China Armed Forces No.25,Vol.1,2014

    Jiang Jiaji is the only Chinese air force pilot to win the coveted Golden Helmet award twice. With 1,678 flying hours, Jiang now serves as chief of staff at a regiment based in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province in southwest China. 　But behind the accolades lies a story of persistence in the face of obstacles to his dream of being a fighter pilot.

    Passion for Exploring

 　“I just want to pilot a fighter jet,” Jiang said in 1999, when he passed tests for entry to both the air force and civil aviation. He chose to serve in the air force and entered an air force pilot college. 　However, his body struggled with the physical training in the early days. Exhausted, he vomited after finishing a 1,500-meter run. His time was two minutes slower than the top level. 　“There is no way that I ran slower than the others,” Jiang said, making up his mind to do better. After five years of hard training, his was able to run 30 seconds faster than the top level. 　The aviation theory course, which many students found dull and difficult, was another challenge. His recall was a weak point, so he put more time and effort into study than his peers.

    For Jiang, flying is like falling in love, with a passion for exploring. While doing technical research, he argued with senior experts. Learning a new flying maneuver, he would study it and seek help until he was able to fly it well. He was always the first in his class to try new missions and modified aircraft. 　On graduation from college in July 2004, he turned down his instructor’s offer to teach there. He insisted on joining an air force regiment based in the city of Chengdu to fulfill his dream of becoming a fighter pilot. 　But the path was difficult. One day, he was on a combat exercise in a second-generation fighter jet. As soon as he entered the designated combat zone, a third-generation fighter locked on to him. He could not escape no matter how hard he tried. He knew he needed to develop his dream.

　　New Fighter Jets

　At the end of 2006, Jiang joined a program to fly a new type of modified fighter jet. 　In September 2009, during a combat maneuver, he realized that flying well is not enough; a pilot must know how to fight. 　In the winter of 2010, Jiang and other pilots conducted a weapons drill in a new type of fighter. Jiang was to be the first to fire on the designated targets. He then had to stand by in case the next pilot failed to hit the target. Jiang would have to take off immediately to complete the task. 　Jiang hit the target. But as soon as he landed, an order came through his earphones — a mechanical error had occurred in the weapon system of the next fighter, so he had to take off at once. 　Jiang had little time to plan and immediately ascended to 6,000 meters. He quickly found the target and shot it down. 　During another combat exercise in the summer of 2011, Jiang and his fellow pilots successfully attacked their rival’s heavily armed core military area on the ground by adopting a new tactic of flying at an extremely low altitude across a valley. On their way back to the base, they also managed to locate a rival missile troop.