Feng Ru is a tragic figure in the imperial aviation industry, in the early years, he was only an apprentice in a factory, without formal education, but later came into contact with some more advanced ideas, it was a pure coincidence that he embarked on the road of inventing airplanes, long before him, there were many scientists, inventors hoped to be able to build a machine that flew into the sky by its own power, rather than a tool like a balloon that relied on the buoyancy of air to fly into the sky. However, before the advent of the internal combustion engine, it was impossible to build an airplane, because the internal combustion engine was the first engine that could provide enough power and at the same time be light enough, and the steam engine could never be used as the power system of the aircraft.

At that time, Feng Ru's factory was the first factory in the empire to produce internal combustion engines for automobiles, and before he embarked on the path of an inventor, the use of internal combustion engines in automobiles was very rare, and even the concept of "automobile" was not fully popularized. It was also after coming into contact with the first internal combustion engine that Feng Ru had a bold idea, could he use this engine to make the machine fly into the sky?

After more than ten years of hard work and hundreds of failures, Feng Ru finally succeeded. And the word "airplane" was invented by him, and it is actually just an abbreviation of "flying machine". Similarly, because of this dream, Feng Ru lost his job to support his family, sold almost all his family's belongings, and when his "Feitian" flew into the sky, he did not even hire a photographer to record this historic moment, and as a result, his flight was not recognized because there was no evidence.

At that time, Feng Xiangchu was only two years old, and he also had an older brother who was three years older than him. Feng Xiangchu watched his father fly into the sky in his mother's arms. And in all his memories, there is only childhood misery and sadness. And there was no exciting moment, because just a few years later, Feng Ru died of illness in a small hospital in Harbin because of poverty. At that time, Feng Xiangchu was not yet eight years old. From this time on, he had to learn to think like an adult, face life, and bear the pressure of life. Two years later. His mother left him, and four years later, at the age of 13, Feng Xiangchu lost his last relative, and his brother died in the war.

It was also in this year that Feng Xiangchu got a small pension and entered middle school. It took him only three years to complete everything from elementary school to high school. During these three years, an event happened that would determine Feng Xiangchu's fate, he found a flight record among his father's relics, which contained hundreds of flying machines designed by his father. Among them is the "Flying Sky". It was at the age of 16 that he was admitted to Imperial Engineering University, after completing all his secondary school studies. This school was in Harbin, and it was one of the few universities in the empire that offered aviation majors at that time.

Start here. Feng Xiangchu did not be able to complete the road that his father could not take, at the age of 25, Feng Xiangchu got two engineering doctoral degrees in processing and manufacturing, and power. It stands to reason that Feng Xiangchu could choose to enter one of the several aircraft factories that had been established at that time at this time, and it was very promising that he would become the chief designer of the aircraft, or at least the chief engineer, before the age of 40, and start his brilliant career. But Feng Xiangchu did not make such a choice, he used the money saved from working abroad for 9 years to start his own aircraft company. This is the predecessor of Hafei, "Flying Company".

The company started with just five employees. Among them is Feng Xiangchu, who is the chief designer and chief engineer, and is also responsible for managing the processing and manufacturing work, that is, he does almost all the technical work alone, and the few employees he hired are only responsible for manufacturing parts according to his design drawings. A year later, the first plane Feng Xiangchu built flew into the sky, and he named this plane "Feitian", presumably, in honor of his father. At that time, the plane was made of wood, double-winged, and skin-like structure, just the simplest and most ordinary airplane, and finally sold it to an aircraft collector at a price of 230 yuan, which was also Feng Xiangchu's first income, and he spent more than 250 yuan to build this aircraft, which was also the only loss-making transaction he had a record of.

After a year, Feng Xiangchu was almost bankrupt, and this year, he learned a lot of things, and the most important thing is the role of money. It was at this time that Feng Xiangchu came up with the idea of building airplanes in a commercial way, not only to realize the dream of flying, but also to make money, so that he could make better airplanes instead of being on the verge of bankruptcy. It can be said that this year, he has learned a lesson, and at the same time established some concepts that were very trendy and avant-garde at the time, but also very important.

Fortunately, Feng Xiangchu lived in a much better era than his father. At that time, the first global war had just ended, the economic crisis had not yet arrived, the role of aircraft in the war had begun to emerge, the theory of aviation tactics was gradually emerging, and a large number of investors were interested in the aviation industry, knowing that it would be another manufacturing industry that could make a lot of money after the automobile. There was one thing that had the greatest impact on Feng Xiangchu, and one person.

This was the "Speed Race", which was held every year in Tianjin based on the speed of the aircraft, which was held annually in Tianjin from 10 years ago, and the winner would receive a prize of 5,000 yuan, which at that time was an astronomical amount. In addition, there will be opportunities for others to invest, and of course, whether or not we can build an aircraft that can win the competition depends on whether there is enough money.

Feng Xiangchu saw hope here, he participated in the first competition, but the results were extremely bad, ranking 21st out of 24 participants, almost the bottom, because there were still two people who did not finish the race! Feng Xiangchu was not discouraged by this, he ran around and borrowed money from every relative and friend. As a result, he missed the second year because he didn't have time to build a new plane, but he didn't miss the third year. In that competition in 12 years, Feng Xiangchu was almost about to get the 5,000 yuan bonus, but in the last third of the flight, his plane malfunctioned, and he only won a fifth place. But it also gave him more hope.

The economic crisis almost destroyed all of Feng Xiangchu's dreams, and when everyone in the country was running for a living, Feng Xiangchu did not forget his ideals, but he also had to think about his own victory and the belly of the dozen or so workers he hired. Outcome. By the 14th year, when the worst of the economic crisis had largely passed, there were only three workers in Feng Xiangchudi's factory, and he himself had sold his last decent clothes and was living on two potatoes a day. He didn't give up on his dreams. Perhaps it is this firm belief that condemns him to be a success, not a loser.

At the end of the 14th year, the person who affected Feng Xiangchu's life appeared, this is the investor Duan Yulin. Duan Yulin is a true businessman, a businessman who can spot opportunities and seize them. In fact, as early as 12 years, Duan Yulin saw an opportunity, only in the ensuing economic crisis. He put more energy into his own industry, so he was not able to contact Feng Xiangchu. It wasn't until the end of 14, after a two-year hiatus, when the "Speed Competition" was ready to be held again, that Duan Yulin remembered the young man who almost won the first place back then, and then he did everything possible to find Feng Xiangchu. Start here. The short-lived cooperation between the two began, with Duan Yulin investing and Feng Xiangchu to build the aircraft. Of course, the purpose is not just to win the game, in Duan Yulin's eyes, the purpose of his investment is to obtain orders from the army. Therefore, Feng Xiangchu is not Duan Yulin's only partner, and while funding Feng Xiangchu, Duan Yulin also sponsors several other young people similar to Feng Xiangchu.

After having enough funds. Feng Xiangchu recruited those workers back and expanded the ranks of workers. It took him less than a year to design and build a new airplane, and he participated in the fourth "Speed Competition" held in Tianjin in November '15. This time, Feng Xiangchu did not miss the precious opportunity, his "Feitian 5" monoplane won the competition, and received a prize of 5,000 yuan, and according to his agreement with Duan Yulin, all the 5,000 yuan will be invested in the development of the new aircraft, that is, to maintain the operation of the aircraft factory.

It was at this time that there was a contradiction between Duan Yulin and Feng Xiangchu. Shen Fei, who had been established at that time, proposed to buy the technology and property rights of "Feitian 5", and the price was not low. Of course, Duan Yulin saw an opportunity, and he naturally wanted to make a lot of money on it, but Feng Xiangchu didn't want to sell his plane. As a result, the cooperation between the two ended, because it was funded and sponsored by Duan Yulin, so the property rights of "Feitian 5" actually belonged to Duan Yulin, not Feng Xiangchu, and the court also made such a judgment. In the end, Feng Xiangchu took the 5,000 yuan bonus, as well as the 15,000 yuan compensation that the court ordered Duan Yulin to pay him, and started his entrepreneurial journey. Of course, Feng Xiangchu did not expect that most of the basic technology of the "Sparrowhawk", the first monoplane fighter of the Imperial Navy, came from his "Feitian 5".

Since the beginning of 16 years, Feng Xiangchu decided to go it alone, at this time the funds in his hands are relatively abundant, and the speed of development of the aviation force has made everyone see hope, in addition, the civil aviation market has also risen, it can be said that the aviation industry is a sunrise industry, is an industry with unlimited prospects. At that time, Feng Xiangchu may not have thought that he would become the most famous aircraft manufacturer in the empire in the future, and he did not even think that the aircraft he designed would become the fighter of the imperial navy. Anyway, at that time, Feng Xiangchu just wanted to have a place in this emerging market, and no longer be swayed by other speculators.

What really gave Feng Xiangchu a chance was the war, the outbreak of the Great War, the rapid transformation of the empire's domestic system, and the transformation of the economy. Soon, Feng Xiangchu saw the opportunity, which also proves that the opportunity itself will not be sent to the door, only those who have vision will seize the opportunity. At that time, Feng Xiangchu's aircraft factory already had a certain scale, but it mainly provided parts for other large aircraft factories, and also made small aircraft for private use for some wealthy businessmen. And the opportunity Feng Xiangchu saw was that the imperial army did not have a suitable heavy bomber, and in war, heavy bombers would definitely play an unparalleled role.

After quickly reorganizing the aircraft factory and obtaining the right to use a large piece of wasteland from the Harbin city government with a very low advance payment and the promise that Hafei would expand the employment rate in Harbin, Feng Xiangchu participated in several tenders for the imperial navy, but the fighter he designed was immature in many aspects, so it was not able to be selected by the navy. It was not until there was a turning point in the war against Japan and the navy clearly proposed to develop heavy bombers that Feng Xiangchu seized the opportunity.

In the tender for the "wolf dove", Feng Xiangchu's design was first rejected, and finally used again, and finally won, which is a great miracle. Of course, Hafei, which had already completed the reorganization at that time, was not capable of completing the production of bombers, so Feng Xiangchu had to share his design with Shen Fei and the later established Nanfei. Of course, he did not get any less benefits, and Shen Fei would have to pay him a large amount of property rights fees in order to build the "Wolf Dove" bomber. It was with this money that Feng Xiangchu persuaded the local government, and Hafei developed rapidly, from a little-known small private jet manufacturing company to the Navy's No. 2 fighter supplier.

With a large number of orders during the war and the strong support of the local government, Feng Xiangchu is getting closer and closer to his dream, perhaps, at the beginning, Feng Xiangchu would not have thought that he would be able to achieve his current achievements. Of course, there are many things that he didn't expect, including Hafei's future development.

It can also be seen from Feng Xiangchu's history that he has experienced a lot of twists and turns, and even faced the threat of bankruptcy several times, especially from 09 to 14 years, Feng Xiangchu even thought about changing careers many times. But he persevered, and had the last laugh.

In addition, Feng Xiangchu's brief cooperation with Duan Yulin, as well as his keen judgment that followed, proved that he was a true industrialist, not a speculative businessman, which was the basis for Hafei's success, and also on the basis of Feng Xiangchu's own success. Of course, this is also the characteristic of a group of capitalists such as Feng Xiangchu who developed during the war, based on industry rather than speculation, which made them finally successful.