Air International 1983-01
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L.Berns - Tientsin Time Capsule ... a visit to a Chinese air base
MiG-19S (J-6)
Protected from the rain by umbrellas, personnel check the cockpit of a J-6C fighter during the author’s visit to the Yangtsuon air base. Note the large fins on the drop tank and the auxiliary power unit.
A J-6C at Yangtsuon parked in front of a jet exhaust deflector.
The author in the cockpit of an F-6C. In the foreground is Mr Chen Xingneng from the Air Staff in Beijing and behind (on the right) is one of the 38th Air Defence Division pilots.
Shenyang-manufactured TJ-5D (Klimov VK-1) -powered single-seat J-5, seen undergoing maintenance at dispersal, remains an important item in the inventory of the Air Force of the People‘s Liberation Army despite having first entered service with the Soviet Air Force thirty years ago!
The JJ-5 (FT-5) two-seat trainer derivative of the J-5, alias MiG-17, is powered by the Shenyang-manufactured TJ-5D (Klimov VK-1), a Rolls-Royce Nene derivative centrifugal-flow engine dating back conceptually to WWII.
A JJ-5 taxying from dispersal prior to taking-off for a training exercise
One of the JJ-5s of the Chinese air arm's formation aerobatic demonstration team. Although, as may be seen from the photograph above, the JJ-5 offers the instructor a somewhat restricted view, this Chinese-developed trainer reportedly offers rather less critical handling characteristics than the MiG-15UTI that it has largely supplanted in service, the latter having pronounced pitch-up tendencies at high attack angles.