Legendary Captain

"Did you even bring your brain with you?" Xu Xian said excitedly, and for a moment he got carried away with his pride.

Lian Shanxue was stunned for a moment, unable to believe that Xu Xian would dare to speak to him like that, but she wasn't angry. She just smiled and said, "Guess?"

"Guess?" Xu Xian's eyes widened. Lian Shanxue didn't know she was wrong, yet she dared to flirt with her superior? It was simply lawless! And looking at her smiling face, where was the law?

Instantly, Xu Xian's anger surged: "Then it must be because I didn't bring my brain! Oh dear! Sorry! I didn't sleep well last night, I was groggy, and my mouth wasn't cooperating with my speech, so it's normal that you couldn't understand me! My fault, my fault!"

The performance, resembling a Sichuan opera face-changing act, left the instructors behind dumbfounded. One of them taunted, "Hey kid, does she have some kind of dirt on you?"

Xu Xian, who had been indignant just moments before, burst into laughter: "What are you saying, Instructor? Don't I think I was just talking nonsense and rambling on? It's my fault, my fault! Who could understand this incoherent nonsense, right, Instructor?"

The instructor was at a loss for words. Looking at Xu Xian, whose smile looked more like a grimace than a cry, and then at Lian Shanxue with a faint smile, he felt that Xu Xian must have been threatened in some way.

"Then explain properly!" Lian Shanxue kindly reminded Xu Xian.

Xu Xian maintained a stiff smile, but inwardly he was already lamenting that serving others was no easy task.

"I just mentioned the situation where EGT doesn't rise, which is commonly known as a wet start. There's also the situation where EGT rises too quickly, to the point of exceeding the limit, which is a hot start. So you need to know what the normal rate of EGT rise is." Xu Xian said this while asking Lian Shanxue to look at the EGT display under normal start conditions.

The instructor then interjected at this opportune moment: "This is a normal start-up, so I'll show you what a normal start-up looks like. Later, I'll show you what happens when the EGT exceeds its limit!"

"Handling an excessively rapid increase in EGT requires a quick reaction from the pilot. Ideally, the start-up should be stopped before the EGT exceeds the limit. If the EGT doesn't ultimately exceed the limit, subsequent maintenance will be much easier," the instructor said. "Once the engine's EGT exceeds the limit, subsequent maintenance will be extremely troublesome. Minimizing the trouble for maintenance personnel is best."

Just as the instructor finished speaking, the red line on the EGT display disappeared, and the EGT began to drop slightly before eventually stabilizing.

Engine number two has started successfully!

"As I mentioned earlier, besides monitoring the fuel level and EGT, you also need to check the lubricating oil level! The sign of engine stability is when the red line on the EGT display disappears, the value drops, and finally stabilizes. If there is still no lubricating oil pressure at this point, you also need to stop starting," Xu Xian said. "Another sign is that after lifting the engine start lever, if the EGT display shows N1 and N2 not rising, or rising slowly, this indicates rotor jamming. This is also one of the signs that requires stopping the start."

Xu Xian explained things in great detail, covering almost all situations where a startup needs to be stopped. As a self-taught "teacher," Xu Xian is actually quite qualified.

"Wait a minute..." Lian Shanxue rubbed her forehead. "Let me summarize! Before the engine start lever is moved to the idle position, N1 has no indication. After the engine start lever is moved to the idle position, EGT does not rise within fifteen seconds. After EGT is indicated, N1 or N2 does not rise or rises extremely slowly. EGT rises rapidly, approaching or exceeding its limit. After the engine stabilizes, there is no oil pressure indication. Anything else?"

"There are also some more unusual ones, such as flames shooting out of the exhaust nozzle..." the instructor said. "However, flames shooting out of the exhaust nozzle are mostly one of the phenomena of surge during startup. Engine surge is often accompanied by EGT exceeding the limit, so it is relatively easy to distinguish. The only thing to be careful about is not to rush to put out the engine, otherwise you will easily become a laughing stock."

"That captain from Starfly Airlines?" Lian Shanxue asked with a smile.

"Exactly!" the instructor said. "Look! A mistake has been held against him for twenty years. Isn't that unfair?"

When starting the second engine, the instructor did not cause any malfunctions. Instead, he wanted Lian Shanxue to experience what a normal start-up was like. Later, when starting the first engine, he would create various malfunctions depending on the situation.

"Start one now. Just follow Xu Xian's pace and remember the handling procedures. Not just the malfunction symptoms, but also the remaining procedures after the malfunction is resolved!" At this point, the instructor no longer treated Xu Xian as a student, but rather, in a sense, as an assistant. That's why he had Lian Shanxue follow Xu Xian's pace.

"Okay, Teacher Xu!" Lian Shanxue called out sweetly to Xu Xian, which made Xu Xian pout repeatedly.

"Start one shot?"

The instructor, playing the role of a ground mechanic, replied, "We can start the first engine!"

"First shot to the ground!" Xu Xian gave the order.

Lian Shanxue turned the starter switch of Engine No. 1 to the ground position.

The start valve opens, the pipeline pressure rises, and the N2 value is displayed.

"Starter valve, pipeline pressure, N2—these three values ​​are indicators you need to pay close attention to after the starter switch is turned to the ground position." Xu Xian perfectly integrated his identity: "These three values ​​are all related to the starter motor. If any of them shows an abnormal reading, the starter motor may not be able to turn properly. If the starter motor cannot turn properly, even if you accelerate and ignite the engine later, you will not be able to start the engine."

"What do you mean?" The concept of a starter motor that was introduced at this moment left Lian Shanxue somewhat confused.

"How so? The engine starter is a very small power component that can drive the N2 compressor to rotate through the accessory drive gear system. When the engine accelerates to the recommended value, which is the 25% N2 or maximum speed mentioned earlier, we need to move the engine start lever to the idle position, right? At this time, as the start lever is moved to the idle position, the spar and engine fuel valve open, and at the same time, the EEC supplies fuel to the combustion chamber and ignites it. That's how the engine starts, isn't it?" Xu Xianzheng described the entire starting process very clearly, just like an encyclopedia.

Lian Shanxue casually asked, "What about EEC? What's that?"

"Engine electronic control components!" Xu Xian answered without hesitation.

"What's this thing for?" Lian Shanxue asked with a smile.

"During ground start-up, engine parameters are monitored to detect impending hot starts, exhaust temperature start-up limits exceeding limits, and wet starts."

"What about in-flight takeoff?"

"Starting in mid-air, not starting... what do you mean?" Xu Xianming was explaining seriously, but Lian Shanxue was grinning.

Lian Shanxue glanced at the instructor's position and saw him looking at the control panel screen. Suddenly, she leaned closer to Xu Xian and whispered, "Is there anything you don't know?"

Xu Xian glanced sideways at Lian Shanxue: "I have no idea what's going on in your head!"