Chengdu J-20 heavyweight fighter made its maiden flight on Jan. 11, 2011, just as the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited China. Gates thinks this time arrangement is a kind of humiliation to himself.
However, on the tenth anniversary of J-20’s first flight, China News Network reported that the J-20’s first flight was originally set before Gates’ visit to China.
According to report, January 6, 2011 was originally scheduled as the first flight day of the J-20, but it was interrupted by a discovery made by Wang Xiaobo, a mechanic at the test flight station, who noticed that there was an oil leak in the right engine of the J-20 jet waiting for its first flight.
At 8 o’clock that night, the cause of the failure was determined. After more than 4 hours, the fault was finally eliminated.
“Fortunately the problem was discovered in time.” Afterward, Yang Wei, chief designer of the J-20 aircraft, sighed with emotion.
And then, the weather station director Yang Ling led the weather forecasting team to analyze thousands of weather charts every day, not daring to have the slightest sloppiness. For the maiden flight, any change in one element can lead to a very different conclusion.
And on the night of January 7, 2011, based on the latest authoritative numerical forecasts, the weather station analysis concluded that January 11th was the best day to fly.
Oddly enough, an oil leak was also discovered just hours before the maiden flight of China’s another major indigenous fighter jet – the J-10.