Legendary Captain

The following day, at the same time, inside the simulator cabin.

Xu Xian yawned incessantly, his eyes bloodshot. He finished get off work at 2 a.m. and didn't actually go to bed until almost 3 a.m. As a result, despite agreeing to a 10 a.m. study session yesterday, Lian Shanxue called him around 9 a.m. to bother him. Finally, unable to resist, he went to the hotel coffee shop before 10 p.m. to become a "teacher."

Without the time cost of being in the simulator, Lian Shanxue no longer nitpicked when asking questions, and asked about everything, big and small.

Faced with Lian Shanxue's detailed and persistent questioning, Xu Xian, even though he was somewhat delirious, still mustered his energy and patiently explained things to her. This time, Lian Shanxue didn't aim too high; she focused on the normal procedures, and she even brought a blueprint of the 737's cockpit panel.

Xu Xian originally thought the learning process would only last an hour at most, but in the end, Lian Shanxue talked on and on for more than two hours. By the end, Xu Xian was so sleepy that he had a headache. After it was over, he didn't even eat lunch and rushed back to catch up on sleep, but the effect was not very good.

I didn't eat breakfast or lunch; the only thing I ate was a cup of coffee that Lian Shanxue helped me order.

Xu Xian, sitting in his seat, was both sleepy and hungry, feeling utterly miserable!

Yesterday, we had already prepared the cockpit, and this morning we had a cramming session, so Lian Shanxue was able to prepare the cockpit much faster. In the remaining time, we started to experience the troubleshooting procedures for starting the engine.

"Ready? If you're ready, you can drive." The instructor was quite casual, and his conversation wasn't very formal.

However, Xu Xian followed the rules much better. He immediately stopped the aircraft and contacted ground maintenance: "Ground, stop the brakes, start the second and first engines!"

The instructor chuckled, "You're taking this very seriously! Alright! You can start firing the second and first rounds now!"

Xu Xian received the driving instruction and gestured with his chin towards Lian Shanxue: "Let's do the design!"

"If you make a mistake, please remind me!" Lian Shanxue whispered to Xu Xian. This was her first time working on a startup configuration. Although the procedure was simple, she was still a little nervous.

With both components shut down, the isolation valve automatically engages, and the starting configuration is complete—it's that simple!

"Good configuration, second engine position?" Lian Shanxue asked Xu Xian. Xu Xian was now in the left seat, the captain, and the command to start the engine was given by the captain.

"Second strike position!" Xu Xian gave the command.

Lian Shanxue turned the engine start switch to the ground position and started timing at Xu Xian's prompt.

"If there is no N1 indication before the engine start lever is moved to the slow position, stop starting!" Xu Xian began explaining the precautions for starting the engine to Lian Shanxue while the engine indicators N1 and N2 were rising.

"If the start is stopped without an N1 indication, then the engine start lever is not lifted, and there is no need to cold-run the engine. This is different from lifting the engine start lever, which requires turning off the engine and completing a cold-run cycle. In other words, you don't need to time it." Xu Xian's thinking is rather divergent. When he talks about one thing, he starts to expand outwards without considering whether Lian Shanxue can accept the amount of information involved.

As expected, Lian Shanxue looked completely bewildered as Xu Xian spoke animatedly.

"Don't understand?" Xu Xian looked at Lian Shanxue with a complete blank expression. "How can you not understand? It's very easy to understand! Don't you know about cold start? It's when the starter motor drives the entire engine rotor to rotate. During the process, the engine does not supply fuel or ignite. The engine is passively rotated by the starter motor. This kind of cold start procedure usually occurs after the engine fails to start."

"So, does that mean the engine failed to start?" Lian Shanxue clearly remembered that there was no N1 instruction and that starting the engine should be stopped, so doesn't that mean the engine failed to start? Xu Xian just said that cold starting of the engine usually happens after the engine fails to start, so why did he say that cold starting is not necessary?

Isn't this a contradiction?

Xu Xian gave him an expression that said, "Fine, just watch the startup process first!"

If we go into detail, how will Lian Shanxue have the energy to watch the engine start-up process? Xu Xian plans to explain it to Lian Shanxue properly after the engine has started.

"Once N2 reaches 25%, or N1 reaches its maximum RPM, you can lift the engine start lever, that is, move the start lever to the idle position." Xu Xian said, lifting the engine start lever as he spoke. "There's a convention regarding lifting the start lever... at high-altitude airports, the timing of lifting the engine start lever is slightly later. Even if N2 reaches 25%, many captains and instructors won't lift it; they'll wait until N1 reaches 3 before lifting the engine start lever, at which point N1 is close to the maximum RPM. This is mainly because the air is thin at high-altitude airports, which increases the success rate of engine starting!"

As Xu Xian spoke, he turned to the instructor and asked, "Instructor, is there such a saying? I've only heard it from some captains and instructors; I haven't seen it with my own eyes."

"Are you even a trainee? How do you know everything?" the instructor asked, puzzled. "That's how it is at Yunnan Airport most of the time!"

These are minor details, nothing particularly profound; anyone who's flown a few flights knows them. But few trainees pay attention to these details, especially those who haven't yet disembarked. And this isn't the first time. In many ways, Xu Xian's behavior doesn't seem like that of a trainee who hasn't even disembarked.

"Hehe, just listen and watch more!" Xu Xian playfully brushed it off.

After lifting the engine starter lever, Xu Xian began explaining again, based on the engine indicators: "At this point, you need to pay attention to the fuel flow, EGT, and lubricating oil pressure. Under normal circumstances, all three values ​​will rise. If the fuel flow doesn't rise, or even approaches zero, it means there's no fuel coming out, and it definitely won't start. If the EGT doesn't rise, or rises extremely slowly, the time requirement is fifteen seconds on the ground and thirty seconds in the air. So, when I lifted the starter lever, you needed to reset the timer. We're on the ground now. If the EGT doesn't rise within fifteen seconds, disconnect the engine starter lever and reset the timer for engine cold starts... Do you understand?"

Xu Xian launched into another long-winded explanation, leaving Lian Shanxue almost questioning her existence. How did she end up talking about the engine cold-starting again? Wasn't the plan to discuss that after the start-up was complete?

The snow in the mountains was disheveled in the wind...

"No... don't you understand? I explained it very clearly! What's so hard to understand?" Xu Xian was baffled. How could he not understand such a simple starting problem? "Did you even bring your brain with you?"