飛 is a pictograph of unmistakable clarity — a bird with two wings outstretched, soaring upward. Of all Chinese characters, this is one of the most directly visual: oracle bone, bronze, and modern forms all preserve the silhouette of flight. Japan and Korea retain the elaborate traditional 飛 with all its wing-strokes; Mainland China simplified to 飞, collapsing the two wings into a single curving sweep — perhaps the most stylish character simplification in the entire reform, capturing the gesture of flight in just three strokes.

Korean reading "bi." 飛行機 (bihaenggi, airplane) is the everyday word for aircraft. Other compounds: 飛龍 (biryong, flying dragon), 飛躍 (biyak, leap / dramatic progress), 飛散 (bisan, scattering / dispersal), 飛上 (bisang, taking off / rising). Important homophone caution: the syllable "bi" 비 in Korean represents many different Hanja — 非 (not), 比 (compare), 悲 (sad), 鼻 (nose) — context determines which.

Mandarin fēi, 1st tone (simplified 飞). 飞机 (fēijī, airplane), 飞翔 (fēixiáng, to soar), 飞快 (fēikuài, extremely fast — literally "flying-quick"), 飞行员 (fēixíngyuán, pilot). 飞 is also a powerful intensifier in colloquial speech: 飞起来 ("fly up") can describe anything moving with shocking speed.

Japanese on-reading ヒ (hi) — 飛行機 (hikōki, airplane), 飛行 (hikō, flight), 飛躍 (hiyaku, leap / rapid progress). Kun-reading とぶ (tobu) — and here Japanese makes a subtle distinction: 飛ぶ is "to fly" (through the air), while 跳ぶ (also tobu) is "to jump." Same sound, different kanji, different motion. Compound usage 飛び込む (tobikomu, to dive in) and 飛び出す (tobidasu, to spring out) populate everyday speech.

Memory aid: a bird spreading both wings — the picture is the meaning.