A military transport plane used in the World War Two was put on permanent display in China to honor a US air squadron which helped the Chinese fight against Japanese aggression.

The C-47 aircraft was placed in the Flying Tiger Heritage Park in the city of Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The park is built on the site of Yangtang Airfield, which served as the command base where the "Flying Tigers," the moniker of the US Volunteer Group, launched missions throughout southern China.

The 72-year-old aircraft was purchased by the American Flying Tiger Historical Organization from Australia in 2016. After a major repair, the organization's president, Larry Jobe, led a five-member crew with an average age of almost 72 years to fly the C-47 all the way to China.

It made a point to repeat a flight of the treacherous Hump, or the "death route," over the Himalayan mountains, operated jointly by China and the US to transport military supplies from India to China from 1942 to 1945.

The Flying Tigers were formed in 1941 led by US General Claire Lee Chennault to help China drive out invading Japanese troops.

After a brief period of intensive training, Gen. Chennault led the Flying Tigers to China. In their first air combat in December 1941, the Flying Tigers downed six enemy bombers and damaged four.

In the ensuing six months, the Flying Tigers fought more than 100 combat missions, shooting down 272 enemy aircraft and destroying another 225 on the ground, which earned them much appreciation and praise from China.

(Source: Xinhua)