Head in the clouds, feet on the ground

Dou Ruchao loves flying so much that he has even built his own airfield in northern China.

It's easy for newcomers to lose their bearings in the fields around Douzhuang Airfield, but the sight and sounds of small aircraft circling in the white smoggy sky always provide a guide to point them in the right direction. The facility, in Douzhuang village in the northern municipality of Tianjin, is the first private general-aviation airfield to win approval from both the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the People's Liberation Army Air Force. It covers an area of 53.3 hectares on the ground, and has been allotted 1,200 square kilometers of airspace for use by fixed-wing planes and helicopters.

The owner, Dou Ruchao, initially invested 100 million yuan ($16.2 million) in infrastructure construction, including the airfield and the hangar, in pilot-training programs and buying aircraft. Now the 40-year-old entrepreneur has 20 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters in the hangar.

As the summer sun beat down at 11 am on a Monday, Dou opened the door of a newly arrived Robinson R4 helicopter and invited several visitors, including myself, to take a short flight.

Three of us accepted the offer. Sitting in the co-pilot's seat, with my safety belt carefully fastened and wearing headphones, I felt a slightly nervous and anxious. Dou, who was obviously familiar with the machine, began pressing buttons on the instrument panel and talking with the ground staff as he prepared for takeoff.

When the engine roared into life, producing a strong smell of gasoline, I felt slightly nauseous. The helicopter lifted gently off the landing pad and soared above the green fields, gaining height every minute. From our vantage point, the outline of the airfield was easy to distinguish and fitted exactly Dou's description of the land as an "islet", surrounded by water and connected to the outside world by just one narrow strip of road. Dou said that when the facility is running smoothly, he'll introduce a few yachts, plus some boats that will act as venues for barbecues.

When he's not ensuring the calm operation of the airfield, Dou - who spent six months and 3 million yuan learning to fly different types of aircraft in San Diego - still enjoys training pilots.

Private flying culture

Dou trained in San Diego, California, where the culture of private flight is well established, and now he's attempting to bring that culture to China.

According to Wang Xia, secretary-general of the China General Aviation Committee, there are 220,000 private all-purpose aircraft in the US, but in China the number is about 1,370, although Wang estimated that a further 2,000 private planes and helicopter are unregistered.

Whatever the true figure, Dou is often busy with customers. Because of the tremendous heat in summer, the flying school takes a break between 11:30 am and 3 pm, although it's officially open between 5 am and 7 pm. Employees who live in the local town usually have to be up and about by 3 am so they can catch the company bus and arrive at work in time for the early start.

I'm not the world's most enthusiastic flyer, and the helicopter's constant changes of direction and altitude, allied to the smell of the gasoline, heightened my feeling of nausea. However, after a few swift circles of the airfield at an altitude of about 300 meters, we finally returned to Earth.

When Dou turned off the engine, the ground staff quickly came forward and pushed the helicopter into the hangar.

"This isn't my company's aircraft, so let me present one of ours to you - a very beautiful one," Dou said, motioning to a red helicopter glittering in the sunshine a short distance away. Feeling that I'd done enough flying for one day, I declined his offer, but my fellow passengers were eager to enjoy another trip.

He Jixiao, a junior gardening student at Tianjin Agricultural University who looked quite angelic in her white dress, was certainly excited by the second flight. As she climbed out of the machine, she announced: "The red helicopter has better power and performance. Mr Dou just made it tilt at a crazy angle. It was great."

As Dou led us into his office, home to a large number of model aircraft, he noticed two high school students chatting and smoking in the air-conditioned space. "Out! How dare you smoke, you brats!" he said, signaling that they should leave immediately.

"They are students from Beijing No 56 Middle Students. They're learning to fly here," he said, as the boys exited the building.

Xie Zichen was among 10 students from the school currently training at the airfield. He started three years ago and has decided to specialize in flying helicopters. "I come here every winter and summer vacation. It's cool to fly, although I am not allowed to fly solo yet," the 17-year-old said, adding that he has always been interested in aviation and is considering making a career in the industry. In total, 40 students from the high school have trained with Dou.

"You see, it's the summer vacation, so I've asked some executives to go home to make room for these children," he said.

Dou and five staff members he sent to the US to train as pilots have taught about 60 students since they began offering flying courses in November. The cost of studying for a private pilot's license is at least 150,000 yuan and includes 40 flying hours, while training for a commercial pilot's license costs 800,000 yuan and the students have to spend at least 250 hours in the air. If everything goes smoothly, a PPL learner can pass the theory exam and flying test in one to two months.

Only 10 all-purpose aircraft are allowed to be in the air simultaneously, because only two employees are in charge of flight safety, while six others are charged with checking and repairing the aircraft.

"I have very high standards when I choose employees - they must be fully qualified and experienced," Dou said. He's one of a very small number of people in China qualified to train pilots to fly both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

"On my resume, my qualifications cover a whole page, but for other people, they might only take up one line," he said. "I even flew decommissioned fighter jets in the US. That was amazing because those planes are so powerful and you can perform so many movements with them, such as high-altitude rolls."

Wang Lulu is in charge of the airfield's small marketing department. "It's a busy time. Business is improving all the time," the 25-year-old said, excusing herself to answer a phone call from a client who was inquiring about courses and fees.

Business boom predicted

Dou predicted that business is set to boom as more people learn to fly all-purpose aircraft. "For the first time in the three years since it was built, the airfield is starting to break even. Last month, we didn't lose a penny," he said.

Dou also owns an energy company in Tianjin, which he started in 1997, when the government opened the energy market to private enterprise. Having started out selling daily necessities such as toilet paper and sanitary towels, Dou grasped his opportunity and is now a yuan billionaire.

"I didn't go to college, and didn't even graduate from high school. I never imagined that one day I would have a life like this and own an airfield," he said.

"Flying is like a dream. I am glad I managed to do it and have helped many of my friends to do it, too," he said. "At the very beginning I just wanted to build an airfield for myself, I didn't realize it would become a business. Of course, it will be better if I can make money. I think I can."