Chapter 749: 749 different test flight
Chapter 749 749 Different Test Flight
“Hoo! Hoo!” Even though he was wearing an oxygen mask, Sun Rui could still hear his nervous breathing. He once thought he was crazy to do such crazy things.
At this moment, he was flying a Stuka dive bomber, lowering his flying altitude over the endless blue sea.
His plane, which carried no weapons, was rocking up and down in the strong sea breeze. Sun Rui could feel the turbulence of his plane, but this was not the reason for his nervousness.
The main reason that made him feel crazy was that right in front of where his nose was pointing, there was a ship rocking on the sea. That ship turned out to be the airport where he was about to land!
Yes, that was the first aircraft carrier in the history of this planet, the aircraft carrier Tongcheng No. 1 of the Datang Kingdom.
In fact, aircraft carriers of this era do not have much technological content, and their construction costs are much less than expensive battleships.
Completely different from the first countries on earth to manufacture aircraft carriers, Tang Mo did not make any detours because he was forward-looking in this regard.
The first aircraft carrier designed used a straight deck that ran through the entire battleship. The island was placed on one side of the battleship and used a fixed chimney.
The overall design is almost copied from the American Essex-class aircraft carrier, and even the main indicators are exactly the same.
The battleship's main dimensions are 265.79 meters × 44.99 meters, with a standard displacement of 27,100 tons and a full load displacement of 33,000 tons.
The crew strength is 2,750-3,450, including pilots and sailors of the aviation force, as well as command staff, doctors, nurses, maintenance workers, etc...
It is powered by 4 steam turbines, steam propulsion, four shafts and four propellers, with a maximum speed of 33 knots, an endurance of 20,000 nautical miles/15 knots, a flight deck of 262.13 meters × 29.26 meters, and a maximum carrying capacity of 85-95 aircraft.
Although due to different types of aircraft, Tang's aircraft carriers are slightly inferior in the number of aircraft carriers compared to the historical Essex class, but only by a few aircraft.
Even though it has a flight deck that is nearly 30 meters wide and 262 meters long, in the vast sea, this aircraft carrier is still pitifully small in the eyes of the pilots who are about to land on the ship.
Especially in the eyes of pilots who conducted landing experiments... Sun Rui was the first test pilot in the world to land an aircraft on an aircraft carrier.
His starting point was relatively high. When he first started flying, he was flying a carrier-based aircraft with a fixed lower single-wing metal skin. The aircraft also had counterweight added to simulate the weight gain of a carrier-based aircraft's folding wings.
Because of time constraints, although this aircraft has been modified, it does not use a folding wing design, so some iron blocks were piled on the co-pilot to simulate the actual weight of the aircraft.
On the Tongcheng No. 1 aircraft carrier, the participants in the experiment raised their heads and looked at the shaky and approaching aircraft in the sky.
They were also nervous, very nervous: if the plane crashed into the deck of the aircraft carrier, it would not just be a simple experiment failure. At that time, the aircraft carrier will have to be sent back for maintenance, and new test aircraft will have to be manufactured from scratch.
Sun Rui was even more nervous. He repeated the steps to be performed over and over again in his mind, and lowered the landing hook on the tail of the aircraft when approaching the aircraft carrier.
He must control his plane, enter the aircraft carrier's runway at a suitable angle, use the hook on the tail to hook the arresting cable, so that the plane decelerates instantly and completes the landing.
If he flies too high, he will miss the arresting cable, and he must immediately pull it up again to let the plane go around, so as to ensure the safety of himself, the plane, and the aircraft carrier.
But if he flies too low...well, then he will hit the rear of the aircraft carrier and won't even have a chance to parachute.
What controls all this is a set of signal lights. They face the path where carrier-based aircraft enter the carrier landing channel, relying on angles to tell pilots their exact position.
Unfortunately, this thing can only provide a rough indication, because the aircraft carrier itself is constantly shaking when sailing on the sea.
Fortunately, the landing of the aircraft does not need to be so precise, because there are four blocking wires. The pilot of the carrier-based aircraft only needs to hook the landing hook on one of the blocking wires to count as a success.
There is actually a reason why the Stuka dive bomber is used as an experimental model: this aircraft uses fixed landing gear, is slower and the structure is easy to reinforce, and is more suitable for control than the Butcher fighter.
As the distance approached, the aircraft carrier in front of him continued to magnify in Sun Rui's eyes. He got closer and lowered his altitude little by little, until he saw the row of obvious lights through the cockpit glass.
He could clearly see the landing indicator light, which meant that he was flying within the correct range. The weather today is very good. From the sky, the aircraft carrier itself does not even see any obvious shaking.
“Your posture is very good! Keep it up!” In the earphone, the observer on the aircraft carrier reminded loudly while holding the communicator.
Sun Rui could feel that the palms of his hands holding the joystick were full of sweat. He felt that the leather gloves he was wearing were a little wet and extremely hot.
It's just that it's too late to take it off. He is already in the landing channel, and we can only wait until he stops on the aircraft carrier to say anything.
So he bit the bullet and checked his instruments and posture again. The landing distance, which was less than ten seconds, seemed to him to fly for as long as an hour.
As the last few seconds passed by, the very small flight deck that was overlooked before had already rushed towards us, as if it was going to cover the entire sea.
Caught off guard, Sun Rui felt his two main landing gears collide with something. The shock made him grip his control stick tightly, and the hair on his whole body stood up.
Even though he has trained countless times on the ground, he has become accustomed to watching the ship's indicator light for landing, and has become accustomed to taking off and landing on the prescribed palm-sized runway.
But at that time, he only thought that the project he was experimenting with was related to some **** "short takeoff and landing experiment". He never thought that he was going to take off and land on a ship with a runway...
Those **** secret services had not informed him until a few days ago that as the first batch of the best pilots, he would participate in and complete the most confidential "aircraft carrier" carrier-based aircraft take-off and landing experiment.
Now, when he let his landing gear hit the aircraft carrier deck for the first time, he was still shaking nervously.
This is completely different from the takeoff he just completed, because to take off, he only needs to move forward at full speed and pull himself up at the end of the flight deck.
Because the aircraft was sailing against the wind, the plane had sufficient lift, it carried no ammunition, and its fuel was reduced by half, so there was no risk at all in the take-off experimental project. But landing is different. Even if you are bungee jumping and you know for sure that nothing will happen to you, you will still feel instinctive fear the moment you rush to the ground.
He grabbed his control stick tightly, and when the plane's landing gear bounced and landed back on the flight deck, he was almost about to pull up for a climb.
But just when he was about to pull up his plane, there seemed to be a giant behind him suddenly pulling him back.
The huge inertia caused his body to lean forward, and his weight was pressed on the seat belt. He could feel that his neck was bearing huge force, and his head seemed to be more than twice as heavy in an instant.
However, his whole heart relaxed at this moment, because the habit that was almost buried deep in his bones and blood told him that everything was consistent with his past experience.
His landing hook was hooked on the arresting wire, he knew that without having to check. His plane was caught and stopped firmly on the deck of the aircraft carrier.
The personnel waiting on the ship island had already rushed out. They rushed to the Stuka whose propellers had not completely stopped rotating. The ground crew eagerly climbed onto the wings and helped open the cockpit cover of the aircraft.
Sun Rui inside still feels a little unreal. He has not yet gotten over the surprise of landing on an aircraft carrier for the first time.
Months of training, just for a landing like today. He flew thousands of hours, almost all of which was spent training on takeoffs and landings.
While others were flying in the blue sky, he could only aim the nose of the plane at the runway again and again: he didn't even take a good look at the scenery next to the airport, because every time he landed, he could only look at the glowing indicator light.
Now, his efforts finally paid off, he succeeded! He landed the plane on a moveable... runway!
Yes, that's right! He now has a mobile airport, which is of immense significance to the entire navy.
From then on, the navy no longer has to worry about the airports built along the enemy's coast, and at the same time, it no longer has to worry that its battleships are outnumbered by the enemy.
The standard for measuring the strength of a naval fleet is no longer the caliber of cannons or the thickness of armor. It’s about the number of radars, the performance of aircraft, and the number of aircraft carriers!
“You succeeded!” The first thing he said after opening the hatch cover was that the bearded ground crew man shouted to Sun Rui with a big smile.
Sun Rui lifted up his mask and smiled: "Well! I succeeded! In other words, we succeeded!"
“Ha! You’re right! We succeeded!” The old man continued to laugh, as if he had completed the landing flight himself.
“How do you feel?” Another officer climbed onto the wings of the plane and shouted to Sun Rui, who was trying to climb out of the cockpit.
This is the commander of their flying group, Sun Rui's old leader. Sun Rui gave a thumbs up: "I think it's okay. What's good for lunch? I'm going to eat more to celebrate."
"Don't worry, there is beer from Linshui Factory, and it's enough! The kitchen has prepared a cream cake for you! It's double-layered!" The commander was very excited. They completed the first flight experiment that even His Majesty was very concerned about. It was almost equal to Said that the plane was moved to the sea.
With the aircraft carrier and the ultra-long range of the aircraft, the Tang Kingdom's navy can switch from defense to offense in a few months, allowing those idiots to see what the iron fist of justice is.
The navy's food is of a higher standard, and since it is a naval aviation force, the treatment is not to mention. Except for submarine officers and soldiers, they have the best treatment in the entire military.
What’s more, this is a test flight project, so it’s only natural to prepare a cake to celebrate: it’s just that if the hard-working children of the Army see it, they will probably be stimulated to tears.
This is really in line with the saying: The Air Force is a young soldier, and the Army is a beggar soldier... While the frontline infantry is studying how to eat compressed biscuits without clogging their teeth, the Navy has basically eliminated compressed biscuits.
Those on the track were celebrating, many throwing their hats into the air. Seeing the plane land smoothly on the deck, these people seemed to have won the war.
On the Linshui-class battleship escorting next to it, the sailors crowded on the deck also saw this scene that shocked them.
The aircraft that the Army is proud of landed on a warship. It seems that from today on, the Navy also has its own "air force".
So they even cheered along and waved their hats and arms at the Copper City 1 aircraft carrier in the distance.
At this time, they were even a little proud, because apart from them, not many people knew that a brand new warship had been born in the world.
It is not equipped with large-caliber artillery, nor is it equipped with heavy armor protection, but such a strange-looking warship turns out to be a "secret weapon" that His Majesty the King is very concerned about.
At this moment, none of them realized what this scene meant to the battleship. In the eyes of these sailors, the Linshui No. 1 battleship is still the most powerful surface ship in the Tang Kingdom.
This Tang Dynasty's "Bismarck" class battleship is still powerful, but no matter how you look at it, it has the smell of a hero in his twilight years.
It's just that although the Tang Dynasty's battleships are late in life and look a bit sad, the battleships of other countries have to face the threat of the Tang Army's aircraft carriers. That's not the tragedy of the late heroes, but the generosity in dying. The tragic…
Although not many people have realized what a huge threat the emergence of carrier-based aircraft poses to battleships, and although most people still focus on the submarines that are currently in the limelight, soon... everyone will know that aircraft carriers What an important position it has in the history of naval warfare.
“I like cakes!” Sun Rui became excited when he heard cakes. He loves sweets. After the cream cake was invented by His Majesty the King, it became one of his favorite foods.
"Let's go! Let's take a rest. We have to fly twice in the afternoon, one for you and one for Zhang Hu." The commander patted his shoulder and arranged the following tasks.
Soon, the ten pilots who followed this time will complete the landing mission, and then they will bring their experience back. Next time... they will take fifty pilots to fly together so as to test the actual combat of the aircraft carrier-based aircraft formation as soon as possible. ability.
(End of this chapter)