Legendary Captain

Chapter 306 Black Vision

At this moment, in Wang Qi's field of vision, the fighter jet facing him not only did not pull up, but instead began to accelerate, and the shock cloud generated when it broke the sound barrier was extremely conspicuous.

"He's using up the power!" Wang Qi never expected that this newcomer not only dared to accept his challenge, but also had a temper even bigger than his own.

While the flight fleet of Los Angeles Aerospace Industries is not part of the Air Force's organizational structure, this does not mean that the fleet is comprised of untrained pilots. On the contrary, the pilots in the Los Angeles Aerospace Industries fleet are the elite of the elite, although they all share a common trait: they are known for their rebellious and unruly nature.

In the military, unruly individuals are collectively known as troublemakers. However, troublemakers usually don't have a comfortable experience in the military, so the flight fleet of Luohang Industrial became a gathering place for these troublemakers.

There's a tradition in the Los Angeles Aircraft Industry's fleet of welcoming new recruits. Usually, during a new recruit's first solo flight, if they happen to encounter a senior pilot training, the senior pilot will typically do something slightly outrageous to "tease" the new recruit as a way of giving them a taste of their own medicine.

Wang Qi had done this kind of behavior before, flying head-on towards the other fighter jet. Back then, the rookie pilot simply pulled up and didn't have the courage to fly head-on with Wang Qi.

However, this newcomer whom Ye Qing supposedly valued highly seemed different. Not only did he dare to confront him, but he was even accelerating, which was a blatant provocation.

"Xu Xian, you don't need to argue with him, help him up!" Ye Qing said in a deep voice.

However, Xu Xian made no move to reduce speed or pull up, responding to Ye Qing with only one sentence: "You said I can fly however I want! And I can handle it!"

Ye Qing paused slightly, then thought to himself, "Another troublemaker."

However, after that, Ye Qing did not try to dissuade Xu Xian. Instead, he gripped the control stick with his right hand, ready to take over control of the aircraft at any time.

Opposite Xu Xian, Wang Qi immediately unfastened his oxygen mask, narrowed his eyes, paused for a moment, and then slammed on the accelerator to second gear. At the same time, with the generation of shock clouds, the speed of Wang Qi's vehicle began to soar.

The time to break the sound barrier is very short; the surging thrust makes the sound barrier seem like paper, and the two head-on supersonic fighter jets begin to approach each other rapidly.

On the control tower radar, the controller glanced at the radar and saw two dots, symbolizing Xu Xian and Wang Qi's vehicles, rapidly approaching, leaving the controller completely bewildered.

"What are they doing?" The controller still didn't understand the situation.

Logically speaking, at such close range, both sides' radars should have been able to see each other long ago, so how could they still be flying head-on? Moreover, even if the radars couldn't see them, the weather today was excellent, with not a cloud in the sky, and the visibility conditions were superb. They could clearly see the oncoming fighter jets with the naked eye.

What exactly happened?

The controller pondered for a moment: "Could they be conducting a training exercise? But it seems there was no report of joint training between 024 and 031?"

024 is Ye Qing's number, and 031 is Wang Qi's number. Any joint training exercise involving two or more aircraft also requires approval, but the control tower doesn't seem to have received any relevant approval information.

Just as the controller was wondering, he suddenly noticed that the approach rate of the two fighter jets was rising rapidly. Upon closer inspection of the Mach numbers of the two aircraft, he realized that they had broken the speed of sound limit within a very short time interval.

Air traffic control radar can display aircraft altitude and speed information. Ye Qing's aircraft has already reached Mach 1.6, and its speed is still increasing. Wang Qi's aircraft is also approaching Mach 1.5 and is similarly accelerating.

The relative speed between the two fighter jets had already exceeded Mach 3, and judging from their stance, they seemed to be speeding towards their maximum speed.

Both of Ye Qing's and Wang Qi's fighter jets have a top speed exceeding Mach 2, with Ye Qing's reaching Mach 2.2.

If both sides reach their maximum speed, that would be a relative speed exceeding Mach 4.5, which is simply outrageous.

What does a relative speed of Mach 4.5 mean? It's 4.5 times the speed of sound. If two fighter jets are less than ten kilometers apart, they will arrive in the blink of an eye.

If both aircraft were running at full throttle and reaching their maximum speed, ten kilometers would probably only take them five or six seconds to cover. Moreover, in the brief moment he hesitated, the distance between them had already exceeded halfway, leaving them less than five kilometers apart. And as time pushed on and the distance closed, both fighter jets accelerated to their maximum speeds, two fighter jets traveling at more than twice the speed of sound closing in at an incredible relative speed.

At this point, the controller could no longer contain himself and hurriedly reported, "031, 024, collision! Collision!"

But in the brief moment after he finished speaking, the distance between the two sides had already reached less than two kilometers. In the next second or two, if no evasive maneuver was taken, both fighter jets would be destroyed and the pilots would be killed.

However, no one heeded his warning.

At this moment, Wang Qi could almost clearly see the details of the oncoming fighter jet. He didn't know the exact Mach number of the fighter jet, but just by looking at the proximity on the radar, he could feel how great the relative speed of the two fighter jets was.

Based on his experience, the collision should have occurred within two seconds. Just then, the controller's collision warning came through his headset.

But things have come to this point, the arrow is already on the bowstring, and there's no turning back!

Wang Qi never expected that what he originally intended to do was to give the newcomer a hard time, but in reality, he found himself in a difficult situation.

This collision between the two aircraft was less a technical contest and more a psychological battle; whoever pulled up first was admitting defeat.

Many newcomers, even those with exceptional talent and exceptional piloting skills, often lack mental fortitude, which is largely developed through experience. Newcomers with little flying experience can easily fall behind veterans in a battle of mental strength. As a result, veterans always win when trying to intimidate newcomers, and there is never a situation where the veterans take the lead.

But something seems to have gone wrong today.

"Damn it, why aren't you pulling him up? Why aren't you pulling him up?" Wang Qi roared inwardly, sweat beading on his forehead without him even realizing it.

He had a feeling that he was about to crash and burn.

But if he takes the lead and his reputation is ruined, and he gets attacked for provoking a newcomer, how will he survive in the fleet? Won't he just become a laughingstock?

Wang Qi's fingers unconsciously opened and closed as he gripped the control stick, a sign of the sudden increase in his inner pressure. In fact, by now, Wang Qi had already lost the psychological battle.

However, Wang Qi's stubbornness prevented him from pulling up, and perhaps Xu Xian was also on the verge of giving up, just like him. He thought, "Wait a little longer, wait a little longer, and maybe the enemy fighter will pull up in the next moment."

On Xu Xian's side, Ye Qing's eyelids twitched as he looked at the two planes so close together on the radar. He couldn't help but call out in his voice, "Xu Xian!"

"It's nothing!" Xu Xian's answer remained calm, as if he wouldn't have any emotional change even if the plane were to crash at any moment.

"Damn it!" Wang Qi on the other side could no longer hold on. He was arrogant enough, but that didn't mean he could treat his life as nothing. Under such pressure, Wang Qi's taut nerves finally snapped. He pulled the stick sharply, and the plane soared into the air. In the next moment, Xu Xian's plane passed right under Wang Qi's plane.

"Tch!" Xu Xian sneered disdainfully when he saw Wang Qi pull up. He then prepared to chase after him with a pole to see who this audacious person who dared to provoke him was.

However, the instant Xu Xian pulled the lever abruptly, Ye Qing, sitting in the back seat, snapped awake and shouted into the intercom system, "Xu Xian, you pulled too hard!"

As soon as Ye Qing finished speaking, the load index on the HUD began to soar, eventually exceeding 6G. At that moment, Xu Xian felt his lower body being squeezed violently by the anti-G suit, but he suddenly felt a dizzying sensation, and his head suddenly felt a cold sensation. His heart began to pound wildly.

The next moment, Xu Xian noticed that the azure sky in front of him began to darken rapidly. As if in an instant, the light in Xu Xian's eyes was taken away, and he was finally plunged into darkness!

"I can't see!" At this moment, even Xu Xian felt a moment of panic. He couldn't see anything; all he could see was darkness.

Xu Xian shouted without pressing the intercom button, but the sound was loud enough for Ye Qing, who was in the back seat, to hear.

"Oh no, blackout!" Ye Qing instantly understood what Xu Xian had experienced. Xu Xian had been careless and pulled too hard on the stick, causing the aircraft to experience a huge rate of climb in a short period of time. Such a sudden change in attitude is most likely to increase the G-force. Xu Xian was clearly unable to adapt to the rapidly increasing G-force and experienced a blackout.

When the control stick is pulled back quickly, the nose pitches up rapidly, creating a positive G-force. At this time, blood rushes from the pilot's head to the lower limbs, causing massive blood loss to the brain. The pilot's vision goes completely black and he can't see anything. Only after the G-force ends and some time has passed will the pilot's vision return to normal.

However, blackouts usually mean seeing things blurry, but in cases like Xu Xian's, where he can't see anything at all, this is basically a precursor to fainting.

At this moment, Ye Qing dared not let Xu Xian take control. He grabbed the control stick and shouted, "I'll take control!"

The moment Ye Qing took control, he began to reduce the aircraft's attitude, lowering the load on Xu Xian so that the blood in Xu Xian's body could flow back to his brain.

Having flown to this point, it's clear he can't continue. Even if Xu Xian recovers later due to the reduced load, he'll likely feel dizzy and disoriented for a while after this experience, and his condition is no longer suitable for flying.

"Tower, training completed, requesting to return to base." Ye Qing contacted the tower while piloting the aircraft, requesting to return to base.

The control tower had just breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the two aircraft separate on the radar. Hearing that Ye Qing wanted to return to base, they asked curiously, "Your training time hasn't reached the planned time yet. Are you sure you want to return now?"

According to the approved schedule, they had less than half an hour left, so returning now is a bit too early.

"There was a minor issue, and we've returned to base."

"Wait a moment!" Ye Qing's early return slightly disrupted the control tower's reception plan, but fortunately, it wasn't too difficult to handle. After about a minute or two, the control tower reorganized the reception sequence and replied, "024, maintain altitude 3000, heading 280. What's the situation? Do you need any assistance?"

Ye Qing glanced at Xu Xian, who was now completely still, and said helplessly, "Could you contact the base medical room for me and have them wait on the tarmac?"

In a ward at the medical clinic of the Luoyang Aviation Industry Flight Base, Xu Xian stood by the window, staring blankly at the sky, which consisted of only a few fragments, and finally let out a helpless sigh.

Behind Xu Xian, Ye Qing's face was full of strange expressions. Finally, Ye Qing broke the deadlock: "Are you sure you don't need to rest any longer?"

"What's there to rest about?" Xu Xian was completely stunned. He turned around abruptly and stared intently at Ye Qing: "With my physical condition, am I just a useless piece of trash?"

Faced with such a pointed question, Ye Qing said regretfully, "Your physical condition isn't even considered good among ordinary people. That was over 6G of overload. If an ordinary person wore an anti-G suit and endured a load of over 6G, most would experience noticeable discomfort, but many wouldn't experience such severe blackouts. Your physical condition... is indeed somewhat lacking."

Normally, 5G is considered an acceptable load. However, wearing an anti-G suit can generally increase the load limit by 1.2G to 1.6G. In other words, for a normal person wearing an anti-G suit, a load exceeding 6G is not unacceptable. But for Xu Xian, a load of more than 6G directly caused him to experience severe blackouts, and even a brief fainting spell, making his condition extremely serious.

Based on this, Xu Xian's physical condition is probably slightly below the average for an average person. Such a physique simply makes it impossible for him to fly a fighter jet. Fighter jets sometimes experience G-forces exceeding 9G. If Xu Xian's body were to withstand 9G, wouldn't that be fatal?

Xu Xian slapped his forehead, feeling utterly mortified: "If only I had trained more regularly, I'd be so embarrassed now."

After landing, Xu Xian had basically recovered. However, the doctors waiting below still took Xu Xian to the infirmary for some detailed examinations. After confirming that there were no problems, they asked Xu Xian to stay in the infirmary for two hours of observation before leaving, which was quite responsible.

"You don't need to be too anxious. Physical fitness isn't something you can't train for," Ye Qing comforted him.

Xu Xian paused for a moment, then coughed lightly: "Let me ask you this: given my current situation, if I were to participate in the Air Force's pilot recruitment physical examination, do you think I would pass?"

Ye Qing sighed: "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Xu Xian rolled his eyes. "I've never been through an Air Force physical exam, I have no idea what the standards are, how can I think? I just want you to look at it from a professional perspective, and see if my situation is even possible to pass."

Ye Qing clicked his tongue, about to speak, when someone suddenly walked in from outside. He grinned at Xu Xian and said, "From a professional perspective, your chances of passing are zero!"

(End of this chapter)