WWII Plane Flies to Guilin China for Permanent Display

NANNING -- A military transport plane used in the Australian battleground during World War II reached south China's Guilin, after it repeated a flight of the dangerous "hump route" over the Himalayas, a route flown by the famous US Flying Tigers.

The C-47 aircraft, contributed by the Flying Tiger Historical Organization in the United States, landed at the Guilin Liangjiang airport after three months of travel from Australia. It will be permanently displayed at the Flying Tigers Heritage Park in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

C-47 aircraft were used by the Flying Tigers, a US air squadron that helped the Chinese fight the Japanese during WWII.

The American Flying Tiger Historical Organization purchased the plane in Australia and repaired it for flight. The plane left Australia on Aug.15, and passed through Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Myanmar and Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province, before arriving in Guilin.

Larry Jobe, head of the US organization, said the trip was supposed to take about ten days, but it actually took three months. The crew changed the engines twice and made an emergency landing during the trip.

The money to buy the plane and fund its journey was donated by Flying Tigers history lovers and Chinese living in the United States, according to the organization.

The American Volunteer Group, which was later given the "Flying Tigers" moniker, was formed in 1941.