Feng Ru (1884-1912)
Feng Ru, formerly known as Feng Jiuru. Born on January 12, 1884, in Enping County, Guangdong Province, to a poor peasant family. After only a few years of reading in his childhood, he dropped out of school to herd cattle. Since childhood, he liked to make toys such as kites and cars and boats. I am full of yearning for mythological stories, especially flying stories.
In 1895, after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, Feng Ru, who was only 12 years old, bid farewell to his parents in tears and crossed the ocean with his relatives to san Francisco to make a living. After arriving in San Francisco, through learning English and scientific and technological knowledge, as well as witnessing the rapid development of advanced machines, he realized that the country's prosperity and strength must depend on machines, so he was even more angry to study and specialized in machine manufacturing.
During Feng Ru's study in New York, two major events that caused a sensation in the world appeared. In 1903, the American Wright Brothers pioneered the successful flight of a powered manned aircraft. In 1905, the Russo-Japanese War broke out, and my compatriots were devastated. These two events not only further stimulated Feng Ru's patriotic enthusiasm, but also made him more clear about the direction of struggle. In 1906, Feng Ru swore: "Yes (referring to the manufacture of machines) is not enough to save the country, I have heard of military sharp weapons Mo Aircraft Ruo." Vows to be the initiative of the body, to become a masterpiece, in order to return to the motherland. If you don't succeed, you'd rather die. He also said: "China is strong, and it will use all aircraft in the air, such as ships on waterways." Feng Ru was not only the first Chinese to put forward the idea of saving the country through aviation and fighting for it all his life, but also the earliest military aviation thinker in modern China.
In 1906, after studying machine building in New York, Feng Ru returned to San Francisco and began recruiting apprentices to build machines, as well as collecting information on the design, manufacture and piloting of aircraft.
After 10 years of angry study and work practice, Feng Ru finally became an expert proficient in mechanical and electrical technology. He has developed advanced mechanical and electrical equipment such as water pumps, piling machines, generators, wired telephones and wireless telegraphs, which are quite famous in the local area. The San Francisco Call called him "a well-known mechanic and inventor." The San Francisco Gazette praised Feng Ru as "the inventor of the genius of oakland city.". At that time, a group of overseas Chinese rich merchants invited him to preside over a plan to develop the motherland's power industry, but he believed that the establishment of an aircraft manufacturing industry was more urgent and more important. Therefore, he politely declined the invitation, and in May 1908 raised funds to establish the Guangdong Manufacturing Machine Factory at 359 East Ninth Street in Auckland City, aiming to manufacture aircraft. At that time, only Huang Qi, Zhang Nan and Tan Yaoneng participated in the shares, and they poured everything out, even the tools and materials were discounted for more than 1,000 yuan. Despite their small number of people, they developed aircraft in a factory building of nearly 7.5 square meters.
Feng Ru's work photo published in an American newspaper
After years of hard work, finally in September 1909, less than 6 years after the world's first aircraft came out, he completed the first aircraft Chinese designed and built by himself. Feng Ru This aircraft is called "Feng Ru No. 1", similar to the Wright aircraft, it is also a biplane, frame fuselage, engine mounted in the center of the lower wing of the propulsion, canard control surface layout of the aircraft. Its rudder is also similar to that of a Wright aircraft, but the landing device has been improved, and 4 wheels are mounted at the end of the landing gear.
Feng Ru prepares for a test flight in Yantang, Guangzhou (it is Feng Ru who sits on the plane, and the rest is his assistant)
On the evening of September 21, 1909, the "Feng Ru 1" officially flew. Feng Ru took off against the strong wind, rose to a height of 4.5 meters, flew around a small hill, flew about 800 meters, showing that the aircraft has good performance, thus writing a glorious first page for the history of China's powered manned flight. At that time, Chinese and Western newspapers competed to report. The San Francisco Gazette newspaper published a large photo of Feng Ru in a prominent position on the front page, praising Feng Ru as "the Wright of the East" and exclaiming: "In the field of aviation, Chinese left white people behind!" ”
On October 28, 1909, Feng Ru, together with Huang Zicai, Liu Yizhi, Zhu Zhuquan and others, expanded the Guangdong Manufacturing Machinery Factory into the Guangdong Manufacturing Machinery Company, and openly recruited preferred shareholders and share capital. From November 3, 1909 to February 19, 1910, in just over 3 months, 67 preferred shareholders were recruited, with a share capital of 5875 yuan.
After the establishment of Guangdong Manufacturing Machinery Company in San Francisco, Feng Ru served as the chief mechanic, and immediately purchased a complete set of equipment for manufacturing aircraft and re-developed high-power aircraft. Soon, the new aircraft was made and improved 4 times, but still repeatedly failed in test flights. Feng Ru was not discouraged. At that time, his parents repeatedly wrote to him to urge him to return to China to reunite with his family, and his relatives and friends around him also advised him to return to China. Feng Ruwan thanked her relatives and friends and swore: "The plane is not successful, and I will not return to China." ”
On September 23, 1909, the San Francisco Explorer reported on the front page of Feng Ru
Feng Ru continued to develop the aircraft, but failed twice. He has been frustrated 6 times, and Feng Ru has always struggled. In May 1910, the factory building at 359 East Ninth Street in Oakland suddenly caught fire and burned down. After 6 consecutive failures and plant fires, the company has consumed 90% of its capital. After conscientiously summing up the lessons of previous failures and drawing on the advanced experience of the time, he finally developed a new type of aircraft in January 1911, called "Feng Ru 2".
On the morning of January 18, 1911, Feng Ru piloted the "Feng Ru 2" aircraft, which was publicly tested at the Jones Street terminal in Oakland, near Elauhurst Square on the bay of San Francisco. The plane glided about 30.5 meters on the ground, that is, soared up, rose to a height of about 12 meters, flew around the square for about 1600 meters, flew towards the bay of San Francisco, and then returned, slowly landing on the square where it took off. The flight lasted 4 minutes. It was a completely successful flight. The "San Francisco Sunday Call" published a full-page headline "He planted wings for the Chinese dragon" and used the giant dragon, Feng Ru plane and Feng Ru statue as set pictures to introduce Feng Ru and his affairs in detail.
From January to February 1911, Feng Ru flew the aircraft around the bay many times, its maximum speed was 104 kilometers per hour, the flight altitude reached more than 200 meters, and the performance reached the world's advanced level at that time. The number of Chinese and Westerners who went to watch the flight was innumerable. European and American newspapers praised: "The reputation of the king has soared in the world." ”
On February 22, 1911, Feng Ru led his assistants Zhu Zhuquan, Situ Biru and Zhu Zhaohuai to return to China by ship with planes and equipment.
On October 10, 1911, the Wuchang Uprising, which shook the world, broke out.
On November 9, the Guangdong Revolutionary Government was established, and Feng Ru was appointed as the captain of the Guangdong Revolutionary Government, becoming the first captain in China. He immediately established the Guangdong Aircraft Company in Yantang, Guangzhou, the first aircraft manufacturing company in China.
After three months of hard work, in March 1912, an aircraft similar to the "Feng Ru 2" was made, which opened the first page in the history of China's aviation industry. Therefore, Feng Ru is also the founder and pioneer of China's modern aviation industry.
In 1912, Feng Ru and the plane he made were at Yantang Airport
On August 25, 1912, Feng Ru publicly performed an air show in Yantang, Guangzhou. Feng Ru flew a homemade aircraft up into the air, about 36 meters high and about 8 kilometers southeast. At that time, the aircraft was running normally, maneuvering freely, and the sound of applause was incessant. However, Feng Ru was anxious to raise and maneuvered too violently, causing the plane to stall and fall to the ground, and the plane was destroyed and injured. The hospital rescue was ineffective, and Feng Ru was martyred at the age of 29.
Statue of Feng Ru in the Peanut Liao community of Linhe Street, River District, Guangzhou City today
On the occasion of his death, Feng Ruyu encouraged his assistant: "Do not hinder his enterprising spirit because of my death, you must know that this is a necessary stage." ”
On September 24, 1912, a memorial meeting was held at the place where Feng Ru was in distress, and people from all walks of life sent many banglians, and his Chinese scholar He Tanru's banging was the most popular: martyrs are very easy, martyrs are particularly difficult, and when the plane crashes, Aozuka can bury the great soil; the success of the matter is commendable, the defeat of the matter can also be gratifying, the thousand autumns stay in practice, and the yellow flowers see the weeping autumn wind. Bang Lian praised Feng Ru's brilliant achievements and expressed people's deep condolences to Feng Ru.