novelAbuy Chapter 152 Airborne Radio
Chapter 152 Airborne Radio
One month after the successful test flight, the "Oasis" base entered the systematic construction phase.
Chen Feng would appear on the runway at six o'clock every morning, leading Zhou Afu in various test flights. Stall tests, spin tests, overload tests... each one was a brush with death.
Stall test on September 15.
The aircraft climbed to an altitude of 200 meters—this was the current safety limit. Chen Feng reduced the throttle and slowly pulled back on the stick, causing the nose of the aircraft to pitch up.
The airspeed indicator needle slowly descended: 80 km/h, 70 km/h, 65 km/h...
"Watch out, we're about to stall," Chen Feng said to Zhou Afu in the back seat.
Before the words were even finished, the plane suddenly shook, its nose plunging sharply to the left. Stall!
Chen Feng immediately pushed the control stick all the way down and simultaneously applied the right rudder. The plane plummeted twenty meters like a stone before regaining speed and recovering.
At the ground observation point, Zhao Tianxiang's face was deathly pale. The scene he had just witnessed was strikingly similar to Lin Guodong's demeanor before his accident.
After the plane landed safely, Zhou Afu's legs were weak when he crawled out, but his eyes shone: "Commander-in-Chief, just now... that feeling just now..."
"Remember this feeling," Chen Feng said seriously. "The shudder before stalling, the stick becoming lighter—that's the sign. When you fly solo in the future, if you see these signs, immediately push the stick to increase speed."
"yes!"
The data was recorded: stall speed was 62 kilometers per hour, the left wing sank first after stalling, and recovery required a height of 20 meters.
These data are being incorporated into the Lanfang Air Force Training Outline, which is currently being compiled.
The training syllabus was personally drafted by Chen Feng. He referenced the basic framework of later pilot training and, combined with the existing rudimentary conditions, developed a complete curriculum from theory to practice.
Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Aviation Theory. This includes aerodynamics, principles of flight, and aircraft structure.
Chapter Two: Ground Preparation. This includes aircraft inspection, engine maintenance, and weather assessment.
Chapter 3: Basic Flight. This includes takeoff and landing, level flight, turns, climbs and descents.
Chapter Four: Advanced Flight. Includes stall recovery, spin recovery, and emergency procedures.
Chapter 5: Tactical Basics. Although we don't have weapons yet, we can start by discussing formation flying and simple maneuvers.
After the outline was printed, Zhao Tianxiang was the first to read it. After reading it, he exclaimed, "President, this...this is more systematic than what the French and British teach. There are some concepts I've never even heard of before."
"Then let's learn," Chen Feng said. "Teacher Zhao, from today onwards, you are the training director. All trainees must pass the syllabus assessment to proceed to the next stage. A score of 80 is required to pass the theory exam, and the practical exam requires the instructor's signature."
"yes!"
While the training system was being established, the ground support system was also struggling to get started.
Chen Feng divided Master Ma's technical team into two groups: one group continued aircraft research and development, while the other group became full-time ground crew. He also recruited a group of young mechanics from among the immigrants to form the ground crew team.
Ground crew training is even more tedious than pilot training. Every day involves disassembling and assembling parts, inspecting equipment, and learning maintenance procedures.
"The spark plug gap is 0.6 millimeters; it can't be too big or too small."
"The fuel level in the carburetor float chamber should be at this mark."
"The fabric tension, measured with this tension meter, is 1.2 kilograms per square centimeter."
The ground crew foreman was an old fitter named Zheng Tiechui, who had a fiery temper and was very demanding. If a trainee made even the slightest mistake, he would be scolded.
"You! The screws weren't tightened properly! The plane fell apart in the air, are you going to take responsibility?!"
"You! The tools aren't back in their place! If one wrench is missing, the whole team will spend a whole day looking for it!"
But no one complained. Everyone knew that the ground crew's skills were a matter of life and death for the pilots.
In early October, an unexpected problem emerged: communications.
How do you direct aircraft from the ground when they're in the air? With flag signals? They become invisible in bad weather. With shouts? The engine noise is too loud.
Chen Feng convened a meeting with the technical staff.
"We need radios," he said. "Transmitters on the planes and receivers on the ground, so that at least one-way communication is possible."
The communications engineer, surnamed Wu, had studied abroad and majored in electrical engineering. He frowned: "President, the radio equipment is too big and heavy; the plane can't carry it. And the power supply..."
"Let's make a small one then." Chen Feng took out a sketch. "I designed a simple transceiver, amplified by a vacuum tube, with a power of five watts and a weight of less than ten kilograms. It will be powered by a storage battery, and can be charged after each flight."
"We can't manufacture vacuum tubes; we have to import them."
"Import it," Chen Feng decided. "Buy it from the US, buy it from Germany, regardless of cost. Minister Wang is already in contact with them."
Engineer Wu took the sketch and studied it, his eyes gradually brightening: "This circuit design... is ingenious. If it can really be made, the communication range could reach twenty kilometers."
"That's enough," Chen Feng said. "The first step is that the aircraft can report its status to the ground. The second step is that the ground can command the aircraft. The third step is that the aircraft can communicate with each other. We'll take it one step at a time."
As the communications project was launched, another more fundamental problem emerged: meteorology.
During a training flight in mid-October, Zhou Afu encountered a sudden crosswind while soloing, and the plane was almost blown off the runway. Although it landed safely, everyone was terrified.
"Desert weather changes too quickly," Zhao Tianxiang summarized. "It can be sunny and clear in the morning, but a sandstorm might break out at noon. We need weather forecasts."
Chen Feng nodded: "Establish a meteorological team. Purchase equipment: barometers, thermometers, hygrometers, and anemometers. Conduct observations and record data three times a day, morning, noon, and evening. At the same time, request regional weather forecasts from the Dubai weather station—although they won't be accurate, they're better than nothing."
"Who will do it?" Uncle Wang asked. "None of us know anything about meteorology."
"Learn," Chen Feng said. "Select two meticulous trainees and send them to the Dubai weather station for a month of training. They'll be on duty as soon as they return."
And so, training, ground support, communications, meteorology... subsystems were gradually established. Though rudimentary, the basic framework was taking shape.
At the end of October, Chen Feng organized a comprehensive drill.
A Blélio XI played the role of the "enemy plane," piloted by Zhao Tianxiang. The Swift-I played the role of the "our plane," piloted by Zhou Afu—this was his first time flying the Swift, and he was so nervous that his palms were sweaty.
Chen Feng personally directed operations from the ground command post.
"Enemy aircraft altitude 300, heading 180, speed 100," the observer reported.
Chen Feng picked up the newly prototype communicator—still with a long power cord attached: "Falcon One, this is Nest. Target detected, bearing 090, distance 5 kilometers. Climb to 400 meters to gain altitude advantage."
On the plane, Zhou Afu was wearing headphones—the headphones were filled with static, but he could still hear clearly. He pressed the control stick to climb, his heart pounding.
The two aircraft were "battling" in the air. Although unarmed, they performed various maneuvers: tail-chasing, evading, diving, climbing...
Ten minutes later, the exercise ended. Both aircraft landed safely.
During the review meeting, Chen Feng pointed out a number of problems:
"Communication delays are severe; it takes ten seconds for ground commands to travel into the air."
"The pilots are not yet familiar with the handling characteristics of the Swift, and its turning radius is too large."
"The observers judged the distance and orientation to be too inaccurate, by at least thirty degrees."
"But—" he changed the subject, "we've proven that aircraft can be controlled from the ground and can perform tactical maneuvers. That's enough."
Zhou Afu raised his hand: "Commander, I... I really caught Teacher Zhao's tail today! Although it was only for a few seconds, I really caught it!"
Zhao Tianxiang smiled wryly: "This kid learns so fast, I almost couldn't shake him off."
For the first time, laughter filled the meeting room. It was a laugh filled with pride and hope.