Last week we were surprised with the release of World Update 20: Japan and the launch of the new iniBuilds developed classic turboprop airliner the NAMC YS-11. I’ve been putting the aircraft through its paces and I wanted to share a particularly fun flight I did in it.

Classic airliner experience (mostly)

I’ve done nearly a half dozen different hops around the world with the YS-11 but most of them have been in Japan and up until this flight I was using one of several available GPS add-ons to navigate and complete the flight. I was growing with confidence in the type, especially after learning about a few of the quirks of the start-up procedure and I decided that my next flight would be flown with less aids in place.

To be clear upfront, I did occasionally make use of the MSFS EFB to get navigational information (and usually it was the frequency of the beacon) but primarily I wanted to make sure I was working with the available VOR stations. I’m not entirely following procedure but aiming to have a little fun and fly a semi-realistic route.

Start-up and takeoff

This would be my fifth flight in the YS-11 and I’m starting to come to grips with it. The first couple of times were fun but I was having system failures during my flight and it took me a while to realize that I was missing a step in the start-up and not engaging the alternators correctly – eventually various systems would fail and that would be the end of the flight. Turns out, you need to drag them a bit awkwardly all the way up until they hit the start position before they snap back into run. Once done correctly, the connection is made and the systems work correctly.

The YS-11 straddles the line a bit between a more detailed simulation of an airliner and a more simplistic one that is typical of Local Legend releases. YS-11 isn’t quite at the same level as the Expert Series ATR but its maybe a notch or two behind it – albeit in an older, less digital, more classic aircraft.

Today’s flight would have me start off at Kitakyushu Airport (RJFR). This airport has been given the handcrafted treatment thanks to Gaya and World Update 20. Its the biggest of the airports on offer in this new world update and is, like many Japanese airports, built on an artificial island. The scenery is great and the bridge that connects the airport to Kitakyushu-proper looked fantastic in the early light.

For this flight I would be making use of the iniBuilds offered liveries (available from the iniManager software) for the aircraft in the JAS (Japan Air Systems) livery. This was Japan’s third largest airline company in the late 1980s through to the early 2000s and the company flew YS-11’s on a variety of domestic routes. I’m not sure if it serviced this route specifically but for my purposes it was close enough!

After boarding was completed (the YS-11 supports MSFS 2024’s passenger system so you can place passengers in seats), and starting up, it was a taxi out to Runway 18 and departure.

Morning sun cruise

After takeoff, there were the usual steps of reducing the throttle, retracting the flaps and gear, turning off the landing lights, and getting navigation sorted. A turn to the right and tuning on our first VOR helped settle things in. The VOR was located to the south west at Saga International Airport and as the aircraft approached its 14,000 foot assigned cruise altitude I levelled out and watched the numbers tick down.

After passing over Saga and the VOR, I proceeded to continue on the same course and then tuned my next VOR which would give me the vector to Nagasaki. In this phase of the flight I was keeping roughly on the assigned IFR flight path and using landmarks plus the angle of the VOR signal to give me a sense of when and where I’d need to be to square off the turn. Once the VOR reached the 90 degree mark relative to my flight path, it was time to make the turn in for final.

Approach and shut down

With the turn point marked, I made the turn towards Nagasaki overshooting the mark just a little bit but managing to get things settled for the approach.

Now here is another part where I’m still trying to get a good sense of the YS-11. Full flaps causes and awful lot of drag and you can stall out easily on a final approach if you get the on speed wrong. I’ve been aiming for partial flaps instead and letting the aircraft roll out a bit longer and this time I made a smooth touchdown. One of my better landings in general and certainly my best in the YS-11 so far!

After that, a simple matter of taxiing and parking the aircraft in the ATC assigned spot.

The aircraft has functional passenger door and folding airstairs. It also has a fuel truck and a baggage cart – not the modern kind, mind you, as it looks like they just toss the baggage down from the plane into the cart. No fancy powered ramps here!

Review coming

I’m still work on a review but I am generally pleased with the YS-11. It has a couple of bugs that aren’t showstoppers but are annoying and I hope that iniBuilds works a little more diligently to solve than we’ve seen of late (the Skyvan, as some of you have pointed out to me recently, is still broken in MSFS 2024). Still, for a relatively inexpensive Local Legend product, I have to say that the YS-11 is offering a pretty good experience and in a category (the turboprop airliner) that I’ve been desperate for some more options in.

Look for the review coming soon!