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NANNING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A military transport plane used in the World War II was put on permanent display in China to honor an American air squadron which helped the Chinese fight against Japanese aggression.
The C-47 aircraft was placed in the Flying Tiger Heritage Park in the city of Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The park is built on the site of Yangtang Airfield, which served as the command base where the "Flying Tigers", the moniker of American Volunteer Group, launched missions throughout southern China.
The 72-year-old aircraft was purchased by the American Flying Tiger Historical Organization from Australia in 2016. After a major repair, the organization's president Larry Jobe led a five-member crew with an average age of 71.8 years to fly the C-47 all the way to China.
It particularly repeated a flight of the treacherous Hump, or the "death route" over the Himalayan mountains, operated jointly by China and the United States to transport military supplies from India to China from 1942 to 1945.
The Flying Tigers were formed in 1941 led by U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault to help China drive out invading Japanese troops.
After a brief period of intensive training, Gen. Chennault led the Flying Tigers to China. In their first air combat in December 1941, the Flying Tigers downed six enemy bombers and damaged four.
In the ensuing six months, the Flying Tigers fought more than 100 combats, shooting down 272 enemy aircraft and destroying another 225 on the ground, which earned them great appreciation and praises.
