The Harbin Aviation Training Center, China's largest school training private pilots, will be set up soon in Harbin, capital city of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, with the recent approval of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The aviation center will be equipped with 12 light planes and helicopters and various training facilities. Some 20 senior flight tutors will guide trainees to acquire professional aviation skills, said Liang Ermin, deputy manager with Feilong Aviation Co. Ltd, the sponsor of the training school.

As cars have become common traffic means for ordianry people in China, more Chinese are now willing to pilot planes in the sky.

Given the current economic level in China, it might be too expensive for ordinary Chinese to buy airplanes, but joining training programs and then piloting airplanes in aviation clubs does not cost so much, said Li Hui, an official in charge of flight services.

The Harbin-based aviation center has so far received hundreds of calls for consultation and signing up for the training courses, according to Liang.

Most of China's current aviation schools are mainly engaged in training military and commercial aviators. There are only a few schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Sichuan Province in southwest China offering training courses for private pilots.

Statistics show that about 60 Chinese have got private aviation licenses, while such a population in the United States amounts to over 700,000.

With the approval of CAAC, The new training school will not require as strict physical examination standards as those set for military and commercial aviators, so more people will be able to realize their dreams of flying.

(People's Daily 03/27/2001)