PLA Western Theater Command on Thursday, the 77th Group Army has welcomed two fresh graduated female helicopter pilots Han Jianing and Chen Tianchang in the team, where their pictures in pilots suits are also published. Photo: Web
Pictures of one of the first batch of airwomen trained by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Force have recently went viral and won Chinese audience's heart for the heroic outlook.
In a statement issued by the PLA Western Theater Command on its official WeChat account on Thursday, the 77th Group Army welcomed to the team Han Jianing and Chen Tianchang, two fresh graduated female helicopter pilots, posting their pictures in pilots suits.
Han, the 22-year-old born in South China's Hainan Province, is not only one of the first promotion of 10 female army pilot students trained by PLA but also the first female high school graduate to attend the PLA training institute across Hainan, said local reports.
"Han Jianing had always wanted to be a pilot when she was in primary school," Yang Qi, Han's high school teacher, told the Haikou Daily on Saturday.
Han's dream came true in 2017, when the 18-year-old graduated from Haikou No.1 High School, and PLA had released the announcement with the decision to recruit first 10 female pilots across country.
PLA Western Theater Command on Thursday, the 77th Group Army has welcomed two fresh graduated female helicopter pilots Han Jianing and Chen Tianchang in the team, where their pictures in pilots suits are also published. Picture of Han Jianing Photo: Web
Han was selected among over 120,000 high school graduates and became a freshman at the PLA Ground Force Aviation Institute.
In Yang's words, Han used to be a student with "strong resistance to pressure and very wide hobbies."
"She plays Ukulele, drums and piano. She is skilled at Chinese calligraphy. Few senior students were able to keep their hobbies among the most stressful schoolwork in their last year of high school, but Han had done perfectly well.
"You know how hard the army selection is but Han did it," added Yang.
Based on the recruitment conditions released by China's Ministry of National Defense, women must have a height of between 165 and 185 centimeters with a 20/25 vision, plus a high score in the national university entrance examination, or gaokao.
Han got a score of 661, 100 points over the required level, said the report.
As early as last year, the 21-year-old Han, along with other nine classmates, won a round of applause for completing their first solo flights, on the French Gazelle light-duty helicopter to carry out some simple maneuvers.
The 10 students will be assigned to the PLA's Ground Force units across the country while Han was assigned to the PLA Western Theater Command after her graduation in June.
The pilot instructor has revealed in the statement that Han and Chen are now taking basic classes to lay a solid foundation for "further improving their technology skills and strengthening psychological capacity."
