Wang Chen (from left to right), Rui Pingfan, Ke Ao, Zhuang Chen and Yan Zhongyue walk down the tarmac at an airport in northwestern China. The five recently completed their maiden solo flights of the Shenyang J-11B fighter jet, becoming the first female cadet pilots to take to the skies in the aircraft, according to CCTV. Photo: Screenshot from CCTV

Zhuang examines a Shenyang J-11B before her solo flight. Photo: VCG

Yan inspects a Shenyang J-11B. Photo: VCG

Ke climbs aboard the fighter jet. Photo: VCG

One of the five cadets takes to the sky in the Shenyang J-11B. The five pilots trained at the Xi’an Flying College of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force. Photo: VCG

Xu Fengcan sits at the controls of a Harbin Z-20 helicopter. Born in 1999, Xu was one of the first women selected by the PLA Ground Force to train as a pilot in 2017. Photo: CCTV

Sheng Yifei (right) prepares to fly at the 13th Airshow China in Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong province, in September 2021. Photo: VCG

Born in 1986, Sheng (left) was one of the first women to join the PLA Air Force’s Ba Yi Aerobatics Team. Photo: VCG

Tan Hongmei inspects an aircraft in 2012. Tan joined the PLA Air Force in 1999 and has been flying for more than 20 years. Photo: VCG

In 2016, Yu Xu, one of the first women to fly a Chengdu J-10 combat aircraft, was killed in a training accident at the age of 30. Photo: VCG

Wang Yaping (second from left), a pilot turned crew member of the Shenzhou-13 spaceflight mission reads a map with pilot Liu Wenli (third from left) in 2006. Photo: VCG

Miao Xiaohong, 82, prepares to take to the skies in November 2019 in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan province. Miao was part of China’s second batch of female pilots. Photo: Zhang Zhi/Hongxing News, VCG

In 1951, 14 women, including Wu Zhudi, joined the military as a member of China’s first batch of female pilots. Photo: CCTV