Legendary Captain

Chapter 294 A God-like Performance! Post-Stall Maneuver! (Part 1)

Although Xu Xian had never been to Bisu Airport before, he knew that Bisu Airport was a dual-use military and civilian airport.

Nam Minh Province is not a developed province. It is mountainous and its road and rail transportation is extremely underdeveloped due to the high construction costs. However, its civil aviation transportation is very advanced.

In terms of economy, Nanming Province ranks near the bottom in the country, yet it has more airports than the province with the second-highest economy in the country, which is truly bizarre.

There are a total of thirteen airports in Nanming Province, with two more under construction. Of the thirteen operational airports, apart from Dianyungang Airport, the other twelve are all complex airports.

Of these twelve airports, one-third are for joint military and civilian use, including Bisu Airport.

A long time ago, Bisu Airport used field pressure sensors when there were military activities, but I don't know when it started, the military has been conducting fewer and fewer activities here, and the use of field pressure sensors is basically no longer seen.

However, no matter how things change, it cannot change the fact that Bisu Airport is a dual-use military and civilian airport!

Xu Xian just heard the on-site commander order all arriving aircraft to lower their window shades, withdraw all personnel from the tarmac, and expel passengers from the terminal. This all indicated that something that could not be made public would happen soon.

Just now, Xu Xian noticed through the glass window of the jet bridge that the door to the fire truck garage in one corner of the tarmac had been opened, and three fire trucks had been dispatched in full force. This signal was quite obvious.

Nine times out of ten, a plane is about to make an emergency landing. The airport has activated its emergency response plan, and the dispatch of fire trucks is undoubtedly to deal with a possible fire.

However, if it is a commercial airliner making an emergency landing, there is no need to be so cautious. In terms of confidentiality, the measures taken by the airport are completely different from those taken for a commercial airliner making an emergency landing.

Xu Xian is practically a veteran of emergency situations; during his operations, videos of planes making emergency landings, often filmed by passersby using their mobile phones, frequently circulate online. Judging from the angles of these videos, many are taken by passengers in the terminal. This suggests that when an aircraft makes an emergency landing, the airport authorities do not take measures to remove people from the area or prohibit photography.

However, the security measures at Bisso Airport were far stricter than those for a civilian emergency landing, which can only mean that the upcoming emergency landing is very likely not a civilian emergency landing.

Considering the dual-use nature of Bisu Airport, which is used by both military and civilian forces, Xu Xian quickly deduced that a military aircraft would soon make an emergency landing.

However, due to the short and narrow runway at Bisu Airport, it is basically unsuitable for military transport aircraft to land, let alone make an emergency landing. Therefore, Xu Xian felt that the aircraft that would be forced to land in a short time was probably a fighter jet.

In fact, Xu Xian's impression of military transport aircraft was limited to large strategic transport aircraft. Besides the massive strategic transport aircraft, which have strict landing requirements, there is also a smaller, more adaptable tactical transport aircraft.

These types of tactical transport aircraft can actually take off and land on the short, narrow runways of the Soviet Union, which naturally creates the possibility of forced landings. Therefore, Xu Xian's conjecture is flawed.

However, these are all minor issues. Moreover, judging from the quick admission on the other end of the walkie-talkie, this emergency landing was not yet classified as top secret.

The voice on the walkie-talkie that answered Xu Xian's question was very different from the voice of the on-site commander just now, clearly not the same person. It seems that the airport may have been taken over by the military at this time.

"Airlines staff, we've encountered a minor issue and need to temporarily declare a state of emergency at the airport. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." The deep voice on the walkie-talkie finished speaking, then fell silent. The conversation switched back to the on-site command center: "Star Travel 6411 crew, please follow the instructions of the ground staff!"

After saying this, his voice stopped abruptly, causing Xu Xian to frown.

Suddenly, Qin Zongyang's phone rang again; it was a call from the operations control department.

Qin Zongyang answered the phone, and the operations control officer quickly said, "Mr. Qin, I just contacted Bisu Airport to arrange evacuation vehicles for you. But they said the airport is currently under military control and all ground activities have been suspended?"

The operations control center had just communicated with Bisu Airport, hoping the airport would arrange an in-flight vehicle for aircraft gate 3 so that Qin Zongyang and his crew could evacuate first. This wasn't an unreasonable or difficult request, and airports usually agree readily. However, Bisu Airport directly rejected the operations control center's request, stating that the airport was currently under control, all ground apron activities were suspended, and in-flight vehicles were not allowed to operate.

The operations control system hasn't encountered this kind of temporary control situation for many, many years.

In most cases, Bisu Airport is only used for the transit of military aircraft. If there are military activities, the airlines will be notified in advance so that they have time to prepare.

It has been quite a long time since a situation like today's, without any warning or indication, has occurred.

The operations control team had a feeling that something might have happened at Bisu Airport, but they had no information at all, so they could only call Qin Zongyang, who was at Bisu Airport, to inquire about the situation.

Qin Zongyang immediately changed the subject: "If we can't use the vehicles inside the venue, why not just have them pick us up at the arrival hall exit?"

"President Qin, I need to contact them again, it may take some time." If it's picking someone up from outside, the operations control department needs to contact the airport hotel's vehicle, which may take some time. He needs to explain this to Qin Zongyang to avoid making Qin Zongyang impatient and getting scolded.

This time, Qin Zongyang was quite agreeable: "It's alright, just wait a little while. Let me know when you've made contact, and we'll go out."

"Okay, okay, Mr. Qin, I'll contact them right away." Seeing that Qin Zongyang wasn't angry, the operations control officer breathed a sigh of relief. Just before hanging up, unable to contain his curiosity, he asked, "Mr. Qin, what exactly happened at Bisu Airport?"

"Why so many questions?" Qin Zongyang retorted irritably to the operations control officer. "Just mind your own business."

After saying that, he rudely hung up the phone.

While Qin Zongyang was on the phone, Xu Xian's attention was already focused on the terminal building and the tarmac. Through the glass curtain wall of the jet bridge, Xu Xian saw that no one was peering over the glass wall facing the tarmac from the terminal building. Normally, many people would lean against this side to watch the planes on the tarmac, so it seemed that someone had indeed driven the passengers away.

Furthermore, there was no personnel activity on the ground tarmac. The trailers that had already been attached to the adjacent structures had been separated again, and the trailers had driven away, presumably indicating that the pushback and departure command had been cancelled.

The entire airport was filled with a depressing atmosphere.

During this time, Qin Zongyang, who had just hung up the phone, called over a ground staff member and said, "We need to go to the terminal in a bit, could you open the door for us?"

After the passengers disembarked, the gate to the covered bridge was closed. If they want to go out, they need the ground staff to help open the gate.

"Aren't you using the inner area vehicle?" the ground staff asked casually, then quickly realized, "I forgot you can't leave from there right now. Okay, if you want to get out, I'll open the door for you."

As soon as the ground service staff finished speaking, Xu Xian leaned closer and asked, "Have you set the tower frequency in your walkie-talkies?"

"Tower frequency? I think so." The ground service staff member took two steps back warily. "What do you want?"

Xu Xian immediately revealed a simple and honest smile: "Do I look like a bad guy? I'm just curious about what happened. The military and the people are one family, so I'm just showing concern."

Qin Zongyang nudged Xu Xian: "Why are you getting involved in this?"

Xu Xian completely ignored Qin Zongyang and once again requested the ground service personnel to switch the frequency to the tower frequency.

"This...isn't that a bit inappropriate?" The ground staff member seemed a little embarrassed.

"What's wrong with that? Look at that plane next door, it's definitely listening to the tower frequency too. We're also crew members. If it weren't for the strange smell in the plane, we'd be listening to the tower frequency right here in the cockpit, and it wouldn't make any difference, would it?" Xu Xian laughed.

Indeed, if their plane didn't have any strange smell, Xu Xian could listen to the tower frequency from the cockpit; what he said was true.

The ground service staff figured it out since they hadn't explicitly forbidden listening to the control tower's frequencies, so they nodded and said, "You can listen, but don't talk to me directly in the channel."

The walkie-talkie she was holding was connected to the control tower, allowing direct communication. It worked, but using the walkie-talkie to interrupt on the frequency would be problematic.

"What do I have to say, right?"

"That's true." The ground staff thought about it and agreed. Even if it were a fighter jet making an emergency landing, it wouldn't have anything to do with the crew in front of them, so there wasn't much to say. "Okay then!"

As he spoke, he fiddled with the walkie-talkie, and soon a conversation with a slight electrical noise came through.

"024, estimated arrival time?"

"We expect to arrive in three minutes."

"Is the front landing gear still showing as unable to deploy?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Xian understood what had happened; it turned out that the front landing gear was stuck.

The fighter pilot replied, "After arriving at the airfield, request a low-altitude flyby and check the condition of the nose landing gear."

The control tower quickly replied, "Okay, report visually along the runway."

Bisu Airport is not currently operating the instrument landing system, and it is clear that this fighter jet cannot perform an RNP approach either; a visual approach will likely be required later.

Bisu Airport was created by simply flattening a hilltop; it should be easily identifiable soon.

"Master, have you ever encountered a situation where the landing gear gets stuck before?"

Qin Zongyang had previously served in the Air Force, so he needed to consult with professionals at this point.

Qin Zongyang pinched his nose: "Back then, airplanes weren't very good. I experienced it myself once, but I was thrown off during a sharp turn. But that was ten or twenty years ago. I don't know what the new fighter jets are like now."

"Flying a fighter jet, wow, that's so cool." Xu Xian is actually not very old now, but he still admires the heroic figure of fighter jets soaring through the sky. At least in Xu Xian's eyes, flying a fighter jet is much cooler than flying a commercial airliner.

"Cool? You think flying a fighter jet is cool?" Qin Zongyang looked Xu Xian up and down. "Too bad, with your physique, you'll probably never make it into the Air Force in your lifetime."

Xu Xian's physique is relatively thin. He might be able to meet the standards for civil aviation, but passing the physical examination requirements for air force pilots would be a big problem. Moreover, Qin Zongyang knows that Xu Xian is very lazy, and asking him to live the life of a soldier would be asking him to do something difficult.

Xu Xian was slightly embarrassed after being ridiculed by Qin Zongyang: "I was just saying, just saying."

Just then, the voice of a fighter pilot came through the walkie-talkie again: "024, visual view of the runway, join the takeoff and landing path at the second turn."

Military aviation and civil aviation are different. Generally, for civil aviation, it should be described as a straight cut to the third edge. A standard takeoff and landing route in civil aviation is described using the first edge, second edge, third edge, fourth edge, and fifth edge. Military aviation, on the other hand, describes it using turning points. That is, turning from the first edge to the second edge is the first turn, turning from the second edge to the third edge is the second turn, and so on.

Generally, after the second turn, which is at the third approach, the landing gear can be deployed to establish a landing configuration. The next third turn leads to the fourth approach; at this point, the relative position of the aircraft to the runway is observed to determine if the aircraft is too high or too low, and corrections are made. Finally, the fourth turn leads to the fifth approach. The fifth approach, which is the runway extension, is when the aircraft begins to align with the runway.

The differences between civil aviation and military aviation are not only in the way the take-off and landing routes are described, but also in the differences in landing permits.

Generally, civil aviation uses the runway number as the landing permission, such as runway 03. The landing permission issued by the air traffic control is that landing on runway 03 is permitted, along with a report of the ground wind direction and speed. Military aviation, on the other hand, mostly uses the landing direction as the basis. For example, at Bisu Airport, landings are from south to north, and a report of the ground wind direction and speed is usually also included.

Although military aviation and civil aviation have many differences, they do have some things in common, such as the way they refer to numbers.

For example, the serial number of this fighter jet is 024. Whether it is military or civilian aviation, it is called "Dong 24". There is no difference in this respect.

Zero is pronounced as "dong", one as "yao", two as "liang", and seven as "guai". In this respect, there is no difference between military aviation and civil aviation.

However, there are still significant differences in communication between military and civilian aviation. Civilian aviation communication tends to be more formalized, while military aviation communication is more conversational, aiming to clearly convey instructions with the fewest possible words. This difference likely stems from the different operating environments and requirements of the two disciplines.

"024, the runway is cleared, normal approach, pass at 100 altitude."

The altitude of one hundred here is not in feet, but in meters. Due to specific historical reasons, the Chinese military aviation system has always used the metric system. Influenced by the military aviation system, the altitude layer division of domestic airspace is also based on meters, which is very different from the internationally used feet. Therefore, a major task for domestic civil aviation pilots during their flight training is to memorize the altitude conversion table, that is, the conversion table from metric altitude to imperial altitude.

In reality, every aircraft is equipped with a cardboard altimeter. Theoretically, pilots don't need to use the altimeter; they can simply refer to the altimeter after air traffic control provides the metric altitude and then adjust to imperial. However, in actual flight operations, which pilot, even a trainee, would dare to do this? They would almost certainly get a severe scolding from the captain or instructor.

"Altitude 100, field clearance received." The fighter pilot's reply was extremely simple, his voice not at all like the panic one would expect when something goes wrong, but rather reassuringly calm.

This is the spirit and vitality of the People's Army.

"Almost there," Qin Zongyang murmured, his gaze turning towards the runway. However, only a portion of the bridge wall was made of glass, limiting the view to a section of the runway and airspace. So, Qin Zongyang pulled Xu Xian and the ground service staff directly onto the steps outside the bridge, thus ensuring an unobstructed view of the entire area.

Because the ground apron was under control, Qin Zongyang, Xu Xian, and the ground service personnel who were forcibly pulled out all stood on ladders and did not go down to the apron, strictly adhering to the control measures.

"There it is, on the runway!" Xu Xian, who was used to flying commercial airliners, still preferred to use the term "on the runway" to describe the aircraft's position. At that moment, a streamlined fighter jet was flying parallel to the runway, radiating an astonishingly powerful beauty under the sun's rays.

Xu Xian squinted and looked into the distance. Due to the distance, he could only vaguely see that the main landing gear of the fighter jet had been lowered, and there was something protruding slightly under the nose of the aircraft. The protrusion should be the location of the nose landing gear.

The previous walkie-talkie report about a problem with the front landing gear lowering appears to indicate that it wasn't completely unable to be lowered, but rather that it got stuck halfway down.

"It looks like the front landing gear is stuck halfway." Qin Zongyang was old and couldn't see very clearly. It was only after Xu Xian described what he saw to Qin Zongyang that he noticed the slightly protruding thing under the nose of the plane.

Qin Zongyang hadn't touched a fighter jet for over a decade. In his time, China's fighter jet technology lagged behind the international level, but now China's fighter jet technology had seen explosive growth, and he really wanted to see with his own eyes what China's advanced fighter jets looked like.

However, due to the distance, he couldn't see what the plane in the sky looked like. But Qin Zongyang wasn't in a hurry; the plane would make a low-altitude flyby later, and then he would be able to see it clearly.

Shortly after, the fighter jet had completed its fourth turn, entered the fifth turn, and began to align with the runway. As the aircraft descended, Xu Xian could already hear the deafening roar of the fighter jet.

Xu Xian and Qin Zongyang looked along the five sides of the runway and saw a Sky Eagle with a pale blue tail flame hurtling in.

At this moment, the fighter jet was already at a fairly low altitude, and Qin Zongyang could barely make out its appearance. However, when he searched his memory, he found that none of his recollections matched. Moreover, Qin Zongyang usually followed military news and had some impression of what some of the country's advanced fighter jets looked like, but neither his previous experiences in the military nor the latest news reports about fighter jets matched the aircraft in front of him.

"What kind of plane is that?" Xu Xian stared at the approaching fighter jet, his ears filled with a deafening roar, and even his blood seemed to boil.

If he had the chance to pilot such a fighter jet, it would surely be a memorable experience in his life.

Faced with Xu Xian's question, Qin Zongyang couldn't help but smile wryly: "I'm really out of touch, I don't know what model this plane is."

As someone who had once been a member of the Air Force, Qin Zongyang felt ashamed that he didn't even know anything about the Air Force's own equipment, even after retiring.

"Could it be the latest model?" Xu Xian guessed, otherwise the airport wouldn't be in such a state of panic, even having to remove passengers sitting by the window.

As soon as Xu Xian finished speaking, the fighter jet swept across the runway like a giant eagle skimming low, its wingtips cutting through the airflow and even creating two white streaks, giving it a graceful, fleeting feel.

"024, your front landing gear seems to be stuck halfway. Why don't you go up to 3,000 meters and do a couple of sharp turns to see if you can swing the front landing gear out?"

This situation where the nose landing gear is stuck halfway is the most frustrating. If the wheel well covers weren't even open, there would be no need to try anymore, but in this half-open, half-closed situation, if you don't try to get the nose landing gear out, it's like being scratched by a cat's claws—it's incredibly uncomfortable.

"No! I've already tried a subsonic sharp turn, and it didn't work. If we want even more centrifugal force, we'll have to make a supersonic turn. I'm running low on fuel, and if we try to fly at supersonic speeds, I'm afraid we'll run out of fuel." The fighter pilot quickly rejected the control tower's suggestion.

When an aircraft is flying at supersonic speeds, especially during the time it breaks the sound barrier, it consumes a lot of energy, which makes the already limited fuel supply even more critical.

The fighter jet's original destination wasn't Bisu, but another airport. However, a problem arose where the nose landing gear couldn't be deployed. If the nose landing gear couldn't be deployed, the aircraft's landing distance would be significantly longer. The runway at the original destination airport was shorter than that of Bisu airport, making it unsuitable for landing.

Bisu Airport serves as an alternate airport, and meticulous fuel calculations are performed before each flight. Theoretically, due to the availability of backup fuel, there shouldn't be a fuel emergency upon arrival at Bisu Airport. However, this time, a landing gear problem arose.

The nose landing gear not only couldn't be lowered or retracted, but it was stuck in the middle, unable to move. The presence of this partially protruding nose landing gear added extra drag, which caused problems with the calculation of the reserve fuel. As a result, when the fighter jet arrived at Bisu Airport, it was already out of fuel and could not support another supersonic sharp turn.

"Have you tried retracting and extending the landing gear again?"

The method described by the control tower is actually the same as the procedure used in civil aviation for landing gear jamming. If a landing gear unit is stuck, first put the landing gear handle in the retracted position, wait a moment, and then put the landing gear handle down. At this point, there is a certain chance that the landing gear can be put back into place.

It just goes to show that sometimes the military and civilians really are inseparable! Even their unorthodox methods are the same.

"I've already tried it." The fighter pilot's deep voice seemed unwavering, even in this special situation, his emotions remained unchanged.

The pilot continued, "I'm low on fuel, and I estimate I can only guarantee two more complete takeoffs and landings. I don't have time to try anymore, but there's one more way. In a bit, I'll try another landing, this time deliberately a hard landing, to see if I can knock the nose landing gear out. If that doesn't work, then regardless of whether the nose landing gear is properly deployed, I'll have to force a landing."

This special story was originally intended for the next book, but I got the urge to write it in this one.

(End of this chapter)