"Young Eagles" Spread their Wings and Fly solo
—Night Flight Training for New Pilots of a Brigade of Naval Aviation in the Southern Theater
At an airport in Hainan, warhawks roared into the sky in the dark. On the night of summer, a brigade of naval aviation in the southern theater organized the first night solo training for new pilots.
At 21:10, the new pilot Wang Shengjian walked to the fighter plane with confidence, and began the final preparations before solo flight. The whole process was orderly, and he could not see that he was a novice about to fly solo. At 22:05, Wang Shengjian was ordered to take off. Afterwards, the new pilots drove straight to the sky in turn.
"Compared with daytime flight, during night flight training, the visibility is reduced and the visual range is shortened. The reaction speed and situational awareness of pilots are not as good as daytime. Young pilots have less experience and are prone to illusions and trips. Training is more difficult. It’s too big to be sloppy,” said the brigade leader who conducted the training on site.
In order to ensure that the new pilots successfully complete the night flight solo flight training, the brigade has conducted risk predictions in advance for special night situations that may occur, and pre-drills the new pilots in terms of light identification, equipment use, and special handling. They also formulated a special teaching plan based on the actual situation of each new pilot, and arranged for the new pilot and the instructor to pair up for collaborative training.
In the night sky, the "young eagles" flew to the designated airspace. Circling, raising and lowering turns, diving and ascending turns... They follow the usual hard-trained action methods, skillfully manipulate the fighters, and complete the scheduled solo flight assessment actions one by one.
After more than an hour, one fighter plane returned one after another, and the night flight solo training of the new pilots of the brigade was successfully completed. After examination, these new pilots are initially capable of performing tasks independently.
Gao Hongwei