Legendary Captain

Chapter 129 Traitor

To demonstrate the superior aerodynamic performance of his aircraft, Xu Qing did not hesitate to shut down both engines, believing that only facts could be the most convincing.

Reducing the throttle to its lowest setting does not mean the aircraft has no thrust; it simply means the aircraft is at idle thrust. Only when the start handles of both engines are disconnected will the aircraft be in windage mode, providing no additional thrust.

Han Qi also became interested and began to calculate the glide ratio in his mind. The glide ratio is very easy to calculate; with just a glance, one can basically figure it out in a short time.

Xu Qing maintained the optimal gliding speed given by the flight computer. However, in actual operation, this value is not the truly optimal solution. After all, changes in external environmental conditions are not continuous. The speed given by the computer can only be said to be as close as possible to the optimal gliding speed.

In just three or four minutes, Han Qi had basically calculated that the aircraft's glide ratio was approximately 14. This wasn't to say that Xu Qing's estimate of a glide ratio of 15 was wrong; that was just a matter of taking the aircraft's current altitude into account!

At higher altitudes, air density is lower, which naturally affects an aircraft's aerodynamic performance. As the aircraft descends to lower altitudes, air density increases, and aerodynamic performance improves accordingly. This is unrelated to the aircraft's aerodynamic configuration; it's solely determined by environmental factors.

Sure enough, as the plane descended, Han Qi calculated that the glide ratio reached 17, which basically corroborated Xu Qing's statement.

Of course, the glide ratio data of an aircraft must be obtained through a large number of practical tests, and Xu Qing would certainly not lie about such a matter.

"Our aircraft not only has an advantage in glide ratio, but also a higher single-engine limit than the current mainstream 737. Data shows that our aircraft can reach a service ceiling of around 28000 feet," Xu Qing said.

Han Qi waved his hand: "I understand all of that, but what I really want to know is your reason, or rather, your motive? I don't believe you're after money!"

Twenty years ago, Xu Qing began his dedication to developing a new large aircraft. However, due to his haste at the time, a major accident occurred during the test flight when the technology was not yet mature, nearly resulting in the destruction of the aircraft and the loss of life.

Even so, Xu Qing did not stop developing the new aircraft. He quietly perfected it for nearly twenty years before returning with the finished product. To be honest, Han Qi didn't understand Xu Qing's motivation. It's important to know that Qingyuan Group invested a massive amount of money in this new aircraft. If the funds invested in developing this new aircraft over the past twenty years had been redirected to other areas, Qingyuan Group would now be far more than just a dominant force in the civil aviation industry.

For at least the past twenty years, the development of the new aircraft has only drained Qingyuan Group's resources without bringing it any profit whatsoever.

If the goal was simply to make money, Xu Qing shouldn't have undertaken this project in the first place. Even if it succeeds, the 20-year payback period remains a distant prospect. Moreover, for a company with no prior research and development experience, simply getting this new aircraft out there is a challenge. Even if the aircraft is indeed excellent, convincing airlines to switch to it will be a long and arduous journey.

"Do you think I'm the kind of person who values ​​money a lot?" Xu Qing laughed. "Since the topic has already moved away from the plane, there seems to be no need to continue this discussion. I'll restart the engine. Our Director Wang doesn't look too good."

"Yes, yes! Let's talk things out, just don't touch the engine!" Wang Tianliang forced a smile.

Han Qidian nodded: "I don't care."

The two engines themselves were fine, so restarting them was no problem. After stabilizing the aircraft slightly, autopilot was engaged. Xu Qing then asked Han Qi, "Do you think money is important? No! That's not how you should ask it. Of course money is important. To put it another way, now that you've achieved financial freedom with your spending power, do you still think money is important?"

"If it's enough, what's the point of having more? It doesn't taste good to stuff it in your mouth!" Han Qi said honestly.

There's no standard answer to this question; it's just a matter of personal preference. Some people believe that the more money they have, the better their lives will be, even if they could never spend it all in their lifetime.

"Since we don't have much pursuit of material things anymore, we naturally need to find something else. If a person has no ambition, isn't he just a salted fish?" Xu Qing laughed. "We're being fawned over now, but who knows, someone might handle an even more difficult situation in the future. At that time, we're destined to be gradually forgotten by history. We weren't the first to handle such situations, nor will we be the last; we'll eventually be replaced, so..."

"So, you want to be the first to try something new? I didn't expect you to value fame so much?" Han Qi said.

"Who can escape the allure of fame and fortune? When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. Even if one can leave a small mark on history, it's still a worthwhile life." Xu Qing suddenly felt a pang of sadness, wondering if it was because people's thoughts change with age. Now, nearing fifty, his urge to promote his own aircraft grew stronger.

Xu Qing: "Could it be that you can achieve a state of complete purity of mind and desire, free from all wants and desires?"

Han Qi pondered. Indeed, at his level, it was easy to wonder what his next goal would be. However, Xu Qing's words today were very tempting to him. After all, he wasn't a saint.

A moment later, Han Qi suddenly asked, "You mean you want me to be the captain of the maiden flight?"

Xu Qing smiled with relief: "Let's go down and discuss this properly!"

Star Travel Airlines lounge on the first floor.

Qin Zongyang pointed at Xu Xian in front of him. Even with the warm sunlight streaming in through the window, Xu Xian was still trembling and his whole body was ice cold.

"You wicked disciple! You really are a wicked disciple!" Qin Zongyang's blood pressure spiked instantly when he saw Xu Xian's unrepentant expression, and his eyes turned red. "Is your brain made of stone? Or are you as stubborn as a donkey? Everyone else has taken the blame for you, and you just go along with it! You think you're so virtuous and chivalrous? Didn't you even consider me?"

"He's not exactly a paragon of virtue or chivalry, but he can certainly distinguish right from wrong and take responsibility," Xu Xian muttered.

"Damn it!" Qin Zongyang sighed, looking up at the sky. "How could I have been so blind as to choose a stubborn mule like you? The safety rectification conference is coming up soon, and all the pilots with recent work style problems will be dragged onto the stage to make public apologies. With all these company leaders in the audience, where am I supposed to put my face?"

The recent incident involving Chimelong 5677 has put all domestic airlines on edge. Regardless of previous safety concerns, they have all begun safety overhauls without exception.

Xingyou Airlines, in line with the recent requirements of the Civil Aviation Administration regarding work style, focused its safety rectification efforts on work style, and coincidentally, Xu Xian ran right into the crossfire.

Previously, Qin Zongyang, Lu Xinyu, and Cao Jinwen were in charge of this safety rectification meeting in the flight department. Qin Zongyang had already seen the preliminary list of pilots with recent work style problems and confirmed that Xu Xian was not on it. Since his own apprentice was not on it, he could do whatever he wanted with him, regardless of how the pilots who went on stage to make self-criticisms felt, since it didn't involve him anyway.

However, the situation has suddenly changed. Just as he was about to make a decision, his own apprentice stabbed him in the heart, and he still hasn't recovered.

These past few nights, every time he thought about that time in the small conference room of the fleet office, when the staff member publicly revealed that Xu Xian had tried to take Zhu Jia's place, he was filled with remorse. If he had shut that staff member up then, they could have resolved the matter privately long ago. But Lu Xinyu had overheard it, making it much more difficult for him to do something himself. Most importantly, Xu Xian was stubborn and refused to let Zhu Jia take the blame, foolishly insisting on accepting the punishment himself.

Normally, Qin Zongyang wouldn't have thought much of it. It was just forgetting a tablet, not his license; it wasn't a big deal. In fact, with a little maneuvering, the punishment could be reduced to a mere reprimand. And a simple reprimand wouldn't be a big deal at all.

However, at this sensitive juncture, penalties have generally become more severe than before. Fines might be manageable, but delaying promotion is the most damaging. Staying at the trainee level for an extended period significantly reduces opportunities to earn promotion points. Qin Zongyang is hoping that Xu Xian will be promoted to first co-pilot level as soon as possible, so that Xu Xian's path to earning promotion points will not be too limited.

Meanwhile, this self-criticism meeting was different from previous ones; many company leaders would participate, even the long-absent president would come to take a look. Anyone who had to publicly apologize would be utterly humiliated. Xu Xian and Qin Zongyang were now inextricably linked; if Xu Xian lost face, wouldn't Qin Zongyang lose face too? And in front of the company's top leaders no less—the thought sent chills down his spine.

"I don't want to either! But I can't get over it when someone else has to shoulder my burdens." Xu Xianwei said with difficulty.

Qin Zongyang earnestly advised, "We didn't force him, and he's willing to shoulder the burden for you. What obstacle can't you overcome?"

Xu Xian immediately shook his head vigorously, vehemently denying it: "No, no! A person has to have a conscience! I can't do this!"

"So it's like I'm the one who has no conscience!" Qin Zongyang sneered.

Xu Xian asked uncertainly, "Do you have it?"

Qin Zongyang's eyes almost blazed with fire: "You wicked disciple, how dare you slander your master! This is utterly disloyal and treacherous!"

After waiting a while, Qin Zongyang recovered and glared at the silent Xu Xian through gritted teeth: "You can forget about that points reward you received before!"

Xu Xian was rewarded with promotion points by the company for his previous cooperation with Han Qi in the crew incapacitation incident—the same time Wen Jingshu personally approved only giving Xu Xian three points. Although the official documents haven't been issued yet, Qin Zongyang, as the deputy general manager of the flight department, had heard some rumors and informed Xu Xian.

Xu Xian was quite happy to hear this. Once the reward announcement was released, Qin Zongyang would reward Xu Xian with an extra 10,000 yuan per point, as previously agreed.

This time, Xu Xian's unauthorized attempt to take over the thunder really angered Qin Zongyang, who even refused to pay the 30,000 yuan reward that he had originally planned to give Xu Xian.

Upon hearing that they were out of money, Xu Xian was now in a state of panic. But no matter how much it hurt, he couldn't abandon his principles and stubbornly remained silent.

Seeing that Xu Xian had no intention of begging for mercy, Qin Zongyang's anger flared up again: "I'll give you one more chance. If you listen to me, I'll still give you the money. Just go against your conscience this once, my great philanthropist!"

Qin Zongyang didn't care about the 30,000 yuan at all; what was 30,000 yuan compared to his pride? He just wanted to force Xu Xian to give in. But this money-grubber, who always valued money above all else, actually held back this time. Now Qin Zongyang was truly at his wit's end.

"Forget it, forget it, you heartless little brat, you might drive me crazy one day!" Qin Zongyang said angrily, "That damn review meeting is still a while away, during this time you'd better follow me around like crazy, and get me promoted to first-class co-pilot before the review meeting. I'll also talk to the planning office later and have you fly with me, and I'll fly more large flights outside the province, so hurry up and add up your following time."

Once Xu Xian is determined to accept the punishment, Qin Zongyang will have no choice. However, since additional penalties will be imposed on pilots with problems after the review meeting, the public announcement of penalties for all pilots whose penalty notices have not yet been published will be suspended until after the review meeting, when the new penalty results will be announced.

Since Xu Xian took the blame for Zhu Jia, in principle, Xu Xian's punishment announcement needs to be reissued. In other words, Xu Xian's punishment announcement has not actually been released yet. Coincidentally, Xu Xian happened to be at a self-criticism meeting, which created room for manipulation.

The company decided to impose additional penalties on all pilots who gave apologies at the review meeting, since being used as a typical example would warrant a heavier punishment. To save time, and since the final penalties would be revised anyway, the company decided to postpone the penalties for pilots on the list whose penalty announcements had not yet been published, until the final penalty results were available.

So, in theory, Xu Xian's promotion shouldn't be affected during the period between now and the review meeting. Therefore, Qin Zongyang wants to seize this time to promote Xu Xian to Level 1 Co-pilot. Even if the punishment suspends promotions for a few months afterward, the loss won't be significant, since it takes time to accumulate experience from Level 1 to Level 2 Co-pilot anyway.

Xu Xian laughed and said, "Not flying within the province or to high-altitude areas anymore? Isn't flying outside the province unprofitable?"

Although flying outside the province takes longer, the landing fees are low, and there's no extra subsidy for high-altitude flights, making it not very cost-effective. Given Qin Zongyang's experience, he generally wouldn't fly routes outside the province. However, intra-provincial and high-altitude routes have too little time and too many fragmented schedules, which isn't conducive to Xu Xian accumulating valuable experience as an assistant. Therefore, Qin Zongyang had no choice but to reluctantly switch to flying routes outside the province.

Xu Xian had only intended to make a joke, but Qin Zongyang grinned and said, "I don't care, I have plenty of money!"

"Oh, I see!" Xu Xian replied with a smile.

"By the way, your simulator training schedule isn't fixed. If you suddenly get an extra day off and no one schedules you for a shift, you'll have to find a flight you want to fly yourself. If the captain doesn't want to switch to a second officer, just tell me, and I'll have the dispatcher change the captain," Qin Zongyang said domineeringly.

Qin Zongyang went to great lengths to get Xu Xian promoted to first-class co-pilot in the shortest possible time.

"That's about it. I'm not going to talk to you anymore, lest you get a stroke from anger." Qin Zongyang took a sip of water and let out a long breath, as if to release the anger in his chest.

After a while, Qin Zongyang's previously troubled expression finally softened, and even a smile appeared on his face.

Even if you're in pain inside, you still have to keep smiling!

Just as Qin Zongyang was about to leave the lounge, Xu Xian suddenly raised his voice and said loudly, "Master, I heard that the landing fee for high-altitude areas has increased again. Is it really okay to fly outside the province instead of high-altitude areas?"

Qin Zongyang paused, stiffly turned his head, and said with an awkward smile, "I'm fine!"

"Don't rush!" Xu Xian added with a grin as Qin Zongyang approached the door.

Finally, Qin Zongyang roared in the lounge, "I'm not in a fucking rush!"

(End of this chapter)