Cuban pilots relive China memories

HAVANA - "Going to China to become a pilot fulfilled a yearning, so now I dream of returning there," said Henry Perez, a retired colonel of Cuba's air force, when he recalled his training experience in China.

He was among a select group of Cubans who were sent to China to receive training as combat pilots and ground technicians nearly 60 years ago, and returned to form the core of post-revolutionary Cuba's air force.

As one of Cuba's most successful fighter pilots, with hundreds of combat missions under his belt, Perez was just 15 and flying a fumigation plane in the central province of Camaguey when revolutionary leader Fidel Castro recruited him and others to receive training in China.