Legendary Captain

"Is it all for this cold transition time?" Lian Shanxiue immediately understood Xu Xian's intention.

Xu Xian: "That's right! Otherwise, starting the timer now would have wasted a lot of time."

Lian Shanxue was secretly delighted. It hadn't wasted much time—only a minute. However, this method of doing things ahead of time did look very cool, giving a sense of complete control.

"This is where engine cold starting comes in! I've already explained what engine cold starting is, but now I'll explain why it's necessary!" Xu Xian's expression was extremely serious, displaying the demeanor of a complete instructor: "Engine cold starting primarily removes the oil buildup in the engine caused by a failed start, preventing accidents during restarting. It also lowers the engine temperature, preventing overheating during restarts. So, you see, if the engine start switch isn't in the ground position but in the off position, you need to wait until the N2 speed drops to 20% before turning the start switch to the ground position. This is to allow the engine to cold start, thus achieving the purpose of removing oil and cooling it down. Do you understand now? On an aircraft, you can't just know how to do it; you also need to know why you do it, what the underlying principles are. Only then will your mind be clear."

Lian Shanxue listened attentively at first, but as Xu Xian's tone became increasingly condescending, she pursed her lips, feeling extremely displeased.

The instructor behind him was overjoyed: "It seems this initial modification training session has been the easiest one I've ever had. Xiao Xu, putting everything else aside, I think you'll have no problem leading the initial modification training session; you'll explain it better than I have."

It's not that Xu Xian's level is particularly high, but rather that he's willing to explain things in detail. If it were a teacher himself, and his subordinates couldn't understand, he'd simply stop teaching altogether; where would he find the time and energy to patiently instruct them?

Of course, it's not that instructors wouldn't do that; it's just that they really lack patience with students who aren't related to them. If they were teaching their own apprentices, they would teach even better than Xu Xian.

Xu Xian didn't seem very happy. What's the use of speaking so well if it's all useless? His obsession with money is ingrained in his bones. According to Qin Zongyang, the extra three promotion points were all earned by him and had nothing to do with Xu Xian, so he decided to forget about the extra promotion points.

Even though Xu Xian was extremely unhappy, he couldn't find any reason to refute it. Indeed, if Qin Zongyang hadn't stubbornly argued with the simulator supervisor, Xu Xian would have accepted the arrangement without any demands. Qin Zongyang's words weren't wrong in themselves, but unfortunately, the 30,000 yuan had quietly slipped away.

"After the engine is cold-started and the start-stop checklist is completed, the process is not yet finished."

Xu Xian pressed the maintenance intercom button: "Ground, we just started the aircraft and there's an EGT nearing its limit. Can you take a look?"

"You're responsible for notifying the ground."

Lian Shanxue pointed to herself: "Me? What do you mean?"

In non-standard procedures within the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), after aborting the start-up, it is necessary to contact ground maintenance, air traffic control, and the company dispatcher. Ground maintenance is typically handled by the captain (left seat), while notifying air traffic control is the responsibility of the co-pilot (right seat).

However, the SOP only records the process but does not explain the specific operating methods in detail, which is what needs to be learned.

"Just say... on the ground, the Star Travel Training Machine experienced a startup malfunction and requested to cancel the start-up command. After everything is normal, it will reapply for the start-up command." Xu Xian paused for a moment, "That's about it. Is there a fixed procedure? Just make sure you explain the situation clearly."

Just as Lianshanxue had thought, the manual did not contain any fixed patterns of connecting sentences, which actually made it easier.

"Then remember to explain the situation to the company dispatch center so that they can take appropriate action. Otherwise, the company might cause trouble later," Xu Xian reminded him again.

"The company is prone to causing trouble?" The instructor smiled knowingly. "Such strong self-protection skills, you're a promising student."

It seems this instructor has also suffered from his own company's relentless fault-finding!

"Alright! Do you want to check for any other malfunctions? But we can only check that now. We need to go through the whole procedure again, otherwise there won't be time for takeoff," the instructor said.

Lian Shanxue: "Teacher, I'm just taking a look."

Afterwards, the instructor showed Lian Shanxue the rotor jamming and the EGT not rising. The only thing to note was that after the engine stabilized, there was no lubricating oil pressure.

"In this situation, the engine start switch has automatically switched back to the off position, so there's no need to start the timer first. Didn't I just tell you that?" Xu Xian was particularly concerned about the situation where there was no lubricating oil pressure after the engine stabilized. This was one of the few situations where the pilot needed to manually perform a cold start.

Lian Shanxue nodded: "After the N2 level drops to 20%, turn the engine start switch to the ground position and start timing the engine to start cold.

"This isn't a memorization exercise; it's just following the steps on the quick checklist. So, under normal circumstances, don't try to do it from memory; the captains and instructors really dislike that," Xu Xian instructed.

The so-called process of reducing N2 to 20%, then turning the engine start switch to the ground position, and finally cold-running the engine for sixty seconds—this entire procedure is based on the non-memorized items of the quick checklist and must be performed according to the quick checklist. If it's done entirely from memory, it's a violation of regulations, and many captains and instructors strongly dislike this behavior.

"Yes, I know!" Lian Shanxue knew that non-memory items could not be done according to memory, so she obediently agreed.

The engine start-up was temporarily completed. The instructor pulled the aircraft directly to the runway threshold and said, "Get it into pre-takeoff configuration."

Lian Shanxue nodded and went through the pre-taxi and pre-takeoff procedures together. She did it slowly, but at least she didn't make any mistakes.

"I'll control the throttle. You hold the steering wheel with both hands and pay attention to controlling the takeoff direction. Don't input too much rudder, otherwise the aircraft's takeoff direction will sway from side to side," Xu Xian reminded him.

Xu Xian gripped the accelerator lever with his right hand, while Lian Shanxue held the steering wheel with both hands.

"Ignore the standard warning for now, just get a feel for controlling the takeoff direction," Xu Xian said. "Star Trek Training Aircraft, get ready!"

"Then let's go!" the instructor said.

Xu Xian increased the throttle to 40%, then pressed the TO/GA switch, and the throttle automatically increased to takeoff thrust.

This time, the instructor did not set up a crosswind, so controlling the direction of the run was very easy, and even the mountain snow did not require any correction.

As the plane accelerated to nearly 70 knots, a piercing fire alarm suddenly sounded.