Jimu News Reporter Shi Qian Correspondent Yi Qian Song Li
"Female drivers", often jokingly called "road killers", but Zhu Chen, a female pilot after 90, can not only drive a car, but also change careers to enter aviation school after graduating from college and start an airplane. It is understood that there are only 4 female pilots like Zhu Chen in The Wuhan Company of China Eastern Airlines, who are calm, meticulous and patient, and in some respects even better than male pilots. The reporter walked into them and learned about the women.
Stand out from the 15% elimination rate exam
Zhu Chen, born in 1992, was one of the first female pilots of China Eastern Airlines Wuhan Company. In 2013, Zhu Chen, a junior at Jianghan University, saw The Announcement of China Eastern Airlines and submitted her resume with the idea of trying it out. Through layers of screening, she successfully entered the Civil Aviation Flight Academy of China for study. At that time, the school had more than 4,000 students, and only 20 girls learned to fly in large planes.
"I come from a liberal arts background, and the aviation school curriculum involves aerodynamics, communications, electrical and other science and engineering knowledge, which makes it difficult for me to learn." Zhu Chen said that in order to gnaw down these "hard bones", she had to use more energy than other students to repeatedly study, seriously consult the teacher, and finally keep up with the rhythm.
"Aviation school learning is devil training, and everyone is studying hard, because there has been a 15% elimination rate for a long time." Recalling the training process, Zhu Chen still remembers it vividly. The first year is mainly a theoretical course with only 4 passes per subject. After theoretical study, it is a small aircraft flight simulation. After a total of 35 hours of flight, the instructor will let the trainee fly the plane alone, which is called "letting go", just like the road test in the driver's license. Many students were eliminated because they could not "soar" independently.
After 4 years of study, Zhu Chen passed all the exams, successfully graduated, and realized the "Blue Sky Dream". On June 2, 2017, Zhu Chen boarded a flight from Wuhan to Qingdao, her first flight as a pilot. Recalling the scene at that time, Zhu Chen said that he was particularly excited the night before the flight, and he hardly slept much. When boarding the plane, Zhu Chen sat in the seat of the co-pilot on the right, "The moment the flight took off, I was a little nervous. It's completely different from the feeling of flying an airplane, and there is a sense of responsibility to fly an airplane. ”
Flights to resume flights have contributed to the fight against the epidemic
Due to the epidemic situation, after flying the last flight on January 22, 2020, Zhu Chen suspended the flight work. During the lockdown, Zhu Chen, who is a Wuhan ling, very much wants to participate in the transportation of medical supplies and contribute to the fight against the epidemic in his hometown. However, the emergency flight tasks during the epidemic were completed by the captain, and Zhu Chen, as the co-pilot, had to give up.
Near the "unsealing", Zhu Chen was notified to participate in the training and preparations for the resumption of the voyage. From 00:00 on April 8, Wuhan Tianhe Airport resumed domestic passenger flights. In addition to the "first flight" out of the port, China Eastern Airlines also carried out four flights from Wuhan to Shanghai on the same day, and Zhu Chen flew the first flight MU2507.
When Zhu Chen learned that she could fly the flight from Wuhan to Shanghai on the day of the resumption, she was very excited, "During the lockdown, I saw news reports that there were many post-90s medical staff who were actively fighting in the frontline of the fight against the epidemic, and I also wanted to do something for the fight against the epidemic after the 90s. Zhu Chen said that on the day of the resumption of flights, she achieved the "first flight", and finally it was her turn to use her knowledge and skills to help Wuhan and contribute to the fight against the epidemic.
Women don't have to be self-limited to be successful
Because of the profession of pilot, there are very few female practitioners, and Zhu Chen has also encountered many "beautiful" misunderstandings. Sometimes when boarding the plane through security, the staff will remind her that the flight attendant should take another passage, which is the pilot's passage; sometimes when the plane is docked on the tarmac, many aircraft refuelers and freight stevedores come to her for a photo, because everyone thinks that female pilots are very novel. "Being a female pilot really makes me proud." Zhu Chen said that these small misunderstandings not only did not embarrass her, but made her feel a sense of professional honor.
Because of the physical weakness of women's low strength, female pilots pay more than male pilots in training and work. Most of China Eastern's Wuhan company's planes are Boeing 737s, and Boeing aircraft are jokingly called "aerial gyms" by pilots, which is particularly laborious to operate.
"Boeing aircraft are more manual and laborious, similar to manual cars, and there are fewer female pilots flying; Airbus aircraft have a high degree of automation, similar to automatic transmission cars, and there are relatively more female pilots." Zhu Chen said that in order to train her arm strength, she has thought of many ways, such as often going to the gym for equipment training. In addition, she would fill her suitcase with heavy and large flight notes every time, and carry the plane with her right hand the whole time, just to exercise her arm strength.
Although there are many natural weaknesses to overcome, in Zhu Chen's view, female pilots also have some natural advantages. For example, women work more meticulously, so the grooming and standardized execution of flight procedures is also more meticulous; when encountering special situations, women are more resilient and less impulsive and reckless.
In the eyes of ordinary people, pilots are more suitable for male occupations, but Zhu Chen, a "female flyer" who has been practicing for 5 years, is not worse than many male pilots. Zhu Chen, who has accumulated 2,100 flights, plans to enter the captain's transfer training at the end of this year. "Girls should not be arrogant and thin, nor should they limit themselves. As long as you want to do it and make an effort, you will be able to do it successfully. Zhu Chen said.
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