T. L. CHAN
(陳達禮) (Dali Chen in Chinese Pinyin)
(1919 China - 1990 Beijing, China)
(Pilot)
(CNAC April 1943 - 1949)
(Captain - ???)
(Hump Flights - about 600)

T.L. Chan (陳達禮) (Dali Chen in Chinese Pinyin) was born in 11/15/1919 and passed away on 5/22/1990. He joined CNAC in April, 1943. Tom, Here is more information about Capt. T.L. Chan (陳達禮). T.L. Chan graduated from the 15th class of Whampoa Military Academy in 1939 and then joined the 12th class of the Chinese Air Force Academy. He joined CNAC in April, 1943 as a co-pilot. Later he was checked-out as a Captain. He completed about 600 Hump flights. T.L. Chan was my dad's best friend in the Chinese Air Force Academy and CNAC. Moon Chin should know him well also. He was one of the organizers for the 1949 "defection/uprising" and he flew a C-46, code XT-154, to lead the other 10 aircraft heading north from Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport and then landed in Tianjin while Gordon Poon flew a Convair landed in Beijing. After he went back to China, he and other former CNAC employees made great efforts and contributions to build and grow CAAC. They set up many new airlines and trained many new pilots. However, in the "Cultural Revolution", he and many other former CNAC employees were mistreated. He survived the harsh life during that time. After the "Cultural Revolution", he had his political rights reinstated and he returned to his job at the CAAC. He lived in Beijing for the rest of his life after he went back to China. He held the following positions in CAAC: • Captain • Section manager of Aviation Operations • Deputy Squadron Leader of Training • Inspector of Pilot Qualification • Deputy Director of Aviation Operations of CAAC • and more... He served two terms of Beijing Municipal Political Consultative Committee during 1980's ~ 1990. Thanks, YoungChi (Tang: ytang777@gmail.com ) T.L. Chan 1940 C.H. Tang, Captain T.L. Chan and Stewardess Elizabeth Lan 1946 郜美秀（MeiXiu Gao in Chinese Pinyin) and husband,T.L. Chan September 30, 1944 There were total 40 crew members in the 11 "defection/uprising" aircraft landed in Tianjin, November 9, 1949. Five of them are not in the picture. Here are the names of the 35 crew members in the picture. Front row, L to R: 陈达礼（T.L. Chan）, 陈耀祖，卢开周，刘景春，徐作诰，赖冠生，陆华应，甘家霖，霍斌臣，温可煌，黄焕元，周纪祥，黄雄畏，蔡觉沧，陈汉斋 Back row, L to R: 周丕显，杨宏量，李宏揆，方甫，秦永棠(Fred Chin)，冯俊涛，张德生，周炳 (Bing Zhou)，戴礼昭，边任耕，黄文斌，邓重煌（C.H.Tang），方榕满，扬积 （Jack Young）,张鎰（Yi Zhang）,颜恩锡，刘安，康正之，顾杰飞，李荣 T.L. Chan C.H. Tang and T.L. Chan Shanghai August 1946 left to right C.H. Tang, T.L. Chan, unknown, Gordon Poon and unknown Beijing, China November 1984 left toright T.L. Chan, Bing Zhou, C.H. Tang, Gordon Poon, unknown, unknown and Yi Zhang Beijing, China November 1984 (Photo Courtesy of Youngchi Tang) September, 29, 2011 Most CNAC Chinese pilots were co-pilots at time. T.L. Chan was one of the few exceptional Chinese captains in CNAC at that time. He also completed about 600 Hump flights. He was the main organizer to get the 12 airplanes flying back to China in Nov. 9, 1949. He was one of my dad's best friends. He passed away in the early 1990's. YoungChi Tang ytang777@gmail.com If you would like to share any information about T. L. Chan or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks!