Liao Weihua (second from the right) won the championship of the Air Force Pentathlon (flight) competition.

China Youth Daily client Wuhan, October 19 (China Youth Daily China Youth Network reporter Zheng Ziran) In the first morning after the opening ceremony of the 7th World Military Games, a Chujiao 6 trainer lifted off at Wuhan Airport of the Air Force to detect the weather for the upcoming Air Force pentathlon (flight) competition.

The air force pentathlon is divided into two parts: flight competition and sports competition. Flight competition refers to low altitude triangular navigation; Sports competitions include shooting, swimming, fencing, basketball, slalom and orienteering. Five of the best results are selected as the evaluation criteria, and five awards are finally determined for men's individual, group, women's individual, group and flying competitions.

The five items of the air force are closely related to combat effectiveness. "This project was born in France. When they first designed the competition rules, they considered the various environments faced by pilots after they were forced to parachute and how to make them survive." Wang Haichen, the leader of the team, said in an interview with the reporter of China Youth Daily, China Youth Network. "By participating in the training of these projects, the overall quality of the athletes will be greatly improved."

When the weather reconnaissance aircraft circled in the sky, nine athletes from nine countries, including China, Brazil and Denmark, who participated in the competition, were on the ground in the military green tent to work on a new topographic map, and were busy with navigation calculation and map work. In today's flight competition, they need to board the plane as pilots and command the front seat pilots to fly for 40 minutes on the triangle flight route with an altitude of about 600 feet. The referee scores from different angles at three checkpoints to judge the accuracy of navigation and the ability to arrive on time.

At 10 a.m., with the plane of the Ecuadorian team's athletes successfully lifted off, the air force pentathlon (flight) competition officially started. Wang Haichen introduced that the biggest difficulty of low altitude triangular navigation lies in the variability of air conditions. Pilots need to make judgments on wind speed and direction at any time in the air, and correct flight course in time to reach their predicted checkpoint. "The five tests of the air force are the pilots' overall combat ability from air to land, and flight ability is the basis."

"Since the establishment of the August 1 Air Force Pentathlon Team, the biggest wish is to let Chinese pilots wear military uniforms to the podium." Wang Haichen, the team leader, introduced that the August 1 Air Force Pentathlon Team was established in 2015, and this competition is their first appearance in the military games.

The participating planes take off.

The participating planes took off at intervals of 15 minutes, and Chinese athlete Liao Weihua was the fourth to board the plane. After 40 minutes, the plane landed slowly and walked out of the airport. Liao Weihua admitted that he was "nervous, but played well". In the end, he won the championship of the flying competition with 3500 points. This is the second gold medal won by the Chinese delegation at the 7th World Military Games, and the first single champion of five military featured events.

"The first competition kept a normal level, which benefited from the accumulation of training at ordinary times." Liao Weihua said in an interview after the game that when the plane flew into the triangle route, it was necessary to maintain a high degree of concentration to cope with the changing wind direction in the air. "There have been several times when the wind was strong enough to deflect the plane, so it is necessary to adjust it immediately to ensure that it reaches the set position on time."

In Wang Haichen's view, the performance on the field is the embodiment of a country's military training level and the comprehensive quality of soldiers. Whether a pilot can accurately reach the battlefield is one of the important factors that affect the victory or defeat of the war. "A pilot is not necessarily a pilot, but a pilot must know how to navigate."

When the good news of the Chinese team winning the championship came through the radio, Liao Weihua, who participated in the military games for the first time, could not hide his excitement. Wearing a five-star red flag, he cried out with emotion: "Come on, China!"

At the award ceremony, Liao Weihua, dressed in the blue flight suit of the Air Force, stood upright in the center of the podium. They realized their dreams for many years and showed the world the style of Chinese soldiers on the field of the military games.