Chinese Y-20 Military Transport Plane Carries 'Record Number Of Passengers'

A Chinese-made military transport plane, said to be a low-price competitor to the Boeing C-17, made a test flight with a 'record number of passengers'.

The passengers were all members of an Aviation Industries Corporation of China (AVIC) Y-20 development group, state-owned Global Times reported today without mentioning the number of 'passengers' or for what reason the feat is called a record.

The success of this flight demonstrated the performance, safety and stability of the Y-20 in the first test flight of this kind, which will boost customer confidence in the aircraft, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China's (AVIC) First Aircraft Institute announced on Saturday on its WeChat account.

The AVIC-developed plane looks similar to the Boeing C-17 which many US observers claim that it a copy of Boeing's highly successful C-17 heavy lift cargo plane.  The Y-20 aircraft officially went into full service with the Chinese air force in July 2016.

The Y-20 aircraft measures 44m to 47m in length and 18m-high, and has a wingspan of 50m. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is approximately 220t and the maximum payload carrying capacity is 66t.

The power plant of the Y-20 prototypes integrates four D-30KP-2 turbofan engines, whereas the production aircraft is equipped with WS-20 engines. The aircraft is equipped with a retractable landing gear comprising two main landing gear units and a nose unit. The steerable nose gear includes a standard twin-wheel leg unit. The landing gear allows take-offs and landings on rough airfields or unpaved runways.