Retracing the Path of the Northeast Old Aviation School's Original Aspiration | Visiting the Site of the Northeast Old Aviation School in Mudanjiang

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Northeast Old Aviation School. The school's forebears built it on the ruins of war and took flight amid cannon fire and smoke, forging the spirit of "unity and struggle, hard work and entrepreneurship, courage in self-sacrifice, and blazing new trails (团结奋斗、艰苦创业、勇于献身、开拓新路)," inspiring generation after generation of Air Force personnel to press forward with courage. Recently, the Northern Theater Command Air Force organized a themed practical activity titled "Retracing the Path of the Northeast Old Aviation School's Original Aspiration (重走东北老航校初心路)," in which 12 outstanding officer and soldier representatives followed the historical trajectory of the Northeast Old Aviation School to visit Ürümqi, Yan'an, Tonghua, Mudanjiang, Mishan, Changchun, and other locations, touring important former sites and venues from the founding period of the People's Air Force. They traced the footsteps of struggle, reflected on the original aspiration and mission (初心使命), carried forward the red lineage by looking back on the road traveled, and worked to restore and carry forward fine traditions. In this installment, let us together visit the site of the Northeast Old Aviation School in Mudanjiang.

At the fourth stop of "Retracing the Path of the Northeast Old Aviation School's Original Aspiration," the Northern Theater Command Air Force organized 12 outstanding officer and soldier representatives to visit the site of the People's Air Force Northeast Old Aviation School in Mudanjiang. The officers and soldiers reaffirmed their oath of Party membership at Qihang Square and signed the commemorative flag, solidifying their original aspiration and mission; they paused and gazed intently in the exhibition center, looking back on the hardships of the founding years; and beside the former site's meteorological station and the rammed-earth runway, they traced the footsteps of their forebears' struggle. Through on-site instruction, discussion, and analysis, they experienced in an immersive way the immense and mighty power of the Old Aviation School spirit.

In April 1946, as the military situation grew urgent, the Northeast Old Aviation School—having only recently been established in Tonghua—came under frenzied bombing by Nationalist aircraft. In order to preserve its strength and avoid the enemy's sharp edge, the Old Aviation School was ordered to move north and relocate to Mudanjiang. There, the Old Aviation School took off and grew, creating miracles in world aviation history such as "using alcohol in place of aviation fuel (酒精代替航油)" and "going directly to the Type 99 advanced trainer (直上九九高教机)," and pilots independently trained by our Party and our military flew into the blue skies of the motherland for the first time.

↑ Horses pulling aircraft during a transfer.

The move from Tonghua to Mudanjiang was carried out simultaneously by air and ground. Aircraft that could fly were flown to Hailang Airfield; the remaining aircraft and equipment were transported by train. Upon reaching Laoyeling, the grade was too steep and the train was forced to stop. People then called out in unison and pushed the train, step by step, up over Laoyeling. When the train reached Ning'an, the railway bridge was out; people unloaded the aircraft and equipment and switched to horse-drawn carts for transport, giving rise to the spectacle in the history of the People's Air Force's development of "people pushing trains (人推火车)" and "horses pulling aircraft (马拉飞机)."

↑ Taking turns using a bicycle pump to inflate aircraft tires.

On June 1, 1946, the Old Aviation School formally opened for classes in Mudanjiang. On June 6, flight training began. At the time, materiel and equipment were in short supply; multiple aircraft shared a single propeller in rotation, bicycle pumps were used to inflate aircraft tires, and hand cranks were used to start aircraft engines—scenes rare in world aviation history that were commonplace in the aviation school's training. With no textbooks, the people of the Old Aviation School wrote their own; with no aeronautical charts, they drew their own; with no teaching aids, they made their own; with aviation fuel in severe shortage, the Old Aviation School organized technical personnel to repeatedly tackle the problem through experimentation, successfully achieving the use of alcohol as a substitute for aviation fuel in flight training, overcoming one difficulty after another through ingenuity and tenacity.

↑ A Type 99 advanced trainer aircraft of that era preparing for takeoff.

In organizing flight training, the world has always followed the practice of flying primary trainers first, then intermediate and advanced trainers. But the decision-makers of the Old Aviation School boldly broke with convention: faced with a situation in which even primary trainers were scarce, they put the captured Type 99 advanced trainer directly into frontline instruction. On July 21, 1946, flight student Wu Yuanren successfully completed the first solo flight by a student; thereafter, all students successively flew solo. "Going directly to the Type 99 advanced trainer" created a miracle in the history of aviation training and demonstrated the fundamental character of the Old Aviation School's people—daring to forge ahead, daring to experiment, and blazing new trails (敢闯敢试、开拓新路).

In October 1946, due to changes in the military situation, the Northeast Old Aviation School was compelled to leave Mudanjiang and relocate once again.

Retracing the path of the original aspiration—the spirit is passed on forever. Next stop: Mishan!

(Zhang Wei, Tian Ye, Wang Zhen, Liu Hanbao, Liao Jie, Xu Jian)