Z-20 (all variants) thread
- Thread starter delft
- Start date
Any other shots? Another bort number?
Getting down without folding the main rotor, Nice !
I thought that a photo posted by gk1713 in the CV-18 Fujian thread (post here) and a photo posted by Curio in this Z-20 thread (post ) would form a nice juxtaposition. So here are the two photos together:
In the words of the old Virginia Slims-brand cigarette advertisements: You've come a long way, baby.
And now for some pedantry: gk1713's post says that the top photo shows a Chinese visit to USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 in 1980, and that the delegation included Xi Jinping, then a secretary to Vice Premier Geng Biao. According to my quick research, that isn't quite right.
In May 1980, a Chinese delegation did indeed visit USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 and one or more other warships. The photo shows Admiral Liu Huaqing during the visit, but *not* aboard CV-63. Others much more knowledgeable than I have identified the vessel as a destroyer or cruiser. (In fairness to gk1713, I've previously seen the same photo a fair number of times over the years, and each time it was described or labelled as showing a visit to a US aircraft carrier.) Geng Biao was not part of the delegation.
In June 1980, another Chinese delegation that did include Geng Biao toured both USS Ranger CV-61 and USS Constellation CV-64. It is far from certain whether Xi Jinping was part of the delegation. The only explicit statement to that effect I have found is the Wikipedia entry for Geng Biao, which claims without citing a source that Xi boarded "a Kitty Hawk class aircraft carrier" (presumably CV-64) as part of Geng's 1980 visit to the US. As someone else has commented, if Xi did in fact tour a US carrier back in 1980, it seems rather odd that there has been no mention of it by any state or state-adjacent media/spokespeople/commentators, whether US or Chinese. So I'm skeptical.
In the words of the old Virginia Slims-brand cigarette advertisements: You've come a long way, baby.
And now for some pedantry: gk1713's post says that the top photo shows a Chinese visit to USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 in 1980, and that the delegation included Xi Jinping, then a secretary to Vice Premier Geng Biao. According to my quick research, that isn't quite right.
In May 1980, a Chinese delegation did indeed visit USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 and one or more other warships. The photo shows Admiral Liu Huaqing during the visit, but *not* aboard CV-63. Others much more knowledgeable than I have identified the vessel as a destroyer or cruiser. (In fairness to gk1713, I've previously seen the same photo a fair number of times over the years, and each time it was described or labelled as showing a visit to a US aircraft carrier.) Geng Biao was not part of the delegation.
In June 1980, another Chinese delegation that did include Geng Biao toured both USS Ranger CV-61 and USS Constellation CV-64. It is far from certain whether Xi Jinping was part of the delegation. The only explicit statement to that effect I have found is the Wikipedia entry for Geng Biao, which claims without citing a source that Xi boarded "a Kitty Hawk class aircraft carrier" (presumably CV-64) as part of Geng's 1980 visit to the US. As someone else has commented, if Xi did in fact tour a US carrier back in 1980, it seems rather odd that there has been no mention of it by any state or state-adjacent media/spokespeople/commentators, whether US or Chinese. So I'm skeptical.
That image has been "enhanced" by AI. Most of the details are characteristically lacking in detail while there are abnormal sharpness in other places.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
Interesting, but makes sense. Why reinvent the wheel when you can get off-the-shelf?
Sure it might be a bit overkill for what helicopter pilots need, but the volume discounts from increasing production and savings from R&D and logistics costs may well make it cheaper in the long run.
This also raises interest possibilities about attack helicopter pilots also just using fighter jet HMDS instead of further developing existing helicopter HMDS.