[烛光生存狂]-中国航空起源

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MILITARY AVIATION IN NORTHERN CHINA

Beijing, 1912-1924

When the ﬁrst aircraft appeared in the skies of the Middle Kingdom, China was still an empire, but the last emperor abdicated on 12 February 1912. China became a republic with a president, but that would not last long and the vast geographical part of eastern Asia that had belonged to the Chinese Empire broke up into several smaller entities. The different provinces were ruled by a military governor, later a chairman of the provincial government, who often took power and ruled 'his' province as a warlord.

The emperor in Beijing abdicated after the revolution in October 1911 against the Imperial government. By that time, a Provisional Republican Government was already functioning at Nanjing, which was intended to become the new capital of China. The president of the Nanjing government, Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian), soon resigned in favour of Yuan Shikai, who was inaugurated at Beijing instead of at Nanjing in March 1912. His power ambitions quickly grew and Sun Yat-sen soon organised an armed second revolution against the new government. It started in July 1913, but Yuan Shikai soon gained the upper hand and in December 1915 he even declared himself new emperor. Sun Yat-sen and the republicans then created a power base in south China and established a new republican government at Guangzhou (Canton) in Guangdong Province.

In February 1910, Zai Tao, Minister of the Imperial Military Council, had been ordered to lead a delegation abroad to study military matters, especially balloons. He made a 250-km flight with a balloon in Japan and after returning to China, he became a strong advocate for aviation, both aircraft and balloons. He asked Li Baojun and Liu Zuocheng, who had studied aviation in Japan,to build an aircraft and to purchase a French Sommer biplane for use as a pattern. What became of that is not known, but in October the same year another French firm, Bleriot, sent its representative van Lerberghe to Beijing with an offer to provide flying training for two officers in France. The offer also included ten single-seat Bleriot monoplanes and two of the two-seat variant. Zai Tao had visited the factory during his travels and had been impressed, but eventually no order for Bleriots was placed. In October 1911, concurrently with the outbreak of revolution back in China,a Chinese mission visited the Maurice Farman company, although it was another French firm that would finally be selected for delivery of aircraft to Beijing.

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Sun Yat-sen's Air Force

Sun Yat-sen was in fact much more interested in aviation than the Imperial government in Beijing. He had mentioned in May 1909in a speech to his revolutionaries that flight training was a must for the movement and he thought that aviators would play a vital role in the coming revolution in China. One of the Chinese aviation pioneers, Li Ruyan, who also used a Westernised variant of his name, Zee Yee Lee, had received flight training in Great Britain. As a publicly funded overseas student he was allocated an additional special fund by the Imperial government. He was approached by revolutionary activist Chen Qimei, who asked him to return to China to participate in the revolution and instructed him to purchase aircraft for the cause. After receiving his flying certificate in October 1911, Li went to Wiener-Neustadt in Austria in December to test-fly the Etrich Taube monoplane. He had concluded that the Taube was a suitable type for China and bought two Lohner-built examples that were fitted with 65/70hp Austro-Daimler engines for delivery as quickly as possible.

Li Ruyan left Austria in January 1912 together with company mechanics Franz Reithofer and Johann Warchalowski. They were to assemble the aircraft, which arrived in Shanghai in March. Li Ruyan ointed by Chen Qimei as the commander of the 'aviation squadron' of what was called the Shanghai Revolutionary Military Governor's Office. On 13 and 14 April, he flew one of the Taubes at the Jiangwan Racecourse in Shanghai to celebrate the success of the revolution and propaganda leaflets were distributed. The aircraft were taken over in June by the newly-established Flying Battalion of the Transportation Regiment under the Nanjing Garrison Headquarters. Deng Zhiyi was commander of the regiment and Li Baojun was appointed commander of the Flying Battalion, which was the first aviation unit in China with a formal organisation and designation. In March 1913, Yuan Shikai ordered the two aircraft transferred to Beijing and incorporated into the 3rd Army Division stationed at Nanyuan, 8 kilometres south of the city, and Li Ruyan was appointed chief flight instructor.

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The Nanyuan Flying School

In 1912 French military adviser and military attaché Georges Brissaud-Desmaillet proposed the establishment of an aviation school at Nanyuan. Funds were allocated and the Republican government placed an order on 14 January 1913 for 12 Caudron training aircraft and necessary maintenance equipment. The aircraft were of not less than four different variants, although all types but the first one looked quite similar:

Three Caudron Type D, built by Letord (c/ns 48 to 50, 40hp Anzani)

Four Caudron Type E, also built by Letord (c/ns 51 to 54, 50hp Gnome)

One Caudron Type F (c/n 55, 50hp Gnome)

Four Caudron Type G (c/ns 56 to 59, 80hp Gnome)

The former Nanyuan army training ground was expanded and a maintenance workshop and barracks were built. Qin Guoyong was appointed principal of the aviation school and Bao Bingchen,Li Ruyan, Pan Shizhong and Yao Cijiu were engaged as flight instructors,Pan also as director of the aircraft maintenance workshop. He had studied aviation in France and had worked as an engineer at the Caudron factory. Four Frenchmen, Bon, flight instructor, Emile Obre, mechanic and flight instructor, and mechanics Boffa and Martineche, were hired. Bon had been asked already in October 1912 to make arrangements for a flying school and he was formally hired by the Chinese government on 17 December 1912. After having placed the order for the Caudrons and hiring the other three Frenchmen he returned from France to Beijing on 12 April 1913.

Another pilot, Constantine, sometimes described as a Russian and sometimes as a Frenchman, was hired as well, but details are vague.The aircraft were completed and tested at the factory by Gaston and René Caudron and the acceptance tests in France were completed on 14 March. They were painted light blue with national insignia in the form of five-pointed stars in the colours of the Chinese republican flag: red, yellow, blue, white and black.

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Personal Delivery

After arrival and assembly, the aircraft were test-flown and handed over at Nanyuan by René Caudron personally, starting on 24June 1913. One of the airframes needed new canvas covering,as it had been stowed on the ship's deck and had been damaged by sea spray. On 25 June, Caudron flew one of the aircraft over the presidential palace in Beijing and on 3 July he and Bon made a long-distance flight to Tianjin. Caudron also demonstrated the aircraft to President Yuan Shikai. One day in mid-July, six of the brand-new Caudrons were lined up for inspection and in addition to government officials, a number of prominent foreigners were invited to attend the exhibition. Several of the aircraft were displayed in the air and the Chinese and French instructors showed off their flying skills. A second order for four Caudrons and 19spare engines was signed, but was temporarily postponed until funds became available. This order also included various materials for local construction of a monoplane designed by mechanic Emile Obre. However, the outbreak of the First World War eventually prevented the completion of this deal.

The aviation school was formally established in June 1913and was directly under the General Staff Headquarters, formally under the under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Section of the Fourth Bureau which managed military transportation. A number of office buildings and dormitories were being built, as well as two hangars,an oil depot, an ammunition depot and a medical clinic. The school had both pilot and observer classes and students were selected from army and navy officers and non-commissioned officers. Training started on 1 September 1913 and a total of 50 students were admitted.Even if the Caudron E and G were two-seaters, they did not have dual controls, so most of the students were actually flying solo from their first take-off and landing.

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