With the successful test flight of three female combat pilots over the sky of Tian'anmen Square on Saturday, China's first batch of 16 female pilots are ready for their debut at the National Day Parade on Oct 1.

"Concentration is very important, because tall buildings like the 230-meter China Central Television building are on our air line," Sheng Yifei, one of the three female pilots said, Beijing Youth Daily reported yesterday.

On Oct 1, they will fly their planes, passing over Tian'anmen Square at the exact time.

Besides the threats from tall buildings, birds are also potential risks.

In order to avoid these obstacles, all female pilots have received intensive training for the past several months.

The 16 women, who range from 22 to 24 years old, graduated with distinction in five final assessments after 44 months of training at the Third Flying College, the First Flying College and the Aviation University of People's Liberation Army Air Force.

They underwent 28 months of basic training, including parachute jumping and field survival training at the university, as well as 16 months of flight training with at least 135 hours of personal flight time.

To gain strength and build muscles, the female pilots each week have to run thousands of meters and push carts.

"With four to five days of training every week, all the female pilots are losing weight," Sheng said.

Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming, the other two women Chinese pilots, also took flying lessons at the university.

So far, 545 female trainees have enrolled at the air force college, with 328 having graduated and 52 now working in air transport, according to official statistics.

Wu Huiming, dean of the third flying college, feels confident about the abilities of the female pilots.

Given the strict training regime, "female pilots can do what men can do".

"A modern military needs female combat pilots," Deng Changyou, political commissar for the air force said, adding that China has finally fulfilled a dream at the pilots' graduation ceremony.

"The air force plans to increase their numbers to enable women to enter all areas of military service," an official who refused to be named told Xinhua in April this year.

In addition to China, 15 other countries allow women to fly fighter jets, including Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel, Pakistan and the United States. The US has trained nearly 300 women since females were permitted to enroll at its military flight schools in 1976.

Following the end of the Cold War, China initiated several development projects, such as the Jian-10 and Jian-11 aircraft. Another low-cost, light jet fighter-the FC-1-has also been developed for both international and domestic markets.

(China Daily September 15, 2009)