Legendary Captain

Chapter 377 The Mutinous Missile Destroyer (Part 1)

Xu Xian was already in the final ejection stage on the plane.

After the final inspectors conduct a walk-around inspection of the aircraft from both the left and right sides, confirming that the aircraft configuration is correct, there are no oil leaks, and the cover is closed, a sergeant from the front will come over to connect the aircraft to the catapult, indicating that the aircraft has entered the catapult's operational range.

However, just as it was about to enter the catapult, a problem arose.

As the faint alarm sounded, Xu Xian noticed that the guide, seemingly having received some other information, gestured to the two final inspectors on either side. As a result, the two personnel originally responsible for the final inspection and troubleshooting simply walked away.

"What the heck?!" Before Xu Xian could react, he saw the guide give him a hand gesture, and Xu Xian immediately frowned. The guide's gesture was simple: cancel the ejection command. Before Xu Xian could figure out what was going on, the guide gave him another gesture, this time to turn right.

Does this mean the takeoff is canceled and the plane has to taxi back?

Although he didn't understand exactly what had happened, Xu Xian saw that a plane waiting to take off from the second catapult was also starting to taxi back, so he knew that it wasn't just targeting him.

There was nothing he could do; the guide had given him instructions, so Xu Xian had no choice but to follow them. However, during the taxiing process, Xu Xian noticed that there were many more firefighters and maintenance personnel on the deck, making the entire deck seem quite busy.

Xu Xian was very close to the No. 1 catapult in his original position. He could reach his destination with a slight slide. After Xu Xian took his position, the ground crew placed the wheel chocks, and Xu Xian shut off the engine as instructed.

After the car was shut off, the moment the hatch was opened, the noisy ambient sounds rushed into Xu Xian's ears.

It wasn't the roar of engines, but rather the sudden influx of a large number of additional personnel onto the deck, the majority of whom were firefighters setting up fire extinguishing equipment.

Generally speaking, it is rare for firefighters to be mobilized in such a large group; this was the first time Xu Xian had ever seen such a situation.

As far as the eye could see, both runways were now completely cleared. Although the number of people on the deck had increased considerably, they were all concentrated on the sides, leaving a large area of ​​deck empty, as if they were waiting for something.

Xu Xian got out of the cockpit and nudged the maintenance worker in charge: "What happened? It's like we're about to go to war."

This is indeed quite a large-scale operation.

The mechanic was filling out a report and scoffed, "Have you ever seen a war where they wouldn't let people take off? What else could it be? Firefighters are here; there must be a plane that needs to make an emergency landing!"

"Wow, I was wondering why there were so many people. Two fire brigades have come!" Xu Xian craned his neck, peering into the crowd.

"What? Two firefighting teams? They're all here! Pipeline repair team, support team, smoke control team, drainage team, they're all here. Team Leader Wang is here too, over there!" The mechanic pointed in a direction, but there were too many people gathered there, heads bumping against each other, and Xu Xian couldn't see them at all.

"Isn't this the damage control team mobilizing all its personnel?" This was the first time Xu Xian had ever seen such a large number of damage control personnel mobilize at once.

Damage control teams are a rather unique component of an aircraft carrier's organization. They are rarely seen under normal circumstances and only appear when there is a problem that threatens the ship's hull.

Their main responsibilities can be summarized as: preventing sinking, resisting sinking, fire prevention, explosion prevention, and firefighting! To put it simply, they can be seen as a combination of a ship repair team and a fire brigade.

Damage control team commanders usually don't have much say, and they don't participate much in the daily operations of the aircraft carrier. Their main task is to be responsible for the regular fire training of the crew and officers.

That's right, even if you're not a professional, anyone on an aircraft carrier must undergo regular firefighting training; it's a mandatory requirement. However, in normal times, besides organizing regular training for officers and sailors, the main task is routine maintenance of the ship, so its presence isn't particularly noticeable.

However, in certain special circumstances, such as when the ship is damaged, the damage control team commander's power will immediately increase dramatically. All departments will be obligated to cooperate with the damage control team's instructions, and even the aircraft carrier's captain sometimes has to obey the damage control team commander's orders.

That's right, it's that extravagant!

"Wait a minute! Even if a plane makes an emergency landing, it wouldn't warrant this much of a commotion, would it? I saw those two fire trucks on the deck. Even if it was hit by a missile, this is probably the extent of the reaction." There are a total of three fire trucks on the aircraft carrier: one for the takeoff area, one for the landing area, and one on standby in the storage area. The fire trucks on the aircraft carrier are smaller than normal fire trucks on land. The front is the bridge, and the middle is the fire extinguishing agent storage area, which mainly contains a mixture of water and foam liquid. Generally, these small fire trucks are operated by two people: one to drive and one firefighter to extinguish the fire.

Although they're a bit small, they're still fire trucks, and they're sufficient for dealing with ordinary fires. I didn't expect they'd get two of them this time; how big of a fire must that be?

"You don't know, I heard a patrol fighter jet got its wing hit. The situation is very dangerous; it's uncertain whether it can even land on the aircraft carrier. It's better to be cautious. See? The rescue helicopters are all on standby." The maintenance worker gestured towards the helicopter area. Xu Xian looked in that direction and indeed saw a rescue helicopter with people in the cockpit, already undergoing pre-flight preparations. It seemed they were indeed ready to take off at any time.

The entire aircraft carrier displayed a palpable tension, as if facing a formidable enemy.

At this moment, below the aircraft carrier deck, the carrier's air traffic control center is not as comfortable as it is on the deck. Above the radar, they are always waiting for an aircraft signal.

Suddenly, a radar signal appeared on the radar, located 63 nautical miles from the aircraft carrier.

"Is it 103?" Air Coordinator Li Cang patted the controller in front of the radar screen: "Conduct signal identification."

Just as Li Cang finished speaking, a woman's voice came through the radio: "103, Gengdu control, bearing 200, distance 61, minimum fuel level 6.2!"

Li Cang had originally planned to have the controllers perform signal identification, but 103 contacted them first. Normally, aircraft would enter the area of ​​the carrier's air traffic control center when they are about fifty nautical miles from their flight path, so 103 had obviously contacted them in advance.

But this is just right, it saves them the trouble of signal identification.

The aircraft has just reported its bearing, radial line, and distance, which coincides with the location of the signal point on the radar. Therefore, this signal point is the radar signal of 103.

"103, check the damage to your wing?" Li Cang was most concerned about the condition of the aircraft's fuselage. Initially, the only information 103 sent was a simple statement that the wing was damaged, but the specifics were unknown.

"There are no major issues with the controls right now, but as for more specific details, I can't provide any information." The female pilot of aircraft 103 spoke quite calmly, as if the wing damage wasn't a big deal. Of course, fighter jets don't have wing damage monitoring systems. The extent of wing damage is largely determined by the pilot's visual observation, but due to limited visibility, many situations are not visible. Therefore, the pilot wasn't just making things up when she said she didn't know the specifics.

Li Cang also knew that there was no need to dwell on the details of the damage at this point. As long as there were no major problems with the operation, it was acceptable.

He patted the controller in front of him: "Normal guidance."

The controller nodded and immediately told aircraft 103: "103, the visibility of the mothership is now greater than 10 kilometers, the expected heading is 355, the field pressure is 29.89 mmHg, and the visual report is 10 nautical miles."

The so-called expected course is the course the aircraft carrier will turn towards later. The reason for adjusting the course is to create a deck wind of 25 to 30 knots for landing aircraft. Anyone with a little knowledge of aviation knows that aircraft need to land against the wind. But what if there isn't enough headwind? Since the aircraft carrier is mobile, it is used to artificially create enough deck wind.

In any case, the purpose of an aircraft carrier is to create a more comfortable landing environment for aircraft.

Of course, the expected course mentioned here indicates that the aircraft carrier is not currently on a 355 course, but rather needs to wait for a turn. The reason for informing the pilots of the expected course is that the aircraft's landing procedure is related to the carrier's course of travel. The carrier's course of travel must first be determined so that the pilots can use it as a reference point to begin the landing procedure.

The ten-nautical-mile report mentioned by air traffic control here is not just a random figure of speech. Because within a ten-nautical-mile radius of the aircraft carrier, which is the area controlled by the island tower on the deck, ten nautical miles is a dividing point for the handover of air traffic control.

The approach area of ​​an aircraft carrier is divided into the most sensitive carrier control zone, which is within five nautical miles and below 600 meters in altitude. This area is strictly controlled, and once entered, one cannot leave at will. If an aircraft exceeds the carrier control zone after entering, it must rejoin the holding line, go through the procedures again, and start all over again. It's that strict.

Of course, the situation where an aircraft exceeds the carrier's control area is most likely to occur during a four-aircraft formation recovery, when the lead aircraft turns too late. However, since only aircraft 103 approached this time, there was no such concern.

The area extending beyond this boundary, from five to ten nautical miles, is the control zone of the carrier's control tower. The area from ten to fifty nautical miles is the carrier's air traffic control center's control area.

There are strict and clear boundaries between each area, and pilots must have a clear understanding of their location.

After the air traffic control gave the landing conditions, aircraft 103 responded, "103! Received!"

At this point, aircraft 103 began to enter the holding position. Each squadron on the aircraft carrier has its own holding altitude, which is predetermined. The aircraft must descend to the designated holding altitude before being handed over to the carrier control tower and reduce speed to 250 knots.

Li Cang remembers that the waiting altitude of the 103rd Squadron was 900 meters, but now it looks like the aircraft are still a distance away from the mothership. At this time, it is necessary to make room for the 103rd Squadron to reach a higher altitude.

After an approaching aircraft enters its holding line, it can only descend on its own once the aircraft below it has cleared its altitude. If the aircraft below it doesn't clear its altitude, it cannot approach. Currently, there is a two-aircraft formation approaching ahead of aircraft 103. In order to allow aircraft 103 to land as quickly as possible, they must manually intervene in the approach process.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, from the moment they enter the holding line, their entire carrier control will follow the principle of minimum communication, meaning that unless there is an emergency, the approach procedure will not be changed manually, and each pilot will be in charge of their own approach.

However, this is no longer the normal situation, and regulation must be implemented through human intervention.

Of course, if procedures were followed normally, the approaching aircraft wouldn't affect aircraft 103. However, Li Cang was worried that there might be some control issues with aircraft 103, making it impossible to control the aircraft accurately according to procedures, even though the pilots were currently reporting no control problems. But, as the air traffic control leader and air coordinator for the entire carrier strike group, Li Cang had to consider all possibilities.

This is not wartime, and there is no need to take risks. If we don't give the 103 aircraft enough leeway, and a sudden control problem occurs behind it, making the approach procedure impossible to complete, it will lead to chaos in the approach area, which will be even more dangerous.

The procedures for approaching and recovering an aircraft carrier are extremely tight, and they largely depend on the pilots' adherence to the procedures. If even one pilot makes a mistake, the entire approach area will be affected.

Instead of constantly worrying about potential control issues later on, it's better to proactively create approach redundancy. That way, even if problems arise, they'll be easier to handle.

As the 103 aircraft began to descend and decelerate, the aircraft carrier began to turn to its expected course. Li Cang took the microphone and gave the order: "121, 122, ascend from point one and leave the holding line."

The so-called waiting route is a circular route at the nine o'clock position of the aircraft carrier's sailing direction, with its right tangent point always remaining on the aircraft carrier. In other words, this waiting route is not actually fixed.

The diameter of the holding line will not exceed five nautical miles, meaning that no matter how large the holding line is, it will not exceed the carrier control area. This holding line starts at an altitude of 600 meters, with each 300-meter increment representing a new altitude level. For example, the holding line altitude for the squadron to which aircraft 103 belongs is 900 meters, and it enters this holding line from 900 meters.

During the waiting route, there are restrictions on both ascending and descending. Taking the point where the waiting route intersects with the aircraft carrier as point one, counting counterclockwise, the 12 o'clock position is point two, the 9 o'clock position is point three, the 6 o'clock position is point four, and point one is at the 3 o'clock position of the waiting route.

These four points are generally used as entry points for aircraft.

The upper semicircle from point 1 to point 3 can only ascend, while the lower semicircle from point 3 to point 1 can only descend. This is a strict rule that no one can violate, otherwise it could easily cause traffic conflicts.

If an aircraft is waiting in the upper half of its flight path and discovers that the next altitude level is available, and it wants to descend, according to regulations, it cannot descend immediately; it must pass point three before it can descend.

The original waiting altitude for squadrons 121 and 122 was 600 meters. They were preparing to enter the waiting route from point 3. Once they reached point 3, they could descend and begin the approach phase.

However, to clear the approach space for aircraft 103, they could not continue their approach. Instead, after entering point three, they continued flying a semi-circular holding line, and after passing point one, they climbed according to procedure. The reason for flying a semi-circle first was that climbing was not allowed in the lower half-circle from point three to point one. Therefore, Li Cang ordered them to climb immediately after passing point one, and after increasing altitude, leave the holding line. Once they left the holding line, it was no longer procedural control, and the control center could use radar guidance to direct aircraft 121 and 122 to a relatively distant position.

"Received 121 (122)!"

"After leaving the waiting route, head to 270. The refueling station will meet you there to ensure you have enough fuel," Li Cang said.

Since 121 and 122 are also returning from a mission, their fuel levels are already low. If they have to wait for an extended period, they may run out of fuel. In this case, a fuel dispenser is needed to replenish their fuel supply to ensure that their fuel levels are not compromised.

The Gengdu aircraft carrier doesn't have dedicated tanker aircraft; refueling is done via buddy refueling. That's right, it uses the C-18E variant, nicknamed the "Super Refueling Bug"!

After Li Cang finished speaking, he yelled at the messenger, "Is the deck crew ready?"

"The refueling aircraft can take off immediately," the messenger replied.

"Okay!" Li Cang nodded and patted the controller on the shoulder: "I'm going upstairs. Contact me if anything happens."

When Li Cang said "go up," he meant the control tower on the island superstructure. The final approach phase of the 103 was under the command of the control tower, and he needed to keep a close eye on it at all times.

At that moment, after handing over the aircraft, Xu Xian was about to return to the briefing room to rest. However, as soon as he turned around, he found that a C-18E fighter jet had suddenly appeared on the previously empty runway.

There was only this one fighter jet operating on the entire deck, so it was particularly conspicuous, and Xu Xian noticed it at a glance.

A fighter jet taking off is nothing special in itself, but the payload of this particular fighter jet was simply too extravagant. This C-18 had a total of five external fuel tanks mounted under its wings and on its belly.

"No... what's he planning to do? Hook up five auxiliary fuel tanks and prepare to circle the coastline?" Xu Xian had never seen such an extravagant mounting method before. Usually, one auxiliary fuel tank was enough. To hook up five at once was truly unprecedented.

Compared to Xu Xian's overreaction, the maintenance crew member, more experienced, casually remarked, "Just handling the refueling work. There must be another plane circling for a long time up there, so this plane lets the guys take a sip every now and then. Normal!"

"Use it as a refueling pump?" Xu Xian was taken aback. "Aren't there any dedicated refueling pumps here?"

"Yes, we used to! We converted an electronic warfare aircraft into a dedicated carrier-based tanker. However, we later found that dedicated carrier-based tankers were really troublesome. Not only were they difficult to maintain, but they also didn't have much of an advantage over buddy refueling. It's much better to let the Super Tanker occasionally act as a tanker. It's easy to use and convenient." The maintenance crew said dismissively.

Xu Xian was displeased: "The C-18 is a fighter jet, after all. Since it's a fighter jet, it should do the job of a fighter jet, why make it do the job of a tanker?"

"Your thinking is outdated. Multi-role fighters are the mainstream now." The maintenance worker curled his lip. "Advanced foreign fighters can do the work of bombers, fighters, and attack aircraft all in one model. Plus, with electronic pods, they can conduct electronic warfare. That's what you call comprehensive, that's what you call professional, you know?"

Xu Xian's face darkened: "You don't mean C42 will be like this from now on, do you?"

"Exactly! The C42 was envisioned as a multi-role fighter, usable by the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. However, the Marine Corps has been hesitant about the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability, which has delayed the development of the C42's STOVL variant. As a result, we Navy are stuck with it, which is incredibly frustrating." The maintenance crew member gritted his teeth and said, "Those Marines are really unreliable!"

To achieve vertical takeoff and landing (STOVL) capability, a complex lift fan system would need to be added, requiring significant modifications to the original aircraft. If only the Navy had the need, the demand would be too small, making it not worthwhile. As a result, the Marine Corps, one of the buyers, remained divided on the necessity of the STOVL mode, causing the C-42's STOVL development to stagnate and leaving the Navy without a solution—a truly collateral damage.

Xu Xian's lips twitched a few times. As an Air Force officer, he couldn't really say anything between the Navy and the Marine Corps. However, he thought that the Marine Corps' actions were somewhat unethical.

In the air, after reaching ten nautical miles, aircraft 103 reported: "103, ten nautical miles, visual contact with the mothership."

"103, turn on the tower frequency."

"Transfer to control tower, received!" The carrier control tower frequency is a preset frequency, which the 103 pilots can switch to with a simple command.

After switching to the control tower, the pilot entered the holding line from point one, maintaining an altitude of 900 meters and a speed of 250 knots. Upon entering point one, she found no aircraft at the 600-meter altitude level below, indicating that air traffic control had cleared the airspace, allowing her to proceed with an unimpeded approach. However, after entering the holding line, she could not descend to 600 meters; she had to fly past point three first.

On the radar, Li Cang could see that aircraft 103 had entered the holding line. He knew that the aircraft in front had been moved away, and aircraft 103 could continue to approach according to the procedure, which meant that the final approach of the aircraft had begun.

He ordered the messenger: "Notify the deck department to clear all non-damage control and maintenance personnel from the deck. Also, notify Captain Wang to prepare; the aircraft is about to land."

The "Wang" in this context refers to Wang Tianyi, the commander of the damage control team.

"Yes, sir!" The messenger accepted the order and left.

Soon after, the crew began clearing the deck. Xu Xian was one of those uninvolved personnel, but he was already planning to leave anyway. Just as he was about to head back, he casually glanced at the sky, frowned, patted the mechanic, and pointed at the sky: "You're not talking about that plane that's smoking, are you?"

I've been watching "Kingdom" and "Sweet Home" these past few days, and I'm totally hooked. Post-apocalyptic dramas are so good!

(End of this chapter)