The Flickr Toadomesticairlines Image Generatr

at Tokyo-Haneda Int'l in November 1982

On the old cargo ramp at Memphis International is DHL DC9 N955AX, operated by ABX Air. The McDonnell Douglas product was originally delivered to Toa Domestic Airlines (Japan) as JA8436 in 1975. It has since been scrapped.

NAMC YS-11 series A-500 originally delivered to Japan Domestic Airlines in 1971.

There are now less than fifty of the type still in existence
worldwide during 2023.

Her last service was to be during 2002 and is now preserved at the Misawa Air & Science Museum, Aomori in Northern Japan.

JA8675 NAMC YS-11-124 TDA Toa Domestic Airlines

transferred to Japan Air System in 1988. Exported to the Philippines in 1996.

(scan from my collection - not my shot)

JA8809 NAMC YS-11-A-202 Toa Domestic Airlines

ex Cruzeiro do Sul. Later to Japan Air Systems and Japan Air Commuter. wfu 2003 - now at display at Aomori

(scan from my collection - not my shot)

Everts Air storage ramp at Fairbanks in 2018.

Douglas DC-9 series 41 originally delivered to TOA Domestic Airlines of Japan during 1974.

Around seventy series 41s were built from the total of over two thousand (all series) produced from the sixties to the late nineties.

Everts Air storage ramp at Fairbanks in 2018.

Douglas DC-9 series 41 originally delivered to TOA Domestic Airlines of Japan during 1974.

Around seventy series 41s were built from the total of over two thousand (all series) produced from the sixties to the late nineties.

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-Image from the SDASM Curatorial Collection.Note: This material may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.)--Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum

Toa Domestic Airlines (TDA) route map from a 1 December 1982 timetable.

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-41 N953AX, operated by DHL, on the ramp at Memphis International Airport in September 2006. The jet first flew for TDA - Toa Domestic Airlines (later becoming Japan Air System (JAS) ) as JA8427 in June 1974. This airframe was eventually scrapped.

A DHL DC-9 at Memphis International Airport.

In the late 1950s, Japan's airlines were back in operation as the nation rebuilt from World War II, but these airlines were flying Douglas DC-3s on domestic routes. While the DC-3 was reliable, it was limited in how many passengers it could carry, range, and was approaching obsolescence. Moreover, Japan wanted to restart its aviation industry. As a result, the Japanese government issued a requirement for a turboprop replacement for the DC-3 that would be manufactured in Japan. Nearly every Japanese aviation company responded, so the Nihon Aeroplane Manufacturing Company (NAMC) was set up as a consortium in 1959. One of the lead designers was Jiro Horikoshi, who had designed the wartime Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

The YS-11 was a straightforward medium airliner, similar in layout to the Convair 580 or Hawker-Siddeley HS.748, with two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops for powerplant. Flight testing went smoothly, and the first YS-11 flew in August 1962. Though it might have been something of a niche airliner--as it faced considerable competition with other turboprop medium airliners, like the HS.748, the Vickers Viscount, or the Fokker F.27 Friendship--the YS-11 sold comparatively well, with a total of 182 aircraft produced. Nearly half the production went to foreign operators, and later versions of the YS-11 series were actually built to American specifications, originally for Piedmont Airlines. Despite this, NAMC still posted losses on the design, which led to the end of production in 1974 and NAMC's dissolution soon thereafter.

If the YS-11 was not particularly widespread, it did return the Japanese aviation industry to at least some of its previous prominence, and quite a few YS-11s remained in service for the next 30 years. It was also used extensively by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, which used it as a transport, navigation trainer, testbed, electronic warfare, and electronic intelligence (Elint) aircraft. Most of the JASDF YS-11s were reengined with General Electric T64 turboprops rather than the Dart.

Other than a handful of YS-11s that still serve with the JASDF, the YS-11 was largely gone from the sky by 2010, as technology had surpassed it. Five are known to be preserved in museums.

This aircraft is the only preserved YS-11 in North America, somewhat surprisingly on display at the Grissom AFB Museum in Indiana. I had originally thought this was a former Frontier Airlines Convair 580 when I spotted it on Google Earth, so I was surprised to see it was a YS-11 when I actually visited the museum in May 2017.

This YS-11 was aircraft number 2035, the 35th aircraft off the production line, and originally built for Toa Domestic Airlines as JA8676. Concluding its career with Toa and Toa's replacement, Japan Air System (JAS), it became P4-KFD and flew charter flights from Aruba in the Caribbean. How it got to Indiana is unknown, but as mentioned before, it is the only YS-11 in the United States, and one of only three outside Japan.

Though it is missing its Dart engines, it looks to be otherwise in good shape. It is not displayed in the museum's airpark, but rather on the north side of the museum's entrance.

SUPER RARE SHOT of a YS-11 in Hong Kong, its not JAS but has their basic scheme. The airline is Air Star Zanzibar on delivery.