2016年3月22日，就在歼10成功首飞纪念日的前一天，我国航空工业一代宗师、中国工程院院士、歼10飞机总设计师宋文骢却溘然长逝。
On March 22, 2016, the day before the 18th anniversary of the J-10 fighter jet’s maiden flight, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Song Wencong, also China’s aviation industry generation master and chief designer of the J-10 fighter jet, departed from the world forever.
宋文骢是歼-10战机的总设计师。他经历过国土沦陷的屈辱岁月，深知拥有顶尖军备实力的重要性。56岁时，他接过研制战机的光荣使命，隐姓埋名20年，只为了让中国立于世界民族之林。
Song Wencong is the chief designer of the J-10 fighter jets. He has had experienced the humiliating years of the fall of the homeland, and he knew the importance of having top-notch military strength. At the age of 56, he took over the mission of developing China’s own fighter jets.
宋文骢对战机最早的记忆，来自儿时日军轰炸昆明的防空警报 。19岁参军，宋文骢曾作为空军机械师，奔赴抗美援朝战场。战场上战友的相继离去让他意识到建造强大的装备迫在眉睫。
Song's earliest memory of fighter jets could track back to his childhood when the Japanese military bombed Kunming city of China’s Yunnan Province. He joined the army at the age of 19. Song once served as an air force mechanic and went to the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. The successive pass-away of his fellows on the battlefield made him realize that the development of powerful equipment was imminent.
回国后，他考入哈尔滨军事工程学院，开始飞机设计生涯。1986年，时年56岁的他被任命为歼-10总设计师，肩负起我国自主研发新一代战机的重任。
He was admitted to the PLA Military Engineering Institute after returning to China, and began his career in aircraft design. In 1986, he was appointed as the chief designer of the J-10 fighter jet at the age of 56 and began the independent research and development of the new-generation fighter jet.
当时歼-10的研制面临着追赶世界强国的巨大压力，每个环节都要求超常规完成，而制造团队却连一台真正的计算机都没有。科研人员穿着破旧背心，在高温仓库里画了数万张设计图纸。一年真正的休息时间连17天都不到。
At that time, the development of the J-10 was under enormous pressure. Every link was required to be completed beyond the normal, while the manufacturing team did not even have a real computer. In their shabby waistcoats, researchers had drawn tens of thousands of design drawings in a stuffy warehouse. They did not even have 17 days of break in a year.
17年后，1998年3月23日，距离宋文骢68岁生日还有3天，歼-10滑入跑道，宋老在后面紧紧跟随着，就像是送自己的孩子走进考场，一眼不眨地看着歼-10一飞冲天。
Seventeen years later, on March 23, 1998, three days before Song's 68th birthday, a shining J-10 jet slid into the runway. Song followed closely, just like sending his child into the examination room. He witnessed the J-10 soaring into the sky.
飞机着陆后，宋文骢第一个冲上前去，紧紧抱住了试飞员。从此，宋老将自己的生日改在了这一天— 3月23日。
Song rushed to the aircraft and hugged the test pilot tightly after the J-10 successfully landed. Since then, Song has changed his birthday to this day, March 23.
2009年10月1日，新中国成立60周年阅兵上，空军编队呼啸而过。由我国自行研制、有着自主知识产权的高性能全天候歼-10战斗机聚焦着全世界的目光。
At the military parade marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 2009, the PLA air force formation whizzed past. The Chinese homegrown high-performance all-weather J-10 fighter jets with independent intellectual property rights attracted the attention of the world.
2015年9月3日，中国人民抗日战争胜利70周年阅兵式上，拥有自主知识产权的歼-10战斗机在首飞成功17年后，依然作为中国空军的标志接受检阅。
On September 3, 2015, at the military parade marking the 70th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the J-10 fighter jets with independent intellectual property rights were still reviewed as a symbol of the Chinese Air Force 17 years after its maiden flight.
