Chapter 280

Chapter 280: The Mustang’s Vertical Landing

The four hydraulic arrestor wires that were originally set up on the runway were taken down by the deck crew.

"Yes, yes! This isn’t an ordinary ground runway. With such a short distance, at least one arrestor wire is needed, right, Liu Zhen? If you were flying a P-51, could you land without the arrestor wire?"

"I’ve flown the Primary Trainer-6, but I think the arrestor wire is necessary. This new instructor is being a bit too overconfident. Hey, Instructor Cang, Instructor Wang, why are you here too? Come and give your thoughts."

The aircraft carrier’s flight deck is both the most enjoyable and the most dangerous and noisy working environment.

The launch and landing deck looks like an ordinary ground runway, but it is not only narrow but also very short, with a very small area.

Aircraft must land and take off at incredible speeds in a very limited space.

One small mistake could cause a jet engine to suck someone in or throw them off the deck and into the sea.

Taking off is very difficult, but the real challenge lies in landing.

Generally, carrier-based aircraft are equipped with a tailhook, which is used to hook onto the arrestor wires.

For each aircraft to land on the flight deck, a tailhook is required. The pilot’s goal is to hook the tailhook onto any one of the four arrestor wires spaced 15 meters apart, made from strong steel wires.

Because the length of the flight deck is far from sufficient for an aircraft’s landing roll distance, external assistance is needed for landing.

Once the tailhook catches, the steel arrestor wire pulls the dampers on both ends, rapidly slowing the aircraft down. Once it has fully slowed down, the dampers will pull the arrestor wire back to prepare for the next aircraft.

The aviation crew training instructors, Colonel Cang Zilong and Major Wang Xin, exchanged glances, thinking to give this new instructor some face in front of the students. Colonel Cang said, "Well, it’s not impossible! Maybe he is particularly skilled at handling the P-51."

However, from his experience, the takeoff runway is no challenge for the P-51, but the slanted triangular landing runway of 200 meters is still a bit tough for the P-51, especially without the help of an arrestor wire.

"Well, surely, being able to own a fighter jet means he has some skills. Everyone, pay close attention! It’s important to learn, because whether it’s success or failure, it’s all valuable experience!" Understanding Colonel Cang’s implied meaning, Major Wang Xin vaguely responded, reminding the students to observe carefully. Every moment on the carrier training ship is a learning opportunity, laying the initial foundation for China’s future aircraft carrier fleet.

"Yes, Instructor!" Many of the students stopped talking, their eyes wide open. Some students even pointed their cameras at the P-51 Mustang, which was adjusting its angle towards the tail of the aircraft carrier, with its landing gear already deployed.

"This is a super gigantic cake!" The gold giant dragon, merged with the P-51 Mustang, saw such a massive metallic structure for the first time, almost in awe.

Normally, the amount of metal consumed by a gold giant dragon throughout its life could not accumulate to such a large size, making Gold Coin, this creature, feel utterly shocked. The humans of this world are truly fearsome.

Even the Dragon of Slaughter or the gold giant dragon, known for divine weaponry, had to humble itself before this enormous human creation.

Click, clack, click, clack!

Strange noises came from the cockpit.

Lin Mo could tell that this creature was definitely drooling.

What else could a gold giant dragon’s drool be but a metallic fluid resembling mercury, capable of producing soft alloys similar to “amalgam”?

"Gold Coin, I warn you, don’t get any ideas about it. You can’t handle this thing, and it would cause big trouble."

Lin Mo, holding onto the control stick, warned seriously.

"I know, I know, you annoying guy!"

The gold giant dragon was completely focused on this giant object, but there were rumors of several aircraft carriers sunken due to war at the bottom of the sea; if given the chance, it would definitely want to taste what the "salt brine carrier" is truly like.

Hehehehe! A strange noise came, like a mouse falling into a grain jar.

The landing signal officer at the rear deck started directing through radio communication. The signal lights lit up, and the gyroscope stabilized the Fresnel lens optical landing system, emitting amber and green beams of light in an array.

If the amber light is above the green light, it means the aircraft is flying too high. If the amber light is below the green light, it means the aircraft is flying too low. If the aircraft’s return path is too low, the pilot will see red light.

If the angle is correct, both colored lights will align together.

"Everything is normal! The angle and height are correct! Prepare for landing… wait, the wind direction has changed, pull up, pull up, we cannot land."

As the landing signal commander was still waving the light stick, an urgent notification from the weather crew suddenly came through the headphones. A fierce wind suddenly blew across the deck, and the landing signal commander’s face changed immediately.

“It’s wind shear! Pull up!”

“Pull up!”

The flight training group students quickly sensed the change in wind direction and speed. They wildly waved their arms outside the isolation fence by the runway, signaling for the airplane not to land.

Lin Mo was piloting the P-51 "Mustang," aimed at the tail of the No. 83 aircraft carrier training ship. The suddenly howling wind displaced the airplane by over ten meters.

Lin Mo quickly pulled the rudder and flaps, constantly adjusting the throttle, making the airplane respond rapidly to the changing wind.

“Don’t land! Get away, get away from here!” The signal light stick in the landing signal commander’s hand turned bright red and began to flash, indicating danger and an emergency situation.

“What is this?!”

The carrier-based aircraft students Liu Zhen and other instructors widened their eyes, as the P-51 "Mustang" did not fly away but struggled against the strong airflow.

“How, how can this happen? What kind of landing method is this?”

“Hovering? How is that possible?”

“I’m not dreaming, right? Who can pinch me? Ah! You really pinched me, it hurts, this isn’t a dream!”

“The moment to witness a miracle has arrived! This is not Liu Qian! Not David Copperfield, can anyone tell me this isn’t real? This is magic, oh my!”

They watched in disbelief as the P-51 "Mustang" stopped its descent, instead adjusting its nose position amidst the wind shear. They could see the five-section flaps and rudder continually adjusting, as if it was in complete control, almost hovering at a slow, steady rate, and then smoothly and vertically touching down right in the middle of the landing runway.

Aside from the engine’s gradually decreasing roar, the sound of the wind, the waves crashing against the hull, and the alarm sounds, there wasn’t a single voice on the deck.

So, this is what a landing looks like?

An awful wind shear unexpectedly became the P-51 "Mustang’s" landing assistant, performing a live demonstration of a piston propeller fighter’s vertical takeoff and landing.

The precision control of the wind and the aircraft, along with the refined operation of the P-51 "Mustang’s" laminar wing design and five-section flaps, was astonishing. Was this truly a combat pilot or the original designer of the P-51 "Mustang"?

In an instant, danger turned to safety, and impossibility became possibility; this was a master-level pilot!

The new carrier-based aircraft instructor had already conquered everyone before even getting off the airplane, as the P-51 "Mustang" performed a live version of a vertical landing, almost making them think it was an AV-8 "Harrier" or F-35 "Lightning."

When the landing gear firmly settled on the deck, a burst of thunderous applause erupted around them.

“It seems we have an incredible guy among us!” Carrier-based aircraft instructor Cang Zilong, a major officer, exchanged glances with Major Wang Xin. The towing vehicle quickly attached to the front wheel and pulled the aircraft off the runway, and the alarm sounded again, but it turned into a signal for continuing the landing, as the hull slowly moved away from the wind shear area.

The wind was now very strong, and while the wind shear had not worsened, all J-15 "Dark Sabre" aircraft in the air needed to return.

The students quickly scattered, as the deck crew had heavy helmets to protect against the noise of the jet engines, while most lacked such protective gear. They thought it was fine to watch the piston fighter, but if the J-15 "Dark Sabre" landed, it would be deafening. The crowd in the safety net isolation area quickly moved through various passageways into the hull.

“Prepare to go below!”

The deck crew members on the flight deck quickly got busy.

The towing vehicle brought the P-51 "Mustang" to the high-speed hydraulic elevator platform, which could carry forty thousand kilograms, descending into the hangar below the flight deck, where the aircraft could be parked properly.

The gold giant dragon voluntarily detached from the aircraft, curling around Lin Mo’s left hand.

When Lin Mo pushed open the cockpit cover, a ladder appropriately extended from the aircraft body.

“Hi! Thank you!” Lin Mo took off his aviation helmet and waved to the deck crew staff nearby.

Several crew members, dressed in life jackets and wearing heavy helmets, gave Lin Mo a thumbs up. It was a spectacular stunt landing, and it was quite an eye-opener today.

Boom! With a faint sound, a gap appeared in the elevator deck. At that moment, a young and handsome Navy major officer rushed over from the bridge direction, just as the elevator deck started to tremble and descend, he skillfully held onto the isolation railing and jumped in.

“Are you Captain Lin Mo?” A very young and attractive naval major addressed Lin Mo, who was climbing down the ladder.

With so many people around, Lin Mo had no intention of performing another cockpit-style show.