Trace of Flying Tigers 3: Nose-only transport plane
Editor’s note:
Flying Tigers is an honorary name to the American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force, as well as to the successive US Air Task Force in China, the 14th Air Force of the United States Army, the Hump Air Transport Command, China National Aviation Corporation and the Chinese American Composite Wing. All led by U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault, the organizations were in function from July 1941 to August 1945.
The Flying Tigers is historically bonded with Yunnan. From 1941 when Chennault was invited to Yunnan province to form the AVG to the recent visit by the Flying Tigers veterans in early November 2023, Yunnan has witnessed the friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and the US for more than 80 years.
The healthy and stable development of China-US relations in the new era requires the participation and support of “a new generation of Flying Tigers”. To carry forward the spirit of the Flying Tigers, we have some special Flying Tigers stories for our readers. Today, let’s take a closer look at a nose-only transport plane.
The nose-only transport plane
Trace of Flying Tigers 3: Nose-only transport plane
At the entrance to the Kunming Flying Tigers Museum in Yunnan, visitors are often seen taking pictures in front of a very special aircraft nose.
It is the nose of the DC-3, a transport plane produced by the US-based Douglas Aircraft Company in the 1940s, and the plane is equipped with two 900 horsepower Curtis-Wright engines. It once served on the Hump air route.
A Douglas transport plane
When the Flying Tigers were fighting against Japanese invaders in China, they flew the Douglas DC-3 planes with a shark face in defending most of the Chinese airspace. The Chinese folks were so impressed with the planes that some seniors in Kunming still can remember them.
The owner of the plane is Mr. Tan Yongzhao (also known as Wayne Tam), a Chinese American. Born in 1933, Tan came to the US at the age of 18. Tan used to be a civil engineer, and his father-in-law, Xiong Yingzuo, was a liaison officer to General Joseph Stilwell, commander of the Yunnan-Myanmar-India theater in World War II.
Tan Yongzhao (L, 3rd) is on the nose-only plane.
Stilwell was a famed "China hand" in the American military at that time. He visited China five times and lived in China for 12 years.
During his tenure as commander, he managed to ensure the airlift on the Hump route, while opening up the China-India highway, or the Stilwell Road, for more international supplies to China’s war efforts.
US general Joseph Stilwell
Influenced by his family, Tan then developed a keen interest in the history of the Yunnan-Myanmar-India battlefield. He spent his spare time studying the historical records in relevance and collected bulk of relics.
In 2005, he donated four U.S. combat vehicles and many old photos related to WWII to the Chongqing Stilwell Museum. Four years later, he gave away some military uniforms and battle flags to the Kunming Museum.
Cockpit of the nose-only plane
Later, he bought this Douglas DC-3 aircraft that had flown the Hump, and decided to donate it to the Flying Tigers Museum in Kunming Museum. To facilitate shipping from Los Angeles to China, Tan cut away minor parts of the plane, retaining the cockpit and part of the fuselage.
On November 27, 2018, a lengthened truck was slowly driven into the Kunming Flying Tigers Museum, carrying the nose-only DC-3 aircraft. The plane finally returned where it had served.
By YICC reporters