Gu Songfen

Gu Songfen (; 4 February 1930 – 31 May 2026) was a Chinese aircraft designer. He participated in the design of the Shenyang JJ-1, the People's Republic of China's first jet trainer. He was the chief designer of the Shenyang J-8 and J-8II, the PRC's first high-speed, high-altitude interceptor fighter jets. He served as vice president and chief designer of the Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute and was an academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Early life

Gu was born 4 February 1930 in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. He is the youngest son of Gu Tinglong , a well known sinologist and calligrapher. His given name "Songfen" comes from a passage of the 3rd-century treatise Wen fu written by Lu Ji.

In 1935, Gu Tinglong accepted a job at the Yenching University library, and moved the family to Beijing. Two years later, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out and Japanese warplanes bombed the Xiyuan Barracks of the Chinese 29th Army on 28 July 1937. As the Gu family lived near the barracks, their house was shaken by the explosions. Songfen recalled watching the bombs fall out of the planes, before adults urged him to hide under the dining table. He attributed to this experience as the main reason he decided to become an aircraft designer. In 2022, Gu became a laureate of the Asian Scientist 100 by the Asian Scientist.

Death Gu died on 31 May 2026, at the age of 96.