The first passenger plane to be mass produced in Japan after World War II was transported by trailer through the streets of Tokyo early Saturday on its way to a theme park in a nearby prefecture.
After leaving Haneda Airport around midnight, the trailer carrying the fuselage of the very first YS11 propeller plane to roll off the production line passed through Shinagawa, Ueno and other areas on a five-hour, 120-kilometer journey to Hirosawa City theme park in Ibaraki Prefecture.
The wings and other parts of the plane have already been shipped to the theme park in Chikusei, where mechanics will reassemble the aircraft over the coming months before it goes on display.
"I think putting it back together is more difficult," said Tadao Sakai, 67, who heads a Tokyo company responsible for the rebirth of the plane. "I want many people to see this example of Japan's high technical capabilities."
Before being stored in a hangar at the Tokyo airport by the National Museum of Nature and Science for about two decades, the YS11 was used by the transport ministry as a flight inspection plane.
