THE JAPAN NEWS
 
The transport ministry is inviting bids for a Japanese-developed YS-11 turboprop airplane that was formerly used in civil aviation.
 
After the plane was decommissioned, the ministry used it to check the radio waves that guide arriving airplanes to runways at airports across the country.
 
As flying the YS-11 would likely take time and money, the ministry hopes a buyer will come forward with plans such as displaying the aircraft, officials said.
 
The first mass-produced model of the YS-11 has been designated as an item of Mechanical Engineering Heritage by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.
 
Some YS-11 aircraft are still in use by the Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Air SDF, but none is in service in civil aviation.
 
The model on sale, manufactured in 1968, has a decrepit body. The aircraft is believed to have decayed after being kept in storage for a long time at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda.