China's carrier-borne jet pilots receive certification

China's first group of five pilots and landing signal officers received their certifications in the latest sea trials of the Liaoning, the country's first aircraft carrier.

The Liaoning finished its 25-day test and training mission on Wednesday and returned to a navy port in the east China city of Qingdao. During the training, pilots executed several continuous take-off and landing exercises, making China one of the few countries in the world that can train its own carrier-borne jet pilots.

Using the J-15, China's first-generation multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet, pilots finished China's first training mission stationed aboard the carrier as well as the first 105-meter short-distance ski-jump takeoff exercises, an important breakthrough in the sea trials.

Pilots and landing signal officers were tested on a range of skills. They passed the certification process following expert reviews and a flight data assessment.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy also performed exercises related to the carrier's operations, system guarantees and logistics. Based on the smooth operation of staff, jet fighters and the carrier, as well as the sound cooperation between fighters and the carrier, the Liaoning is now considered capable of carrying carrier-borne jet fighters.

Zhang Yongyi, deputy commander of the PLA Navy and commander-in-chief of the aircraft carrier tests and sea trials, said these results show that China has fully mastered the skills needed for taking off from, and landing on, the aircraft carrier and that it has successfully established a training system for carrier-borne jet pilots.

China's first training base for carrier-born aircrafts

Chinese naval officials working at a land-based training facility for carrier-capable jets have taken some time to explain how their training works. 

Pilots at the testing facility are practicing on China's home-developed J-15 fighter jets.

The jets have been designed specifically to take off and land on the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier.

But before the pilots get a chance to practice on the Liaoning, they have to train at the land-based facility, the exact location of which hasn't been officially disclosed.

Every pilot will have to pass a series of tests at the site before they'll be cleared for test training at sea.

The training center is set up to mimick what it will be like to land on the aircraft carrier, including landing using arresting cables.

Landing and taking off from an aircraft carrier is much different for a pilot than it is from a land-based airport.

As such, over 27-hundred flights took off and landed at the land-based test site before any flight testing first began on the Liaoning.

Tian Wei is a squadron leader at the training base. He says they've made up 10 different manuals to help the pilots through the nuances of learning how to operate their jets at sea.

"The follow-up training is very crucial. For example, a manufacturer makes a gun and shows you how to load the bullets and how to shoot. However, it requires a lot of practice if you want to hit the target, and hit it with accuracy. As such, we drafted a program and manual for our pilots to follow."

The training staff at the facility aren't taking any chances before letting the pilots test on the Liaoning.

The testing facility has been made more difficult to land on than it will be on the Liaoning.

There is only one arresting cable across the landing zone.

The aircraft carrier has 4 cables which the pilots can hit to allow them to stop.

Zhou Chunshan is the deputy commander of the training base.

"Land-based training is mostly focused on landing practice. Landing is the most difficult thing for a pilot to do on an aircraft carrier, so accuracy and consistency is the most important thing for our pilots. We record their landings and map how well they are progressing."

Authorities running the land-based training base say they are hoping to make improvements on the field to give their pilots more practice and training with simulated aircraft carrier take-offs as well.