘要

Developing a big airlifter in nine years would not be a bad performance for an experienced manufacturer of jet transports. For Avic, which has begun deliveries of the Y-20 Kunpeng, turning out the 200-metric-ton (440,000 lb.) aircraft in that time looks like quite an achievement. The program has laid a foundation for future large-aircraft programs, say state media, which also report that another, bigger airlifter is planned. Avic was already known to have proposed a smaller airlifter, the Y-30. The four-engine Y-20 was delivered in June and entered service in July with the Saturn D-30KP medium-bypass tur-bofan or a local version called the WS-18. A later version of the aircraft should be powered by the Chinese WS-20 high-bypass turbofan. Deliveries have begun earlier than expected, maybe earlier than the air force expected. In 2013, two military academics who likely had knowledge of the program said the type could not enter service before 2017. The aircraft, in the weight class of the Ilyushin Il-76 but wider and shorter, first flew in January 2013 (AW&ST Feb. 4, 2013, p. 26).