Introduction: German scientist Otto Lilienthal once said that inventing an airplane is nothing, building an airplane is nothing, but testing it is extremely difficult. The Air Force Test Flight Corps is my country's only authoritative organization for test flights of new aircraft. Compared with wartime, soldiers have far fewer opportunities to sacrifice themselves for their country during peacetime. However, the test pilots of the test flight group have to accept the test of life and death almost every ordinary flying day. History should remember these people who embraced death again and again.
In the honor room of the test flight group, two crushed helmets were lying there quietly. They were the relics of martyrs Yang Xiaobin and Tang Chunwen.
The tragic moment was fixed at 10:57 on August 12, 1996. At that time, Yang Xiaobin and Tang Chunwen were flying the "Flying Leopard" No. 085 prototype for a maritime test flight at Xingcheng Airport in Liaoning Province. The plane broke down and the two men insisted on driving the plane back, but the plane lost control and the two died heroically.
Before Yang Xiaobin and Tang Chunwen died on April 4, 1994, Lu Jun, the deputy chief of staff of the test flight regiment, also spilled blood at the airport during a training. He was only 38 years old. The bad news shocked the entire aircraft city and the Chinese aviation industry. Lu Jun was posthumously recognized as the first-class hero in the formation of "Flying Leopard".
The sacrifice of their comrades did not intimidate the test pilots, but instead inspired them to devote themselves to test flights. The year after the two test pilots died, on June 19, 1997. Test pilot Tan Shoucai flew the "Flying Leopard" into the sky from the Flight Test Institute Airport, roaring straight into the sky. In the cabin, Tan Shoucai held the steering column in his hand with a determined look. Today, he will search for the reason for the loss of confidentiality in the cockpit of this type of aircraft in the air. If the cause of the failure cannot be found, the aircraft will not be designed and finalized. When flying into the sky with problems, unexpected situations will appear at any time, and death will attack him at any time.
Data map: No. 085 Flying Leopard prototype before the crash
The plane shuttled smoothly between the blue sky and white clouds, everything was so calm. When the plane flew to an altitude of 2,000 meters, the plane's warning light suddenly flashed a terrible red light. Oh no, there was a danger! With a strange scream from the plane, the cockpit immediately lost its sealing, and Tan Shoucai suddenly felt all over his body. The swelling and pain are unbearable. But he immediately calmed down and controlled the plane to quickly descend. When the altimeter pointed to 1540 meters, there was only a loud "expansion" sound, and the front cockpit cover of the plane was thrown out of the sky. The strong airflow accompanied by the scream of death pressed him tightly against the back of the seat, his eyes opened. He couldn't open the door, couldn't hear, and felt cold all over his body. He completely lost contact with the ground commander.
At this time, because the canopy of the aircraft was thrown away and the ejection system lost its insurance, the test pilot was in danger of being suddenly ejected from the aircraft at any time. At this moment, if he parachutes normally, he can escape the danger, but Tan Shoucai has only one thought at this moment: the airplane is the property of the party and the people, the fruit of the wisdom and hard work of generations of scientific research and production personnel, and as long as he still has breath, he will fly it back. !
At this time, the cabin was covered with dust and the wind was screaming, like a hell cave. Tan Shoucai felt that the muscles in his face were almost torn. He pulled off his helmet visor with difficulty, gritted his teeth, and held the steering column tightly with both hands. He knew that any tiny mistake at this time would lead to the destruction of the aircraft and the death of both people. He moved his body bit by bit towards the instrument panel to minimize the impact of the strong airflow on his body. He bit his lip and drew blood. He had no idea that Tan Shoucai was risking his life to save the fighter plane. 1400 meters, 1300 meters, 1200 meters... After 16 minutes of aerial fighting, the plane finally landed successfully. Tan Shoucai created another test flight miracle.
At the beginning of that year, an explosive news came out in a certain area of ????the East China Sea. Our army's "Flying Leopard" carried out devastating strikes on dozens of targets in a certain area of ????the sea, hitting 100% of the targets.
Experience the gesture of flying with your life
Recalling the first flight of the J-10, Lei Qiang, a national meritorious pilot, is still excited to this day.
On March 22, 1998, a bombing was carried out around the Chengdu Airport. Three flares flew into the sky, and a huge roar sounded from the southernmost end of the runway.
The J-10 aircraft slowly drove from the take-off line to the runway. After taxiing for only a few seconds, the aircraft rose from the ground from south to north, rose rapidly with an angle of attack greater than 60 degrees, shot straight into the sky, and soon disappeared. In the clouds.
On that day, although the weather conditions were not ideal, Lei Qiang flew four times at the predetermined altitude. The wonderful flight was exhilarating. When the plane landed steadily on the runway, it meant that the J-10, which took 12 years, cost tens of billions, and gathered the efforts of thousands of domestic enterprises and research institutes, successfully made its first flight.
The Air Force test flight regiment where Lei Qiang belongs is stationed in Yanliang, the hinterland of Guanzhong, Shaanxi. This is also the only authoritative institution in my country that conducts test flights of new aircraft, and is the center that issues "birth certificates" and "passes" for all domestically produced aircraft.
In 1956, the first high-subsonic fighter manufactured by the Chinese left the factory. Someone needs to evaluate whether the aircraft that have just left the factory can fly and whether they can be equipped with troops.
"The Air Force dares to fly aircraft made by itself." Liu Yalou, the Air Force Commander at the time, was the first to express his stance. In 1959, an institution called the "Sixth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense" was established in Yanliang, which was the cutting-edge test flight institution of New China. Fifteen years later, the Air Force Test Flight Group, the only one in the military responsible for the identification and scientific research and test flights of new domestically produced aircraft, was formally established.
Before any aircraft is finalized and produced, a lot of work must be done, and test flight is an extremely critical part of it. From aircraft design to final assembly and delivery, test pilots must provide opinions on the various performances of the aircraft and whether it is conducive to actual combat; at the same time, they must fly the various performance indicators of the aircraft - that is, the "best of all" that each aircraft can achieve. ". Therefore, test pilots are not only required to have outstanding driving skills, but also to have a high level of education and aviation expertise.
In April 1964, the sky was clear and the spring breeze was pleasant. A solemn atmosphere enveloped an airport in Northeast China. The first supersonic fighter of the People's Republic of China was covered with red flowers and shone in the spring sun. Hui. Leaders from the Military Commission, the headquarters, the Air Force, foreign experts, as well as four to five thousand factory technicians, army officers and soldiers stood on both sides of the tower.
Test pilot Ge Wenyong confidently sat in the cockpit. At this moment, he was both excited and calm. After a year of modification study and ground preparation, I finally flew on the new model.
"Plane O is ready, please drive."
"Drive!" In an instant, the "War Eagle" roared and rolled away, piercing the sky...
The plane roared over the city and entered the predetermined airspace. Ge Wenyong first circled gracefully and then performed various test flight maneuvers among the blue sky and white clouds. The new fighter plane was as nimble as a swallow. It first half-rolled upside down, and then performed a diagonal somersault to rise and turn. Another half-roll inversion, another beautiful somersault. This series of movements is swift and vigorous, like flowing clouds and flowing water. Ge Wenyong piloted the new aircraft to complete its first flight in the air, then descended from the altitude, exited the airspace, and landed safely.
Challenging the magic of the "death spiral"
A certain type of delta-wing fighter in my country has been troubled by the "stall tail spin" called the "death spiral". Fighter aircraft entering a "stall spin" often lead to aircraft crashes and fatalities. The United States and Russia lost dozens of aircraft and dozens of pilots during this test flight.
In order to overcome this major problem, Chinese aviation experts made a major breakthrough in the "delta wing stall tail spin" test flight theory in early 1999 after more than ten years of research. However, who dares to risk his own life to test whether he can land safely?
Although he studied at the Russian Flight Test Academy and obtained the "International Stall Spin" certificate, "Domestic Delta Wing Aircraft Stall Spin Test Flight" Li Zhonghua, chief test pilot and chief of staff of the test flight regiment, and test pilot Li Cunbao remain extremely cautious. They went through dozens of kilograms of information - every aircraft has a different appearance and performance, and behaves differently in tail spins. The ways in which death can take away human lives are endless.
At an altitude of 10,000 meters, the surface speed has dropped to 350 kilometers per hour. Li Zhonghua in the front cabin retracted the throttle to the "idle" state, keeping the aircraft in a straight line and decelerating without sideslip. When the needle reached 220 kilometers/hour, When he was young, he quickly pushed the left rudder and pushed the stick to the end.
The fighter plane was like an enraged lion. The fuselage shook violently, the nose of the plane suddenly tilted up, and the plane rolled downwards.
Li Zhonghua and Li Cunbao were suddenly thrown into the air as if they were riding on the backs of wild lions, and their heads hit the canopy. They bounced back to their seats in an instant, and their hands tightly holding the steering column seemed to be pressed down by a thousand kilograms of weight. Living in general... the "death spiral" is coming!
1 lap... 3 laps... Li Cunbao in the back cabin endured pressure several times his body weight and dizziness, counting the number of tumbling laps.
"06, recover!" He issued an order to the forward cabin.
Li Zhonghua put all his strength toward the neutral position. The plane turned around and then deflected downward. Li Zhonghua, who had quick eyes and quick hands, quickly pushed the right rudder to the end... The plane swung its wings obediently and stopped "angry". Li Zhonghua pulled the throttle, and with a roar, the plane returned to level flight and headed towards the sky again.
They are challenging the "death trap". From "forward flying tail spin" to "inverted flying tail spin", they approached the cruelest magic in the "death trap".
At an altitude of 10,000 meters, the aircraft had climbed to the point of rolling into inverted flight. After closing the throttle and slowing down, pushing the stick forward, the nose of the aircraft slowly sank and gradually entered a faster and faster acceleration and roll state. However, Li Zhonghua and Li Cunbao still operated tenaciously. Finally, at 6,000 meters above the ground, the plane broke out of the "death spiral". Immediately after the engine roared, the plane gained the power to fly into the sky. The "death spiral" challenge was successful!
1996 At 10:57 a.m. on August 12, 2019, test pilot Yang Xiaobin (39 years old) and navigator Tang Chunwen (45 years old) piloted a Flying Leopard fighter jet to conduct a sea test flight at Xingcheng Airport. The plane broke down, and the two insisted on taking the plane back, but the plane lost control. After the emergency landing, the plane flipped upside down and the canopy was worn away. They all died. The scene was horrific, and the upper bodies of the two martyrs had been worn away. "I heard that the J-H-7 that took off from the Aviation Division's airport at Huludao Airport was unable to lower its landing gear due to a serious malfunction in the air. The XAC representative who was at the control tower at the time grabbed the microphone and shouted: "Skydive! It only takes us a month to produce the aircraft!" Later this sentence became a famous saying and was quoted many times. However, the two pilots refused to parachute and tried to make a belly landing. The parachute was not deployed during the emergency landing. The emergency landing was not completely aligned with the runway ( The aircraft's belly slid out of control for a period of time, and then it completely lost control and buckled down. Only their legs were left in the cockpit. For the next six months, the crew did not play music, and the atmosphere was very depressing (music was played every day during meals). .