Beauty Pilot Graduates from Jinzhou, Liaoning |
| Date Added: November 11, 2009 08:01:28 AM |
| Author: |
| Category: Automobile & Parts Agent |
| If she had not taken the aviator recruitment test four years ago, Zhou Shuai might now be a rising star of television. A Rechargeable High Power Flashlight talented singer, dancer and musician - including the guzheng, the traditional Chinese bridged zither - the 22-year-old had enrolled to study broadcasting at university when the People's Liberation Army air force (PLAAF) advertised for female recruits in 2005. Zhou, an ethnic Hui, scored excellently in the military entrance exam and was one of just six applicants chosen from her home city of Nanjing, LED Keychain Flashlight capital of Jiangsu province. "It had been my father's ultimate wish to be a pilot. He wanted to join the air force when he was young but he failed the physical assessment," said Zhou. "He never pressured me to follow his dream but, being his daughter, I wanted to give it a try." The PLAAF started to recruit female pilots in 1951 and has around 300 in its ranks working in transportation and logistics. In the second round of tests for the air force, Zhou was chosen as one of the first 35 women in China to be trained as fighter pilots. "Female pilots must overcome more physical challenges and obstacles in operating a fighter jet, but we have shown better endurance than male pilots, as well as more advantage when it comes to precision and care in operating jet apparatus," said the pilot. The intensive training went far beyond Zhou's imagination, she said, adding that she was impressed with the strengthening exercises - even though her muscles ached for days afterwards. Zhou and her classmates also had to memorize hundreds of parameters, operating procedures and entrapment solutions and are severely scolded by superior officers if they hesitated for even one second when answering a technical question. "When I first flew the jet solo and touched the sky, I felt like a real pilot," she said. More than half of Zhou's class did not pass the rigorous training and, in April, Zhou was one of just 16 women, all aged 22 to 24, who graduated with "A" grades from the PLA's No 3 Aviation College in Jinzhou, Liaoning province. For the 60th anniversary celebrations on Oct 1, Zhou piloted one of five K-8 training jets that trailed red, yellow and blue smoke to mark the end of the military parade through Tian'anmen Square, Beijing. She was later dubbed "pilot beauty" by the Chinese media. "At first I felt sacred, but now I see flying as a job, a part of my life. I do not fly for fame or public attention, but out of professional pride," she said. In many ways, Zhou is just like many ordinary young people. She is a fan of classical composers and modern pop singers, such as Stefanie Sun, Jay Chou and Fish Leong, and enjoys crime fiction novels and watching Detective Conan, a popular Japanese cartoon. She also spends the majority of her salary - 5,000 yuan ($732) a month - on skincare products, fashion magazines and clothes, which she said she hardly wears as she is usually in uniform on the base. Now, she is simply looking forward to when she can return home to visit her parents and elder sister, whom she has not seen for three years. According to media reports, Zhou was nominated as one of China's female astronauts. However, she dismissed the suggestion as the mission requires women aged over 25, married and mothered. "It's OK. My job right now is flying, flying and flying, so I'm happy," she added. |
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