Air mechanic's witness to strategic airlift leap

Air mechanic Wei Peng keeps two photographs. Together, they tell the story of China's military aviation leap — and the personal grit that helped bridge the gap.

A lieutenant colonel with a People's Liberation Army Air Force aviation regiment — one of the first units to receive the domestically built Y-20 — Wei has served for over two decades.

The first photo, taken in 2012, shows a young captain beside a Y-8 — a domestically built medium transport that was then the backbone of the PLA's airlift fleet. He was proudly explaining the aircraft to a visiting British delegation when a Royal Air Force squadron leader cracked: "This is basically what we used in World War II."

"That hit me like a stone," Wei recalled. He knew the equipment was dated, but he refused to let the foreign visitor belittle his comrades. He countered by recounting how the same Y-8 had braved treacherous weather to deliver aid after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake — then invited the Briton for a test flight.

The British airman struggled with the manual controls — Chinese crews call the Y-8 the "air gym" because it lacks electronic boosters — and needed help to land. "You're right, it's not advanced," Wei told the sweating officer, adding that the Chinese servicemen who fly and maintain it have guts and strength. The airman later said, "This is a real man's plane."

Wei kept that photo for more than a decade. The second photo, taken at the 15th Airshow China held in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, in 2024, shows him standing beside a Y-20 — China's largest indigenous transport aircraft, nicknamed "Kunpeng" after a mythical Chinese giant bird. Gone was the elderly Y-8; in its place stood a sleek, powerful machine that drew admiration from global visitors.

That year, the Y-20's interior was opened to the public for the first time — by lottery. When Wei spotted children peering from behind the barriers because they hadn't secured tickets, he and his comrades arranged for the children to be admitted under supervision. "We lifted every child over the fence and into the cargo hold," he said. "We wanted them to feel the air force's strength — and to plant the seeds of aviation patriotism."

His regiment now flies the Y-20 on disaster relief, overseas missions, and repatriating the remains of Chinese soldiers who fought in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53). Wei sees his own journey as a mirror of China's air force: from catching up to striding ahead. "We are witnesses, inheritors and fighters for the great rejuvenation," he said. "The wings may change, but our faith in guarding the motherland never fades."