for most boys, china would seem the ideal place to go to school just days after football was officially added to the national curriculum in a bid to win the world cup, the country's air force has announced plans for top gun style training for pupils as young as 14 to develop tomorrow's fighter pilots a total of 16 senior high schools have been enlisted as 'air force teenager aviation schools', according to the people's daily online sky high dreams: a team of 77 pilots aged 18 and over recently took to the skies for the first time in a five hour flight training demonstration at one of the air force's existing junior flying schools  aspiring face: these teenage pilots have been trained by elite from chinese air force while maintaining academic studies   as the new younger recruits will be  off you fly: each student conducted two flights, logging around 80 minutes of time in the air  the news came as china's air force released pictures of its current intake of 18 year old trainee pilots being taught at its junior flying school the new 'top gun' schools that will give training to boys aged 14 and up will be located in 15 cities across china, including regional capitals like wuhan and changsha, and will be chosen based on their previous performance and the level of support they are able to get from local government the judging body is formed by representatives from the ministry of education of china, the general political department and air force all schools are regular senior high schools that offer mainstream academic courses cream of the crop: the students were selected from senior high schools around the country  learn to fly: the students have to complete 18 hours' training in basic aviation theory as well as 28 hours of pre flight study and one hour in a flight simulator  lead the world: officials from the air force said china had decided to step up its game because major powers in the world all invest heavily in training pilots from young ages  we want you: the poster of china's teenage aviation school programme  special 'aviation experimental classes' will be set up in these teenage aviation schools, which plan to recruit 1,000 students every year a class is usually made up by 30 to 50 students in china this means there will be approximately 20 to 30 teen pilots classes every year these classes are jointly managed by the schools and air force recruiting authorities male teenagers between 14 and 16 years old from all over china can apply before september 1, the start of an academic year in china once accepted, successful candidates will be given meal and living allowances, a rare exception for students in china scholarships will also be offered to the cream of the crop these teen pilots will be taught under the programme for three years before entering the university entrance examination in china for a chance to further their studies in aviation universities in the country while news about teenager aviation school has just been released, people's daily online published a gallery of a team of trained chinese teen pilots taking to the skies these 77 students, who are aged around 18, were selected from senior high schools around the country to receive air force training at junior flying schools start them young: the country is endeavouring to provide pilot training among young male pupils in senior high schools  large scale recruitment: besides specialised air force schools, regular senior high schools are to set up experimental classes to train young pilots  in their first public flying demonstration recently, these teen pilots carried out five hours of real equipment flight training the training took place at a air base in changchun, provincial capital of jilin in northeast china shi yansong, one of the teen pilots, said though their training followed a quasi military standard, he felt he still had much to learn from their commanders who were air force elite unprecedented showcase: this was the first time china had arranged real flight training for teen pilots  ready for take off: shi yansong, one of the teen pilots in the flying training, said it was his dream to become a pilot in the future  air base: the training took place in changchun in northeast china  'flying a jet feels so amazing,' said shi, 'i must become a real pilot in the future' as china's first batch of training pilots who maintain regular academic studies, the teenagers' flying debut is a landmark on the history of china's teenage aviation education, commented people's daily online peng junxia, head of china's air force recruiting bureau, told chinese media that the junior flying schools were established because major powers in the world all invest heavily in training pilots from young ages in addition, china hopes such schools can raise a large number of outstanding air force commanders in the years to come big occasion: students and trainers take part in the ribbon cutting ceremony at the military training demonstration  military vs academic: unlike regular air force members who often give up academic study for military training, these teen pilots are taught by top faculty in china 
china between 14 and 16 years old
16 senior high schools across china have been selected to give training  'aviation experimental classes' will be set up for cultivating young pilots  classes are set to recruit 1,000 boys between 14 and 16 years old annually  pupils have the chance to enter air force universities upon graduation  trainee fighter pilots at air force's existing junior flying school recently took to the skies for public demonstration of training regime 