“After the first flight of J-10, Song Wenqi, test pilot Lei Qiang and others burst into tears.
The first flight of the J-10 is scheduled for March 23, 1998.
March 23, 1998 was an iconic day in China's aviation history, and of course it was also the most important day in Song Wenqi's life.
On March 23, 1998, the first scientific research prototype of J-10 flew to the sky, "From today on, my birthday is March 23!" Song Wenqi, the father of J-10, changed his birthday to the day of the first flight.
In 2006, the J-10 fighter formed its combat effectiveness and appeared in the National Day parade in 2009, attracting the world's attention. This is a new generation of high-performance and all-weather fighter developed by China and has the advanced level in the world today.
Keeping secrets from family for decades
Song Wenqi has been engaged in aircraft development for decades, but because of confidentiality, his parents and brothers don't know what he has been doing over the years.
Song Wenqi said that one year, his younger brother Wen Hong came to Shenyang to visit their family, and his family never talked about what Song Wenqi did. When Wen Hong saw that his brother didn't talk about it, it was not convenient for him to inquire. At his brother's house, he accidentally saw several medical books read by barefoot doctors in the bookcase. When he went back, he told his family that his brother might have changed his job to a doctor now.
It was not until the moderately decryption of the J-10 plane that Song Wenqi's brothers saw the photos of Song Wenqi in newspapers and magazines and called Song Wenqi the "father of the J-10" that they suddenly realized that their brother had been engaged in the development of fighter planes for decades!
In the eighty years of ups and downs, Song Wenqi witnessed the suffering of the salvation of the Chinese nation and the hardships of the rise and take-off of the aviation industry of the Republic. In the past 50 years, he has been working calmly and silently, always maintained a steady posture and the pace of innovation.
The three words "Song Wenqi" will shine in the glorious history of China's aviation industry, together with the J-10 aircraft.
On March 22, 2016, Song Wenqi died of illness, only one day away from the "18th birthday" of J-10.”
