The picture shows Chen Jinlan, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) and ace pilot of the PLA Air Force, gets ready for flight training onboard Y-20 transport aircraft. (Photo by Wang Ruijie, Xinhua News Agency)

Chen Jinlan is a captain of both Y-20 and Y-9, which are military transport aircraft capable of performing military tasks under all weather conditions. She has accumulated over 7,000 flight hours on six models of aircraft safe and sound. She is capable of undertaking both tactical and strategic power projection missions, and more importantly, she is an instructor competent at all courses.

Now, Chen Jinlan, as a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), is paying more attention to the issue of "how to accelerate the training of war-prepared strategic projection talents”. "To build a strong strategic projection force, we must center on the accelerated development of intelligentization, informatization and integration, while broadening channels for selection and training, accelerating talent cultivation in echelon, in an effort to build talents that meet the needs of future operations," said Chen Jinlan.

Since being promoted to be the captain of Y-20, Chen Jinlan has brought the advanced operational ideas and standardized flight procedures of Y-20 to the Y-9 flight instruction, which not only improved the safety margin of Y-9 flight but also helped the pilot cadets master some difficult courses in an even better, faster and safer way, so as to boost the multi-mission integration capability of the troops.

Last year, a military competition to test the aircrew's airdrop capability at war was launched in the unit to which Chen Jinlan belongs. The competition was set as no command and guidance, no ground signs and no meteorological data provided, and the Y-9 aircrew and Y-20 aircrew competed in multiple courses such as precise airdrop, precise landing and vertical overload. During the event, the Y-9 aircrew led by Chen Jinlan ranked top with the smallest error in the precise airdrop, and the quality and efficiency of the pilot cadets' training were tested thereby.

"In the future joint operations, transport aircraft pilots must possess the ability of multi-mission integration, multi-battlefield adaptability and multi-specialty interoperability." To meet the requirements of the future battlefield, Chen Jinlan has led the pilot cadets to hone their own capabilities while thinking about how to maximize the operational effectiveness of the transport aircraft platform. During training intervals, Chen Jinlan has often carried out research and visits, proactively maintaining close contact with grass-roots officers and soldiers.

"It is my duty as a deputy from the grass-roots to bring their voice to the Great Hall of the People," Chen Jinlan said. She would make her share of contribution to the construction of the strategic projection capability of the air force by submitting quality proposals to the NPC.

The picture shows Chen Jinlan (left), a deputy to the National People's Congress and ace pilot of the PLA Air Force, inspecting the landing gear of Y-20 transport aircraft before flight. (Photo by Liu Zhuochao, Xinhua News Agency)