Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 101, 100: Confirming the Long-Distance Route, Aircraft Modification, Something Happens at the Fang Family

It's time to explain the flight route.

Neil took out a world map and introduced it:

"Regarding the air route, the domestic segment is the responsibility of the Nationalist government. We have already contacted them through the embassy, ​​and they have agreed to provide military airfields along the route as transit landings."

"You will depart from Shanghai Airport, and your first transit airport will be Wuhan."

Fang Wen nodded. Taishan Airlines is currently negotiating with the airport in Wuhan, but this airport is definitely not the one Taishan Airlines is talking about.

That military airport was built in 20, which was last year.

Located in Hankou, it is marked as Hankou Military Airport on the map, but Fang Wen also knows its other name, Wangjiadun Airport, because it was built in a place called Wangjiadun within Hankou.

Neil used a pencil and ruler to draw a straight line connecting Shanghai and Wuhan, and then extended it to the left to reach Chongqing.

"There's a military airport here where you can land; it's on an island and called Guangyang Island Airport. After your layover here, you'll fly to Kunming. The military airport in Kunming is called Wujiaba Airport."

These are the domestic routes, totaling 2,000 kilometers in length.

It's not easy to fly the entire domestic route.

Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chongqing were under the control of the Nationalist government, while Kunming was under the control of Long Yun.

Therefore, it is necessary to connect both sides.

If it were Taishan Airlines, no one would give them any face.

Fortunately, it was through US diplomatic liaison that we were able to land.

Neil said, "At that time, as your domestic liaison, I will arrange landings at three transit stations for you. We will communicate via telegram. The key is that these are all routes you've never flown before. Can you really succeed on the first try?"

Fang Wen nodded, "I opened all of Taishan Airlines' routes, so there's no problem."

This demonstrates Fang Wen's authority in aviation. Without satellite navigation, he opened up three intermediate routes in Chinese airspace and even trained a group of skilled route pilots, something no one else could do.

Neil nodded, having no doubt about Fang Wen's confidence.

He unfolded the map and continued, "Next are the international routes. Each of these transit airports has a separate contact person. You need to communicate with the next contact person at the previous transit airport before you can take off."

After he finished speaking, he used a pen and ruler to draw a left-south diagonal line on the map.

The first transit point was from Kunming, arriving at Kolkata Airport, located on the Bay of Bengal.

This is not Bangladesh yet; it will not be independent from India for another 40 years.

Departing from Kolkata transit airport, the next transit airport is Delhi Param Airport.

Then fly southwest to Karachi in the Arabian Gulf, where there is a transit airport, Jinnah Airport.

All three transit airports mentioned above are under British control, which is quite simple.

Next.

Depart from Karić and head to Tehran Airport.

After arriving at Istanbul's Atatürk International Airport, which is located on the European side, you've entered the European region.

The entire route from Asia to Europe involves eight transit airports, covering 2000 kilometers domestically and 7800 kilometers internationally, for a total flight distance of approximately 8 kilometers.

There are reasons for choosing this route.

Neil explained, "Airplanes can't cross the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; flying north would require a much longer detour. This is the only route that's easiest."

Fang Wen nodded and pointed to the last two transit routes: "Karachi to Tehran is 2000 kilometers, and Tehran to Istanbul is also 2000 kilometers. The maximum range of the Shrike is only 1600 kilometers. How do we solve this?"

“We’ll need to use some small airports for landing, one in a mountainous area and the other in the desert. It’ll really test your flying skills,” Neil explained.

How can I pinpoint the locations of those two small airports?

"Not yet, we need to wait for the embassy there to confirm and send a telegram."

"Okay, that's all for today. Let me know if there are any new developments."

The conversation about the long-distance flight ended there, and Fang Wen saw Neil out.

Long-distance flights are not easy, even with Boeing organizing them and with the help of the US government, it still requires a very complex process.

Each embassy along the route needs to be notified in advance to prepare accordingly.

They could only send a telegram back to the United States after they had finalized the airport arrangements.

Then Boeing notified Neil, who then contacted diplomats from different countries one by one.

Time flew by in the blink of an eye.

Before we knew it, it was January 1933.

However, Fang Wen's article published in the newspaper during this period did not receive positive feedback.

Someone wrote an article specifically criticizing this article in the newspaper.

It is said to be an exaggeration, full of nonsense.

Some people ridiculed the air combat hero, saying that his skill in flying planes led him to become arrogant and make irresponsible remarks about world affairs, which was unacceptable.

The matter ended just like that, without any ripples or waves.

People went about their business as usual, and the memory of that article quickly faded.

Fang Wen was also helpless. When he spoke the truth, people took it as nonsense, which ruined his idea of ​​reminding the Chinese people.

If there are any people in this world who are still willing to believe his article, it's his small team and his wife.

Regardless, things still need to be done, and Fang Wen will not be discouraged by this.

He himself had to prepare for the flight before Boeing finalized the route details.

There are some important issues to consider during a 10,000-kilometer long-haul flight.

That is mid-flight maintenance of the aircraft, and timely repair after a malfunction occurs.

Furthermore, this trip to Europe involves significant spending, so the gold I have in the gold bank needs to be converted into funds that can be used in Europe.

He and Howard had been discussing the maintenance issues.

The route to Europe covers a complex range of regions, including inland areas, subtropical monsoon climates, deserts, and plateaus. Over long distances, this could cause engine malfunctions.

This must be prevented.

Everything else is fine, but Fang Wen is most worried about the desert environment.

Because sand and dust in desert regions can be potentially damaging to engines, fighter jets should be equipped with efficient dust protection devices to reduce the possibility of sand and dust entering the engine.

In this regard, Fang Wen and Howard discussed and prepared highly breathable silk to make sand nets to prevent sand from entering the cylinders and causing internal wear of the piston engine.

These silks will be wrapped around the inner walls of the aircraft to prevent small amounts of sand and dust from entering the engine area through the pores.

Another issue is the high temperatures in desert regions, where air cooling might not be as effective, so we need to find ways to cool the engine in that environment.

Fang Wenxiang's solution is to add a water-cooled cooling system to the existing air-cooled cooling system.

Having two cooling systems working simultaneously is no easy task, and it's not something Fang Wen and Howard could solve on their own.

Therefore, two other mechanics dispatched by Boeing from Taishan Airlines also joined the research team.

They ultimately made a compromise by retrofitting the engine with a circulating water cooling system that is normally off and can be turned on when needed.

In this way, if the engine overheats in the high-temperature desert environment, the water cooling system can be temporarily activated to cool it down.

The three mechanics did not think the modification was useful.

Because most pilots cannot detect engine overheating in time, and in fact, most remedial measures are futile once overload and overheating occur.

However, Fang Wen still allowed them to complete the modifications and piloted the aircraft for multiple flight tests.

Fang Wen believed he could do what others couldn't. Once he entered mechanical perception mode, the aircraft became one with him, allowing him to sense even the most subtle changes in advance. After the aircraft modifications were completed, Fang Wen also gained a deeper understanding of the Shrike through his interactions with the mechanics.

He can now say that he knows the Shrike better than the mechanics, and that he can repair and fix the aircraft himself should it encounter problems during a long flight.

The United States also sent a telegram to Neil, confirming that the transit airports along the route had been identified. Neil even made a special telegram book to contact the embassies along the route and their addresses.

The only remaining preparation before departure was to exchange the gold tickets for funds that could be used for the trip to Europe.

1 month 3 number.

A passenger on a flight from Nanchang to Shanghai disembarked but did not take the shuttle bus to leave.

He carried a small suitcase and looked at the Taishan Airlines staff as if he were on patrol.

It made everyone feel strange, but they didn't feel comfortable asking.

He spoke first: "I'm looking for Kwong Ming-chu."

"Hello sir, how can I help you with our deputy general manager?"

“I am her father.”

The staff member was stunned, and then quickly sent someone to notify the deputy general manager.

Kuang Mingzhu rushed to the airport and saw that it was her father. She quickly came over.

"Father, what brings you here?"

"I've never flown on your company's plane before, so I took the opportunity to sit down and check it out. It's quite nice," Mr. Kuang said with satisfaction, then raised his small suitcase in his right hand. "I brought my things."

“You brought such valuable things all by yourself, thank goodness you’re alright. Let’s go home and talk about it.” Kuang Mingzhu looked relieved as she and her father left the airport and returned home.

No sooner had the two of them returned than Fang Wen received a notification from his employees to go home from the hangar.

"Father-in-law, what brings you here? Shall we have a drink tonight?"

"Okay, let's get down to business first."

As he spoke, Mr. Kuang placed the suitcase on the table and unlocked the combination lock.

Inside was a large, thick sheet of paper.

"These are $1000 U.S. Treasury bonds, hard currency that can be exchanged for currency at major European banks and used for large transaction expenditures."

Fang Wen picked up a sheet and examined it carefully.

Although the US economic environment is currently very bad, these national debts will be really valuable once World War II breaks out.

After all, the credit ratings of all European countries will be significantly reduced by then, and the only thing that can be used for collateralized transactions will be the US dollar and its government bonds.

There were 300 bills in the box, which is worth $30.

Fang Wen couldn't help but ask, "How much gold is this equivalent to?"

Before her father could answer, Kuang Mingzhu skillfully started calculating the value for her husband using an abacus.

“目前美国银行那边报价是每盎司黄金约22美元。两吨黄金是70548盎司，2吨黄金的总价值就是= 1552056美元。30万美元的国债差不多值五分之一的黄金。”

"Oh dear, daughters grow up and leave home. That's the amount. I brought the goods over without even receiving the gold notes. Aren't you going to treat your deliveryman well?" Mr. Kuang said, feigning concern.

Fang Wen quickly replied, "That's right. Since you're here, Father-in-law, please stay a few more days. I'll take you around to see the sights."

"playing what?"

How about I take you on a tour of all of China?

Fang Wen's words greatly interested Kuang's father. In his life, he had experienced a lot, but he could not be said to have traveled all over China.

But what the son-in-law said isn't impossible; after all, he can fly around in a plane.

Mr. Kuang readily agreed to the suggestion.

The next day, we boarded the Qingyun and toured the mountains and rivers of our motherland.

After a day of fun, Mr. Kuang felt refreshed and invigorated. This feeling of looking down on the world from high above is not something that can be easily achieved.

He's very satisfied with his son-in-law.

It wasn't enough to just show his father-in-law the sights of the motherland. Fang Wen, who was about to embark on a long voyage, felt somewhat indebted to his wife, so he also took her sightseeing around these past few days.

Jinan, Nanchang, and the Mongolian grasslands where airplanes can land.

And so, January 10th arrived.

Boeing's advertisements were published in major newspapers in Shanghai.

The Boeing advertisement, which took up half of the front page, advertised that Chinese pilot Fang Wen would fly a fighter jet manufactured by their company from Shanghai, passing through 8 airports, covering a distance of 1 kilometers, to reach Europe.

This will be a feat, a route that no one has ever completed before.

This kind of reporting successfully attracted people from all walks of life in Shanghai.

People remembered the day the plane took off, hoping to come together on that day to witness the start of its long journey.

Taishan Airlines suspended operations on January 12.

All the employees, dressed in neat uniforms, lined up in a square formation at the airport and said in unison, "We wish the General Manager a successful flight and a safe return."

Outside the airport, a large crowd had gathered, all watching the planes take off.

Fang Wen was wearing a flight suit and a leather flight cap that his wife had specially made, with special goggles on top.

He picked up his luggage bag and prepared to leave.

"Wait." Kuang Mingzhu carefully straightened her husband's collar, brushing it lightly as if to sweep away bad luck. "You must come back safely."

Fang Wen nodded: "Definitely."

He strode toward the Shrike, climbed the boarding stairs to the cockpit, and turned to wave to everyone.

A round of applause erupted, and amidst cheers, Fang Wen took the pilot's seat and started the plane.

The plane moved slowly, about to accelerate for takeoff.

A figure appeared beside the track; it was Yue Jinping.

She waved vigorously, wanting Fang Wen to see her, watching the Shrike fly into the sky.

Then, Kuang Mingzhu walked over alone.

The two stood silently for a moment, until finally Kuang Mingzhu spoke up: "Do you have time? I'd like to talk to you."

"What's there to talk about? He and I are just friends. With the country in crisis, as a soldier, personal feelings are none of my business."

Yue Jinping said coldly, "Besides seeing him off, there's another matter I've come here for. I think you should be able to make a decision for him."

"What is it?" Kuang Mingzhu asked.

"He has a younger sister, the sixth child in his family, who is in school, did you know that?"

"know."

“Her teacher was arrested, and she was implicated as well. It’s not convenient for me to get involved in this kind of thing, so you handle it.”

"Because of what?"

“They organized anti-Japanese propaganda, but they ran into the Japanese, and a fight broke out between the two sides. The Japanese were seriously injured and refused to reconcile. I can guarantee that his sister will not be bullied in the prison, but I have been forbidden from participating in this matter by my superiors.”

After Yue Jinping finished speaking, she left immediately.

Kuang Mingzhu watched his retreating figure, hesitant to speak, realizing that trying to build a good relationship with him was not going to work.

(End of this chapter)