An aviation performance marks the 77th anniversary of the PLA Air Force's founding. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

A fleet of 3,000 drones illuminated the night sky over Changchun Blue Sky Park in Northeast China's Jilin province, commemorating the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force on Nov 11.

The performance was part of a series of commemorative events and traced the PLA Air Force's development through aerial images, beginning with the history of the old aviation school in Northeast China.

An aviation performance marks the 77th anniversary of the founding of the PLA Air Force. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

As the drones shifted formations, they depicted scenes such as aircraft flying over Tiananmen Square during the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the old aviation school in Northeast China. Established in Tonghua, Jilin province, in 1946, the school relocated four times before moving to Changchun in 1949, with faculty and students using horses to pull aircraft. As fuel was in short supply, they also experimented with alcohol as a substitute.

An aviation performance marks the 77th anniversary of the PLA Air Force's founding. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

Despite these difficult conditions, the school trained many pilots and technicians who became key personnel in establishing the PLA Air Force, with several of these pilots taking part in the flypast at the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China.

The Changchun drone show paid tribute to the legacy of the old aviation school and the generations who contributed to the development of China's air force.