Student pilots fly to the sky

The first batch of student pilots jointly trained by China's Air Force and Tsinghua University finish their first individual flight tests in a military airport in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin province, on April 14, 2015. [Photo: kj.81.cn]

The first batch of student pilots jointly trained by China's Air Force and Tsinghua University, finished their first individual flight test in a military airport on April 14 in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin province.

The first flight, or so-called "virgin flight," is seen as a very important moment in their flying careers. It examines whether these student pilots have the ability to independently fly airplanes.

After the individual flight test, 28 of 32 student pilots successfully finished their first flight.

It is reported that China's Air Force sent 32 student pilots to Tsinghua University for a 3-year pilot program course in 2011. Last July, these students had finished their classes in Tsinghua University, and started studying aviation theory and receiving flight training in the Aviation University of Air Force for one year. It is expected that these student pilots will begin the higher education training in June this year.

According to leaders of Tsinghua University, the 32 student pilots have excellent performance in every area they had studied in the university. They also have become skillful at driving flights in a short time.