Shenyang J-8

what is it?

The Shenyang J-8 (Chinese: 歼-8; NATO reporting name: Finback) is a family of interceptor aircraft developed by the 601 Institute (Shenyang) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was conceived in the early 1960s as a low-risk program based on enlarging the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F, a version of which the PRC was producing as the Chengdu J-7. The original J-8 experienced protracted development due to disruption from the Cultural Revolution; the prototypes first flew in 1969 but the design was not finalized until 1979 with the aircraft entering service in 1980.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 9.3 m wingspan

base stats

• size 18.9 tmax take-off weight
• built 408made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 57 years ago, in 1969.
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.3 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 3 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 2.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1969-07-05

introduced

1980

status

still flying

number built

408

role

interceptor

origin

🇨🇳 People's Republic of China

makers

Shenyang Aircraft Corporation

engines

2× Guizhou WP-13B / Tumansky R-13

crew

1

length

21.4 m

wingspan

9.3 m

height

5.4 m

max take-off weight

18.9 t

top speed

—

range

—

ceiling

18,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.