Zhang Chao

Zhang Chao

Zhang Chao (August 1986 - April 27, 2016), male, born in Yueyang, Hunan Province, joined the army in September 2004 and the party in May 2009. He graduated from Changchun air force aviation university. Before he died, he was the commander of a naval carrier based aviation unit, a first-class pilot of J-15 carrier based aircraft, and a naval major.

At 12:59 on April 27, 2016, Zhang Chao piloted a carrier based fighter plane to land-based simulation landing, which broke down suddenly and was forced to parachute and fall to the ground.

On November 2016, Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, signed an order to pursue Zhang Chao as the "pioneer of strong army". In June 2018, he was posthumously awarded as "national outstanding communist party member". On September 17, 2019, China's president Xi Jinping signed the presidential decree and awarded Zhang Chao the national honor of "people's hero".

Life of the characters

In September 1992, he was a student of Tuqiao primary school in Yueyang City, Hunan Province;

In September 1998, he was a junior high school student in the seventh middle school of Yueyang City, Hunan Province;

In September 2001, he was a senior high school student of the seventh middle school in Yueyang City, Hunan Province;

September 2004, student of Changchun air force aviation university;

In December 2006, he was a student of the fourth Flight Academy of the air force;

In June 2007, he was a student of the fifth Flight Academy of the air force;

In May 2008, he was a pilot of a naval aviation training base;

In May 2010, he was a company pilot in a naval aviation regiment;

In the early spring of 2011, Zhang Chao took on the duty of combat readiness for the first time, and met the foreign military reconnaissance plane that broke into the airspace of China's islands and reefs.

In March 2012, he was the squadron leader of a naval aviation regiment;

In May 2013, he was promoted to deputy battalion post;

In May 2015, he was the squadron leader (deputy battalion) of the Navy's shipborne aviation force;

In April 2016, he was promoted to a regular position.

At 12:59 on April 27, 2016, when Zhang Chao was piloting a carrier based fighter plane for ground-based simulation landing, a telex failure occurred. At the critical moment, he dealt with it decisively and tried his best to keep the fighter plane. The putter failed and he was forced to parachute. He fell seriously injured and died after rescue.

Main story

Take off to drive the enemy

In the early spring of 2011, Zhang Chao, who was on duty for combat readiness for the first time, had a narrow encounter with a foreign military reconnaissance plane that broke into the airspace of China's islands and reefs. Foreign pilots, relying on the low-speed advantage of large aircraft, kept reducing their speed, trying to make it difficult for Zhang Chao to follow. Zhang Chao took the risk of stalling, folded up the flaps, made S-shaped maneuver on the side of the outer plane, traded the voyage for time, lowered from high speed to low speed, and then pulled from low speed to high speed. The outer plane fled fearlessly in Zhang Chao's confrontation. During his stay in the South China Sea, Zhang Chao set a number of flight records and won the honors of "excellent pilot" and "night pilot".

At the end of March 2013, due to the need of the mission, the higher authorities instructed Zhang Chao's flight group to send four fighters to an airport in Xisha to carry out the combat readiness duty. Zhang Chao volunteered when he learned about this. The airport is strange, the environment is different, and the marine weather is complex. During the next training and combat readiness duty, Zhang Chao had a face-to-face competition with foreign aircraft almost every day.

In May 2014, in order to carry out the task of safeguarding rights in the South China Sea, the Navy dispatched three generations of fighters to an airport in the South China Sea, which is the first forward deployment of China's new fighters. As soon as the deployment was completed, Zhang Chao received the order to take off from the battle, tracking, monitoring and driving away a foreign military aircraft that was close to the islands and reefs in the South China Sea to carry out the investigation mission. In the face of provocation, Zhang Chao fought wits and bravery with foreign military aircraft, and did not give up until he was successfully driven away. During the training period, Zhang Chao took off with ammunition dozens of times and successfully completed the task every time.

No fear of danger

It's more than once for Zhang Chao to experience the special situation in the air and face the test of life and death.

Shortly after graduating from the aviation school, he was assigned to China Southern Airlines. During a round the clock flight training organized by the regiment, the right aileron compound steering gear shell of the J-8 aircraft piloted by Zhang Chao suddenly leaked oil, resulting in a sharp drop in the power hydraulic pressure, making the aircraft more and more difficult to control. In the face of danger, Zhang Chao was calm and resolute, handled correctly and operated carefully. Finally, he landed safely and avoided a serious flight accident.

After the baptism of the dangerous test, Zhang Chao not only did not shrink back, but also aroused the bloody fighting spirit to overcome the difficulties and climb the peak bravely.

During one flight, the weather suddenly changed, the dark clouds rolled between the sea and the sky, the rainstorm poured out, and the visibility instantly dropped to less than 100 meters. At that time, there were seven planes in the sky, and Zhang Chao was among them. The weather at the alternate airport is also very complicated. What's more, there is little fuel left, so the tower commander can only take the risk to make a forced landing at this airport. Who will be the leader of the "leading wild goose" regiment at the critical moment.

Cross the sea, who else! Zhang Chao prepared for the first forced landing, exploring the way for the follow-up fleet and opening up a life passage for his comrades in arms. He roared out of the clouds and quickly aimed at the runway. With his superb driving skills, he successfully avoided the dangerous situation of waterlogging and sideslip on the runway. The flying fighter dashed up a few meters high water curtain on the runway full of rain and stopped steadily. Under his leadership, six fighter planes successively forced to land in heavy rain.

Speaking of Zhang Chao's flying skills, Guo Zhanjun, the then captain of the J-8 refitting brigade, said: "Zhang Chao's flying skills are the best among the pilots of his age. We jokingly call him a flying genius. I used to hear people say, "as soon as I'm airborne, there will be no trump card in the air." I think this sentence is very suitable for Zhang Chao

Flying talent

In his short flying career, Zhang Chao successively flew eight types of aircraft and carried out more than 10 major exercises. Especially in the refitting of J-8 and J-11B, he was the first pilot in the same group to fly solo. Together with his comrades in arms, he broke many new records of the refitting of the Navy's third-generation aircraft. Because of his good technology, he was transferred to the Jiandao brigade as soon as the refitting was completed, and became the top six pilots in the regiment at that time The youngest member of the team.

Yin Zhengwei, the captain of an aviation regiment who once taught Zhang Chao, recalled: "he has a very high talent for flying, very smart in the air, and strong understanding ability. He always knows everything at once."

Zhou Xiaofei, mechanic of the maintenance squadron and chief sergeant of the third rank, said: "after each flight, if there is any problem with the aircraft, what state the problem is, and what fault it may be, Zhang Chao always makes it very clear. He can always save time for troubleshooting, which is based on his understanding of the aircraft."

Li Jialong, head of regiment training unit, recalled: "I still remember that before the first live ammunition training of these refitted J-8 pilots, Zhang Chao was familiar with the data, parameters, flying distance, overload ability, etc. as soon as he was free. He hit the target in the first training and surprised four pilots, ranking first in the same group of pilots."

Train hard

On March 14, 2015, Zhang Chao, 28, began his voyage to the aircraft carrier. He is one of the pilots selected by the Navy as an exception and trained unconventionally. His fellow pilots began to study and train in 2013. Zhang Chao has to catch up with his comrades in arms in more than two years of training in one year. If he can do it, it shows that the new training scheme is feasible and will greatly speed up the training process of pilots of carrier based fighters of the people's navy.

The original unit was reluctant to let him go. Zhang Chao successively flew over the type 8 fighter, refitted the J-8 fighter and the new three generation domestic fighter. He was the first pilot in the same group to fly solo, and was recognized as the top flight fighter by the whole regiment.

Zhang Chao himself also understood that the choice of shipboard flight means everything from scratch, which means greater risk. But flying to the higher and farther deep blue sea and sky has always been his dream. When he graduated from the aviation school, the school offered to teach him. Zhang Chao insisted on going to the combat forces, and was finally assigned to the "sea and Air Guard" Wang Wei's former army.

Zhang Chao started the "afterburner mode" from the day he joined the carrier based aviation force: six months later, he equaled the training progress; ten months later, he flew the J-15 plane into the blue sky for the first time. All the examination results are excellent.

Sacrificial process

At noon on April 27, 2016, in a naval training base for carrier based aircraft, Zhang Chao, a pilot of the carrier based aircraft, piloted the J-15 fighter to prepare for the land-based simulated landing training. This is the last flight of the day. Three of the four fighters of the same batch have landed successfully. The instruments showed that Zhang Chao's landing was also perfect.

There was no sign of the accident. At 12:59:12, a fault alarm came from the radio. Fly by wire fault occurs in the aircraft instantly. Fly by wire fault belongs to the control system fault. In a common sense, it is like the sudden failure of the steering wheel in the process of driving. What happened next caught everyone off guard: Zhang Chao's nose tilted up rapidly, and the plane left the ground and rushed out.

"Parachute jump" 12:59:17, that is, more than 4 seconds after the failure alarm signal was sent out, the tower commander issued three orders in succession. Almost at the same moment when the commander gave the order, Zhang Chao ejected from the cockpit. As the ejection height was too low and the angle was not good, the main umbrella could not be opened and the seat did not separate, Zhang Chao fell heavily from the air and fell on the grass beside the runway.

Flight records show that in the 4.4 seconds from the fighter plane's alarm to parachute departure, Zhang Chao's only action was to push all the way to the end to stop the aircraft's nose from rising. The system of J-15 fighter is highly integrated. In case of telex failure, the best choice is to parachute at the first time. But at the critical moment of life and death, Zhang Chao made the final effort to avoid the damage of the fighter plane. After investigation, the final conclusion of the accident is the cause of the aircraft equipment.

In just 4.4 seconds, Zhang Chao was the first to choose

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