Legendary Captain

Chapter 127 Passenger Aircraft Spiral Testing

"If you want me to test fly this aircraft, I think you're overthinking it. I don't have the qualifications to test fly it," Han Qi said to Xu Qing, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Wang Tianliang, the deputy director of the Aircraft Certification Department, who was sitting behind him.

To test fly an aircraft, one must possess specialized test flight qualifications, which require a series of training and examinations. Although Han Qi's current skill level fully meets the standards, he has never applied for test pilot qualifications.

Xu Qing waved his hand: "No, no, no! All the test flights required by regulations have been completed. The reason I brought you here is more of an experience flight than a test flight, to let you feel the handling of this aircraft."

Han Qi stroked the cockpit of the aircraft, his heart filled with mixed emotions. The control input interface of this aircraft was very similar to that of the 737NG, showing that the classic design of the 737 had been referenced when designing this aircraft. However, this should only be superficial; he did not believe that what Xu Qing had spent twenty years developing was merely a copy of the 737.

"Even if I feel good about it, what good will it do?" Han Qi laughed, then added Wang Tianliang behind him, "Right, Director Wang!"

Wang Tianliang was called out by Han Qi, and he laughed awkwardly a few times without responding. He regretted not taking the job; being caught between Han Qi and Xu Qing was really not a pleasant experience.

Xu Qing laughed heartily: "Before doing business, you always have to let the customers see the goods; that's a fundamental principle!"

Han Qi was speechless for a moment, and it took him a while to react. Then, glancing at Wang Tianliang behind him, he finally understood Xu Qing's intention: "So today's visit is for sales pitches? Not just to me, but also to showcase the goods to the bureau. Looks like commercialization isn't far off! They're already looking for buyers!"

"After twenty years, there should be some results," Xu Qing said. "If we are satisfied, we will have to rely on the two of you for your help."

Han Qi can be considered a representative of the airline, and Wang Tianliang is a representative of the Civil Aviation Administration. We are hoping that these two will make things easy for the new aircraft.

"Of course, of course!" Wang Tianliang said politely.

Compared to Wang Tianliang's polite words, Han Qi didn't give Xu Qing much face, nor did he need to. He immediately said in a deep voice, "Mr. Xu, do you not know how much risk it takes to abandon the original mature model and switch to a new model? Especially since it's a company that has never had any aircraft development history before."

"Mr. Xu, I don't think you have that much influence!" Han Qi squinted and bluntly retorted to Xu Qing, showing no respect whatsoever.

Both Boeing and Airbus aircraft have formed a complete industrial service chain, and their safety has been subject to market supervision, with their own maintenance and training system.

If an airline needs to replace or add a new aircraft model, it not only has to bear the cost of purchasing the aircraft, but also invests a lot of money in subsequent personnel training, manual provision, maintenance, and support. These investments are not something that someone will obediently foot the bill for just a few words from Xu Qing.

Xu Qing wasn't annoyed at all, and said with a smile, "Mr. Han, please take a look first!"

After speaking, Xu Qing slammed his palm on the control wheel and applied continuous pressure. The nose of the aircraft instantly pitched down, decreasing from +2 degrees to -3 degrees. The three people in the cockpit felt as if they had just reached the peak of a roller coaster and were now facing a downward sprint.

Wang Tianliang, who was in the observer's position, involuntarily gripped the seat belt with both hands, and his breathing became heavy.

"Is it this exciting? They're playing such high-stakes games right from the start!" Wang Tianliang thought to himself.

In contrast, Han Qi didn't even blink. This change in the plane's condition didn't faze him at all; in fact, it almost made him laugh. Han Qi simply waited quietly for Xu Qing's next move; he roughly knew what Xu Qing was planning.

Xu Qing smiled slightly, glancing at Han Qi, who remained unfazed, but wasn't particularly surprised. As the most dazzling star in civil aviation after him, it would be a huge joke if he reacted to such a slight change in demeanor.

As Xu Qing pressed the control stick, frantically reducing the aircraft's attitude, he didn't reduce the throttle. This caused the aircraft's airspeed to skyrocket as it rapidly lost altitude. In the blink of an eye, it jumped from Mach 0.68 to Mach 0.78. At this rate of increase, the aircraft would exceed its maximum speed in just two seconds.

"Mr. Xu, your speed!" Wang Tianliang, watching from behind, was terrified and couldn't help but remind him, "We agreed to stop here this time."

When Xu Qing contacted him, he said this wasn't a real test flight and there wouldn't be any overly dangerous maneuvers. After all, he wasn't the person in charge of reviewing the aircraft's extreme data, and such thrilling maneuvers weren't really suited to his heart.

"Of course, we'll stop short of it!" Xu Qing smiled. Just as the plane was about to reach the red zone, he cut the throttle to zero, flicked his right hand on the control wheel, hooked the handle, and slightly increased the plane's attitude. With this action, the plane stopped precisely at the edge of the red zone. If it had been even slightly faster, the overspeed warning would have immediately sounded.

Xu Qing maintained a slow throttle, controlling the aircraft's speed precisely through subtle changes in attitude. It's important to understand that air density varies at different altitudes, and wind direction and speed also differ at each altitude. Furthermore, during descent, passing through cloud cover and turbulence makes speed control even more challenging.

Xu Qing's current method of controlling the aircraft is very similar to the autopilot's altitude-level-change descent method. Autopilot's altitude-level-change descent also involves reducing the throttle to a slower setting while prioritizing the speed selected within the speed window. However, even with the precision of autopilot, speed consistency cannot be guaranteed. In other words, during descent, even with autopilot engaged and using the altitude-level-change descent method, the speed cannot be guaranteed to remain constant; it can only fluctuate slightly around the selected speed without significant deviation.

But when it came to Xu Qing, his hands seemed even more precise than a machine. His control over the aircraft had reached the point where it was as easy as using his own arm. The aircraft's airspeed indicator remained unchanged, just like a stop-motion animation.

If the readings on the left seat, right seat, and spare instrument were not completely consistent, Han Qi would have thought there was something wrong with Xu Qing's airspeed indicator.

"This control ability is simply terrifying!" Han Qi couldn't help but exclaim in his heart.

He could indeed achieve a level of precision even greater than autonomous driving, but the level of accuracy that Xu Qing possessed was outrageous, and it was uncertain whether Han Qi himself could match it.

Xu Qing wasn't particularly proud of his meticulous aircraft handling skills; in his eyes, it was simply what a pilot should do.

"As you can see, this aircraft has a top speed 0.3 Mach higher than the 737NG, and a normal cruising speed of Mach 0.8. At the same time, while increasing the cruising speed, the aircraft's fuel consumption has not increased, and has even decreased," Xu Qing explained. "We modified the aerodynamic configuration of the aircraft fuselage, added new winglets, updated the fuselage materials, and reduced the weight of the aircraft. In terms of fuel consumption alone, our aircraft can save about 10% more fuel than the 737NG."

"The 737MAX model can also save fuel!" Han Qi laughed.

By this time, the 737 MAX had been recertified for air travel. However, due to the initial loss of control and crash, the 737 MAX was constantly questioned and never became the successor to the NG series.

Regardless of whether the 737 MAX has design flaws, its undeniable fuel efficiency is undeniable. However, this aspect doesn't hold much appeal for Han Qi. He doesn't even understand why Xu Qing would use this as a selling point.

"As you probably know, the biggest reason for the fuel savings is the presence of the new winglets. Take the additional cost of installing the advanced winglets on the 737 MAX, for example; it would take more than ten years to recoup the investment. But with our aircraft equipped with the new winglets, it only takes about eight years to offset the cost of installing the new winglets. Isn't that an advantage?" Xu Qing explained.

Just like buying a car, when purchasing an aircraft, you can choose the class of aircraft. Different classes of aircraft have different engine thrust limits, and some software configurations also differ. Whether or not to install winglets is also a selection factor.

It's not that airplanes without winglets can't fly; it's just that airplanes with winglets have better aerodynamic performance and lower fuel consumption.

Changes in aerodynamic performance may not be immediately apparent, but changes in fuel consumption will be very noticeable. However, adding winglets requires additional costs, and these costs are not insignificant. For example, on a 737 MAX, the cost of adding winglets would require more than ten years of fuel savings from the aircraft's operation to cover the installation fee.

Therefore, in terms of payback period, Xu Qing's new aircraft does indeed have a clear advantage. However, the operating cost of an aircraft involves many aspects, and the payback period of a single winglet cannot be considered alone. Therefore, Han Qi remained noncommittal regarding Xu Qing's statement.

Seeing that Han Qi remained unmoved, Xu Qing was not discouraged at all. Instead, she smiled apologetically and said, "I don't really understand this kind of thing. It's just that the people in the company told me to say it. I don't go on the plane every day to check its fuel consumption."

Han Qi: "Then what does Mr. Xu know?"

"What do you know?" Xu Qing's eyes lit up: "Of course it's about how well the plane flies and how safe it is. Isn't that what pilots care about? As long as these two issues are resolved, then it's a good plane for pilots. Of course, things like operating costs are the company's business, and we won't discuss that for now."

What pilots consider a good aircraft often differs from what airlines consider a good aircraft. Xu Qing didn't want to pretend to explain how profitable his company's aircraft was; he simply wanted to demonstrate the advantages of the new aircraft from the perspective of a pilot.

"Oh? So it seems that in Mr. Xu's eyes, this plane should be considered one of the good planes?" Han Qi said with a smile.

Xu Qing suddenly became interested and instantly forgot his earlier promise to Wang Tianliang that he would stop there. He turned around and smiled at Wang Tianliang, "Director Wang, fasten your seatbelt!"

Wang Tianliang felt a chill run down his spine. A strong sense of unease washed over him. He felt that Xu Qing's smile was like a devil's smile, full of malevolence.

"What...what do you want to do?" Wang Tianliang asked haltingly.

"Nothing! I just suddenly got an itch to fly!" Xu Qing suddenly pulled the stick, adjusted the aircraft's attitude, and increased the throttle. The aircraft's speed gradually returned to normal, and eventually the aircraft entered level flight.

Shortly after the aircraft stabilized in level flight, Xu Qing immediately turned the right wheel to full throttle, while simultaneously adding a little throttle to prevent the aircraft from losing altitude during the turn.

With a series of bank warnings, the plane continued to spin, eventually ending up upside down in the sky.

Xu Qing, gripping the steering wheel and maintaining the aircraft's stability during cruising, continued speaking: "Years ago, I participated in a flight technology exchange conference. During the simulator test at that conference, an examiner from an airline deliberately made things difficult for me, giving me a very strange control obstacle. I couldn't solve it at first, and eventually, I landed the plane upside down. Afterwards, I thought about it, and I figured that landing upside down is probably only possible in a simulator; an actual aircraft probably couldn't withstand the structural stress of such a flight, which could lead to structural damage or even disintegration. However, the strength of our aircraft now is more than enough to support short-term upside-down flight," Xu Qing said proudly.

Xu Qing's inverted flight was not for showing off, but simply to demonstrate how amazing the structural strength of his aircraft was.

"Indeed, very impressive!" Han Qi said casually. Even though the cockpit was upside down and Han Qi was facing downwards, he still spoke with the same calm and collected demeanor.

Compared to Han Qi, Wang Tianliang seemed much more anxious: "Mr. Xu, that's enough! If we fly any further, the aircraft might be damaged."

Even if you, Xu Qing, are confident in the structural strength of your aircraft, could you please refrain from doing such a shocking thing while I'm on the plane? This isn't testing the structural strength of the aircraft, but rather the strength of his heart.

Xu Qing was perceptive and could tell from Han Qi's expression that this approach had not moved Han Qi much, so he decided to try another method.

With another turn of the steering wheel and a series of maneuvers, the aircraft straightened and returned to level flight. Shortly after the aircraft stabilized, Xu Qing floored the throttle, giving it full power, and soared into the sky.

Faced with Xu Qing's drastic change in the aircraft's status, Wang Tianliang said he felt a lot of pressure and had a very bad feeling.

The aircraft continued to climb, eventually breaking the 737NG's maximum altitude of 42000 feet.

After exceeding 42000 feet, the aircraft's rate of climb began to decrease continuously, and eventually at an altitude of approximately 48000 feet, the aircraft could no longer maintain even the most basic rate of climb of 200 feet per minute.

At this point, the aircraft's speed was very close to the stick-jumping speed.

This aircraft has reached its service ceiling!

After realizing that the aircraft was approaching its service ceiling, Xu Qing stopped maintaining the climb attitude and instead adjusted the aircraft's status to keep the speed just above the stall speed.

At this point, the throttle was at its maximum, and the aircraft was in a very critical state.

If Xu Qing pulls too much on the stick, the airspeed immediately enters the stick-jumping speed range, and the aircraft instantly stalls. However, if Xu Qing doesn't pull enough, because the air is extremely thin near the service ceiling, the aircraft's lift is insufficient, and the aircraft will certainly be unable to maintain altitude, beginning an uncontrollable descent.

Between stalling and maintaining altitude, Xu Qing controlled the aircraft with only his right hand, maintaining a delicate balance. This maneuver was even more difficult than maintaining a constant speed during the descent.

Suddenly, Xu Qing frowned. A sudden numbness shot through his right hand, which had been controlling the aircraft. He involuntarily pulled the stick a little too hard. He hadn't quite mastered the technique, and the aircraft's speed was already starting to decrease very quickly.

However, Han Qi reacted quickly, his left hand gripping the steering wheel with lightning speed, stabilizing the aircraft slightly. The force he intervened with was just right, perfectly stopping the plane from stalling.

After stabilizing the plane, Han Qi slowly released his left hand, handing control back to Xu Qing. But then, he suddenly heard a long sigh from Xu Qing. That sigh was filled with endless sorrow and desolation.

"So my right hand is still not working?" Xu Qing felt his right hand, which now seemed normal, as if the numbness from before had never happened. However, only Xu Qing knew that the numbness was a lingering effect of the severe frostbite he had suffered on his right hand years ago.

Ignoring his right hand, Xu Qing suddenly jerked the plane, instantly putting it into the stall speed zone, and the plane stalled!

However, Xu Qing did not attempt to recover from the stall by pushing the stick to reduce the aircraft's angle of attack, but instead continued to pull the stick, which was actually increasing the stall speed.

"What are you doing? If this continues, the plane will enter a deep stall!" Wang Tianliang roared.

Xu Qing smiled: "That's exactly what I wanted!"

Suddenly, Xu Qing felt the stick becoming lighter and lighter, indicating that the aircraft's control surface effect was decreasing. At this moment, the airflow over the aircraft's wing surface was no longer in contact with the surface, but rather generated numerous turbulent flows.

The aircraft began to enter a deep stall!

Just then, Xu Qing stepped on the right rudder fully, and the plane slowly tilted to the right, spiraling downwards as it began to dive towards the ground.

The plane has entered a spin!

(End of this chapter)