Great Power Fighting Falcon

In the violent storm, J-16 fighter No. 1616 was swaying in the darkness, and the sound of dense raindrops as big as soybeans hitting the cockpit glass was even clear.

Li Zhan's eyes were shaking. He needed to hold the glass cover with one hand to see the flight data clearly on the instrument panel. The flight trajectory showed that the fighter plane was inevitably involved in the "Sana" cloud wall area. There was a huge force sucking the fighter plane into the eye of the wind. Li Zhan even suspected that there were multiple tornadoes on the sea.

The communication with Fuzhi was interrupted as expected. Fuzhi could only grasp the situation of J-16 No. 1616 through radar signals. At this time, Fuzhi had completely lifted the combat status, and all efforts were for J-16 No. 1616. -16 fighter jets returned safely. At this time, the threat from nature is more serious than the threat from the opponent, and any flight in bad weather can obtain precious data, which is very beneficial to the troops' future combat training under complex weather conditions.

Li Zhan felt inexplicably happy when he thought of the benefits.

There are not many opportunities to fly through the typhoon circle. Under normal circumstances, superiors will not approve such flights unless it is to assist national-level scientific research projects in meteorological research. But even so, fighter jets will not be sent. Planes with straight wings and propeller engines are more suitable.

Of course, except for Li Zhan, who would think about the troops' future combat training under complex weather conditions in such a crisis-ridden emergency, everyone else was only concerned about whether he could fly back safely.

The development speed of this year's typhoon signal was unexpected, and the impact of cold and warm air convection was more serious than expected. This illustrates that there are still many uncertainties in weather predictions with modern technology.

If someone asks which aviation support department is the most important, pilots will unanimously say it is the meteorological department. Only this department is responsible for many uncertainties and force majeure. As long as the plane takes to the sky, it must deal with the weather. From a certain perspective, pilots and farmer uncles are the same kind of people - they both rely on the weather for their livelihood.

The better you understand nature, the better you can survive in harsh climate conditions. If you can fly in weather where the enemy cannot fly, it means that you have the absolute initiative and advantage. It is easy to imagine how significant this is to combat.

Because it was an actual test flight, many additional sensors were installed on the J-16 No. 1616 fuselage in order to collect more data during the flight. What is different from performance test flight is that in actual combat test flight, fighters will conduct combat activities in different battlefield environments and combat backgrounds, and the situations encountered will be diverse and complex.

Zhang Chongming even said that he hopes to obtain some flight data of fighter aircraft under extreme conditions. Those data are too important.

Chen Fei in the back cabin smelled the smell of death again. He had never felt like this since he crashed a J-7 more than two years ago. The last danger happened in an instant. I was unprepared and had no time to be afraid, so I passively accepted everything. This time it was different, he was rushing towards the typhoon circle semi-actively.

Maybe his superiors transferred him to fly with Li Zhan because his ability to withstand pressure is stronger than others. After all, working with a well-known contemporary revolutionary soldier like Li Zhan, anyone with less mental endurance would be on the verge of collapse. .

Li Zhan found that operating a fighter jet in such an environment was much easier than he imagined. The advanced fly-by-wire control system well balances out the effects of crosswinds and airflow, and even after sensing an abnormality in the tail rudder, it will automatically fine-tune other control panels of the fighter to adapt to the new situation.

The advantages of the fly-by-wire control system compared to the mechanical control system are usually considered to be summed up in one sentence: allowing the fighter aircraft to always fly within the envelope.

To give a simple analogy, Li Zhan always needs to have one hand holding the joystick when flying the J-7. If you don't do this, the aircraft's attitude will change. If you leave it alone, the aircraft's attitude will exceed the envelope and cause a crash. , but if you fly a third-generation aircraft such as the J-10 or J-11, if you don’t move the joystick, the aircraft will keep flying in its original attitude, and you don’t need to worry that the aircraft’s attitude will exceed the envelope.

"Using a fly-by-wire control system" is regarded as the biggest feature of third-generation aircraft and the main condition that defines second-generation aircraft and third-generation aircraft.

The J-16's fly-by-wire control system was developed from the one used in the J-10 series. It is unknown how much more advanced than the one used by the SU-30MKK, and it is said to have received some technical support from fourth-generation aircraft. , has many latecomer advantages in avionics.

Objectively speaking, among all the Air Force fighters produced by the Shenyang Aircraft Factory, the J-16's fly-by-wire control system is the most advanced, even more advanced than the J-15. Some analysts believe that the reason why the J-16 took more than ten years of research and development to produce a prototype is that new technologies were continuously used during the research and development process, such as advanced cockpit technology that overflowed from the fourth-generation aircraft project.

The Shenyang Aircraft Factory learned its lesson and did not blindly rush into the J-16 project. It also put down its big brother attitude and humbly asked the Chengdu Aircraft Factory for advice and learning. Therefore, the appearance is the same as the SU-30MKK but the inside is completely different. The J-16.

Only then did Li Zhan gain confidence at this time.

If he were flying a second-generation aircraft like the J-7 or J-8 now, Li Zhan would definitely not be as confident as he is now. Maybe if a strong crosswind comes, the J-7 or J-8 will fall into the sea.

Li Zhan suddenly made a surprising discovery—the error torque of the tail rudder could be offset by using crosswind. He carefully felt the rules of air flow in the violent storm, and tried to adjust the elevation and roll angles of the fighter plane. The fighter plane could actually maintain a straight flight.

He said excitedly, "Fuzhi, the air flow in the cloud wall is regular. Using crosswinds can offset the error effect of the tail rudder. Please inform the comrades of the maritime search and rescue team to return. I can fly back, over!"

The sea conditions within dozens of kilometers of the coastline are in a mess. The strong typhoon brought waves of five to six meters high, which is very dangerous for the ships of the maritime search and rescue team. Li Zhan didn't want to put other comrades in danger for his own sake, and besides, he didn't necessarily have to abandon the plane.

Obviously Fu Zhi would not agree to him. The commander on duty said, "Test Yaoliu. The maritime search and rescue team is proceeding as planned. You must be out of danger before they can return. It's over."

"Fu Zhi, it's completely unnecessary! I will definitely return safely! Over!" Li Zhan insisted on his suggestion.

There were more than two hundred people on board several search and rescue ships. If these two hundred people were put in danger to save him, Li Zhan thought it was completely unnecessary! He thinks there is no value for money at all!

However, Fu Zhi and the superior authorities do not think so. Not to mention an excellent test flight crew, even an ordinary soldier will invest a lot of search and rescue efforts. This is not a question of cost performance, but the principle of the army!

Will not give up any hope, will not abandon anyone.

The commander on duty at Fu Zhi said seriously: "Test Yaoliu, obey the order! If you are not sure about flying back, you must abandon the plane and parachute! Is it clear?"

The commander was angry.

"Understood! Experiment Yaoliu understands!"

Li Zhan was very helpless. His immediate solution was to fly out of the Cloud Wall Area as soon as possible. Only in this way would his superiors allow the maritime search and rescue team that had ventured out to sea to return. He ordered the fighter plane to fly north, and the return direction should be northwest, which confused the commander on duty at Fuzhi.

"What does he want to do?" The commander on duty frowned, feeling that Comrade Li Zhan was angry.

The staff officer around him couldn't figure it out, so he quickly analyzed it in a low voice with the weatherman.

The weatherman grabbed a handful of pencil ends and threw them into the file box. He spread the pencil ends and said solemnly, "The air flow in the cloud wall area is almost like this. In the case of strong convection, the air flow is irregular. If If there is a pattern, then the absence of a pattern is the pattern. The pilot said he was able to use crosswinds to keep the fighter flying straight, but I don't know how he did it."

The staff officer waved his hand and said, "No matter how he did it, the fact is that he did maintain a direct flight, but he was flying north. From a meteorological point of view, was it a correct consideration to fly north?"

The weatherman said, "Yes, Sana is moving northwest. If he flies north, he can follow the wind and escape from the cloud wall area faster. The pilot is very thoughtful."

The staff officer looked at the commander on duty, "Boss?"

"Well, pay close attention to the weather changes in the Cloud Wall area." The commander on duty nodded slightly.

The communications staff suddenly said, "Communications have been interrupted again. They may have entered a thunderstorm area!"

The atmosphere in the tower became solemn once again.

The communication between Fuzhi and J-16 No. 1616 has been intermittent, depending entirely on the electromagnetic environment of the airspace where the fighter is located. If we can't get in touch, we can only rely on the signals detected by the radar to judge the latest movements of J-16 No. 1616.

"He should be out of the cloud wall in five minutes!" the radar operator reported.

The red dot representing J-16 No. 1616 left the cloud wall area in the north at a speed of about 380 kilometers per hour. The hearts of everyone in the tower slowly lowered as the red dot moved.

"Huh? He's turning left at a huge angle!" the radar operator suddenly reported loudly.

Because "Sana" is moving northwest, J-16 No. 1616 will turn left and rush into the cloud wall area again, and all previous efforts will be in vain.

The combat officer frowned and said, "Did he get lost?"

There is a possibility that in an environment with strong electromagnetic interference, some instruments of the fighter aircraft will have large errors or even fail, especially those with sensing ends deployed on the surface of the fuselage, such as airspeed instruments and horizon instruments.

The commander on duty grabbed the microphone and called J-16 No. 1616, "Test Yaoliu received the answer! Test Yaoliu! You yaw! Test Yaoliu!"

There was no echo, just the buzzing sound of electromagnetic interference.

It is about to successfully escape from the cloud wall area, and yaw at this time will lead to catastrophic consequences. J-16 No. 1616 has been flying in the air for more than three hours. They must be running out of fuel, and if the tail rudder fails, the plane will lose control and crash at any time.

"Test Yaoliu!" The voice of the commander on duty echoed in the tower control room.

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy. Seeing J-16 No. 1616 turning in circles and preparing to go on the old road, it was difficult for him to withstand the tearing of the cloud wall area of ​​the "Sana" storm ball that was gradually increasing in wind power.

J-16 No. 1616 was doomed. The commander on duty said solemnly, "Send the position of the aircraft to the maritime search and rescue team and ask them to speed up and get there."

"yes!"

Before the staff officer could pass on the order, the weatherman suddenly raised his hand and shouted, "Boss! There are major changes in Sana!"

The commander on duty strode over, and the weatherman pointed at the huge display and said excitedly, "Sana is turning! Look at the trend of the clouds. The clouds are gathering north, and Sana is turning north!"

It took several seconds for the commander on duty to react. He couldn't help but clapped his hands and said excitedly: "Good guy! Perfect escape! How did he know that Sana would turn north? He is better than the weather station?"

The weatherman chuckled and didn't know how to explain it. He quickly calculated the latest movement path of "Sana" based on the latest data and drew it on the map. After looking at it carefully, he couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Boss, this is Sana’s latest sports trend, look where it is to the north.”

"Japan?" The commander on duty raised his eyebrows, inexplicably happy, but looking very sad on the surface.

The weatherman couldn't help laughing, but with a serious look on his face, he said, "It will probably intensify. There is no doubt that the maximum wind force will exceed level 18. The most powerful winds will most likely trigger a tsunami."

The young combat staff officer Yan Yi couldn't help but feel happy. Suddenly he noticed that everyone's faces were heavy and he said very unconfidently, "Why am I happy but you are so heavy-hearted? Is it because I am too narrow-minded?"

"No, just because you're normal."

The commander on duty solemnly said, "We are also normal people, but we are happy in our hearts and don't show it like you do. After all, we are all people in the world and one family in the face of a catastrophe!"

At this time, everyone couldn't stand it anymore and started laughing.

The question is, how did Li Zhan know that "Sana" would turn and turn so fast. Chen Fei, who was sitting in the back cabin, didn't know much about it, let alone other people. In fact, Chen Fei was also puzzled by Li Zhan's choice just now, but he didn't disturb Li Zhan until he gradually felt that the flight attitude of the fighter plane had stabilized. Only then did he realize that he had left the Cloud Wall Area.

He couldn't help it and asked, "Why is this happening?"

Li Zhan said with a smile, "Sana turned north. I continued to turn left just to avoid its limelight. I followed the error value of the tail rudder to speed up the turning and flying speed. It would be over 120 kilometers away. I can see the coastline.”

At this time, Chen Fei noticed that the locator numbers that had been jumping around had returned to normal. He quickly calculated the longitude and latitude. Sure enough, he was only more than a hundred kilometers away from the coastline.

"How do you know Sana will turn?" Chen Fei was very puzzled. This kind of prediction cannot be predicted by just counting, and the visibility is zero at this time and it is impossible to see the situation outside. How can Li Zhan judge?

Li Zhan said, "I'll teach you when I get back."

"Fortunate finger, lucky finger, test the unitary six call, completed." Li Zhan tried to call lucky finger.

The commander on duty at Fuzhi was so excited that he picked up the microphone: "Test Yaoliu! I'm Fuzhi! How is the situation of the plane? Over!"

"No more problems have arisen. I have left the Cloud Wall Area. Please request an alternate landing at Gaoqi Airport. Over." Li Zhan asked for instructions.

The commander on duty was stunned and asked, "Are there other alternate landing sites?"

"It can't be reached. The fuel consumption is abnormal. I suspect there is a leak. It's over." Li Zhan said.

When these words came out, Chen Fei was startled. He didn't find any abnormality in the fuel meter. In the situation just now, I'm afraid no one would be able to analyze whether the drop in the fuel meter was normal. But Li Zhan had obviously noticed it long ago and discovered the problem.

Chen Fei was filled with emotion, Li Zhan had really become a veteran driver.

The commander on duty replied, "The test Yaoliu can be used as an alternative to Gaoqi Airport. Contact the Southeast District Traffic Control, frequency 124.78. Next, you follow his command, over!"

"Contact the Southeast District Commission, frequency 124.78, got it!"

PS: Some readers think that the unit of speed is wrong. Here is the answer: the unit of airspeed used by the army is kilometers per hour, the altitude is meters, and the distance is kilometers. Only civil aviation uses knots, feet, and miles.