When did David Wei fly back to the mainland?

In December 1955, David Wei was admitted to the Taipei Flying Society as a flight instructor based on his superb flying skills.

From the first day he arrived at the agency, David Wei began to prepare to fly back to the mainland.

The Taipei Flying Agency has more than 20 aircraft of several types and sizes, but none of them are very suitable. The only ideal airplane is the Cessna 170, which is faster and has better performance. However, David Wei had never flown this type of aircraft, and he had never even looked at the equipment in the cockpit.

Moreover, this plane is Jiang Weiguo's special tour plane, equipped with special guards, mechanics and pilots, making it difficult for others to approach. Not only that, every time the aircraft comes back from a flight, the mechanics have to dismantle some parts, drain out the gasoline, and sometimes even take away the battery, and lock the aircraft into the hangar under very tight supervision.

It is difficult to get close to it, let alone driving it, it is even more difficult. However, this is the only way to go.

After David Wei became familiar with the aircraft’s mechanics and security personnel, he often helped them push the aircraft and watched them test drive. In this way, David Wei became more familiar with Cessna. He also managed to get the manual and cockpit diagram of the Cessna-170 aircraft, and memorized its equipment and performance data.

Every time the Cessna takes off and lands, David Wei carefully observes its taxiing distance, the length of the runway required, and what parts are disassembled and assembled.

David Wei also obtained the magnetic door key of the machine and got one as usual. At the same time, David Wei also found a map of the mainland's coast, memorized the terrain, and planned the flight route.

During this period, David Wei had begun to gain the trust of the flight club and could fly the club's small aircraft, the Sky Jeep, near Songshan Airport. Therefore, David Wei carefully observed the terrain features and anti-aircraft artillery positions of Songshan Airport, and then flew along the Tamsui River to the seaport, making detailed records of the situation in this area.

After careful preparation, David Wei was confident that he could fly out smoothly even if the weather was bad. David Wei thought to himself, even if he doesn't succeed, he will become a benevolent person.

At the same time, David Wei has called or written to his Air Force classmates, telling them not to write to him anymore and to destroy all the photos taken with him. The students all knew it.

David Wei was ready to take off, he was just waiting for the opportunity.

Taiwan weather forecast for January 6, 1956: It will rain in Taipei on January 7.

David Wei thought this was a good opportunity and immediately called Zhai Xiaowu and Liang Feng to prepare for action.

On the evening of January 6, the guard guarding the Cessna plane was the one who knew David Wei best. David Wei told him: This plane will fly to Hualien Port tomorrow and let me test it tomorrow morning. He also asked him to fill up the plane with fuel and install the parts.

The guard only knew that David Wei could not fly the plane, but he didn't know what the test plane was, so he did it.

That night, David Wei, Zhai Xiaowu, and Liang Feng stayed up all night.

At around 5 a.m. on January 7, David Wei and the others called a taxi and went straight to Taipei Songshan Airport.

That morning, the same guard was on duty from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. David Wei originally planned to take him with him, but he had no relatives in the mainland, so David Wei didn't tell him.

At 6 a.m. on January 7, 1956, the weather forecast said it would be light rain and cloudy that day, which was in line with David Wei's requirements.

On the tarmac, parked was the Cessna that drove Jiang Weiguo's special plane.

David Wei and the others arrived at the tarmac. David Wei asked the guard to push the plane out and said he wanted to test it.

The guard pushed the plane out of the hangar. After David Wei started the plane and checked that there were no problems, he sent the guards to the duty room to drink coffee and read newspapers. Then, he motioned Zhai Xiaowu and Liang Feng, who were hiding in the dark, to get on the plane.

David Wei's key was assigned by himself. For the first time, he opened the accelerator smoothly. However, after Zhai Xiaowu and Liang Feng came up, they couldn't open it again. David Wei took a look and realized that the key was bent, so he arranged for two friends to hide. Then, he walked into the hangar studio nonchalantly and started tinkering around.

At that time, the guard had been reading the newspaper and did not notice the actions of David Wei and the others.

After repairing the key, David Wei boarded the plane again, and this time it started smoothly. The plane started immediately and the motor was very loud. The guard looked up and saw Zhai Xiaowu and Liang Feng hurriedly getting on the plane, so he rushed out and asked loudly: What are you doing? What are you doing?

David Wei ignored him. As soon as Zhai Xiaowu and Liang Feng came up, he slid the plane. When the guard realized something was wrong, he immediately pulled out his gun and shot at the plane.

David Wei first stepped on the brakes and applied full power. As soon as he released the brakes, the plane slid out. But the distance was too short, and the road was uneven. The plane twisted around and wasn't fast enough.

At that time, David Wei couldn't care less. When he reached the end of the apron, he immediately pulled up the plane. Although the speed was not enough, the plane eventually flew off the ground unsteadily.

At this time, the tower’s radio call came from the earphones: Who is taking off from here? Come back to the ground quickly!

The tower later told David Wei via radio: You are young and ignorant, don’t be tempted by bad people, they will forgive you when you come back.

David Wei thought to himself: You have lied to me for 7 years, why should I still listen to you? He said: I am David Wei, tell Chiang Kai-shek that we are returning to the mainland.

David Wei is finally going to realize his wish.