ROCKHAMPTON, Australia: In a cluttered room filled with six pilots who fly Apache helicopters, Military Expert (ME) 4 Lim Bi Fang holds court.
The 28-year-old Air Force engineer, who oversees maintenance of the attack helicopters at Exercise Wallaby, stands in front of the room, briefing her colleagues on repair works done the day before.
ME4 Lim briefing the pilots on maintenance work. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
This is the first time ME4 Lim is participating in the exercise, and she is relishing how it allows her to work with personnel from various parts of the Air Force.
“It’s not just a one-person effort to make the aircraft fly, it’s a lot of people,” she told Channel NewsAsia on a scorching day outside Rockhampton Airport, where three Apaches sat idle with rotors moored to the ground.
“Over here, I also need to work with the different trades. We have engineers that work on the rotors, air frames and electrical systems.”
Back home, ME4 Lim works on the Apaches too, but she does it with her own team and focuses on its rotor systems, or “anything that turns”, as she puts it.
The AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopter boasts a “lethal array of armament” and can travel up to 278kmh, according to the Ministry of Defence website. One pilot described it as a “big boy’s toy”.
“I always found it interesting to know how things work how, and flying is something that I find quite amazing,” ME4 Lim added.
ME4 Lim leading the daily ops briefing. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
Her fascination with flight, fine-tuned during her days at Nanyang Technological University studying aerospace engineering, drew her to the Air Force.
“I wanted to know more about how to operate a fleet of aircraft, and this is a military organisation so it’s something I cannot get outside,” she said.
“So I thought might as well, while I’m still young, come here and see what it’s all about.”
When ME4 Lim told her parents about joining the military, they asked her to do “whatever made me happy”.
“I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t seem to be worried,” she said with a laugh. “But of course I was so happy, because I didn’t need to spend a lot of time trying to convince them that this is what I want to do.”
She started off by working on the Super Pumas and the Seahawks, a naval helicopter, before switching to the Apaches.
ME4 Lim and her crew working on an Apache helicopter. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
Her eyes lit up as she spoke about her keen interest in helicopters. “They are very complex and unstable mechanisms; a lot of components coming together just to fly,” she enthused. “It’s amazing how something so heavy can actually take off.”
That has kept her going in the Air Force for four years now, but she admitted that it has at times been a challenge.
“The work never stops, so long the aircraft is flying,” she said, “It can come any time of the day – midnight, 2am – they will call you up and say something went wrong with the aircraft, so you’ve got to come in and see what’s wrong.”
Once, she finished work at 6pm and was halfway home on the road when her superior texted her. “Something critical happened and the aircraft had to land,” she said. “So, I made a U-turn.”
ME4 Lim, who is based at Sembawang Air Base, only left the office in the wee hours of the morning. “No choice,” she said, as these are operational requirements.
ME4 Lim inspecting the main rotor of an Apache helicopter. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
The fact that she is a woman, however, is not one of those challenges.
“There’s slowly more and more women joining the force,” she said. “Engineering in the military is not about gender. It doesn’t play a role. That’s a fact, that’s what I really think.”
ME4 Lim said she does not face any difficulties because of her gender, but she knows that is not the case for other women in the military, like those “deployed to do more hands-on work”.
“But from what I observed, they will always do their best to be equal to their male counterparts,” she said. “Some of them even lift weights just to be able to do that particular maintenance work, which is something very inspiring.”
ME4 Lim looking at the 30mm automatic gun under an Apache helicopter. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
Nevertheless, she still gets looks of surprise when telling others about her job. “People don’t expect that to be my job,” she said.
“Those who meet me for the first time, and I tell them I’m from the Air Force, they will think I’m a pilot. But I will correct them and tell them I’m an engineer. The Air Force is not just about pilots.”
Sure enough, there are more than 500 Air Force personnel participating in this year’s Exercise Wallaby, with assets including four Apaches, six Super Pumas and two Chinook helicopters.
ME4 Lim is returning home in slightly more than a week, and she intends to stick around with the Air Force for a little while longer.
ME4 Lim works with a number of full-time National Servicemen during the exercise. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
“What I found memorable here at Wallaby are the times that I spent with my colleagues just getting the aircraft ready for the next day,” she said.
“There’s still some stuff I want to see. I like to try new things. I want to go sailing with the Seahawks.”
Her advice for other girls thinking of becoming just like her?
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” she said. “Keep an open mind and just try it out. That’s the only way, really.”
