China’s first female fighter pilots take flight
12 Nov 2014 6:29 AM IST
The first women fighter pilots to join China’s famed aerobatic team showed off their skills in J-10 jets on Tuesday as Beijing put on a display of its growing military might.
The pair strode to their fighter planes in lock-step with male pilots, all wearing identical green jumpsuits and sunglasses, as part of a performance by the Chinese air force’s ‘August 1st’ aerobatic group at the country’s premier airshow.The two are part of a group of five female fighter pilots, who have not been identified by name, flying for the team named for the date of the founding of the army. State media has reported the women are the first to join the group.
‘Female pilots have learned to fly cutting-edge fighter jets in the Chinese air force,’ the China Daily newspaper quoted Wang Yan’an, deputy editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, as saying.‘It means the air force has diversified its pilot pool and can recruit more female pilots,’ he said.The five women all have more than 750 hours of flying time in four types of aircraf. Chinese defence companies and the People’s Liberation Army’s air force are putting the latest weaponry on parade at the Zhuhai airshow.
The pair strode to their fighter planes in lock-step with male pilots, all wearing identical green jumpsuits and sunglasses, as part of a performance by the Chinese air force’s ‘August 1st’ aerobatic group at the country’s premier airshow.The two are part of a group of five female fighter pilots, who have not been identified by name, flying for the team named for the date of the founding of the army. State media has reported the women are the first to join the group.
‘Female pilots have learned to fly cutting-edge fighter jets in the Chinese air force,’ the China Daily newspaper quoted Wang Yan’an, deputy editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, as saying.‘It means the air force has diversified its pilot pool and can recruit more female pilots,’ he said.The five women all have more than 750 hours of flying time in four types of aircraf. Chinese defence companies and the People’s Liberation Army’s air force are putting the latest weaponry on parade at the Zhuhai airshow.
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