Legendary Captain

Chapter 123 Knowledge and Understanding Beyond the Standard (Bonus Chapter!)

Unlike the captain's and first officer's seats, the observer's position does not have a radio transmission button. Unless using the assigned microphone, there is a pressable radio transmission button on the microphone.

However, Wu Feng had never intended to make the call; he just wanted to stay out of it. Ning Sheng, also intending to train Xu Xian, would never allow Wu Feng to interfere with the radio communication.

This meant that Wu Feng didn't pay attention to the fact that there was no microphone at his position, which made it more difficult for him to contact apron control when he wanted to.

He needs to press the R/T spring switch on the radio communication panel above his head, which is equivalent to the radio transmission button on the captain's or co-pilot's seat.

Because the observer's radio communication panel was above Wu Feng's head, and Wu Feng's arms were a bit short, he needed to stand up slightly to reach the R/T switch. It was this slight movement that startled Xu Xian, who was deep in thought.

When the starting valve failed to open, Xu Xian immediately had a flash of inspiration. Thinking about the weather outside, this further solidified Xu Xian's guess.

However, he was still just a trainee and lacked confidence. At least the captain hadn't spoken yet, and he was unwilling to speak first, as that would make him seem like he was overstepping his bounds.

Of course, this was merely a manifestation of Xu Xian's lack of confidence when he was at a lower rank. In the cockpit, there's no question of overstepping one's bounds; rather, it's a space for free speech and exchanging ideas – that's the truly suitable cockpit atmosphere.

However, Wu Feng seemed a little impatient, convinced that the problem of the starting valve not opening could not be solved in a short time.

In rare cases, the inability of the starting valve to open may simply be a display issue. That is, the starting valve may open but, for some unknown reason, there is no display even though the starting valve is open, which may lead the unit to mistakenly believe that the starting valve is not open.

This situation only involves a display issue and does not affect the actual engine operation, so it usually does not require any action. After landing, the release issue can be reassessed by pressing MEL.

However, the maintenance crew reported that the blades did not rotate during the start-up process, indicating that the engine did not properly enter the start-up procedure.

The initial rotation of the engine is not spontaneous; a starter motor is required to drive the engine turbofan blades to rotate first, which in turn drives the accessory gearbox (AGB) to operate. Then, the horizontal and radial shafts drive the N2 shaft to work. Once the N2 value reaches the required level, ignition and oil injection are performed.

Therefore, once the engine starts normally, there will definitely be initial rotation of the turbofan blades. If there is no rotation of the turbofan blades, then the entire starting process has not started, which is not a display problem! It is not a problem that can be solved in a short time.

Instead of wasting time figuring out how to get the engine running with such a low probability, it would be better to inform the authorities of the true situation shortly after its launch. If they are cooperative, the authorities might not have to make them queue up again.

Of course, that's also a possibility. However, the probability of restarting the engine is at least higher than in a very short time.

It was based on this psychological suggestion that Wu Feng's subsequent actions all served this purpose. Just as he mentioned wanting to notify apron control, Ning Sheng and Xu Xian happened to be pondering what had gone wrong. Perhaps they were overthinking, as neither of them reacted to Wu Feng's words immediately.

Since there was no response earlier, Wu Feng felt that Ning Sheng had tacitly approved of his actions, so he wanted to hurry up and notify the apron control.

Just as Wu Feng was about to get up and flip the R/T switch on the radio communication panel, the sudden noise startled Xu Xian, who was somewhat lost in thought.

Xu Xian reacted incredibly quickly. He turned his head and saw Wu Feng half-standing up, his left hand reaching towards the radio communication panel. Instantly, he understood what Wu Feng wanted.

At this moment, Xu Xian couldn't care less. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed Wu Feng's wrist, immediately stopping him: "Brother, don't contact anyone, I'll handle this!"

"Xu Xian, what do you mean?" This sudden turn of events caught Wu Feng off guard. His gaze naturally shifted to Ning Sheng, who was the final decision-maker on this plane. When would Xu Xian be able to make the decision?

"Xu Xian, don't be stubborn. There's a time limit. It's not enough to just solve the problem," Wu Feng said patiently.

Is a starting valve that won't open a difficult problem to fix? Not really, you can just replace it with a new one! What's difficult is diagnosing and fixing the fault under extremely tight time constraints.

Wu Feng felt that Xu Xian might have misunderstood! He had overlooked the time limit, and Wu Feng felt it was necessary to remind him.

"I know it won't take long," Xu Xian released Wu Feng's wrist and said softly, "if I'm not mistaken."

Wu Feng raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze to Ning Sheng on his left. Ning Sheng was the captain, and all decisions were ultimately made by the captain.

Ning Sheng gave Xu Xian a deep look, then suddenly asked, "Then what's the reason?"

At the same time, he held up one finger: "Have you thought it through? You only have one chance!"

With time so tight, if Xu Xian could explain clearly in one go why the starting valve couldn't be opened, he might consider letting Xu Xian demonstrate his skills!

If Xu Xian fails to seize this opportunity, it will be a great pity that he will take over everything.

Xu Xian barely hesitated; the answer had already been swirling in his mind, and it flowed out naturally: "It's the butterfly valve! The butterfly valve is frozen!"

A glint of light suddenly appeared in Ning Sheng's eyes—a light of overwhelming joy.

Xu Xian didn't mention the icing of the starter valve, but went straight to the core, pointing out the deepest reason with extremely precise language. In fact, even if Xu Xian had said the engine starter valve was icing, Ning Sheng could have accepted it, after all, they were pilots, not maintenance personnel, and couldn't possibly know every detail of the aircraft's operating principles.

Human capabilities are finite. Sometimes it is enough to know what is, and wanting to know why is not necessarily a worthwhile thing to do.

However, Xu Xian gave Ning Sheng a huge surprise!

"Butterfly valve?" Even Wu Feng, as the first co-pilot, had never heard of this term before, but judging from Ning Sheng's expression, it seemed that Xu Xian was right.

This greatly surprised Wu Feng. He was three levels below Xu Xian, yet he didn't understand what Xu Xian was saying.

"You don't know what a butterfly valve is?" Ning Sheng glanced at Wu Feng, seemingly implying, "It's normal that you don't!"

As a first officer, even some captains probably don't know the term "butterfly valve." They might be able to imagine the engine starter valve freezing, and should know the procedure for dealing with it. However, if asked to specify which part is frozen, they probably couldn't answer.

Just as Xu Xian's words stunned everyone, the maintenance crew contacted them again: "Cockpit, do you want to try restarting?"

Ning Sheng didn't speak, but looked at Xu Xian: "What do you think?"

Xu Xian knew Ning Sheng was testing him, so he shook his head: "It's too late! The butterfly valve will most likely recover on its own after a few starts, but we can't wait that long. There's a starting interval for the engine."

For a machine as sophisticated as the 737 engine, you can't treat it like a diesel engine, constantly trying to start it if it fails. After starting the 737 engine, you need to wait a while before attempting to start it again, otherwise it could damage the engine. Moreover, the intervals between starts will increase with each attempt. Xu Xian calculated that if the next start also fails, their 15-minute takeoff limit is basically out of the question.

Therefore, the next start-up must be approached with utmost caution, rather than a simple attempt. There is only one chance left; there is no room for further experimentation.

Ning Sheng knew this, of course, but he wanted to know what Xu Xian would do and what kind of surprise Xu Xian would give him.

"So, what do you want to do?" Ning Sheng asked with a smile.

"Me? I'll do it?" Xu Xian was somewhat surprised; the instructor's test was still ongoing. "Instructor, is this appropriate?"

"Why isn't it suitable?" Ning Sheng said dismissively, "I'll be right here. If you have any problems, I'll stop you! But remember, if anything goes wrong, I'll be the one to step in!"

Ning Sheng thought for a moment: "If you manage to do this, I'll give you an instructor vote in this quarter's Outstanding Co-pilot election!"

These days, airlines often hold competitions for titles like "Outstanding First Officer," "Outstanding Captain," and "Outstanding Instructor." Naturally, the weight of a vote varies depending on the level of the airline.

For example, Ning Sheng's level is B-class instructor, and one of his instructor tickets is equivalent to four co-pilot tickets.

However, Xu Xian didn't really care about the quarterly co-pilot vote. He had only been with the company for a short time, so it was unlikely he would get votes. It didn't really matter whether he got a teacher's vote or not.

Ning Sheng specifically asked Xu Xian to come, so how could he refuse? Xu Xian was no coward!

"Then, instructor, I'll take charge of communicating with the maintenance crew?" Having experienced the volcanic ash incident at Chimelong 5677, Xu Xian never considered compromising when facing difficulties. Ning Sheng wanted him to handle it, and he didn't even consider refusing. He dared to handle a dual-engine failure in mid-air; what was a butterfly valve icing up?

Xu Xian said this because communication between the cockpit and ground maintenance is the captain's responsibility, not the co-pilot's. His question was a way of saying he wanted to accept Ning Sheng's test. After this, he would have command authority.

Ning Sheng's lips curled into a smile, immediately understanding Xu Xian's idea: "Then you handle the communications!"

"Instructor!" Although Wu Feng didn't have any issues with Xu Xian, how could he let a student take the lead at this crucial moment? What if things got delayed? They didn't have much time left!

However, as soon as Wu Feng finished speaking, Ning Sheng slightly raised his right hand, interrupting Wu Feng's attempt to continue.

"It's alright, just watch!" Ning Sheng said calmly.

Having said that, he slightly raised his eyelids and said to Xu Xian, "Let's begin!"

Xu Xian didn't mince words and contacted the maintenance crew directly: "We suspect that the butterfly valve of the engine start valve is icing up. There's no time for multiple manual starts right now, so we need you to manually control the start valve."

Ning Sheng narrowed his eyes. Xu Xian really knew how to manually control the start valve! Wu Feng, on the other hand, looked puzzled. He had never heard of manually controlling the start valve before, at least not in normal procedures.

Why did Xu Xian, a mere trainee, speak in a way that was completely out of character for his status? Even those several levels above him in skill level couldn't understand what Xu Xian was referring to.

"Butterfly valve frozen? You mean the butterfly valve in the starting valve is frozen? But there's no rainwater! How could it be frozen!" This mechanic was the apprentice the old mechanic had trained. Clearly, he wasn't very calm in the face of the sudden engine failure.

"It's not icing from the outside!" Xu Xian immediately corrected the mechanic's mistake. Sure enough, newcomers are no match for veterans when it comes to problems. If that experienced mechanic had been there, Xu Xian and his team probably wouldn't have even needed to think about it; they probably would have already considered the possibility of the butterfly valve freezing.

After all, in cold weather, icing of the butterfly valve is a common reason why the engine start valve cannot open.

"It's not icing from the outside, but from the inside! The engines of the preceding flight in the rain inhaled a lot of moisture, which, after being compressed and heated, absorbed additional water, forming saturated water vapor. Once the engines stop running, the water vapor condenses into droplets and adheres to the starting pipes, causing the butterfly valve to freeze," Xu Xian explained.

Wu Feng, sitting in the back seat, heard every word Xu Xian said, and his heart pounded with shock. How could such words come from a student? Even if Ning Sheng had said them, Wu Feng would have been incredibly surprised, let alone from Xu Xian.

That level of knowledge and understanding made Wu Feng feel that the young man in front of him was simply a monster.

Wu Feng couldn't help but turn his attention to Ning Sheng, wanting to see how Ning Sheng would react to Xu Xian's words.

However, Ning Sheng's expression was cold and his lips were tightly pressed together, as if he had not grasped the shocking information revealed in Xu Xian's words.

However, Wu Feng was still too young. He only saw Ning Sheng's calm expression, but he didn't know that Ning Sheng's heart was already in turmoil.

Even he himself might not be able to conduct such a detailed analysis of the icing of the butterfly valve.

"But... I've never operated the starter valve myself before. How about... you wait a moment while I go request backup?" The mechanic was clearly convinced by Xu Xian, but he had only ever seen manually controlled starter valves before, and had never operated one himself. The only time he had ever witnessed it was when his master did it. Suddenly being asked to do it himself made him feel a little apprehensive.

"No way!" Xu Xian rejected the maintenance crew's idea without even thinking. What time is it now? There's no time to wait for backup.

At this moment, Wu Feng advised from behind, "Xu Xian, forget it, there's no need to take the risk."

Ning Sheng remained silent, staring intently at Xu Xian's profile, awaiting Xu Xian's next move. He wanted to see just how far Xu Xian was capable!

Suddenly, Ning Sheng noticed Xu Xian let out a long sigh of relief, and his heart tightened: "They're here!"

"Do you have the bowstring ready?" Xu Xian suddenly asked the maintenance crew in a deep voice.

"Bow-spinning? You mean the connecting rod?" the maintenance worker asked uncertainly.

"Yes!"

Maintenance worker: "Yes, we have it!"

Xu Xian's eyelids drooped slightly: "No need to call for backup, just follow my orders!"

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(End of this chapter)