In "Aerial Photography China Season 1", Shanghai's "Aircraft Building" is displayed in front of the public through aerial photography, and the Aircraft Building not only witnesses history, but also allows the aviation national salvation movement to start from here. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the aircraft building was used as a building by the China Aviation Association, and now it is used in Shanghai Changhai Hospital as the history museum of the Second Military Medical University.
The aircraft building is located in Changhai Hospital, No. 174 Changhai Road, Shanghai, where it looks very ordinary from the ground, and it becomes chic in the air. Although it is only 2 stories up and down, the overall shape resembles an airplane that wants to spread its wings and fly, and the nose, wings and fuselage equipment in the building are all available.
Directly in front of the aircraft building is the main entrance of the entire building, and on the borders on both sides of the doors, there are two lifelike relief dragons. On the lintel is the calligraphy work "Aircraft Building" by Wang Daohan, the former mayor of Shanghai.
Surrounded by lush trees, the small 2-story building may seem a little unremarkable now, but in the 1930s it was the headquarters of the Chinese Aviation Association, the hub of the aviation national salvation movement.
In the Songhu War of 1932, during the "1.28" Incident, the Japanese army dispatched aircraft to bomb Shanghai indiscriminately. In the early morning of January 29, the Japanese took off bombers from the seaplane aircraft carrier "Notoru" moored on the Huangpu River to bomb the North China Boundary of Zhabei, and the Commercial Press and the Oriental Library at No. 584 Baoshan Road were destroyed, of which the latter was also the largest private library in the country, with more than 300,000 books.
The Japanese also brutally bombed Shanghai houses, along with Ji University, Fudan University and Shanghai Law School. The tragic losses made our military and civilians realize the important role of aircraft in war. The bombing of the Japanese army made the Chinese people soberly realize that if they are backward, they will be beaten, and only with strong military strength and national defense can they not be bullied.
On New Year's Day 1933, with the support of the people of the whole country, overseas Chinese and the National Government, the "Aviation Salvation Congress" was initiated by the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce and leaders from all walks of life, and later renamed the China Aviation Association. Since then, the far-reaching aviation rescue operation has begun.
"Aviation to save the country" first originated from Sun Yat-sen. As early as 1910, Sun Yat-sen instructed the members of the Alliance in the United States to organize aspiring young people to learn aviation knowledge, encourage everyone to organize the Chinese Aircraft Manufacturing Company, and develop good aircraft to support the domestic revolution. After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, Sun Yat-sen called on overseas Chinese to organize a revolutionary flying team, and at the same time established a flying team in the Guangdong Revolutionary Army and founded the earliest aviation team.
In 1923, after the test flight of the first Aircraft made in China, Sun Yat-sen wrote down the four big characters of "Aviation to Save the Country".
The whole country launched a "patriotic aircraft donation activity" centered on Shanghai, mobilizing everyone to have money and make a strong contribution to jointly develop China's aircraft manufacturing industry.
On January 10, 1933, the Chinese Aviation Association was established in Shanghai, with the purpose of "advocating the national aviation industry and researching and developing aviation technology", advocating the development of the national aviation industry, studying aviation technology, enhancing the national consciousness of aviation to save the country, strengthening aviation strength, resisting bullying by the great powers, and achieving the purpose of washing away the national shame.
Pictured: Gao Zhihang, a famous aviation general in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, at the naming ceremony of the donation plane at Hongqiao Airport
The China Aviation Association has launched two public donation and purchase activities, the first time to raise 1.39 million yuan, the purchase of 18 aircraft, and held a donation and naming conference at Hongqiao Airport. The second time, 1.39 million yuan was donated and 10 American military aircraft were purchased.
On June 1, 1933, the Aviation Association donated 18 fighter jets to the Aviation Administration for the first time in the name of all the citizens of Shanghai. Doolittle, who later took off from an aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo, also served as an aerobatic pilot. Dulitt flew the Hawker II, also known as the Shanghai, over downtown Shanghai, distributing 200,000 leaflets and welcoming people to the Jiangwan Racecourse to watch the naming ceremony.
Doolittle piloted a B-25 of a ground aircraft carrier from an aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo, Japan
In 1935, in order to continue to develop, the China Aviation Association acquired 10 acres of land next to the then Municipal Museum to build office space and exhibition halls. The association also raised 100,000 yuan and asked the famous architect Dong Dayou to design it. On October 12, 1935, the foundation stone of the Aviation Association Building was laid, and Chairman Wang Xiaoli presided over the groundbreaking ceremony, which was attended by the Mayor of Shanghai and representatives from all walks of life. Jiutai Jinji Construction Factory won the bid for construction of 100,000 yuan. On May 5, 1936, the aircraft building was officially put into use.
The whole aircraft building resembles a waiting airplane, looking down like an "I" shape. The main building is a small 2-storey building, and the main building on the west side is the Aviation Exhibition Hall and the Aviation Library. The junction of the main building on the east side and the main building on the west side is the office of the China Aviation Association. The dome of the West Main Building has three floors of pheasant towers on top, like the cockpit of an airplane, with 8 mantis heads protruding from the cornice. The gate on the west side is a traditional riveted wooden door, and the east side gate has a stone door stall.
The aircraft building we see now is what it looks like after renovation. In 1991, when Zheng Zhongliang, chairman of Nanyang Golden Dragon Enterprise Co., Ltd., went to Changhai Hospital for physical examination and treatment, he looked down from the high ward and found the aircraft building. From the cornerstone on the right side of the main entrance, we get the beginning and end of the aircraft building.
Zheng Zhongliang also deliberately went to Nanjing to check the historical materials, and then spent 25 million yuan to renovate the aircraft building. After the restoration, the aircraft building was completely renovated, and Wang Daohan, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, also inscribed three big characters of "aircraft building."