News

Top gun Yun adds spectacle to the fun

By Hai Xia and Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-02 11:41

A squadron of training jets flown by female pilots color the sky as they roar over downtown Beijing during the National Day Parade, October 1, 2009. [Xinhua]

For young ballet student Yun Lu, it was the performance of her life - and she couldn't have wished for a better stage or bigger audience.

Along with 14 other female pilots, Yun Lu flew her fighter jet over Tian'anmen Square, trailing blue, red and yellow smoke to bring the National Day parade to a stunning close.

Millions of people worldwide rooted for the 22-year-old and her fellow aviators during the fly-over.

Yun is one of China's first generation of female fighter pilots, commanding the K-8, the army's most advanced training jet.

"It felt so powerful in the air," said Yun, a top student who gave up college when she was plucked from her Shaanxi high school for the course five years ago.

Fifteen female fighter pilots graduated from the air force's Third Aviation College in Liaoning province in April with top marks.

Full Coverage:  60th Anniversary of PRC Related readings:  Female pilots flying training jets conclude air display  Female fighter pilots to debut on National Day  Female pilots to perform flyover  Chinese female fighter pilots get new suits  China trains first batch of female copter pilots

The army expects that the nation's first female astronaut will be selected from among them. The PLA's air force started to recruit female pilots in 1951 and trained more than 300 to fly transporters.

"I will certainly take the challenge if I have the chance," Yun said, discussing her prospects of becoming an astronaut. "Not only me, but all of us think exactly the same - because the nation needs me."

Yun and her fellow pilots, some as young as 20, had come a long way to take part in yesterday's festivities. They battled nausea caused by high-speed flying maneuvers involving twisting and flying upside down. Their days started at 4 am and involved so many hours of flying they nearly forgot how to walk. It was so demanding, 19 of the original recruits quit.

"Females pilots face more physical challenges and difficulties in operating a fighter jet during maneuvers such as twisting and flipping," said Wang Baoqun, political commissar of the aviation college.

"I am not afraid of being challenged. I feel lucky that I can prove just how good I can be," said Yun, with a smile.