Datangshan visit by John Mounce


Photos © John Mounce

John Mounce of New Zealand visited the museum on 13Nov2005 and found it a very interesting place; as any other visitor he claimed " ... I wish I had had more time there; I will return someday with a lower focal length lens for my EOS D20 and a big flash for the tunnel."
Any help with the unidentified types/serials would be very welcome.
John added the following phototip: "I used a Canon EOS 5 with 55mm-105mm lens for slides/prints and a Canon D20 with the EOS lens for the digitals. Ideally you need about a 40mm wide angle (ie 28mm on the digital) to get everything without distortion. Then a big flash and spare batteries for the 50-odd aircraft in the tunnel. And plenty of film! The tunnel is very dark but as you can see from the red/white Mig a good shot is possible. I was borrowing a big flash but the batteries ran out!!!
The place is very dusty and dry, best time for sun and clear skies is late October, early November. No issues with crowds. A few rope barriers. Keep SLRs with a lens on, to avoid dust contamination (there is usually a breeze).
If one is into serials etc, then no issues with the outside ones in terms of getting up close but as you can see many have no serial or even have had serial variations painted on (if you see some of the older visit reports).
Tried to buy an English language book. The only one they have is about 20 years old. There is a modern Chinese book which seems to have lots of pictures and data..but I can't read Chinese!!"

 

-> Hover over the thumbnails to read about type and identification - if known. <-

Jet

 Nanchang J-12, 01 Shenyang TF-1, 0101 L-29, 03

Fighters

Nanchang Q-5, 10262 Nanchang Q-5I-A, 10769 Nanchang Q-5I-A, 11264 Shenyang F-6III, 11323 Chengdu J-7, 11447
Yak 17 UTI, 12 Chengdu J-7, 1238 Shenyamg J-6II, 14121 Shenyang J-6I-V, 20158 Shenyang J-8, 20255
Shenyang JJ-5, 2216 Shenyang J-5, 2424 MiG 17F, 31051 MiG 17F, 31051 Nanchang Q-5B, 31124
MiG 17F, 31583 Chengdu J-7I, 3487 Shenyang J-6II, 40403 Shenyang J-6II, 40404 Shenyang J-6, 41483
Mig 15bis, 4169 MiG 15UTI, 42741 Shenyang JJ-5, 507 Shenyang J-5, 51209 Shenyang Tuanjin JJ-6, 56002
Dong Feng 102, 5619 MiG 15UTI, 63138 MiG 15UTI, 63833 Type?, 6604 (new?) Chengdu J-7, 70162
Shenyang J-6, 9214 Chengdu J-7, 98071 Chengdu J-7, no reg. Type? identity? Type? identity?
Mig 15? identity? Type? identity? Type? identity? MiG 15, identity?

Jet
Airliners

 HS.121-2E, 50055 Tu-124, 50257

Multi-engined Prop transports
Lisunov Li-2, 3029 IL-12, 35046 Harbin Y-11, 351 IL-12, 35140
IL-12, 35141 Avia 14M, 4202 Lisunov Li-2, 5070 An-24, 71291
Lisunov Li-2, 8205/15 An-12, B-1059 Curtiss C-46 Commando, no reg. Lisunov Li-2, identity?
MiG 15UTI? identity? CNATAF Lisunov Li-2, identity? Convair CV240, XT-810

Bombers
(props)
Tu-4, 4114 Tu-4, 4114 Tu-4, 4134 Tu-4, 4134

Bombers
(Jets)

 Xian H-6, 10794 Type ?, 21112 Type?, identity?

Single prop

 Nanchang Y-5, 60066 Nanchang Y-5, 10997, see text below Nanchang Y-5, 10996 Nanchang Y-5, 3139
Nanchang Y-5, identity? Polykarpov I-16, 5806 Tachikawa Ki-36, 102/3 Nanchang CJ-6, 67651 Type?, identity?
DHC-2 Beaver, identity? Fairchild PT-19A, identity? Piaggo P.149D JWTZ-205 Tanzanian AF IL-10, 1219 Vought 65-C1 (Lenin Plane)

Helicopters
Harbin Z-5, 3685 Harbin Z-5, 3889 Harbin Z-5, 7272 Harbin Z-5, 8673 Harbin Z-5, 9529
Harbin Changhe Z-6, identity? Mi-8T, 770 Mi-8T, 50358 Mi-8T, 756 Mi-8T, 50358

Various
Beriev Be-6P, 9886 Tupolev Tu-2S, identity? Tupolev Tu-2S, identity? DH-98 Mosquito Replica Type? identity?

Paul Chandler added the following comment (Mar.2006): "The white fighter type on the first row (coded 0101) is in fact a full size replica as there are no engine intakes!
There are also a couple of other replicas which are not so obvious (P40 warhawk for one)." Paul visited the museum in Oct.2005.

In reaction Phil Hawks wrote (Mar.2006): "I can see absolutely no reason why the Shenyang FT-1 (0101) should be a replica, especially as it does have clearly visible (if rather small) engine intakes (1 on each side of the fuselage just under the forward cockpit. I didn't check at the time, but the red inside is presumably just an inlet guard).
I'm also still mystified as to why "everyone" misquotes the serial of the An-2/Y-5 floatplane. It is very definitely 10997, and not 10953 or 21397. The problem is simply that it is fitted with a replacement rudder from another aircraft (presumably 21353). When I was checking my logs after my 2002 visit, I was somewhat confused by this particular machine, so when I returned in 2003 I made a particular point of checking it very carefully, and I'm 100 percent sure that this is the case. It's probably not clear on photos as the rudder is a pretty good fit, but if you can find any good quality side-on shots, you should be able to see it for yourself anyway."

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Last updated 12.3.2006