At this time, there was only one airport in Lanzhou, not the Zhongchuan Airport in later generations, but Donggang Airport.
In the early 1930s, Eurasia Airlines built Donggang Airport in Lanzhou while opening up routes.
Donggang Airport was originally the Gongxingdun Cemetery. Due to the superstitious Feng Shui of the local tomb owners at the time, there was opposition. The construction of the airport was interfered with many times. The local authorities tried their best and finally started construction on the site in May 1932. It was completed in May of the same year. .
The entire Donggang Airport runway is oriented east-west, with a gravel surface, 1,580 meters long and 30 meters wide. Because it was built in a hurry, the runway was basically not rolled, and its smoothness and quality were poor. During the rainy season after it was opened to traffic, puddles, pits, and mud appeared on the runway, seriously endangering flight safety.
Not only that, the airport has basically not carried out station construction. The buildings and oil depots for electrical and maintenance services are all civil structure bungalows built by Eurasia Airlines itself.
Moreover, there is no waiting room, almost no communication equipment, and extremely low support capabilities.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Soviet Union began to assist China. With the help of the Soviet Union, the facilities at Lanzhou Airport were improved.
However, due to the poor foundation, there are still many problems, but it is not unusable.
In addition, it is far from the front line of the Anti-Japanese War and close to the Soviet Union, so it is more suitable to be used as a transfer station for receiving supplies.
These supplies are not just aircraft, but also various weapons and ammunition.
Of course, the current focus is on aircraft, because Army weapons involve loans and are still under negotiation.
The Soviet Union's aid to China was mainly to prevent Japan from occupying China and to ensure the security of its Far East. Therefore, the negotiations had not yet been completed, and the aircraft had been shipped in advance, including the arrival of the China aid air fleet.
A large number of aircraft flew directly to Lanzhou, where they were overhauled before being assigned to various battlefields.
There are currently thousands of Soviet trucks arriving in Lanzhou, hauling a lot of supplies, including some strategic supplies.
At the end of December, the Soviet Union had agreed to assist 20 infantry divisions with weapons and equipment, which was not a small number. Even if they are just lightly-armed Soviet armorers, they will not be worse than German armorers. After all, the equipment of the Nationalist government's so-called German armorers is simply incomparable with Germany's own infantry divisions.
Moreover, the Soviet Union basically provided active weapons. Even the most advanced fighter jets like the I-16 were willing to assist, let alone those bombers.
Therefore, there were many Soviets in Lanzhou at this time.
There are hundreds of people repairing the aircraft, medical staff and a fighter jet brigade stationed in Lanzhou.
At the same time, the Nationalist Government also established an aircraft repair factory in Lanzhou with the help of the Soviet Union.
Over the airport, four I-16 fighter jets landed one after another.
When the plane landed on the non-rolled gravel runway, it was a little bumpy, but it landed smoothly and then stopped.
"Li Hang, what do you think of this old man's plane? I feel that this plane is much better than the Hawker III. It was driving a little faster just now, but I still feel a little uncomfortable."
After getting off the plane, Lu Jichun ran over to ask Li Hang for his opinion.
Even though Lu Jichun is the captain of the squadron, Li Hang is also the deputy squadron leader of the captain, who was just promoted a few days ago.
You can imagine the sensation caused by the destruction of 7.5 Japanese aircraft in World War I at the top levels of the Nationalist Government. Therefore, Li Hang not only received the Air Force's first Blue Sky and White Sun Medal, but was also promoted from lieutenant to captain, but his position remained unchanged.
In half a month, Li Hang went from a low-level job to a second lieutenant pilot, a lieutenant and deputy squadron leader, and a captain and deputy squadron leader. This promotion speed is unmatched by anyone.
Not only did he receive an award and a promotion, he also received a bonus of 5,000 yuan.
The five thousand French currency at this time was still equivalent to the two thousand five hundred French currency before the war, which was very valuable.
Including the 3,000 French currency bonus from the previous air battle, his current net worth is almost 10,000 yuan.
Lu Jichun was not envious either. He knew that as long as nothing unexpected happened to Li Hang, his promotion path would be smooth.
Maybe after a month or two, when the position of squadron leader becomes available, the other party may become the squadron leader at any time.
The 23rd Squadron is destined to be unable to retain this great master.
"The performance is good, and the speed is comparable to the Japanese Type 96 carrier-based fighter. It's just that the design style is a bit older, and the aircraft's hovering ability is not as good as the Japanese, but it has its own unique advantages in other aspects." Li Hang has already flown twice. I have an I-16, so I have some knowledge about this aircraft.
As for his Type 96 carrier-based fighter jet, as soon as it arrived in Lanzhou, it was taken away by the Soviets for study.
Although the performance of the I-16 fighter jet is not bad, the Type 96 carrier-based fighter jet also made the Soviets very curious. After all, it was obtained with fifty fighter jets. They did not dismantle the Type 96 carrier-based fighter jet into eight pieces and then learn from it. Considering its advantages, wouldn’t it be a good deal?
Li Hang doesn't care about this. He has made a deal anyway, and his current I-16 is not bad either.
He wasn't wrong either.
The I-16 aircraft adopts a cantilevered lower wing and retractable landing gear. It is the world's first low-wing monocoque structure fighter and is the first to use new technologies such as retractable landing gear and variable-pitch propellers. Civil aircraft technology.
This is its saving grace.
But some of its designs also reflect the air combat ideas of World War I, such as the old aircraft's open cockpit and stubby fuselage, lower wing structure and retractable landing gear.
For the Chinese Air Force, this is a very good aircraft. As long as the Japanese Zero fighter planes do not come out, this Soviet aircraft is sufficient.
"You've only flown twice and you already know so much about this aircraft?" Lu Jichun was a little surprised.
"I have flown a lot of aircraft before, and I have seen them in Wuhan, and I know some about them. This aircraft will have no problem dealing with the Japanese army's new fighters, at least within two years."
"Within two years?"
"Once the Japanese army loses the initiative in the air, it will definitely develop new fighters with better performance. If we still only have this aircraft, we will definitely suffer." Li Hang explained.
"So you are still thinking about designing a new airplane? I see that you have been drawing things there these two days. Are you designing airplanes?" Lu Jichun couldn't help but ask after thinking of Li Hang's weird behavior in the past two days.
"Well, I'm still just imagining it, but I do have this idea. I really want to fly an aircraft designed and built by the Chinese to protect our country." Li Hang did not deny it.
"You talked about designing an airplane before. I thought you were just bragging, but I didn't expect you to actually start taking action. You are a pilot, but you actually design an airplane?" Lu Jichun was surprised when he thought about it.
"Who says pilots can't design airplanes? In fact, we know airplanes best. If we can design, we can definitely design an airplane that pilots are satisfied with."
Of course, the main reason why Li Hang is so confident is that the structure of today's propeller aircraft is relatively simple, which is completely different from the jet fighters of later generations.
