Yu Zhenwu (; born July 1931) is a retired pilot and general of the Chinese

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...

(PLAAF). As one of China's first

test pilots A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

, he conducted the 1958 maiden flight of the Shenyang JJ-1, China's first indigenously developed jet aircraft. He later served as commander of the

Guangzhou Military Region The Guangzhou Military Region was from 1955 to 2016 one of the People's Liberation Army PLA Military Regions, located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China (Hua Zhong) Military Region (MR) was formed. In Mar ...

Air Force from 1982 to 1985, deputy commander of the PLAAF from 1985 to 1994, and commander of the PLAAF from 1994 to 1996.

Early life

Yu Zhenwu was born in July 1931 in Kuandian,

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

, Republic of China. He enlisted in the army in December 1947 and joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

in August 1949. After the

(PLAAF) was established, Yu transferred to the PLAAF and trained to become a fighter pilot. He was deployed in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

in the last few months of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Test pilot

In 1958,

Xu Shunshou Xu Shunshou (; 21 August 1917 – 6 January 1968) was a Chinese aircraft designer and a founder of the aircraft manufacturing industry in the People's Republic of China. He was the founding director of the PRC's first aircraft design organizatio ...

Shenyang Aircraft Corporation Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) or Shenyang Aerospace Corporation is a Chinese civilian and military aircraft manufacturer located in Shenyang, Liaoning, a subsidiary of the state-owned aircraft manufacturer AVIC. Founded in 1951 as the cl ...

(then known as the 112 Factory) developed the Shenyang JJ-1, the first jet aircraft designed in China. After the first model crashed during a test flight, Yu, one of the top fighter pilots in the air force, was selected for the dangerous job as the

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

for the second plane. On 26 July 1958, Yu successfully completed the maiden flight of the JJ-1, which has since been celebrated as a landmark in the history of Chinese aviation. In August 1958, Yu performed an

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

at the celebration ceremony for the successful development of the JJ-1, which was attended by Marshal

Ye Jianying Ye Jianying (; 28 April 1897 – 22 October 1986) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary leader and politician, one of the founding Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China. He was the top military leader in the 1976 coup that overthrew ...

and the PLAAF Commander

Liu Yalou Liu Yalou (; April 1910 – 7 May 1965) was a general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army who served as the inaugural commander-in-chief of the PLA Air Force During the Chinese Civil War, he was chief of staff of Lin Biao's army group, whi ...

. In 2004,

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...

aired the documentary ''The Secrets of China's War Eagles'' (中国战鹰探秘), which includes an interview with Yu, to commemorate the maiden flight of the JJ-1.

Commander of Guangzhou MRAF and PLAAF

Yu later served as director of the Training Department of the PLAAF headquarters. In 1982, he succeeded

Wang Hai Wang Hai (; 19 January 1926 – 2 August 2020) was a Chinese fighter pilot and general. A flying ace of the Korean War, he served as commander of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) from 1985 to 1992. He was awarded the rank of gener ...

as commander of the

Air Force (MRAF). When Wang was promoted to commander of the PLAAF in July 1985, Yu was appointed his deputy and placed in charge of schools, training, and maintenance. He subsequently served as deputy commander under Wang's successor Cao Shuangming. He was the youngest but highest ranking deputy under both Wang and Cao. The other two deputy commanders, Lin Hu and Yang Zhenyu, both had served as commandant or deputy commandant of the PLAAF Command College. The choice of the three deputy commanders reflected the PLAAF's emphasis on training. In November 1994, Yu was appointed commander of the PLAAF, replacing Cao Shuangming. He was the first post-Korean War veteran to serve as commander. He visited the United States in May 1995, but it was aborted by the People's Republic of China government when

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...

, the president of the Republic of China on Taiwan, visited the US in spite of Beijing's protest. Yu attained the rank of full general in January 1996, and was elected an alternate member of the

13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1987 to 1992. It held seven plenary sessions. It was preceded by the 12th Central Committee and succeeded by the 14th Central Committee. It elected the 13th Politburo of ...

. He served two years as PLAAF commander before being replaced by

Liu Shunyao Liu Shunyao (; 1939 – 30 December 2002) was a Chinese pilot and general of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). He served as commander of the Lanzhou Military Region Air Force, deputy commander of the PLAAF (1994–1996), and comma ...

in December 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Zhenwu 1931 births Living people Chinese test pilots Commanders of the People's Liberation Army Air Force People's Liberation Army generals from Liaoning People from Dandong Alternate members of the 13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party