Legendary Captain

Chapter 295 A God-like Performance! Post-Stall Maneuver! (Part 2)

"Smash out the front landing gear?" Xu Xian looked at Qin Zongyang in confusion. "You can do that to a fighter jet?"

Xu Xian used the word "also" very well, because he had previously heard Xu Qing mention that when Xu Qing was a young pilot, he had encountered a situation where the nose landing gear wouldn't go down halfway. At that time, Xu Qing used this method: he deliberately made a hard landing, using inertia to knock the nose landing gear out.

However, Xu Xian had no idea that fighter jets could be used in this way.

"Uh," Qin Zongyang said, slightly embarrassed, "This is a very bold idea. I never heard of anyone using it when I was serving in the military. Let's just watch and see."

Qin Zongyang was certainly aware of this unorthodox technique of using a hard landing to free the nose landing gear when it was stuck halfway. However, the reason this method was unorthodox was because it was difficult to control the amount of force applied during a hard landing.

If the pressure is too light, the method will be much less effective, wasting time. But if it's too heavy, then how heavy should it be?

Theoretically, the heavier the better, but an aircraft cannot withstand excessive loads. If it lands too heavily and the landing gear is not dislodged, but the aircraft's structure is broken apart, that would be a huge problem.

Therefore, this method of knocking out the nose landing gear during a hard landing is a rather unconventional approach. If the landing load is not properly controlled, it could lead to even more serious consequences.

Moreover, as we can hear from the walkie-talkie, the fighter jet's fuel level is now only enough for two more takeoffs and landings. Therefore, the fighter pilot does not have multiple opportunities to gradually try suitable landing loads; he only has one chance, which undoubtedly greatly increases the difficulty of operation.

Having flown fighter jets and commercial airliners for so many years, Qin Zongyang has gained some experience. This type of hard landing requires at least three attempts, gradually increasing the force, in order to find a suitable ground load.

Such methods are ultimately unorthodox and rarely practiced, so pilots naturally have no concept of how to perform them.

Just like with single-engine pilots, during regular training, especially simulator training, the amount of single-engine training is substantial. Through this extensive training, pilots develop a general understanding of the control adjustments required for single-engine situations. In the event of a single-engine situation, the pilot can rely on muscle memory to quickly make control adjustments.

However, the maneuver of hitting the nose landing gear during a hard landing is never covered in routine training, so pilots have little recourse other than trying multiple times in such situations. Given only one chance, Qin Zongyang was not optimistic about the feasibility of this plan.

"024, you only have one chance!" The person on the control tower knew how difficult this method would be if there was only one chance: "You'd better think it through."

"There's no other way but to do this!" Even at this critical moment, the fighter pilot's voice remained calm and composed, as if nothing could stir his emotions.

Xu Xian watched as the fighter jet suddenly took off, almost vertically climbing straight into the sky.

"Such powerful thrust! Our commercial airliners must never make such an exaggerated climb." Xu Xian saw that the fighter jet's climb angle was almost ninety degrees. In other words, this fighter jet was almost being propelled up by the surging thrust of its engine.

This is what's known as "Powerful Bricks Flying"!

As long as the engine thrust is strong enough, even a brick can be pushed into the sky.

Let alone Xu Xian, a military novice, even Qin Zongyang, a retired veteran, was stunned by the fighter jet's exaggerated climb performance. During his service, he had never seen a fighter jet with such excellent performance.

Could this really be the latest fighter jet in China?

Just as Qin Zongyang was lost in thought, the fighter jet soared upwards, and shortly after taking off, it began to turn and join the takeoff and landing path. Judging from the visual observation, Xu Xian felt that the fighter jet had probably completed its turn after passing about 800 meters.

There's a small hill on one side of the flight path at Bisu Airport. You have to climb over 800 meters before you can turn, otherwise you risk triggering a terrain warning. He originally thought this rule only applied to civilian airlines, but it turns out it applies to military airlines too.

Bisu Airport has only one obstacle on one side of runway 03; the rest of the surrounding area is mostly hills and valleys, with no obstacles that could trigger terrain warnings. Therefore, once you cross the 800-meter mark and join the takeoff and landing path, there are far fewer concerns for the pilots below.

Sure enough, after the second turn, the takeoff and landing path became very narrow, probably because the third turn would begin right after the runway tip was cut.

Xu Xian visually examined the fighter jet and found that the distance between its three sides was particularly small. In other words, starting from the third turn, there was likely no fourth turn, but rather a continuous turn that cut directly into the runway extension.

It's clear that the fighter pilot's comment about low fuel levels was genuine. Otherwise, they wouldn't normally make such a narrow takeoff and landing path.

It's so short that even the four sides are omitted.

A shorter takeoff and landing path saves time and fuel. However, the disadvantages are also quite obvious. For consecutive turns starting from the third turn, the runway centerline must be directly aligned after the turn and leveling off.

Because the takeoff and landing paths are so narrow, not to mention omitting the four sides, even the five sides are extremely short, leaving no room for pilots to make corrections. If the direction is not aligned after turning, it is basically very difficult to correct it, and the only option left is to go around.

Normally, a go-around would be fine, but now that the fuel warning is low, a go-around means wasting an opportunity. So the only remaining chance is to force a landing, regardless of whether the nose landing gear has deployed.

"024, be careful of grounding load." For some reason, the control tower added this extra sentence, as if they were more worried about the fighter jet falling apart than about the nose landing gear not being able to be lowered.

A fighter pilot's slightly amused voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Don't worry, I know how precious this plane is, it won't get damaged."

At this moment, looking up, we can already see the fighter jets maintaining a steep angle of attack, jutting straight into the runway extension. Judging from this, it seems that once the fighter jets turn and level off, they should be almost at the runway entrance.

"He really left himself no way out," Xu Xian exclaimed. The fighter pilot skipped the fourth and fifth turns, starting from the third turn of the runway, making a series of turns, and directly touching down. The action was clean and neat, without any unnecessary flight maneuvers.

The idea is good, but it's unclear whether the fighter pilot's skills can keep up with his vision.

As the fighter jet was about to land, Xu Xian suddenly had an idea and asked Qin Zongyang, "Master, I've seen similar emergency situations in movies. In the movies, they use a vehicle to support the nose of the aircraft. Is that method feasible?"

"Are you kidding me? It's a movie, why are you bringing it into reality?" Qin Zongyang said helplessly, "Let's not even talk about whether the pilot can accurately place the nose of the plane on the car. If something goes wrong, wouldn't the driver be in danger too? A fighter jet colliding with a vehicle, isn't that a guaranteed kill? No, even if it's a movie, you can't portray it like this, isn't this misleading people? Bringing in all sorts of crooked and evil stories? And the worst part is, people actually believe them, my God!"

Faced with this situation, Xu Xian blushed deeply: "I'm just an amateur, I was just asking, that's all."

I think I asked a really stupid question, but it seems to make sense when you watch the movie.

Suddenly, Xu Xian glanced at the fire trucks waiting at the tarmac entrance and had a thought: he asked the ground staff, "Don't you have any foam trucks here?"

"A foam truck? What's that?" The ground staff were completely baffled.

"A foam car, you know, the kind that spits out foam! You can lay it on the runway. If the front wheels still can't be lowered later, you can lay it on the runway to prevent the nose from rubbing against the runway and catching fire," Xu Xian explained.

At this moment, Qin Zongyang pulled Xu Xian aside: "They're ground service personnel, not from the airport emergency response department. What are you asking? Besides, even if there were foam trucks, there's no time to deploy them now. After landing, there's only one takeoff and landing time left. How much foam can they deploy? You think you're so great just because you know about foam trucks?"

"Master, how am I showing off?" Xu Xian said speechlessly.

Just moments after Qin Zongyang and Xu Xian finished their conversation, the fighter jet directly aligned itself with the runway. Since Xu Xian's position was close to the beginning of runway 21, he could roughly tell from his location whether the fighter jet was aligned with the runway.

"Such precise maneuvering." Xu Xianluo observed that the fighter jet, which had cut into the runway by making continuous turns, was perfectly aligned with the runway centerline the moment it leveled off, without even needing to make any corrections.

"Looks like the pilot up there is an experienced one." If Xu Xian could see it, how could Qin Zongyang not? This fighter pilot's grasp of the turning angle was nothing short of freakish, and his handling skills were extremely solid.

No wonder his voice was as cold as ice when I heard him talking to the control tower earlier, without a trace of emotion. It turns out that the so-called inability to lower the front landing gear was just a minor issue.

This fighter pilot's control precision is not only in his bank corrections, but also in his incredibly accurate altitude control.

The fighter jet leveled off, its position just passing the runway threshold marker. Qin Zongyang's eyelids twitched: "Exactly fifty feet!"

A veteran pilot like Qin Zongyang, who has flown for two or three decades, can tell whether an aircraft is too high or too low simply by looking at its approach altitude. He observes that when the fighter jet enters the airspace above the runway, the altitude is perfectly comfortable—that's the optimal, standard approach altitude!

Fifty feet, that's the optimal runway approach height!

Compared to adjusting for gradient, Qin Zongyang felt that controlling the altitude was more difficult. However, the fighter pilot above was able to do both simultaneously, not only calculating the gradient accurately but also keeping an eye on the altitude at the same time; his ability to allocate attention was simply unbelievable.

"Xu Xian, can you fly and land like that?" Qin Zongyang suddenly asked.

"Use the 737?" Xu Xian's expression darkened slightly. "I'm not sure, but it might be possible."

Qin Zongyang's fingers traced the iron railing as he shook his head: "Your flying relies on talent, which is why you can often perform some incredible maneuvers. However, your fundamentals are still somewhat lacking. Take that precise maneuver of the fighter jet's continuous turns and descents just now, for example. Was it talent? What kind of high-difficulty maneuvers were involved? No, right? But you weren't confident. You lack nothing now except the patience to calmly and meticulously hone your skills. When you can be 100% certain that you can complete that precise maneuver of continuous turns and descents, then your fundamentals will be considered complete."

"Master, Xu Xian understands." Xu Xian obediently replied. In truth, he asked himself, if he were the one on top, would he dare to operate such a small takeoff and landing route?

It's highly unlikely he'd dare. Four-sided maneuvers are manageable; at least he wouldn't completely ignore the correction space for five-sided maneuvers. But the fighter pilot in the sky operates on a "one-shot deal" principle. If there's a significant deviation in the final leveling direction or altitude, he has to go around, wasting the opportunity.

This is an unparalleled confidence, a confidence that one can definitely complete this precise operation of continuous turning and descent, a confidence that when the fighter jet levels off, it should be in the correct entry position, and even if this is its only chance, it will never shake its confidence.

"Is this the will of an Air Force fighter pilot?" Xu Xian had previously only had Xu Qing as someone who could truly impress him in flying, but now, it seemed that another person would have to be added to the list.

After entering the airspace above the runway, the fighter jet clearly failed to level off, maintaining a nose-up attitude throughout. This attitude is somewhat excessive for an aircraft attempting a normal touchdown.

However, the fighter jet needs to pull up immediately after touching down, so it won't lower its attitude too much to avoid losing control and causing the nose to touch down.

However, an unusually large attitude will cause the aircraft to sink less, so the aircraft will just float and then slowly touch down, and the grounding load will generally not be large.

Perhaps the fighter pilot also noticed this, and in full view of everyone, he forcefully lowered the plane. The plane was originally flying close to the runway, but when he lowered it, both main landing gears touched the ground instantly.

Moreover, due to this somewhat obvious push-stick action, the aircraft's descent suddenly increased significantly, which in turn caused the ground load to rise instantly.

Even from a distance, just by looking at it, Xu Xian could tell that the grounding was probably very heavy.

"Ye Qing!!! This is the only prototype, do you dare to push the control stick?" If Xu Xian could see this, how could the people in the control tower not see it? However, an angry roar came from the control tower over the walkie-talkie.

However, just as the controllers in the control tower were enraged, the violent impact caused the front landing gear, which was originally positioned halfway, to be thrown out.

"We're out!" Xu Xian's eyes lit up with excitement, as if he were the one sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet.

The fighter jet skimmed the surface like a dragonfly skimming the water; the moment its main landing gear touched down, it immediately and quickly pulled up again, soaring into the sky without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing that the front landing gear had actually come off, the tower controller, who had seemed ready to kill a second ago, immediately calmed down and said with barely suppressed anger, "The front landing gear has come off, let's do one more lap."

"Haha, sir! Don't get excited, don't get excited. You just told me to be careful about the ground load, which made me feel a bit guilty. I didn't dare to lower the plane when it landed. You can't just keep floating like that, so I had to push the stick down a bit." The fighter pilot named Ye Qing said somewhat playfully.

It was clear that the atmosphere on both sides of the call became more relaxed after the front landing gear was lowered. Before, although it wasn't that tense, there was always a sense of tension, but now it was as if they had suddenly let go.

Suddenly, Xu Xian's eyelids twitched. He seemed to see something fall off the fighter jet as it climbed.

"Master, did you see anything fall from the plane?" Xu Xian wasn't sure for a moment, so he had to ask Qin Zongyang first.

Qin Zongyang asked in confusion, "What did you say? Something fell down from above? No, I didn't see anything."

Qin Zongyang frowned: "You really saw it? Where did it fall? On the track?"

Xu Xian was also somewhat anxious: "It must have landed on the track, where else could it have landed?"

"You can't say things like that carelessly, it could lead to a major disaster." Qin Zongyang was also panicking. If some parts really fell onto the runway, wouldn't the fighter jet be doomed when it landed?

Runways require regular inspections to ensure there are no foreign objects on the surface; otherwise, catastrophic consequences can easily occur. The military aviation officer was unaware that in civil aviation history, there have been numerous incidents of aircraft crashes and fatalities caused by foreign objects on the runway.

"I feel like I saw it, but you say you didn't, which makes me a little unsure." Xu Xian looked up at the fighter jets that were now parallel to the runway, feeling anxious.

At that moment, Ye Qing's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Flying with landing gear on consumes too much fuel. I'm almost out of fuel. Let's make a small one this time."

The nose landing gear was finally put in place with great difficulty, so we definitely can't risk retracting it. What if it gets stuck and can't be put back in? Therefore, the safest approach is to fly with the landing gear down. However, the landing gear down increases drag significantly, leading to higher fuel consumption. This is even worse for a fighter jet that's already low on fuel, causing it to run out of fuel and potentially stall the engine.

In order to land as quickly as possible and avoid the embarrassment of engine failure in mid-air, Ye Qing decided to perform a small takeoff and landing path, just like before, so as to land as soon as possible.

"You can decide for yourself." Now that all three landing gears were down, the control tower breathed a sigh of relief, and his tone was unusually relaxed.

Just as the control tower finished speaking, a third voice suddenly came through the channel: "Tower, I think I just saw some parts of a fighter jet fall onto the runway. Please visually inspect the runway."

"Didn't we just say to keep the channel silent?" the tower commander said, somewhat annoyed.

Prior to this, the commander explained that the tower frequency was temporarily requisitioned and all other personnel should remain silent, but why are there still people who don't listen?

However, the next second, the control tower realized what had happened: "What did you say? You said a part fell onto the runway?"

Upon seeing the response from the control tower, Xu Xian quickly said, "Yes, it's roughly between the receiving area and the intermediate end. There's another one... I'm not sure about the other one, it should be at the intermediate end or the stop. I hope you can visually inspect it, and if possible, then forget it."

Xu Xian originally wanted to have the runway inspection vehicle go through it, but considering the fighter jet's fuel problem, this was obviously an impossible solution.

"Intermediate end, stop end? Are you a crew member?" The tower controller quickly realized that the person who suddenly interrupted must be a crew member. Otherwise, they wouldn't know technical terms like intermediate end and stop end.

"That's right. Take a look! I'm sure about the one connecting the regional and intermediate terminals, but I'm not so sure about the other one." Xu Xian grabbed the walkie-talkie and spoke rapidly, making the ground service staff next to him sweat profusely.

I just told them not to talk on the walkie-talkie, but they turned around and snatched it away. They were very unreasonable!

While speaking to Xu Xian, the control tower operator had already picked up binoculars and was visually inspecting the runway. The reason Xu Xian informed the control tower was that not only was the tower's location high and its view excellent, overlooking the entire runway, but it was also equipped with binoculars, which were far more reliable than the naked eye.

At this point, the fighter jet was perpendicular to the runway, and it would be aligned with the runway after another quarter turn.

Just then, the control tower quickly located a component-like object near the middle end, about a quarter of the runway length from the runway tip. It was lying right on a white runway marker, making it relatively easy to spot.

"Tower, is there a problem with the runway?" Ye Qing asked.

"Ye Qing, is it okay if you land in the middle of the runway? There's a foreign object a little in front of the landing zone. It might be a piece of the aircraft that fell off because the landing was too heavy."

Ye Qing's eyelids twitched. How big must the ground load have been just now? It knocked out parts of the aircraft.

"Half the runway is fine, no problem." The runway at Bisu Airport is 2,400 meters long. Even if only half the runway is used, it is still 1,200 meters. The landing distance required for his plane is just over 1,000 meters, which is barely enough. This is without considering the effect of the drag chute. So the actual distance required is a little shorter than 1,000 meters, so it should be fine.

"We've raised the arresting nets at the end of the runway. Even if you still have a little bit of residual speed at the end of the runway, it will be able to catch you, don't worry," the tower controller said.

The arresting net is quite effective at stopping low-speed fighter jets, but it's hard to say what will happen if a high-speed fighter jet gets close.

However, the deceleration distance of over a thousand meters should be manageable. Even if there are minor issues that result in a small amount of residual speed, the barrier net should be sufficient to cover the risks.

Therefore, the plan to land on half of the runway is actually quite safe. The only thing that worries the control tower is that the crew member mentioned there was a loose part at the middle or stopping end, but he still couldn't find it after looking around.

If the second part had fallen in the middle, it would have been easier; Ye Qing could simply fly over it. But if it had fallen at the stopping point, that would have been a much bigger problem.

Using half the runway for landing is already a stretch; if falling parts land at the stopping end, the usable landing distance is reduced by another half to a third, making a landing impossible.

"Ye Qing, can you do one more lap?" Thinking of this, the tower commander was still a little worried. The best thing to do now was to let Ye Qing do one more lap so that someone could quickly check the runway.

The runway at Bisu Airport is not long, so the inspection will not take long.

"No, the engine speed is starting to fluctuate, which is a sign that it's about to stall. There's no time for another lap; I have to land this time."

(End of this chapter)