Without doubt one of the most historically significant aircraft in the Datangshan collection, CV-240 XT-610 was one of six of the type flown by the Central Air Transport Corporation (CATC) during the 1940s. When the Communists won the civil war in China in 1949 and the Nationalist government was forced out, all CATC aircraft were flown to Hong Kong with the intention of setting up a new base there. However, in November a number of employees of both CATC and CNAC flew 12 of their aircraft back to China in a mass defection, led by the airlines’ general managers in XT-610. The aircraft was later used to fly the inaugural CAAC flight in 1950, and was the first aircraft to be painted in the now well-known CAAC colours.