China Airborne

A mere six years after the Wright brothers’ inaugural flight from Kitty Hawk, China accomplished its first flight, yet the country’s aviation record has lagged considerably behind those of America and Europe. This is changing fast, according to Fallows, a lifelong aviation enthusiast and pilot, and a correspondent for The Atlantic, thanks to China’s hunger for growth and technology. Fallows is careful to point out that the Chinese government’s plans for a mad-dash catchup are sometimes hobbled by present circumstances; while the U.S. currently has eleven thousand business jets, China has fewer than three hundred, only thirty of which are legal. He astutely concludes that the development of Chinese aerospace reflects both the country’s modernization and the challenges it faces. For China’s ambitious plans to take off, the country must harness “the strengths it has already demonstrated, and the ones it has yet to master.” ♦