Successful Test Flight of Chinese made Fighter

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 18-06-02 AT 05:44 AM (GMT)]
This is the same topic about the “A new fighter type” from the People’s Daily on the other thread there. But I’m sure no one else knows what the hell it’s all about without an English translation or text.

This is the English translation of the same article which has now come up in Armstrade. You can feel free to conclude or guess what that fighter is, as typically, the PLA uses its vague language for such press releases. (Posted in the CDF by Xinhui).

Jiefangjun Bao on Successful Test Flight of Chinese-Made New-Type Fighter Plane
Beijing Jiefangjun Bao (Internet Version-WWW) in Chinese 13 Jun 02 P 2
[Report by Cao Ruide, special correspondent Wei Zhuanye, and Jiefangjun Bao journalist Zhang Jinyu: “Trailblazers in the Blue Sky: The Air Force’s ‘Heroic Flight Testing Squadron’ Completes Test Flights of a New Type of Warplane”]

A certain Air Force flight testing squadron [dadui] which has the mission of test flying Chinese-made fighter aircraft has the courage to face limitless challenges. It has completed with distinction the mission of scientific research test flights on generation after generation of China’s new warplanes, and won three first or second class citations for collective meritorious service. On 12 June the Air Force bestowed on it the honorific title, “Heroic Flight Testing Squadron.”

Repeated Difficulties and it Still Wants to Fly this “Opportunity to Bring Credit”

In 2000, a certain new type of fighter aircraft was transferred to this flight testing squadron for type-finalization flight testing. The fighter used a certain type of turbojet engine which China researched and developed itself. If the test flights were successful, this would be of great significance in promoting the vigorous development of China’s aviation industry.

But a design flaw in this type of engine came to light early in the test flights. There was a threat of failing halfway to the goal. Under these circumstances, a strong sense of their historical mission compelled the squadron to take the initiative and volunteer to the scientific research unit: despite the greater danger, we still want to fly this plane!

The squadron encountered 28 in-flight engine stoppages during the test flights. But the danger did not intimidate these brave and strong people, and they kept on flying this “opportunity to bring credit.” When the final test flight landed, all the officers and airmen of the squadron embraced each other tightly, tears of happiness flowing because of their success.

The squadron had no rest in 64 continuous days of this type-finalization flight testing. The five aviators who participated in the test flights lost an average of 4.5kg in body weight. The chief engineer responsible for the design of this new type of engine saw all this with his own eyes, and afterwards stood before the test flyers with hot tears in his eyes and bowed deeply… [ellipsis as published]

The squadron has a group of multitalented aviators who can fly several types of aircraft, and who hold international test pilot certificates. These advantages have attracted talented people recruited by the squadron from several local aviation companies. Besides being allowed housing and a car, these people get an annual salary of more than 200,000 RMB [$24,000]. Seeing this sort of incentive treatment has not shaken the firm conviction of a single person in the squadron to dedicate himself to the cause of flight testing. They regard the flight testing of fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by China on its own as the greatest happiness, and they see exerting all their effort on the development of their motherland’s aviation industry as the greatest of honors.

In May last year, flight testing of a key type of aircraft launch system [feiji dan she xitong; in context, for launching missiles or rockets] entered a critical phase. Launch test flying is a dangerous thing. It requires the test pilot to work in six different attitudes, to include diving, banking, and flying upside down, during which danger could easily occur. The main test pilot for this task is Zhang Xu [1728 2485]. On the same day he received this mission, Zhang’s wife called from faraway Hainan Province to say that the expected delivery date of their baby had arrived, and he should return home no matter how. Would mother and child be all right? Would the test flight of the fighter go smoothly? On the one hand was serious family business, and on the other hand was a serious matter for the nation. Zhang Xu truly found it hard to turn away from either of them. But if he returned home to look after his wife, this would affect the flight testing schedule, and there would be no way to remedy it. In the end, Zhang Xu could only bury his thoughts and good wishes for his wife deep in his heart, and proceed without hesitation to carry out the flight testing mission.

Using New Knowledge to Open Up New Areas Flight Testing

As China’s aviation industry develops, the degree of modernization in aircraft becomes greater and greater, and more and more high technology is applied in them. This means greater demands on the overall quality of test pilots. Faced with this reality, each year this squadron has to formulate individualized training plans, using methods such as inviting experts to teach classes, and conducting training classes combined with the mission, so as to provide a firm theoretical basic training foundation for scientific research flight testing.

A new cockpit display system uses English-language prompts, and all of them are abbreviations. Tackling the English language is their first difficult problem in mastering new equipment. Everyone met the difficulty and overcame it. They stuck English labels on all flight apparatus and items used in everyday life. They made use of bits of time here and there to reinforce the backbone of their knowledge, and they used every opportunity to study English conversation. Through unflagging hard work, all of the comrades have the knowledge of English which they require to use new equipment, and besides that they can all use equipment manuals to read information in English.

Aviation weaponry undergoes a continuous process of improvement from test flights to type finalization. The leaders of this squadron recognize that flight testing is not passive experimentation. Instead, it requires active contributions to the improvement of new types of warplanes. To this end, the squadron’s leaders guide everyone in taking the initiative and applying the new knowledge and new theories they have learned to the flight testing mission. At the same time they continually improve flight testing methods and measures, and they come up with new and better ways to compensate for design flaws and improve the performance of aviation equipment.

In recent years, as the squadron completed each major item of flight testing, it immediately had the test pilots write flight experience and test flight papers. The squadron organized periodic technical exchanges on flight testing, and it applied advanced theory to guide the actual practice of flight testing. The squadron had a total of ten people participate in national-level academic exchange conferences on aviation. The squadron has published more than 60 academic papers in authoritative national-level journals including Hangkong Lixue, Guoji Hangkong, and Feixing Dongli. [As published; English titles (if any) unknown; approx. titles: Aviation Mechanics, International Aviation, and Flight Motive Power] In January of last year, the National Flight Testing Research Institute [Guojia Shifei Yanjiuyuan] acted in light of the achievements which this squadron’s test pilots have made in aspects of research on flight testing theory, and invited well-known people from China’s aviation industry, design experts, and experts in flight testing technology to conduct a special appraisal of the papers which this squadron’s test pilots wrote.

This flight testing squadron borrowed from advanced foreign experience and foreign flight testing practice, and was the first to research and propose the three principles of “safety, high efficiency, and comfort” for the design of human-machine interfaces. The principles received a great deal of attention in the field of aviation theory, and scientific research organizations applied them in the cockpit design of a new type of fighter aircraft. These organizations researched and wrote implementation manuals for related areas. These manuals have great practical value, and they are already in widespread use among fighter aircraft aviators in units. Also, they [the papers written by the test pilots] boldly pointed out design flaws in aircraft and engines. The pilots have proposed to scientific research organizations more than 30 recommended modifications of great importance. They continually use new knowledge to open up new areas in flight testing.

Working Wonders in Flight Testing Despite Danger

Scientific research flight testing is a kind of exploratory experimentation. The only way to work more wonders in this effort is to be fearless of danger and difficulty, and staunchly exert oneself to the utmost. With this common understanding as the foundation, the squadron respects objective law and has the courage to face limitless challenges. The squadron has completed in an outstanding manner more than 20 national class one hazard projects [guojia yi lei fengxian kemu], more than 40 of class two, and more than 70 of class three, filling in more than ten gaps in the history of aviation in China.

The squadron operates equipment to the maximum limits of its performance, deriving data on the equipment’s extreme limits of danger. This provides the basis by which units can use the equipment correctly while ensuring safety. This is a test pilot’s most important mission. Thus, in their test flights the pilots would rather face danger one more time if it will mean one less hidden risk for units and for their comrades in arms, and one additional capability in the development of aviation weapons and equipment.

Once, test pilot Xu Yongling [1776 0516 0407] was flying a certain new type of fighter when he encountered the severe danger of an in-flight fire which knocked out the control system. By regulations, he was fully authorized to confirm that control over the aircraft was lost and bail out by parachute within the first two seconds. But he did not do that. He had only one conviction in his mind, and that was that since this was the final research prototype, even if the plane could not be saved, he would bring back the scientific research data. The plane was like a powder keg which could explode at any moment. Xu Yongling ignored the heat and concentrated all his effort on memorizing the various data under each status. With extraordinary will power and courage, he grappled with death for 42 seconds, until he was forced to eject when his altitude was reduced to something over 200 meters. The valuable data for which he bartered with his life was of extremely great value to scientific research. The Aircraft Industry Corporation awarded him a first-class citation for merit, and Lankong [as published; poss. Xi’an Lankong Aviation Equipment Company] awarded him a second-class citation for merit.

Shimmying and stall tailspins are considered in international flight testing circles to be death zones. In all the world, only a few countries do flight testing on these subjects. Prior to 1999, flight testing of new Chinese aircraft did not require these subjects. To a certain extent, this hindered improvement in the level of flight testing technology, and adversely affected improvements in unit flight safety and combat capabilities. In April 1999, with the hard work of the test pilots, this squadron faced the challenge of the forbidden zone of stall tailspins and shimmying. In a stall tailspin test flight of a delta-wing fighter, test pilots Li Cunbao [2621 1317 1405] and Li Zhonghua [2621 0022 5478] flew more than 80 test flight sorties, and underwent 13 major in-flight engine stoppages and unexpected dangerous situations to verify and probe for a delta-wing warplane’s tailspin entry and recovery techniques in level flight, inclined flight, and upside down flight. Even more importantly, conquering the forbidden zone of delta-wing warplane stall tailspins not only filled in a gap in the history of Chinese aviation, it also expanded the maneuver performance of delta-wing warplanes, laying a firm foundation on which to improve our forces’ combat operations performance with this type of warplane.

[Description of Source: Beijing Jiefangjun Bao (Internet Version-WWW) in Chinese — Internet version of the daily newspaper of the General Political Department of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), reporting on a wide range of military affairs. Root URL at filing date: http://www.pladaily.com/]

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