Aircraft carrier ‘rainbow-men’ add splash of colour to Hong Kong pupils’ visit
Personnel on Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong explain to fascinated students what jobs the different coloured vests denote on flight deck
Crew members from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong have introduced the colourful roles of “deck rainbow-men” to more than 300 pupils at the PLA Stonecutters Island naval base in Hong Kong, prompting some to say a military career is inspiring.
On the second day of the PLA Navy’s Shandong carrier group’s visit to Hong Kong, seven crew members explained their roles to pupils, teachers and youth uniformed groups through a lively lecture on Friday.
To help coordinate hundreds of personnel on the carrier’s flight deck, crew members wear colour-coded vests – white, green, brown, purple, red, yellow and blue – each denoting a different role, “resembling a rainbow between sea and sky”.
Lieutenant Gao Xiang, a green rainbow-man responsible for guiding fighter jet launches, said: “This is my first time giving a defence lecture in Hong Kong, and it feels highly rewarding. Such interactions help young people absorb knowledge better, and I believe there will be plenty more opportunities in future.”
He said that, much like road traffic rules, a jet could only zip down the deck after the green rainbow-man gave the “carrier-style” take-off gesture – a dramatic crouched pose with an arm pointing forward – which went viral online in 2012 after China’s first successful launch of a J-15 fighter on its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.