Plane Lady Likes to Leap
by Jocelyn Garwood & An-Yin Choo
For some people, the ultimate high comes from
living in the fast lane with its fast cars and fast people. For others, a state of
euphoria can result from the sound of a piece of music, the scent of a delicate flower or
the sight of a beautiful painting.
For Zhang Hong, 41, however, the rush comes jumping out of planes. Zhang became a member of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) parachuting team at 16, and a coach in the military division at 24.
She reaped first place for individual accuracy in an eight-country competition in Thailand at 33 in which the Chinese team also won first place.
Elite team members must be fit, focused, dedicated and decisive.
It takes only one mistake.
Decisive
Asked if she ever experienced real terror during one of her approximate 4,000 jumps, Zhang thinks for a few minutes.
"Only once," she says.
She had jumped about 300 times without incident when it happened.
The main parachute wouldn't open. Hurtling to earth at 50 meters per second, Zhang says fear was not a conscious consideration.
Her main focus at the time was to readjust the main chute. Then at about 200 meters above ground, her main parachute still inoperable, she deployed her reserve.
She landed without injury. The ensuing fear -- after the fact -- was intense.
Dedicated
Zhang had desperately wanted to take part in the
1983 Worldwide Friendship Military Parachute Competition in West Germany. After long,
arduous training, she was selected as the only female of a five-member team to represent
China.
But she broke her ankle training in the last few days before departure. She actually heard it crack on landing.
Zhang strapped up her ankle for the required pre-departure medical exam and balked at the suggestion of an X-ray.
Perhaps not entirely convinced, the doctor asked her to jump 1.5 meters off the table. She did just that, smiling all the while. Zhang winces severely in recollection.
She placed in the top 10 at competition and after she returned to China, the X-ray revealed a severe, clean and complete break.
Married
In 1984, Zhang married and by late 1985 became a
proud mother of a baby girl. She was back in the air by early 1986.
In 1988, she undertook a two-year program at the Military Physical Education Institute in Guangzhou. But by 1990, she was back in the parachute harness.
Parachuting as a career is enormously time consuming. It requires practice, travel and training. It often involves long separations from family members. In 1994, Zhang left the parachuting division for another army unit.
Now a lieutenant colonel, Zhang is continuing her career in the army while simultaneously pursuing a bachelor's degree in English, both pursuits without separation from her family.