African Nationhood

Chapter 429 The Daily Life of a Pilot

The town of Jockey (now Seheim, Namibia) is a hub connecting the port of Golden Hook (now Lüderitz, Namibia) and the vast inland areas.

On weekdays, this place is empty and desolate, with a sparse population and even shrubs and pastures.

In addition to the town government and herdsmen's residences, there is only an air force base left here.

There are dozens of air force bases in South China, most of which are located in sparsely populated areas. This makes it easier to hide intelligence and prevent aircraft flights from disrupting civilian life.

At this moment, the Saimai Town Air Force Base is empty, and rows of rotating ladders, waves, swing boats, rotating flywheels, rotating chairs and other equipment are also empty.

It seems that the reserve pilots in the base are intensively attending cultural classes.

……

"Dangdang~~"

The bell rang for the end of get out of class, and a group of reserve pilots wearing white uniforms walked out of the classroom.

They were tall and well-proportioned. Their collar badges were embroidered with a silver eagle emblem, and their shoulder straps had silver buttons and a thin silver thread.

The cultural gates include "Geography", "Aircraft and Engine Systems", "Meteorological Knowledge and Complex Air Flows", "Pilot Self-cultivation", "Principles of Aircraft and Aerospace", "Advanced Mathematics", "Operation Points of Airborne Machine Guns", etc. Cumbersome courses.

On the other hand, they are recruited from school students. Students from secondary schools account for less than half of the air force pilots, but such trainees have shortcomings in physical training.

……

Therefore, after joining the Air Force, the training focuses of these two types of trainees are different, and both the cultural and physical tests must be passed.

The physical fitness test is even simpler, that is, practice.

But after enrolling in school, they discovered that it is not easy to sit in the cockpit of an airplane and become a powerful person in the eyes of others, because they need to pass the cultural barrier first.

Although it has been two years since they joined the Air Force, these reserve pilots have basically never touched an airplane.

Then there are cultural courses such as "The Composition of a Glider", "Key Points of Glider Operation", and "Response Plans for Abnormal Air Currents".

This is their military rank. Each Air Force reserve pilot starts as a corporal. Once they officially fly, their military rank will be promoted to lieutenant.

Therefore, every pilot is a noncommissioned officer. It is easier for them to perform meritorious service, but it is also more dangerous.

Generally, pilots who encounter this situation will become nervous. After all, the Air Force pilots are eliminated.

If a reserve pilot makes three major mistakes, he will be transferred to ground personnel.

They are relatively talented in the sense of spatial balance, but their cultural foundation is very low and they need to focus on making up lessons.

The source of the Air Force is relatively complex. First of all, they are veterans selected from other services. These veterans account for more than half of the Air Force pilots.

When it comes to the practical flying stage of gliders, most pilots have also passed practical flying of gliders.

However, there are still some unlucky people who will have accidents when landing due to unskilled operating skills or poor psychological quality.

After a year and a half, hundreds of preliminary pilots finally passed the cultural and physical tests. They were full of joy and thought they were going to fly on a plane, but they were told that they had to learn how to operate a glider first.

Fortunately, the glider is not too difficult and the cultural level is easy to pass.

……

Once your body is in such good shape that you can sit on a rotating flywheel, a spiral staircase, or a rotating chair without vomiting and still stay awake, then you've basically passed the test.

Except when they first joined the army, they had seen the instructors flying in the sky with a wide aircraft. At that time, they, the rookies, felt that the instructors were very majestic and powerful.

……

In addition to glider training, Air Force pilots also have simulated cabin training.

The simulation cabin training is a wooden box with a simulated cockpit inside, with some instruments on it, such as engine speed, fuel tank scale, timer, joystick and other equipment.

Basically, it can achieve a one-to-one simulation with a real aircraft, but these instruments cannot truly reflect the condition of the aircraft.

Preparatory pilots can only become familiar with the layout of the aircraft cockpit and gain some feeling of controlling the aircraft.

Equipment such as rotating ladders, rotating flywheels, and rotating chairs are an indispensable part of the daily training of these pilots.

Everyone must pass the physical fitness test. Instructors often say that it is impossible to fly a plane without a strong body, and it is even more impossible to have a clear mind.

Therefore, they have strict requirements. For example, the rotating ladder must be able to rotate 20 times a minute, the flywheel must be rotating 40 times, and they must be able to answer questions and answers during the training process of the rotating chair to be considered qualified. Two years is enough to train veterans with elementary education into knowledgeable all-rounders in science, and to train weak cadet soldiers into strong young men.

……

Xie Yuhao is 20 years old today. He is a South Chinese through and through.

Born in Anhai Town (now Swakopmund, Nargos), they have received a Nanhua education since childhood. Such children are also considered to be of the Nanhua generation.

People of their generation are exposed to the deeds of General Manager Shi every day, and what they have experienced is the stage of Nanhua Company's continuous expansion and strengthening.

Therefore, their generation is also the generation that admires Chairman Shi Jintang the most.

When they were in school, the teacher told them that the British were carrying out inhumane extermination operations against the Boers, and that the South China Company could not sit back and watch the Boers be wiped out by the British.

Because once the British eliminate the Boers, then the arrogant and powerful British will want to destroy us Chinese.

Everyone understands the truth of the cold-blooded situation. Therefore, our Nanhua Company wants to attack the British and rescue the Boers. We must firmly support General Manager Shi’s decision!

Sure enough, the Nanhua Company succeeded in the first battle, directly defeated the British, and still rescued the Boers.

In order to survive, the Boers chose to merge with Nanhua Company, and then General Manager Shi finally became Chairman Shi.

……

Chairman Shi was far-sighted and issued a call: Young South Chinese, your motherland needs you.

Come, come to the army, use your hands to defend the land we live on!

After hearing the call, young people in Nanhua immediately signed up enthusiastically to defend their motherland and realize their own value in life.

So when the Air Force went to school to select pilots, Xie Yuhao didn't know what a pilot did.

But he still tried his best to express himself and eventually became a reserve pilot.

When they were enlisting in the army, the students were immediately fascinated when they saw the planes flying in the sky.

……

Although I have never flown a plane since joining the army, my daily life in the military camp is very fulfilling.

Back in the dormitory, there was a letter on his desk.

Because pilots have high military ranks, their basic necessities, food, housing, and transportation are all provided by dedicated ground staff. Small tasks such as receiving mail are handled by ground staff.

He sat down and opened the letter from home. The letter was written by his mother. The father could not express his feelings freely with his son in the letter.

The first thing the mother asked about was his health, and she would tell them that they were all in good health at home so that her son should not worry. The mother would express a relaxed and cheerful tone in the rest of the narrative.

The letter will inform the son of recent events in detail, such as Aunt Liu's pregnancy in the east and Uncle Zhao's son in the west.

The accountant in the village was arrested. His daughter is so good-looking. It's a pity, so...

Xie Yuhao likes his mother's nagging style very much. Through letters from home, he can feel the atmosphere at home even in the military camp.

……

In addition, his mother would also tell him in the letter, whose girl was virtuous and beautiful, and whose girl was stupid, hinting that she wanted to go on a blind date with him.

Xie Yuhao was not disgusted by this. Anyway, as a pilot, it was easy for him to find a wife.

It's just that his vision is relatively high, and he can't look down on ordinary girls.

He made up his mind to find a girl from a big city as his wife. He would be uncomfortable if the quality of his wife was too low.

"Xie Yuhao, where are you going to play during the holidays?"

The person who asked the question was Xie Yuhao's roommate and comrade-in-arms Yang Hua. Because the air force's conditions are good, two people share a dormitory.

The current glider training has come to an end, and the base will give them a few days off. After the vacation, they will enter the next stage of intense training.

Xie Yuhao didn't even think about it, "Go to Hanking or Handu. I've long wanted to visit these two places. What about you?"

(End of this chapter)