A five-year-old boy has piloted a plane – under the encouragement of his famously overachieving "Eagle Dad".
He Yide, nicknamed Duoduo, is reported to have made the 35 minute flight by ultralight aircraft across Beijing Wildlife Park on 31 August, according to China Daily.
“His first flight was very successful and he wasn’t scared at all,” father He Liesheng revealed on China’s Twitter equivalent, Sina Weibo, ahead of the official journey which saw him in charge, though accompanied by an instructor.
Duoduo salutes as he prepares to pilot an ultralight aircraft across Beijing's Wildlife Park
Liesheng told China’s Global Times he plans to contact the Guinness Book of Records to register his son as the world’s youngest pilot.
The father-of-two sparked outrage in 2012, after footage of Duoduo, then four, being forced to perform push-ups in snowy New York went viral.
Liesheng was heavily criticised for the film, which saw him barking stern orders at his near-naked, sobbing son.
Clearly distressed, the little boy begs his father for a hug in footage of him being forced to perform footage in the snow
The footage saw him christened “Eagle Dad”, a reference to the "Tiger Mum" term sparked by the benefits of tough parenting embraced in China.
Liesheng had earlier told news outlets his son had been born prematurely with water on the brain, but that since undergoing his training regime, "now he has no problems."
Despite accusations of child cruelty - with some branding Liesheng "ignorant" and even "inhuman", he appeared in further footage in which he instructs the boy on how to sail alone in the open ocean.
And Liesheng’s notoriety continued after he, Duoduo and sister Tiantian attempted to climb Mount Fuji.
The party, equipped with just a bottle of water and a chocolate bar, had to be rescued after they were thwarted by altitude sickness and gale force winds.
Duoduo was also trained to sail