The National Museum of Nature and Science announced Thursday that it will open to public visitation the first of the mass-produced YS-11 model -- the first passenger plane produced in Japan after World War II -- at a leisure facility in Chikusei, Ibaraki Prefecture, as early as autumn.
The museum is currently dismantling the turboprop airliner at a hangar at Haneda Airport. The aircraft will be reassembled at the site after being relocated.
A museum official said: "It is a symbol of Japan's postwar reconstruction and a valuable industrial resource. I want many people to see it." The plane has been designated a Mechanical Engineering Heritage by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.
The YS-11 was developed by a public-private company and made its maiden flight in 1962. A total of 182 aircraft, including prototypes, were manufactured and commercial operations in Japan finished in 2006.
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