Five SU-27 fighter jets arrived at the airport of Zhangjia National Forest
Park in central China's Hunan Province on Wednesday, poised for the upcoming
aerial acrobatics display through a natural mountain cave.
The fighter jets dispatched by the Russia Air Force made a stopover in
Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region before heading
to the performance site at Zhangjiajie, which is famous for its natural
water-eroded cave, known as Heavenly Gate Mountain.
Pilots of the heavy fighter planes are expected to race through the 60-meter
wide natural cave at a speed of 700 km per hour in the aerial aerobatics stunt
on March 17.
Hungarian Peter Besenyei, on an Extra 300S plane, who flew through the
Heavenly Gate in a stunt in 1999, entered the Guinness Book of Records as the
first pilot in the world to fly through a natural cave.
The cave, located 1,261 meter above the sea level, is measured at 127m x 2m.
The Russian Air Force is expected to send 10 planes including the fighter
jets, coach plane and transporter for the three-day performance in Zhangjiajie,
which is one of the activities to mark China's Russian Year, when a range of
cultural exchanges between China and Russia will be held.