LANGKAWI: When she was young, her parents wanted her to become a piano teacher.

But Patricia Yapp Syau Yin was bent on becoming a pilot and pursued her dream.

Today, Kapt Yapp, 31, is Malaysia's only female fighter pilot and hopes to inspire other women to follow in her footsteps.

"Many women are afraid to even think of becoming a pilot, for fear of having to endure the gruelling physical training.

"Actually, flying is not judged by muscle strength. It is more of mental preparedness and determination," she said in an interview at Lima 2007 yesterday.

Kapt Yapp, from Sandakan, Sabah, said she was first inspired when her elder brother Ignatius, 33, joined Malaysia Airlines as a pilot when she was 16 years old.

"My fellow pilots as well as commanding officer Kol Lim Thian Hu from our RMAF 17th Squadron in Kuantan constantly encouraged me to keep on going," she said.

Kapt Yapp, who has been the air force for 11 years, said she hoped to become a display pilot, participating in aerial displays shows, such as at Lima.

"I hope to take after my superior, Mejar Sebastian William, who led a three-man team in this year's tactical aerial display at Lima," she said.

She said she started training with a small MD-3 aircraft and later progressed to bigger planes, such as the PC-7 and Aermacchi MB339A.

She has piloted the MIG-29 and now wants to fly the Sukhoi SU-30MKM which the Government purchased recently.

Kapt Yapp said her duties at Lima 2007 were to oversee operations at her team's safety office as well as do the ground handling at the static display area.

"Hopefully, I can become the country's first woman display pilot by Lima 2009," she said.