An IL-14 aircraft, a gift presented to late Chinese leader Mao Zedong by former Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin in the 1950s, will be stored at the China Civil Aviation Museum in Beijing, a source with an airline company said on Wednesday.

The aircraft used by late Chairman Mao would be transported from Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, to Beijing before the end of the month, said a source with the Henan branch of the China Southern Airlines.

Technicians were disassembling the aircraft. The aircraft parts would be transported to Beijing in different batches. "The work is likely to take several days," the source said.

The aircraft will be housed at the China Civil Aviation Museum as an exhibit.

The IL-14, which was presented by Stalin to Mao in 1956, is 21.31 meters long, 31.7 meters wide and 7.8 meters high. The 17-seat aircraft can make a non-stop flight of eight hours and 10 minutes.

A bed, a sofa and a desk can be placed inside the cabin.

The IL-14 aircraft family, developed by Soviet Union, was put into use in 1954. China bought 49 IL-14 aircraft starting from 1955 and all these aircraft mainly flew on domestic air routes.

Mao's IL-14 began serving at the Zhongyuan Airline Company, which later merged into the Henan branch of China Southern Airlines, in 1985. The aircraft stopped service in 1992.

Construction of the Beijing-based China Civil Aviation Museum began in 2004 and is expected to go into full use in 2007. The museum has began collecting items on display.

The museum is built to showcase the development of China's aviation industry and achievements China has made in this sector.

 
(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2006)