Legendary Captain

Chapter 320 Air Force Physical Examination!

A selection and testing base for the Southwest Air Force.

Generally, Air Force selection involves preliminary selection, secondary selection, and final physical examination. The preliminary selection is mostly conducted by local selection centers in the corresponding municipal administrative regions. The physical examination items are relatively simple, usually involving a few simple screenings such as ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and surgery.

Those who meet the initial selection requirements will be sent to the local Air Force selection and physical examination station on a designated day for a second round of selection. The second round of selection involves many more examination items, and this is where a large number of people are eliminated.

Compared to the medical examinations for civil aviation, the medical examinations for air force selection are much stricter, and the attrition rate is naturally much higher.

All trainees who pass the preliminary physical examination within the entire region will be taken to a professional Air Force selection and testing base for a final selection physical examination, organized by the Air Force.

The preliminary physical examination covers tests from all ten departments, including internal medicine, surgery, neurology, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, radiology, ultrasound, laboratory medicine, electrocardiography, and electroencephalography, and takes approximately one day. After passing these tests, physical fitness tests, psychological selection tests, and vestibular function tests will be conducted the following day.

Only by passing all these tests can one be considered to have truly passed the Air Force selection physical examination. In total, there are about 120 checkpoints of varying sizes, making it a genuine selection of the best of the best.

Following the standard selection process, Xu Xian would also have to start from the preliminary selection. However, Xu Xian's situation is slightly special. As a seasoned pilot, he doesn't need to start from the very beginning of the preliminary selection. He simply needs to submit his medical records, and once the selection center confirms there are no issues, he can be exempted from the preliminary and final selections. Xu Xian had previously told Qin Zongyang when submitting his boarding pass that he wanted Qin Zongyang to accompany him to the chief flight surgeon to retrieve his medical records. The medical records Xu Xian needed were precisely for the purpose of exempting him from the preliminary and final selections; otherwise, he would have spent a considerable amount of extra time on those processes, which was unnecessary.

The medical examination standards for civil aviation are slightly lower than those for the air force, but pilots who can pass the civil aviation medical examination are not necessarily unable to pass the air force's second-round selection.

Sure enough, after confirming that there were no problems with Xu Xian's medical records, the selection center directly gave Xu Xian a spot for the final physical examination.

The Air Force selection and testing base for the Southwest Region was located in Rongfu. Since the physical examination was scheduled to begin at 8:00 AM, Xu Xian arrived a day early.

Xu Xian is considered a veteran pilot. Although the medical examination standards for civil aviation and military aviation are somewhat different, the examination items are largely the same, except that the passing standards for some items are slightly higher.

Compared to the large number of high school students participating in the physical examination, Xu Xian was slightly older. However, Xu Xian had a youthful appearance and did not have an old-fashioned demeanor, so he did not attract any strange looks during the physical examination.

In the vestibular function testing room, Xu Xian was preparing to undergo the final vestibular function test, while in a corner of the room, Ye Qing was chatting with Huo Shaozhong, the director of the Southwest Regional Selection Center.

The vestibular function testing room was large. Ye Qing and Huo Shaozhong were talking quietly in a corner, but the trainees undergoing the test inside couldn't hear them.

"Director Ye, how come someone as busy as you has time to come and watch an Air Force physical examination and selection?" Huo Shaozhong teased. Not long ago, the director of the Advanced Technology R&D Department of Luoyang Aerospace Industry retired, and Ye Qing unsurprisingly took over the position, becoming the youngest department head in the history of Luoyang Aerospace Industry. Moreover, the Advanced Technology R&D Department is a core department of Luoyang Aerospace Industry, which makes it all the more significant. It is clear how promising Ye Qing's future is.

Ye Qing gestured towards Xu Xian with her mouth: "It's that person. Once he passes the inspection, I'll take him away directly."

"Take him away directly? Where to?" Huo Shaozhong was taken aback. "Wait, that young man wouldn't happen to be the flying prodigy you've been raving about, would he?"

For a long time, Ye Qing had been spreading the word that he had found a prodigy in aviation. He had been making this up for a long time, but no one had ever seen the real person. Many people thought that Ye Qing was just making things up. They never expected that they would be able to see the real person today.

"That's right! Doesn't he look incredibly talented?" Ye Qing said proudly. "Hey Director Huo, get this guy's file sorted out for me and send it to the Luohang fleet right away. We're waiting to register him!"

Once a candidate passes the physical examination, an air force cadet's file is created. Normally, this file is centrally sent by the selection center to the flight school and kept by designated personnel, rather than by the cadet themselves.

However, Xu Xian's situation is a little different. If he passes the inspection, he will not go to the aviation flight school for flight training, but will be sent directly to the fleet of Luohang Industrial. In that case, Xu Xian's file will naturally go with him.

"So that's why you came all this way. Turns out you're planning to poach people directly for the Luohang fleet. Tsk tsk tsk, everyone else poachs people from flight schools, but you're poaching people from the selection center. You're really something else," Huo Shaozhong said with a tsk of amazement.

Normally, air force personnel from different regions would be recruited by assigning them to flight routes upon graduation from air force flight schools. However, Ye Qing came directly to the selection center to recruit people, which was quite rare.

"What do you mean by kidnapping? That sounds so rude. Xu Xian and I have already reached an agreement. This is called mutual consent. You need to understand the difference. Don't make me sound like a bandit." Ye Qing rolled her eyes. "You need to remember what I just told you about the files. I'm in a real hurry."

"Ye Qing, although you're a researcher at Luohang Industry, you're essentially still a member of Xikong. If you discover any promising young pilots, why don't you send them to Xikong? Why do you always think of Luohang Industry? Luohang Industry is just a stepmother; Xikong is the real mother, you know?" Huo Shaozhong said earnestly, "Ye Qing, do you understand?"

"What 'biological mother' and 'stepmother'? I have my own plans. No matter what, the Western Air Force follows military regulations, and it's difficult to make exceptions. Xu Xian would have to endure a long time there before he could get ahead, and I can't wait that long. The Luohang fleet, on the other hand, offers much more flexibility. With the Luohang Industrial fleet, I can guarantee Xu Xian twice the training time he would have in the Western Air Force. That alone is something I can't refuse," Ye Qing said irritably.

The military is all about discipline. Even the most talented person needs time and experience to mature without the right opportunities. Ye Qing, however, is most impatient for time. Furthermore, due to the enormous fuel consumption of fighter jets, ordinary air force pilots don't actually have that much flight training time—estimated at around two hundred hours a year. For ordinary fighter pilots, two hundred hours a year is a fairly normal training volume, but for Ye Qing, who hopes Xu Xian can quickly become a skilled pilot, two hundred hours a year is far from enough. Even the most talented person can't grow quickly without sufficient training opportunities; they can't just train through meditation, can they?

If Xu Xian joins the Western Air Force, even with Ye Qing's strong recommendation, the resources Xu Xian receives won't change drastically in the short term, and Ye Qing has no power to influence the Western Air Force's decision. Conversely, Ye Qing's identity can significantly influence the decisions of Luohang Industrial's fleet; he can provide Xu Xian with a personalized training plan.

"Is that so? You seem to think highly of this Xu Xian!" Huo Shaozhong pursed his lips and took out his tablet to look up Xu Xian's medical examination results.

Just as Huo Shaozhong was chatting with Ye Qing, the student in front of Xu Xian took the initiative to stop the test. After the pressure belt that was fixing his body was removed, he slumped down in the chair as if his bones had been removed, and his face glowed with an abnormal light, like gold paper.

"Is it that exaggerated?" Xu Xian was not far from the student and could clearly see the cold sweat seeping from the student's forehead.

"vomit!"

As Xu Xian watched with trepidation, the student suddenly let out a violent gagging sound, while covering his mouth as if something was about to be vomited out.

The student was about to vomit and instinctively tried to rush out of the room, but the path leading out was right in front of Xu Xian.

"Damn it, don't come any closer!" Xu Xian was completely stunned, watching helplessly as a person who looked like a "time bomb" rushed straight towards him, his scalp tingling.

Xu Xian felt that this person wouldn't last long enough to get outside the room. He only paused for half a second before coming to his senses and preparing to run away. Xu Xian absolutely did not want to experience being splattered with filth.

However, the doctor in charge of the test was obviously very experienced. The moment the student started, he reached out with his left hand, grabbed the student's shoulder, and then pulled slightly. The student's body was spun around like a top and turned towards the doctor's side.

There was a trash can right next to the doctor, as if it was prepared in advance. The trainee turned around and faced the trash can directly, followed by a continuous sound of vomiting.

The doctor, unfazed by such occurrences, clicked his tongue and said, "It's questionable whether we can even get past ten today; things are getting worse every year."

Xu Xian wasn't bothered at all by the doctor's nonchalant sarcasm. None of the trainees ahead of him had passed, and the only one who made it to the end failed the final balance test, which was a real shame.

Xu Xian originally thought that a swivel chair was nothing special, and even if it had more fancy features, such as turning left and right or turning forward and backward, what was so scary about it?

But the stark reality shows that Xu Xian's thinking was a bit too simplistic.

The situation seems to be getting out of hand!

At this moment, the student in front of Xu Xian was still vomiting, but there was no need to worry about him anymore. He had already completed the vestibular function test, and it was finally Xu Xian's turn.

Xu Xian's heart skipped a beat. He had no choice but to follow the example of the person in front of him and take out his phone and some other odds and ends from his pocket to avoid accidentally throwing them out later.

The so-called vestibular function test is just a common swivel chair, but this swivel chair is obviously different from the regular one. Xu Xian had sat in a swivel chair before when he was recruited for civil aviation, so he didn't feel anything unfamiliar. However, the swivel chair used for the Air Force selection this time is quite different from the one used in civil aviation, at least in terms of its more complex structure.

"This swivel chair will rotate clockwise at a speed of two revolutions per second for a total of one hundred revolutions. After that, we'll do a left-right tilt test, where the chair will tilt thirty degrees to the left and right, rotating twenty revolutions to each side. Finally, we'll do a forward-backward tilt test, also tilting thirty degrees forward and backward, rotating twenty revolutions to each side." The doctor in charge of the physical examination briefly explained the upcoming tests to Xu Xian. Most of the trainees here were different from Xu Xian; they had no flying experience whatsoever, and some probably didn't even know what a swivel chair was. Therefore, it was necessary to provide necessary explanations before the tests to give the testees appropriate psychological preparation. In fact, the doctor had explained the same thing to the previous trainee during his test, and Xu Xian had heard it all.

Xu Xian initially thought that such a fancy thing couldn't be difficult to make, but past experience had shown that this new swivel chair was actually quite difficult to make.

The doctor briefly explained the test to Xu Xian, then glanced at Xu Xian's pockets: "Are you sure you've taken everything out? Don't let it fall out and hit someone."

Xu Xian turned his pockets inside out to make sure there was nothing inside. Then the doctor beckoned to Xu Xian and pointed to the swivel chair: "Sit down."

"Oh!" Xu Xian swallowed hard before nervously sitting down in the swivel chair.

As soon as Xu Xian sat down in the swivel chair, the doctor took out a large bundle of electrode devices from the side of the chair and attached them to Xu Xian's body, saying, "You don't need to push yourself. I will monitor your gastric electrocardiogram, electrocardiogram, and blood pressure. If any obvious abnormal data appears, I will stop the test even if you don't say so. So, pushing yourself will only harm your body and is pointless. When you feel you've reached your limit, just let me know, understand?"

"Oh, okay." Xu Xian didn't know what all those instruments were measuring, but they seemed impressive nonetheless. "So, what happens after they're all turned..."

"All done." The doctor pointed to a yellow straight line on the floor next to the swivel chair, about three or four meters long, with a blackboard at the end of the line. "All done. Walk along the straight line and draw another straight line on the blackboard, understand?"

Just now, one of the trainees failed at the last straight line drawing challenge. In front of the blackboard, the trainee's hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't even hold the chalk. How could he possibly draw a straight line? It was quite a pity.

To be honest, Xu Xian was still a little nervous. Vestibular function is mainly innate, and the effects of training are not ideal. Xu Xian's previous performance in the civil aviation pilot recruitment test was only average, not particularly outstanding. Now, he was facing an Air Force test, which was far more rigorous than the civil aviation medical examination. How could he not be nervous?

"Your young man doesn't seem very confident!" Huo Shaozhong took in Xu Xian's micro-expressions, while showing Ye Qing his tablet: "Also, his physical fitness test results are below average, and his psychological selection test results are below average, barely passing. He doesn't seem like that flying prodigy you mentioned."

"What do you know?" Ye Qing snorted. "You can't judge him by his current performance; you have to look at his growth from a year ago to now. A year ago, he experienced blackouts while wearing an anti-G suit under 6G load. If he had participated in a physical fitness test back then, he would definitely have gotten a very low score. Given his lazy nature, it would be good if he could rise to the lower-middle level in a little over a year. What more could you ask for? As for the psychological selection? In my opinion, as long as no one is found to have extreme psychological problems, it's all acceptable. How can there be a hierarchy in this stuff? People with a moderate mindset are necessarily good? What kind of bullshit logic is that?"

In the psychological selection process, test results showed that the more moderate and calm the examinee's mentality, the higher the rating. This is because many people believe that pilots of fighter jets, with their calm and stable minds, are less likely to be swayed by emotions and make basic mistakes.

This argument seems to make some sense at first glance. However, if one overemphasizes moderation and loses their fighting spirit, can they still be called a soldier? Therefore, some people scoff at this so-called psychological selection test, including Ye Qing.

Xu Xian's physical fitness is average; barely meeting the standard this time is already considered an exceptional performance. As for the psychological selection test, Xu Xian doesn't usually show it, but deep down he's a complete aggressor. With that kind of personality, how could his psychological selection test rating be high?

"I see now, you're convinced this young man is a genius? If he fails the medical exam, it's not that there's something wrong with him, but rather that the medical exam standards are flawed, right?" Huo Shaozhong said with a forced smile, "Don't you think that makes sense?"

"Pretty much." Ye Qing said expressionlessly, "If Luohang Industrial's fleet weren't also subject to Air Force control, who would bother with this so-called physical examination?"

Although the fleet of Los Angeles Aerospace Industries is not officially part of the Air Force, how could the national government allow the existence of an uncontrolled fighter jet fleet? Therefore, fundamentally, the fleet of Los Angeles Aerospace Industries is still under the jurisdiction of the Air Force, but it has a high degree of autonomy and does not have to abide by the rules of the military. However, when necessary, the fleet of Los Angeles Aerospace Industries will still have to obey the command of the Air Force, and this will not change.

Therefore, even though the Los Angeles Air Force fleet has a great deal of autonomy, it does not have the right to recruit pilots independently. All pilots in the Los Angeles Air Force fleet must either be recruited from experienced pilots in the Air Force or have their preferred candidates pass the selection process of the local regional Air Force. In any case, they must go through the Air Force's scrutiny before they can join the Los Angeles Air Force fleet.

Otherwise, if Luohang Airlines recruits its own passengers and sets its own medical examinations, wouldn't that be like setting up its own independent operation and causing chaos?

"Hey, don't be so unconvinced. If you have objections to the medical examination standards, it just means the guy you're rooting for isn't strong enough. Look at the trainee behind him." Huo Shaozhong pointed to the trainee waiting for testing behind Xu Xian: "This kid's name is Chen Zhan. His father is the famous Chen Guofu, a true aviation family. The Xi'an Air Force took a liking to him when he was still in junior high school and has been supporting him ever since. Now that he's old enough, they immediately brought him over for a medical examination. Look at his results, all top-notch. He's going straight into the C42 fleet, a future star!"

Ye Qing retorted sarcastically, "Directly into the C42 fleet? So the higher-ups really want to select a group of highly qualified flight cadets to fly the C42, instead of converting experienced Air Force pilots to C42 pilots. Tsk tsk tsk, a new generation replacing the old, young people are definitely favored!"

The C-42 is the same aircraft Ye Qing flew at Bisu Airport. Its basic model has already entered mass production and will soon enter service. As the most advanced fighter jet in the country, the Air Force generally selects a group of highly qualified veteran pilots for conversion training to fly the C-42.

However, there had been rumors beforehand that the higher-ups didn't want to use veteran pilots this time, but instead planned to select a group of trainees with good foundations and talents to train them to fly the C-42 directly.

It was this unconventional approach that made Ye Qing feel the sense of change, with a new generation replacing the old.

"It's not that the higher-ups are unwilling to use veterans, but the operational thinking for the C42 is quite different now. Older pilots always have some outdated operational ideas, which are somewhat incompatible with a new-era aircraft like the C42. As for opportunities, let's leave them to the younger generation." Huo Shaozhong explained, "To be honest, compared to Xu Xian, whom you have your eye on, Chen Zhan is the real flying genius. The Western Air Force is counting on him to bring honor to the country."

"Chen Zhan! I've heard of him." Ye Qing nodded. "His father is a national-level test pilot; like father, like son, so naturally we have high expectations. But his future achievements won't be determined by mere words. I'm curious whether Chen Zhan, whom you all believe will shine brightly in the future, can compare to Xu Xian!"

"At least in this physical examination, Xu Xian has already fallen behind." Huo Shaozhong pointed at Xu Xian: "Just watch how strong Chen Zhan's physical fitness really is, he is the real genius of the Western Air Force."

Ye Qing raised her eyelids slightly: "Then I'll wait and see."

After being secured in the swivel chair, Xu Xian waited for the doctor to install the various detection devices, then gestured to the doctor: "I'm ready."

"Alright!" The doctor nodded. "If... if you feel you have the capacity, you can tell me, and I'll gradually increase the spinning speed, which will improve your results. However, remember to always do what you can, and never push yourself to get a better evaluation. Do you understand?"

In this vestibular function test, occasionally a few exceptionally gifted individuals emerge. While others experience nausea, dizziness, or profuse sweating after sitting in the swivel chair, these individuals complete a round without any ill effects. The doctor specifically instructed Xu Xian to undergo this test to identify such individuals, but they are extremely rare, and the doctor's instruction was merely a routine matter.

"Understood, we can begin," Xu Xian said.

"Okay!" The doctor pressed the button, and the swivel chair immediately started rotating.

Xu Xian initially felt fine on the swivel chair, but soon he noticed that the rotation speed was increasing, indicating that the chair was still in the initial stage and had not yet accelerated to a speed of two rotations per second.

"Oh no!" Xu Xian's expression changed. The spinning speed seemed a bit too fast, and he couldn't take it anymore.

(End of this chapter)