Legendary Captain

Chapter 383 Maiden Flight of China's First Domestically Produced Large Aircraft

On the deck of the Gengdu, Xu Xian was cleaning the deck with a mop, utterly speechless.

Under normal circumstances, the regular cleaning of an aircraft carrier has a specific term: "decontamination operation". Once a decontamination operation is carried out, it often involves hundreds of people, including crew members from other departments, and is not just a matter for the service department.

Decontamination operations involve three protections: protection against toxic agents, chemical contamination, and radioactive contamination. Aircraft carriers are exposed to the marine environment for extended periods, which is inherently highly corrosive. If not thoroughly cleaned, structural corrosion will occur. While this might be manageable elsewhere, it poses a significant danger to carrier-based aircraft takeoffs and landings if the runway is uneven and full of potholes.

However, the disinfection operation is too large-scale, and once it begins, carrier-based aircraft takeoffs and landings will be virtually impossible on the deck. It's impractical to conduct disinfection operations frequently; they will only be carried out periodically.

During the interval between two disinfection operations, the service department will carry out some small-scale deck cleaning. Of course, most of these cleaning tasks are carried out after the aircraft carrier has completed a day's combat missions.

However, this was quite difficult for Xu Xian to accept.

After a day's combat mission ended, most of the crew on board were resting, leaving only certain departments still working, such as the service department where Xu Xian worked. As Xu Xian cleaned the deck, he was surrounded by people, many of whom he knew, making him feel incredibly awkward; he wished he could disappear into the ground.

Xu Xian creatively used air-to-air missiles as anti-ship missiles. Although the final combat result was achieved, this was quite an idea.

It's not that being a soldier means being like a robot, unconditionally obeying orders. Of course, there's nothing wrong with unconditionally obeying orders. It's just that here, Xu Xian's excessive thoughts make him seem out of place.

Of course, the real veterans could only smile wryly when they saw Xu Xian's displeased expression. Even though Xu Xian was already an Air Force captain, he was still a recruit who had been in the army for less than a year and didn't know much about the situation in the military.

Assigning cleaning duties was the lightest punishment imaginable, or perhaps it wasn't even a punishment at all. It was just that Xu Xian had just enlisted and was still a little embarrassed.

If the higher-ups truly wanted to punish Xu Xian, it wouldn't be as simple as just cleaning the deck. It just goes to show that a veteran is a veteran; he saw right through Chen Cheng's intentions. It was simply to temper Xu Xian's temperament and prevent him from becoming too willful and reckless.

Chen Cheng's judgment on the degree was quite appropriate. Cleaning the deck might make Xu Xian, a new recruit, blush a little, but that was all; he wouldn't really feel that his self-esteem was damaged.

This level is just right, giving Xu Xian a bit of pressure, but not too much. The so-called tempering of character, if done too harshly, can easily wear down a young person's spirit, which is not good.

For veterans, cleaning the deck is a trivial matter; they wouldn't even blush. It's only somewhat useful for new recruits like Xu Xian.

For Xu Xian, the other people were alright; even if he knew them, they weren't too familiar. As long as they weren't close acquaintances, he wouldn't lose too much face.

However, just as Xu Xian was sighing and dragging the deck, a familiar figure suddenly walked over to him.

"Ye Qing?" Xu Xian was taken aback. "What are you doing here?"

Ye Qing looked at Xu Xian with undisguised amusement: "I heard you came here to get your carrier landing qualification certification, so why are you mopping the floor here? Is there something wrong with what I heard? You're not here for carrier landing qualification certification, but to learn operational duties?"

Ye Qing grinned so wide her lips stretched to her ears, clicking her tongue as she looked at the deck Xu Xian had just mopped, and gloated, "Looks like your mopping skills aren't very good. Here, here, and there, they're not very clean, are you slacking off?"

"Isn't this clean enough?" Xu Xian said angrily, "Are you deliberately trying to cause trouble? If you have something to say, then say it; if not, then get lost."

Xu Xian scoffed at Ye Qing's opportunistic behavior, believing that such people should not be tolerated, and directly confronted him with harsh words.

"I heard you used an air-to-air missile as an anti-ship missile the other day? You're something else! The commander of the Southern Fleet was watching, and you did that? You've got guts! You've got guts!" Ye Qing exclaimed in amazement. "You know, the Western Air Force has heard about your exploits; your reputation is widespread!"

Hearing this, Xu Xian covered his face with one hand, wishing he could disappear into the ground. Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast; so he's famous now?

Chen Cheng certainly wouldn't be sitting idly by, acting as a megaphone to promote Xu Xian's "scientific research achievements." The main reason was that after Xu Xian's plane landed, the ground crew recovering the missile discovered that the weapon safety handle of the Flying Shark missile, while setting the weapon safety, had about one centimeter protruding outwards and wasn't being pressed down.

When the recovery team handed the aircraft over to Xu Xian, they discovered that the weapon safety of the Flying Shark missile had not been disarmed, and they immediately lost their composure.

The fact that the weapon safety of the Flying Shark missile remained engaged upon landing and recovery undoubtedly indicates an operational error by the bomb handler before takeoff. After all, the missile's weapon safety is typically disengaged just before ejection. It's highly unlikely the pilot accidentally disengaged the weapon safety mid-flight.

After Xu Xian got off the plane, he immediately went to check the Flying Shark missile. When he saw the position of the weapon safety handle, Xu Xian couldn't hold back anymore, because he also saw that the weapon safety handle of the Flying Shark missile was not fully pressed in.

However, after inspection, the maintenance crew discovered a problem: the weapon safety handle of the Flying Shark missile seemed to be stuck and could not be pushed in.

Normally, after the weapon safety handle of the Flying Shark missile is turned to the disengaged position, it can be easily pushed back in with a slight press. However, this handle seems to have gotten stuck just before it was pressed down.

Moreover, the final jamming distance was extremely small, almost invisible without close inspection. Perhaps, after turning the handle to the appropriate position, the bomb loader subconsciously pressed it all the way down, until it couldn't be pressed any further. It's possible the bomb loader genuinely didn't expect the handle to jam and didn't check carefully, thus resulting in this rare error.

The bomb loader certainly bears some responsibility, but a jammed weapon safety device in the missile is also a contributing factor. However, the extent of the bomb loader's responsibility, as determined above, depends on the degree of that responsibility.

Xu Xian didn't know how his superiors would punish the bomb loader, but the news that the safety on Xu Xian's Flying Shark missile hadn't been disengaged spread instantly after the handle was discovered during recovery. At the same time, the Viper air-to-air missile, originally intended as a backup, was missing during recovery, which was quite significant.

Within two days, everyone in the carrier strike group knew that Xu Xian had used air-to-air missiles as anti-ship missiles. Then, as personnel moved around, the news spread directly to the South Ship, the West Air Force, and the Guangdong Air Force.

Regarding Xu Xian's performance in this anti-ship target practice, someone gave him a nickname - the Great Inventor.

While others use anti-ship target practice for training, Xu Xian conducts scientific research during anti-ship target practice, which is truly impressive.

Although Xu Xian knew his "name" had spread throughout the entire carrier strike group, he really didn't expect that the news had reached the Western Air Force as well. In a sense, the Western Air Force was Xu Xian's home base. He had finally managed to go out, only to lose face so badly. He was utterly ashamed.

Slightly annoyed, Xu Xian snorted, "You're so free, you came all this way just to mock me?"

"I'm not that free! The Marine Corps has decided to procure C42s, and the Navy is following suit immediately. I'm here to discuss the requirements for the STOVL mode with representatives from the Navy and Marine Corps," Ye Qing said. (Note: Here, the Marine Corps is an independent branch of the military, not the rapid reaction force under the Navy as in China.)

Previously, the Marine Corps' unclear aircraft requirements for its air force had prevented it from placing orders with Lockheed Martin for the STOVL C-42. This left only the Navy interested in the vertical takeoff and landing C-42.

However, the navy's demand is not particularly large. If only the navy has the need, then designing a lift fan system specifically for the navy and changing the airframe structure at the same time would be rather uneconomical.

Because of the presence of the lift fan system, the C-42 in STOVL mode with vertical takeoff and landing is much "fatter" than the basic and carrier-based models, requiring many structural modifications.

Ye Qing was extremely unwilling to design an additional vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) variant just for a small order from the Navy. Originally, this matter had been dragging on for a long time, and Ye Qing thought it was hopeless. However, not long ago, perhaps the Marine Corps finally came to their senses and directly agreed to purchase the C-42 VTOL variant, but the only requirement was to see the prototype first.

The requirement for a prototype by the purchasing party was standard procedure, and Ye Qing wasn't surprised. As long as the Marine Corps agreed to purchase the C-42's vertical takeoff and landing variant, he was confident he could complete the modifications to the lift fan system and fuselage structure in a short time. As for the Marine Corps' evaluation of the prototype, Ye Qing felt no pressure.

Ye Qing believed that the Marine Corps wouldn't play games with him; if they agreed to purchase the vertical takeoff and landing version, they definitely meant it. If the prototype's performance was ultimately unsatisfactory, it would be his own fault, and he couldn't blame anyone else.

However, before starting the design, Ye Qing always listens to the requirements of both purchasing parties. No matter what industry you're in, when customizing something for someone else, you always have to listen to the buyer's opinion first, right?

The symposium was originally scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Ye Qing was originally going to come tomorrow, but since Xu Xian was also on a nearby aircraft carrier, he applied to the South Ship to come aboard and visit his old friend.

The South Ship showed considerable goodwill towards its future partners and quickly agreed to Ye Qing's application. Ye Qing then came here and witnessed Xu Xian's embarrassing situation firsthand.

"Is the VTOL order settled?" Xu Xian had heard Ye Qing mention this before. "What kind of structure does the VTOL system use? A deflectable annular nozzle or a shaft-driven lift fan system?"

"Of course, it's the lift fan system!" Ye Qing curled his lips. "I can't solve the intake problem and the mid-engine issue with the deflectable annular nozzle solution yet. Although the lift fan system is more complex in structure and will add extra weight, it's still easier to solve than the intake problem and the mid-engine issue."

"That's true." Xu Xian nodded. "The deflectable annular nozzle design does have many problems. However, to be honest, the lift fan system isn't very good either. It takes up a lot of space and is very troublesome to maintain."

While deflectable annular nozzles present intractable intake and engine mid-mount issues, they are advantageous due to their simple structure, light weight, and ease of maintenance.

The lift fan eliminates the problems of air intake and engine mid-mountedness, so although the fuselage is much thicker than the basic air force and naval carrier-based aircraft, it is still a conventional fighter jet fuselage design.

If a deflectable annular nozzle were used instead, the air intake of the fighter jet would have to be designed to be enormous in order to accommodate the huge air intake in STOVL mode, which is obviously not in line with people's expectations of conventional fighter jets.

Moreover, the lift fan system is an additional system added to a fighter jet, which makes the modifications the most extensive. However, according to Ye Qing, he already has a basic outline of the modification plan, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

Compared to the intake problem and the mid-mounted engine, Ye Qing said the difficulty of installing an additional lift fan system was still acceptable.

Ye Qing laughed and said, "I didn't expect you to know about fighter jet design? You even know about deflectable annular nozzle designs. When did you become an expert?"

"Yesterday," Xu Xian rolled his eyes, "I haven't had anything to do these past two days except mop the floor. I was so bored that I went to the library and browsed around a bit."

That's right, there's a small library in the aircraft carrier's recreation room. Bored out of his mind, Xu Xian felt he was being watched by Commander-in-Chief Chen Cheng. If he played pool in the recreation room, someone might catch him and report him, extending his "sentence."

For safety's sake, it's best to maintain a facade for now. So, even in the recreation room, the extremely bored Xu Xian just flips through books, pretending to be a good student. As for the so-called expert opinions, that was just Xu Xian joking with Ye Qing. He simply has an incredibly amazing memory, basically able to remember everything he sees. He just quotes what he reads from books and spouts nonsense to Ye Qing, a typical case of armchair theorizing.

However, Xu Xian's memory was so good that he could almost recite the contents of the book word for word, which was indeed impressive enough to impress people.

Ye Qing patted Xu Xian on the shoulder: "Are you really not going to consider doing research for me? You still have a chance now. If you wait a few more years, you really won't have any chance at all."

Ye Qing was deeply impressed by Xu Xian's almost computer-like memory. If it were just an amazing memory, it wouldn't be enough to make Ye Qing so envious. After all, memory can be trained, but the spirituality that Xu Xian exuded could not be cultivated.

Intuition is something that scientific research and innovation need most, such as the recent use of air-to-air missiles as anti-ship missiles. Although the principle is not very complicated, other people just can't wrap their heads around it and can't think of this method.

Chen Cheng's reason for giving Xu Xian a small reprimand wasn't because he thought Xu Xian had done anything wrong. Rather, he felt that Xu Xian's thinking was too scattered, to an extreme degree, and needed to be brought back a bit.

In comparison, Chen Cheng is considered quite open-minded. Some people's so-called "tempering" is really just forcing things, often wearing down the creativity and enthusiasm of young people.

"Why are we still talking about this?" Xu Xian said, somewhat displeased. "I finally want to focus on one thing, so just let me do it properly first."

Ye Qing raised his hand: "Okay, okay, I won't say anything more. I'll wait for your news. But, I have something to tell you. Xu Qing's new plane is going to have its maiden flight in a couple of days. Is that considered official news?"

Ye Qing remembered that Xu Xian and Xu Qing had a relationship. Xu Xian should be somewhat interested in the maiden flight of Xu Qing's new plane.

"Uncle Qing's plane is making its maiden flight? Is it really the day after tomorrow?" Although Xu Xian was also connected to the internet, he didn't spend much time online and was relatively out of touch with the news. He genuinely didn't know about Xu Qing's new plane's maiden flight: "Who's the crew for the maiden flight? Any news?"

Previously, Xu Qing had approached him to ask for his opinion on changing the choice of the inaugural flight's personnel. At the time, Xu Xian said he didn't care, which means that he really hadn't influenced Xu Qing.

If there are no unforeseen circumstances, he can roughly guess the crew list for the inaugural flight; it should be Han Qi and Lian Shanxue. Han Qi has remained unchanged, while Lian Shanxue has replaced Xu Xian.

"Yes, the information I received is that it will depart from Jianling Airport in Tianning the day after tomorrow, and the destination airport is Dianyun Airport. The specific departure time has not yet been released," Ye Qing said.

Jianling Airport is a wholly-owned airport of Qingyuan Group in Tianning City. It is not large in scale and has a relatively low number of flights, mainly serving as a take-off and landing airport for private planes. After all, Tianning City is the financial, cultural, and economic center of the eastern region.

Xu Xian could roughly figure out why Qingyuan Group didn't choose the massive Tianning Airport as its departure airport, but instead opted for the smaller Jianling Airport.

The main reason is that Jianling Airport is a wholly-owned airport of Qingyuan Group, making it relatively easier to arrange events such as the launch of the inaugural flight there. However, if it were held at Tianning Airport, various communications with Tianning Airport would be required, and some arrangements might not even be approved by them.

Tianning Airport is one of the top airports in the country, and the airport group doesn't need to worry about Qingyuan Group's reputation. Tianning Airport is already relatively busy; where would it find the extra space and time to allocate for Qingyuan Group's inaugural flight ceremony?

It is almost certain that if Qingyuan Group holds its inaugural flight ceremony at Tianning Airport, there will be many restrictions. At the very least, it is certain that the inaugural flight ceremony will not be very grand.

The D903 aircraft is the culmination of Xu Qing's decades of hard work, and its maiden flight ceremony represents too much for Xu Qing to accept in a shabby ceremony.

Since Tianning Airport is unlikely to give Qingyuan Group any face, then the departure point of the inaugural flight should be placed at Jianling Airport. After all, Jianling Airport is its own airport, and there are not many flights at Jianling Airport. Even if the inaugural flight ceremony takes a long time and is larger in scale, it will not affect other flights.

Based on this consideration, it is understandable that Qingyuan Group held its maiden flight ceremony at Jianling Airport.

If it's the day after tomorrow, that would be Xu Xian's rest time. Such a significant event would definitely be reported live, as it's the debut of a large domestic aircraft and has considerable importance.

"As for the personnel, if nothing unexpected happens, it will be a two-person crew. The captain will be Han Qi, and the co-pilot will be Lian Shanxue. Wait, don't you have good relationships with Xingyou Airlines and Qingyuan Group? Do you need to ask me for information?" Ye Qing said speechlessly.

Xu Xian was a little shy: "It's not very convenient for me to contact them from here."

"It's not like we're completely cut off from the outside world, so what's inconvenient about it?" Ye Qing rolled her eyes. "By the way, have you heard about the internal strife in Chenyan Kingdom?"

"I heard about it. Didn't one of our fighter jets get hit by a stray bullet?" Xu Xian looked at Ye Qing suspiciously. Internal strife in Chenyan was nothing new, so why was Ye Qing bringing it up?

Ye Qing immediately instructed, "This internal strife in Chenyan is different from the past. A missile destroyer has broken away from the Chenyan Navy and is now patrolling the high seas. The area where that missile destroyer is patrolling covers a very important sea lane in our country. To be honest, given the traditions there, this broken-away destroyer may pose a threat to domestic merchant ships in the lane. If it really comes to that, you will inevitably have to undertake escort duties. This is not a training or exercise, so you must be careful."

"They've broken away from the navy's organization? Doesn't that mean they don't belong to any country? What do they want to do? Become pirates or terrorists?" Xu Xian's expression also changed slightly. This kind of military force without national constraints, led by a group of desperados, is indeed quite dangerous.

"But they shouldn't be crazy enough to attack our ship, right?" Xu Xian felt that no one would want to die. If these desperados dared to attack domestic merchant ships, it would be tantamount to courting death.

This isn't ancient times. Back then, pirates could hide in the vast ocean after committing crimes, making them incredibly difficult to find. But now, with such advanced satellite technology, they can search directly from the sky. Even if they manage to evade capture on the first day, can they really hide forever?

Their state of Chenyan is in turmoil. Although those involved are no saints, surely they wouldn't dare to provoke a tiger? Isn't it better to just stay alive?

Ye Qing shrugged: "Some people are just not right in the head. Anyway, you'd better be careful!"

(End of this chapter)