Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 1, Reborn in the Republic of China Era, Flight Trainee
Andingmen Street, 19th year of the Republic of China.

As an important street in Beiping during the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was the only way for the emperor to perform sacrifices, hence it was also called Imperial Street.

The emperor has long since abdicated, but Andingmen Street remains bustling with activity.

On the wide road, there were rickshaw pullers, water carriers with mules, vendors selling cigarettes along the street, and passersby in long robes and cotton-padded coats hurrying by.

There was also a group of young people in uniform.

They stopped at a steamed bun shop with sheep's eyes and took out their silver dollars to buy the buns.

Unexpectedly, a mule was startled and galloped past. The mule's rope got caught on the canvas eaves support of the steamed bun shop, and in one fell swoop, it tore down the front eaves of the bungalow.

Suddenly, a uniformed youth who couldn't dodge in time was trapped underneath, and everyone frantically called for help to lift the canvas and bricks to rescue him.

After some rummaging, the dust-covered youth was rescued. After asking him about his condition and confirming that he was alright, the owner of the Sheep's Eye Bun Shop breathed a sigh of relief, quickly compensated him with a few silver dollars, and also gave him a steamer of buns.

At that moment, a military vehicle arrived, and the uniformed youths boarded it one by one. The military vehicle then drove out of the city.

Along the way, the young people chatted and laughed, but the unfortunate fellow sat motionless in the carriage.

Seeing his condition, his companions asked with concern, "Fang Wen, are you alright?"

"It's okay, I'll just sit and rest for a while."

Fang Wen replied to his companion, "Keep sitting."

I feel so dizzy, two memories are tangling in my mind.

I was walking down the street when I was hit by a falling billboard, but in the blink of an eye, I found myself here.

Could it be a case of identity swapping? I entered this body, but the original owner of this body went into mine?

If that's the case, I hope he can have a good outcome, because after the billboard fell, he felt like he was finished.

Fang Wen carefully savored the remaining fragments of memory within his body to understand his current situation.

It is now the 19th year of the Republic of China.

I am a flight cadet at the Nanyuan Aviation School in Beiping City.

It was during school break, and everyone went to the city for sightseeing, but they were so unlucky that they were hit by a mule or horse that had been startled, which tore off the eaves of their house and fell on them.

Even more coincidentally, the body's name was also Fang Wen, so after the bodies were swapped, there was no need to change the name.

So, there's no going back, is that right?
Am I capable of flying a plane?

Filled with questions and trepidation, Fang Wen hurriedly organized the remaining memories in his body, learning as much as he could, so as not to give himself away in future studies.

After sorting through the information, he was surprised to find that most of his memories of aviation flight education were still there. He guessed that he had been in a learning state all along, and these memories were very deep and well preserved.

After these memories were absorbed and integrated, they became Fang Wen's own.

But memories are just memories, and he doesn't know if they will be useful in his future studies.

Besides this, there are even more serious problems.

I am not the real Fang Wen after all, and I can't act like him. My future studies and life will more or less arouse the suspicion of my fellow students and instructors.

In order to change this predicament, he came up with an idea: he would pretend that the accident caused a drastic change in his personality and become a reclusive person.

.........

A ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, passed through the window of the flight cadet dormitory at Nanyuan Aviation School, and shone directly on Fang Wen's face.

The light made Fang Wen feel uncomfortable. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and heard his roommates talking in hushed tones.

"What's wrong with Fang Wen these past few days? He's always alone. Could he have damaged his brain?"

"Keep your voice down, we're all brothers from the same cohort, don't gossip." "I have the latest news, our cohort of flight trainees will be the last, and Nanyuan Airlines will be disbanded and merged into an airline company."

"I've heard about it too. The course was originally supposed to last another six months, but now it's going to end early. I'm telling you guys, we haven't even mastered flying skills yet, and we'll probably be going our separate ways soon."

"Graduation has turned into graduation, so there's no hope for our class."

"It's all about the same. The higher-ups simply don't have the money to buy planes. In previous years, the students either stayed on to teach or found their own way out. No one actually became a pilot."

"Alright, that's enough. We have a live flight lesson today, the instructor will yell at us if we're late."

The conversation ended there, and after a flurry of activity in the dormitory, everyone left.

Fang Wen sat up in bed, feeling depressed.

Having only recently transmigrated, I thought that after mastering the knowledge of flight, I could fly planes and soar through the skies in the Republic of China era, but I never expected it to end like this, and even graduation was hastily arranged ahead of schedule.

No, I have to fly the plane a few times, no matter what, to make my hard work of constantly reviewing what I've memorized all this time worthwhile.

Thinking of this, he quickly got out of bed, put on his uniform, and ran out of the dormitory.

Along the way, the scenery of Nanyuan Aviation School came into view. Although the school buildings were not tall, they were clean and orderly.

The instructors and patrolling soldiers, dressed in military uniforms, exuded an atmosphere of militarized management.

Of course, the most attractive thing is the planes on the airport runway in the distance.

There were five in total, all of which were British biplane trainer aircraft, the Eiffel Tower, purchased between 1920 and 21.

Having absorbed the learning memories from his body, Fang Wen had a thorough understanding of the structure of this biplane trainer aircraft.

Its fuselage uses a steel tube structure with a fabric covering layer, which is both lightweight and strong.

The wings are made of wood, and the spars are reinforced by struts and steel cables. This design not only provides sufficient strength, but also gives the wings a certain degree of elasticity, allowing them to better adapt to changes in airflow during flight.

In addition, the wing fabric canopy of the 'Everest' trainer aircraft has multiple round holes, which are reinforced with cable loops. These holes are cleverly designed so that in the event of a landing accident that could damage the wing, mechanics can reach inside the wing through these holes and pull out the truss cables connecting the structure. This design is known as a "heavy landing loop".

At the same time, these small holes can also help flight trainees judge the flight status of the aircraft by observing the vibration of the wings.

These are trainer aircraft purchased after World War I.

This type of aircraft is completely different from the future flight mode that integrates electronic devices.

With a purely manual transmission, even when encountering enemies in the air, it's all about aiming and shooting with the naked eye and engaging in hand-to-hand combat, while maneuvering around in the air.

The thought of piloting this old-fashioned vehicle into the sky filled Fang Wen with excitement.

It felt like driving a classic manual transmission car; piloting this kind of aircraft must be a unique experience.

Just as he was thinking, he had already entered the airport runway area. His fellow trainees lined up in three rows, and Fang Wen quickly joined the line.

The flight instructor looked at all the students with a serious expression and said, "You've all heard about the early graduation. We were also surprised by this, but there's nothing we can do about it, since it's a decision made by higher-ups. But we're still in the teaching period, so I hope you'll study hard and cherish every teaching opportunity."

"Yes, Instructor."

The students responded in unison, but it was clear from their tone that many of them were no longer focused on their studies.

The flight instructor didn't say much about it, but went straight into the lesson: "Now we'll proceed with the actual flight training. Each person will have two hours of flight time, starting in the order of registration."

Several trainees raised their hands and applied for a suspension from flying.

The remaining flight trainees didn't seem very interested either.

Fang Wen was the most enthusiastic; he walked over to the flight instructor.

"Instructor, student Fang Wen is ready and requests to begin live flight operations."

(End of this chapter)