Doh! That’s actually an F-5B or F-5F two-seater. The Tiger II ‘E’ variant is a single seater. But you’re right on that Iran never had the T-38.

great! now I only have to find which canadian airline currently uses the planes and sit in one…

To be perfectly honest, you probably don’t want to sit in one if you’re going on a business trip. Now, on an adventure trip to the Klondike, that is another rmatter.

The Y-12 is a military transport and military transports are by nature bare, uncomfortable and loud as hell from the turboprops spinning outside your window. The military make do without amenities.

When in civilian service, they are used more often than not as “bush planes” on routes hard to reach by civilian models. They are meant to be rugged and have low maintenance requirements. This is why they are popular in out of the way places like Kenya, Kiribati, Laos and Nepal.

I thought the canadian version called Panda was only offers… no serious purchase yet.

de Havilland DHC-8 or DASH-8 are more popular here and are used frequently for interior routes.

Named the “Twin Panda” actually with two Pratt and Whitney turboprops (like the “Twin Otter.”) It’s being sold with the Canadian Aerospace Group as the intermediary. CAG, the Canadian firm, buys from Harbin, refits and resells them across the globe. There are more than a few purchases.

CAG reported orders for 35 Y-12s in 2000 for the Canadian and the North/South American market, including three aircraft for California Coastal Airways* and a 15-plane order to Brazil.**

———————————-
GD’s Notes:
*http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1:54507787/California+Coastal+Airways~R~(Brief+Article).html
“California Coastal Airways, a new Regional airline that will begin service in mid-April, has ordered three YS-12-4 Twin Pandas from Canadian Aerospace Group for delivery in mid-1999.”

**http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?prod=414&session=dae.22520942.1156637126.RPDhxsOa9dUAABpbF7k&modele=jdc_1

“The Canadian Aerospace Group International Inc., continued to gain altitude on the announcement of a firm order for 15 Twin turboprop Panda Aircraft and spares. The sale is to a Brazilian transport business consortium in Sao Paulo and comprises 7 float-equipped models and 8 standard utility configuration aeroplanes.
The aircraft will be used domestically to haul passengers and time sensitive freight such as medical supplies, fresh food and other perishables into the huge regions across the Amazon Valley away from the more populated and well-serviced city centers. Current road and river transportation there is very slow and dangerous due to piracy, bad weather, road washouts etc. Further announcements are expected shortly by the Brazilian firm concerning route structures, tariffs, and operational schedules.”

I saw a list price of the Y-12II at $2.5m. This was for a Canadian contract a few years ago. The DHC-6 Otter is not even built anymore so the price of any Otter being bought today is for second hand.

Actually, the other major military 15-20 seater turboprop is the PZL Skytruck from another group of former commies, the Poles.

There is an exact date, March 23, for the first flight of the JF-17 in Pakistan.

The program’s momentum is on a fast track.

http://www.dawn.com/2006/08/11/top9.htm

Pakistan has no offensive designs: President launches submarine

KARACHI, Aug 10: President Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan follows a strategy of defensive deterrence and does not have offensive designs against anyone. He was speaking at the launching ceremony of the indigenously-built Agosta 90-B submarine, now called ‘Hamza’.

. . .

He said in the Pakistan Air Force, JF-17, the latest success which will be flying in the skies of Pakistan on March 23rd, is also the physical manifestation of the indigenisation of the Air Force.