Zhang Xueliang and Feng Yong were the first to own a private jet in China?

Starting from Zhang Xueliang and Feng Yong, Liaoning people have become attached to the blue sky

According to a news report on April 13, the first general aviation airport in Northeast China has been built in Faku. This summer, the first aircraft 4S store in Northeast China will also open in Shenyang. Some enterprises and institutions also plan to open aircraft driving schools in Shenyang. It can be expected that in the near future, Liaoning will have a group of flight enthusiasts flying private jets to fly in the blue sky. It is worth mentioning that private aviation in the Liaoning area has always been leading the country.

As early as the 1920s, the sons of Fengtian warlords, such as Zhang Xueliang and Feng Yong, owned private jets and flew them in the clouds. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, with its strong industrial foundation, Liaoning’s flight sports also led the country. There have been many outstanding pilots and astronauts in Liaoning’s history, which are inseparable from this tradition.

Recently, when the reporter interviewed Liu Yi, chairman of the Liaoning Provincial Aviation Sports Association, Mr. Liu sighed, ” Private flight is of great significance to the development of a country’s aviation. The development of private flight in Liaoning to this day is the precipitation of history, and it is inseparable from generations of aviation enthusiasts. efforts .”

Boys’ fun in the air

Historically, China’s private aviation development has not lagged behind the world. In 1903, the Wright Brothers invented the world’s first airplane. Seven years later, Feng Ru, an overseas Chinese in the United States, piloted a plane developed by himself and performed an air show in Oakland.

As in any other field of mechanical hobby, the participants in the early human movement of flight were enthusiasts. For example, Feng Ru, himself a mechanic, is proficient in 36 mechanical principles, and has also designed water pumps and pile drivers. Enthusiasts design and develop their own planes, fly them into the air themselves, and experience the joy of flying with many dangers. After entering the 1920s, as the performance of aircraft became more and more stable and entered into industrial production, private jets began to enter the lives of some rich people.

Looking back on history, Liu Yi told reporters that the earliest flight enthusiasts in Liaoning were Zhang Xueliang and Feng Yong. In the 1920s, these two Fengtian sons were among the first in the country to own private jets. Both were soldiers and had experience studying abroad, so they dared to try new things.

When Zhang Xueliang was studying in Japan, he was deeply impressed by the Japanese Air Force. In 1920, during the Zhiwan War, the Northeast was equipped with its own air force using several aircraft captured from Duan Qirui. In order to strengthen the air force of Fengjun, the Northeast Army established the Aviation Department. Zhang Xueliang personally led the construction of the air force, and sent Gao Zhihang and others to study in France.

Zhang Xueliang himself was also very happy to fly the plane. At that time, Zhang Xueliang owned the most advanced Boeing 247 aircraft and often flew it himself. After the Northeast changed its flag, Zhang Xueliang often drove himself to Nanjing for meetings. It is said that in order to facilitate the work of the crew, Zhang Xueliang specially equipped them with two luxury Fords. There is a saying that on the eve of the Xi’an Incident, Zhang Xueliang had secret talks with Zhou Enlai many times, and they all flew to Yan’an in secret.

In recent years, some good people have dug up the news that Mussolini’s daughter Ada is the wife of the Italian envoy to China, the Count of Ciano. Go to concerts, play golf, play tennis. In order to resolve Ada’s loneliness in a foreign land, Zhang Xueliang also personally took Ada to the sky to overlook Peiping City, which made Ada fascinated by the handsome young marshal. However, because the sky in Peiping was under military control at that time, Zhang Xueliang’s move caused an uproar in public opinion.

Feng Linge’s son, Feng Yong, commander of the Northeast Air Force Major General, is also a flight enthusiast. After the founding of Feng Yong University, Feng Yong built a small airport in the university and successively purchased three private jets, two of which were named “Liaohe” and “Red Horse”.

Feng Yong lives in the school with the students. After getting up every day, he is used to riding around the playground for a few laps, and then flying a plane for a while. In order to stimulate the enthusiasm of the students for their morning exercises, Feng Yong also threw down some notes similar to vouchers during the flight. After the students picked it up, they could go to the school store to exchange tooth powder, fish skin beans and other items.

the flier living in the cracks

After the “September 18th Incident” broke out, the Japanese invaders occupied the Dongta Airport without firing a shot and took away more than 200 aircraft of the Northeast Army. The sky in the northeast was occupied by the Japanese fighter planes, and the fun of the young masters was no longer staged. Since then, the situation in the Northeast has been turbulent, and there is no room for a calm private jet in the smoke-filled sky.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the airspace was put under military control. There were only military aircraft and a few civil aviation aircraft in the sky, and there was no opportunity for private flying. In 1950, Liu Yi entered the Liaoning Provincial Experimental Middle School to study.

At that time, the school had many children of cadres from the Northeast Bureau, and the extracurricular life was very rich. Nowadays, it is still a model aircraft sport played by a small number of people in major primary and secondary schools. Liu Yi came into contact with it when he was in the third grade of primary school. He joined the school’s aviation module and started early learning of flight principles.

“At that time, our family lived near the cigarette factory, and it took about an hour to walk from the provincial experiment to school. Every time I was halfway after school, I deliberately detoured to the road of the air control unit 023, just to look at the plane in the courtyard for the purpose of leaning against the wall .” Liu Wing Memories.

After graduating from the Liaoning Provincial Experimental Middle School, Liu Yi was admitted to the Mechanical Department of Shenyang Construction Machinery School. After four years of study, when he graduated, in order to realize his dream of flying, Liu Yi tried every means to go to the glider factory.

In 1959, after layers of selection, Liu Yi was selected to study flight skills at the Aviation Sports School and became a real pilot. However, at that time, although civilian enthusiasts had no chance to contact aircraft, they could go to the military sports school to practice unpowered gliders. Liu Yi’s early flight training also started from gliders.

In 1973, Liu Yi returned to Shenyang Aviation School from the cadre school and was in charge of managing aviation equipment. “There were a large number of gliders left in the warehouse, which were damaged to varying degrees. The first thing I did when I came back was to repair these treasures, and then organize enthusiasts to practice. At that time, the children in the school were not serious about reading, and they were idle and not doing business.

Why don’t you come here? When I practiced flying, I heard that I could go to the sky, and many boys from nearby schools came to practice.” Due to the damage of the “Cultural Revolution”, the traction equipment of the glider was no longer available. At that time, people often practiced on the runway of the aviation school. Liu Yi asked these people , If you practice driving, you must help to pull the plane into the air.

In addition to using cars for traction, the teachers and students also used high-strength elastic bands to eject the plane. A dozen people pulled the plane far away with elastic bands, and then ejected the plane. To this day, many of Liu Yi’s students are still active in the aviation industry.

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