Chapter 615

Chapter 615: Energy Maneuver Techniques of Variable Wings

Colonel Jiang found himself powerless against the ascent of the forward-swept wing fighter jet, unable even to bring it within his attack envelope. In the moment when the J-20 “Mighty Dragon” experienced engine failure and suddenly lost speed, the forward-swept wing fighter jet surpassed the J-20 by exchanging altitude for speed, showcasing the essence of energy maneuver techniques.

John Boyd, the father of the "energy maneuver theory," was not only a top aerial combat veteran but also an expert in aerospace engineering and a major in the U.S. Air Force. Isn’t he quite similar to Lin Mo?

At the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, from 1953 to 1960, Boyd engaged in over 3,000 hours of flight combat without ever losing, often finishing off opponents in about ten seconds, earning him the nickname “40-Second Boyd.”

His signature maneuver, known as “flat-plating the bird,” involved suddenly slowing down and climbing when being pursued, allowing the enemy aircraft to pass ahead before effortlessly flipping over and catching them off guard. With this tactic, he won numerous challenges and earned quite a bit of money.

Lin Mo’s Herbst turn had already deeply grasped the essence of energy combat techniques. In the moment he pulled the nose of the aircraft around, he roared toward the J-20 “Mighty Dragon” with thunderous noise.

Colonel Jiang had nearly given up. The “Mighty Dragon” was continuously losing altitude, and managing to keep the aircraft from crashing was already quite a feat.

Even if Lin Mo didn’t initiate an attack, just following closely behind would soon force the “Mighty Dragon” to find a place to make an emergency landing.

Boom!

The X-8 “monstrous” flew past the J-20 “Mighty Dragon” without firing a shot, almost brushing against the wingtip of the “Mighty Dragon.”

Not firing? What is Lin Mo trying to do?

Colonel Jiang was utterly astonished, completely unable to guess Lin Mo’s intentions. No, wait, that wing! There’s something wrong with that wing!

Could it be that he was seeing things? That didn’t resemble the forward-swept wing model he had seen before.

Aren’t ace pilots supposed to have the best eyesight in the world? How could he be mistaken? But what was that backward-swept fighter jet that just appeared? The middle body looked so familiar; when it climbed before, it was a forward-swept wing model.

Could there be a third aircraft? But there were only two in the simulator.

“Variable wings!”

Colonel Jiang shouted in astonishment inside the cockpit, his eyes wide open, mouth agape, lost in thoughts of that unseen fighter shape.

The forward-swept wing design was already an impressive aerodynamic design; humanity had not yet fully matured its technology and materials. But the transformation mechanism between forward-swept and backward-swept wings knocked him down to the Mariana Trench.

The transformation mechanism of the F-14 “Tomcat” was still a classic design that various countries’ fighter manufacturers often marveled at. The primary reason for the “Tomcat’s” retirement wasn’t due to outdated technology but rather due to high production and maintenance costs.

Colonel Jiang spotted the silhouette of the “monstrous” again, and only a few seconds had passed since it streaked by.

With an ultra-small radius turn, its maneuverability could rival old-fashioned biplanes. The “monstrous” executed a near brush with the “Mighty Dragon” while maneuvering in a tight flying pattern.

(Biplanes may not match monoplanes in speed, but they outperform them significantly in turning maneuverability. Jet fighters are left far behind, as the pursuit of speed always comes at a cost.)

Like a proud eagle, the “monstrous” reshaped its wings in front of Colonel Jiang, seamlessly altering to a forward-swept wing state. The fluidity and dazzling transformation didn’t affect its speed at all. Its design was ingenious and breathtaking, as even the wing transformations took aerodynamic changes into account without disrupting the dynamic balance.

Boom!

The “monstrous” brushed closely against the “Mighty Dragon” once more.

It seemed like a wonderful rhythmic combination maneuvering technique for close combat. It was a dance of fighter jets. Before Colonel Jiang could figure out how this forward-swept wing—or rather, variable wing—fighter jet danced around his “Mighty Dragon,” the scenery outside the cockpit suddenly spun around.

It wasn’t the outside scenery turning; it was the “Mighty Dragon” spinning.

A spin?

A deadly spin!

Colonel Jiang tried to regain control of the aircraft, using the J-20’s aerodynamic properties to correct it. But he failed; no matter what operations he attempted, the fighter jet showed no response.

In a way, a spin was even more terrifying than a stall. Some aircraft are strictly designed to avoid entering a spin. Once a spiral attitude occurs, it’s incredibly difficult to recover.

Usually, to recover from a spin, a pilot must push the control stick forward and then pull it backward. However, with only one engine left, the tail rudder of the “Mighty Dragon” had already been damaged by cannon fire, making it impossible to perform the spiral reverse maneuver or to enter the next stall correction operation.

Clearly, the “Mighty Dragon” had fallen into an irreversible death spiral, which was fatal for an unstable aircraft.

What’s more, another fighter jet was using special air combat skills to create aerodynamic vortices, further compounding the situation.

The variable wing mechanism allowed Lin Mo to excellently harness super-maneuverability in his fighter aircraft, giving it extra super-maneuverability boosts during the switching process.

Colonel Jiang chuckled bitterly as he watched the screen in the simulator fill with the earth, which suddenly turned red.

In the battle between titanium alloy and the ground, titanium alloy never won.

Without firing a shot, Lin Mo’s fighter jet used some strange flying maneuver to entangle the J-20 “Mighty Dragon,” forcibly snatching control away from Colonel Jiang.

The power of the wind, with such mastery of control techniques, was truly breathtaking.

In another world, seasoned Dragon Knights would seek advice from wind element warriors or magicians about the characteristics of the wind element, as flying always involves dealing with wind or aerodynamics.

Although, in theory, it might not be as advanced as this technological civilization, the warriors and magicians in that magical world had a more profound experiential understanding of aerodynamics.

As he indicated that the enemy aircraft was going to crash, Lin Mo terminated the operation, choosing not to proceed with the return process but instead to exit the simulation combat program directly. When he clicked on the operation menu, the simulator’s canopy screen suddenly froze and displayed a data interruption message.

A malfunction?

Lin Mo switched on the simulator independently since it was an isolated mechanical system not connected to the simulation platform.

If the pilot got locked inside the simulator because of a system failure, it would be a colossal joke worth billions of RMB. That would be quite an expensive joke.

The simulator still possessed certain dangers, especially since it could simulate real high overload. Without robust protective measures and safety restrictions, if something happened, the manufacturers of these two simulators would surely be in deep trouble.

As Lin Mo stepped out of the simulator while wearing his “tactical” helmet, he heard the computer expert responsible for the simulator system shouting, “Data overflow! Simulator halted! Number one! What did you just do? The server’s processing load is overloaded!”

After returning to the aerospace training center, Lin Mo had his code from the last selection activated again as part of classified management regulations.

“Overload?” Lin Mo shook his head and said, “I didn’t do anything unusual; I operated just like before.”

“Damn it, do you still need to use it?” the bespectacled computer expert yelled at Lin Mo. “It will probably take us 24 hours to repair it.”

At this point, Colonel Jiang also opened his enclosed simulator, clearly affected as well.

“Alright, alright, we won’t need it for now. You guys take care of it,” Lin Mo waved at the computer expert, then turned to Colonel Jiang, who emerged from the other simulator, and said, “Let’s get a massage; the simulator is broken and won’t be usable until tomorrow.”

“Yeah, let’s take a break; I’m a bit tired too.”

Colonel Jiang glanced back at the simulator and the suddenly busy computer experts, casting a surprised look at Lin Mo, wondering if this malfunction was somehow related to him.

As the modern aviation squad’s captain, Colonel Jiang knew about the advancements in computers. Through these past days of pondering, he could understand how these two simulators operated, containing many natural physical rules. Natural scene changes, explosions, and malfunctions were all simulated to be as real as possible.

What Lin Mo had just executed—his tactical maneuver—was something that had never been seen in human aviation history. Perhaps the computational load required to simulate aerodynamic changes was too great, resulting in a failure of the server providing the combat simulation platform.

“Where did you learn such tactical maneuvers?”

Relaxed in the hot tub with a towel wrapped around his waist, Colonel Jiang finally asked Lin Mo the question that had been on his mind for a long time.

This was indeed worth questioning. It hadn’t been long, yet Lin Mo’s air combat skills had advanced to this extreme, entirely surpassing Colonel Jiang’s imagination.

Participating in “Abyss Nirvana”? Many pilots may never even learn about such an international aviation competition even if they lived to old age.

“Night” wouldn’t question this; they automatically assumed it was due to the training outcomes from Team 7759. However, as a seasoned pilot, Colonel Jiang knew it wasn’t that simple. Wanting to be a pilot was one thing, but becoming an excellent pilot was another.

Yet to become an ace pilot required not just skill, but also opportunity.