This Chinese bird's a beauty!

Last Friday, I realized even journalists, who are supposed to be dispassionate and objective while on duty, could get carried away by emotions. An overwhelming emotion and a sense of pride overcame me when I witnessed the momentous takeoff of China's first homemade large passenger aircraft, the C919, for its first test flight.

It's just about a year since I began covering the aviation industry as a reporter. When I started filing my reports, I was already a frequent flier, but didn't know much about the industry terminology. Perhaps, that's understandable for a woman in her 20s?

Within a few weeks, I began to track COMAC, the maker of the C919, closely. The more I learned about the company and its achievements, the more I found aviation fascinating. That spurred me to write numerous stories on the industry, including some on the possible time of the C919's first flight.