Five-year-old Chinese boy becomes youngest pilot

A five-year-old boy from China has become the Guinness world record holder for the youngest person to pilot a plane.

He Yide, nicknamed Duoduo, made a 35-minute flight in an ultralight aircraft across the Beijing Wildlife Park Aug 31, Chinese media reported Tuesday.

Zhang Yonghui, the person in charge of the aviation club where Duoduo learned flying, said the distance of the flight was 30 km.

He Liesheng, the boy's father, said he wanted his son to become braver by flying a plane and also develop his curiosity and desire to explore, according to the Global Times.

The boy earlier sparked a fury in 2012 when a video of his running half naked in the snow went viral on the internet. The video was shot by his family in New York at minus 13 degrees Celsius.

The boy has also sailed a yacht in an international competition and climbed the Fujiyama mountain in Japan during a rainstorm, the media reports said.

Duoduo's father was nicknamed "Eagle Dad" because of his strict parenting methods and has prompted debates over his style of parenting.

"He's education style is worth learning, but not every child is suitable for it," the Global Times quoted Gu Li, the director of a learning research centre in Nanjing, as saying.

Sun Yunxiao, deputy director of the China Youth and Children Research Centre, said if the boy had encountered problems, it could have impacted his entire life.

"We should not force children to do what they are not able to do. Children can benefit more from playing with toys or mud than flying a plane," he said.