The nation celebrated the 30th anniversary of the maiden flight of its self-designed, self-manufactured jet trainer yesterday.
In attendance at the Taichung complex of Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) were Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠), Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) and representatives from the air force.
The event started with a film documenting the difficulties encountered during three decades of the trainer’s development and how they were overcome.
PHOTO: CNA
“Without the AIDC, there would be no aerospace industry in Taiwan,” Lin said.
In 1975, the air force asked the Aero Industry Development -Center, the company’s predecessor, to research and develop a new trainer to replace its aging T-33 trainers, AIDC said.
Sixty-three AT-3 trainers were made, the company said, of which two were prototypes. The first rolled out on July 17, 1980, and made its maiden flight on Sept. 16, 1980.
Development and manufacture of the plane was a significant step in the history of the nation’s -aviation industry, AIDC said, saying that it signaled Taiwan’s transition from propeller-driven aircraft to jet planes.
As a result of the experience gained through the development of the AT-3 trainers, the country was later able to develop its first defense fighter: A supersonic, twin-engined plane similar to the F-16, but slightly smaller and with a slightly shorter range.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS