Li Yongtai

Li Yongtai (Chinese: 李永泰; Korean: 리영태; 4 November 1928 – 5 October 2015) was a Chinese fighter pilot and lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). An ethnic Korean, he fought in the Korean War and later served as deputy commander of the PLAAF.

Li Yongtai
李永泰
Deputy Commander of the PLA Air Force
In office 1982–1993 Serving with Lin Hu, Liu Zhitian
Commander	Wang Hai
Personal details
Born	(1928-11-04)November 4, 1928 Tonghua, Jilin, China
Died	October 5, 2015(2015-10-05) (aged 86) Beijing
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Nickname	Tank in the Sky
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army Air Force
Years of service	1945–1993
Rank	Lieutenant general
Battles/wars	Korean War

Li Yongtai
Chinese	李永泰
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Yǒngtài

Li Yongtai
Hangul	리영태
Hanja	李永泰
Revised Romanization	Ri Yeong-tae
McCune–Reischauer	Ri Yŏngt'ae

In this Chinese name, the family name is Li.

Military career

Born in Tonghua, Jilin Province, China to an ethnic Korean family, Li joined the Eighth Route Army in October 1945, and became a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) the following year. He began learning to fly in October 1949, and after China's entry into the Korean War, served as a member of the People's Volunteer Army Air Force. He shot down four American F-86s, earning him the nickname "tank in the sky". After the war he continued his rise through the ranks, and in 1975, was named commander of the Wuhan Military Region Air Force. From 1982 to 1993, he served as deputy commander of the PLAAF. He was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1988.

Political career

Li served as a delegate to the 10th and 12th National Congresses of the CCP, and to the 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th National People's Congresses (NPC). In the 8th and the 9th Congresses he was named a member of the NPC Standing Committee, and also served on the NPC Ethnic Affairs Committee.