“Report to Leader Wu that the AWACS has been inspected and the airspace is clean. Please take off!” Duan Yi finally asked Wu Shengli for instructions.

This airspace is clean, which of course means that there are no surveillance satellites overhead. Although it is impossible to avoid detection, you still have to avoid it for a while if you can.

“It’s okay to take off. I wish you a successful first flight!” Wu Shengli nodded. He walked up to the crew and shook hands with them.

There are five or six regular AWACS crew members. The two in the front fly the aircraft and the following ones operate the radar equipment. But now, because there is no radar and electronic equipment on the aircraft, and the test flight is also full of risks, there are only two flight personnel. .

They are all experienced old pilots. They used to fly the Y7, which is similar in size to the early warning aircraft. Now they have hundreds of hours of flying experience in the KJ-600. Before this test flight, they were in the simulator. I have simulated it countless times and experienced real takeoffs and landings in the cockpit of a trainer aircraft. The experience is considered rich enough.

At this time, the two men shook hands with Wu Shengli, both of whom were full of confidence: "Please rest assured, leader, we will be able to successfully complete the test flight mission!"

 “Okay, I look forward to your success!”

The hangar door opened, and a professional aircraft carrier tractor came over, towing this special-shaped early warning aircraft forward slowly. Countless curious eyes looked over.

　　This early warning aircraft arrived at Wasteland Village in the middle of the night yesterday. The flight training was over at that time, and there were not many people in the venue. After arriving, it went directly into the hangar, so most people did not see it.

Today is different. Many people are surprised when they see this kind of aircraft in broad daylight. After the surprise, they become excited.

Early warning aircraft!

 Our navy also needs to have early warning aircraft!

“Attention, prepare the electromagnetic catapult!”

The personnel who specialize in operating the electromagnetic catapult are already in place. The energy storage is completed and they are ready to eject at any time. Since the catapult was equipped in Wasteland Village, a large number of ejection experiments have been carried out. Apart from regular maintenance, there have never been any unexpected situations. If the ejection success rate were announced, it would definitely make the US Navy jealous to death.

 The wheels on the front of the KJ-600 are of a double-wheel design, which is also to facilitate ejection. The landing gear is very thick. After the front wheel is firmly fixed, the entire aircraft is ready for launch.

The flame deflector slowly rose. In fact, for a propeller aircraft, this flame deflector is of little significance, but this is a fixed procedure. The same is true for the US Navy's ejection early warning aircraft, so everyone followed suit.

 The engine roared, and the huge propeller turned from slow to fast.

Different from the E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft, this engine has three rotors, and the propeller is a complex coaxial counter-rotating propeller. There are two pairs of propellers in front of one engine, rotating in opposite directions. The biggest advantage of this is that it offsets the rotational torque. , making the aircraft more stable, the price is of course a greatly increased complexity.

The huge propeller looks very unique and breathtaking.

Even Delano sighed: "A huge engine requires this kind of special propeller. However, it sounds like the engine is not running at full power?"

"Yes, the power of 14,000 horsepower is excess. Even for take-off, we use 9,000 horsepower, which is enough. The excess power is mainly used as reserve power. Once one of the engines fails, the other one will be Full power will come out quickly.”

Their E-2 does not have this capability. Even if it is later replaced with an engine with greater thrust, it will only improve the take-off and landing characteristics. Once one of the engines fails, it will definitely fall into the sea.

The ejection commander made that skillful body movement, and the buzzing excitation sound of the electromagnetic catapult filled everyone's ears. The Air Police-600 withstood the test of ejection takeoff for the first time. Under drag, it flew forward quickly, getting faster and faster. Before it reached the end of the catapult, the nose landing gear had separated from the catapult's pulley, and the catapult began to slow down and stop. The Air Police-600 It continued to accelerate forward for a meter or two, and the entire fuselage easily left the runway.

 Flying!

 Easy, no surprises!

"This time it is an unloaded ejection take-off and landing. Next time we should continue to add counterweight." Duan Yi said: "However, the catapult does not have full power output and there is still a lot of margin. It should not be possible for a full-weight ejection. question."

Of course nothing can go wrong. If something goes wrong, it will be a big trouble!

The carrier-based early warning aircraft must be able to take off with a full load. If it cannot, it means that it must carry less stuff. There must be no less people, and it can also have less equipment. It can only carry less fuel. If there is less fuel, the endurance will be insufficient. .

Therefore, we have to find a way on the aircraft carrier: extending the length of the catapult, which is a big project. Just look at the French experience on the Charles de Gaulle. Isn’t it because the E-2 cannot board the ship? Instead of lengthening the catapult, the deck was lengthened, which eventually became a joke around the world.

 Our own side must not make this kind of mistake. Now the construction of the aircraft carrier has begun. It is estimated that the first section has been built, and the aircraft carrier has been finalized. If it is modified again, it will definitely be a big project.

“Yes, the test flight was successful, now it’s time to land.” Wu Shengli said.

This early warning aircraft came here for testing, for no other reason than to test takeoff and landing. Therefore, one side ejects to take off, and the other side blocks the landing. Every opportunity cannot be wasted.

Delano has already strode towards the ship's landing guidance area, which is also where he often works. Almost every carrier-based aircraft pilot has the experience of being guided to land by him, but this is the first time for this early warning aircraft.

Moreover, after coming to the East for many years, Delano can already speak fluent Chinese, which is very convenient for communication. Of course, carrier-based aviation is a proud man, and he can also conduct full English conversations. In short, no matter what he says, communication is smooth. no problem.

Qin Tao and others did not go there. They stood on the outside of the landing area and watched the landing of the plane from a distance. This kind of distance view would be more spectacular.

“The take-off and landing test of the carrier-based aircraft is very important, which means that our KJ-600 is one step closer to practical use.” Wu Shengli stood next to Qin Tao and said.

"Yes, this kind of early warning aircraft is one step closer to being officially put into service. Our 002 aircraft carrier will become a truly modern super aircraft carrier. Its combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of American aircraft carriers. As for the gap in quantity, we can slowly make up for it. Wait until The 002 aircraft carrier has officially entered service, and our country's economic strength has also been enhanced. By then, we can start construction on two ships at the same time, with us in Mingzhou building one and other shipyards building one."

Hearing Qin Tao's words, Wu Shengli glanced at him: "Starting construction of two ships at the same time? Only you dare to think so."

"Is there anything we dare not to think about? Did the navy dare to think about having an aircraft carrier back then? Don't we have two now?" Qin Tao said: "In order to protect our maritime rights and interests, we must build a strong navy."

　　When talking about this, there was a rumbling sound in the distance, and the figure of the Air Police-600 had appeared outside the landing zone and accurately entered the glide path.

“Stay steady, that’s good, keep the current state, continue to slide, don’t be afraid!” Delano held the radio and kept shouting inside, just like calling the former students.

The landing of a carrier-based aircraft is different from that of an ordinary aircraft. It is more like being dropped directly. Therefore, when the pilots of a carrier-based aircraft land on the ship for the first time, they will feel a sense of fear in their hearts and watch the deck coming towards them. , you will involuntarily want to pull the control stick to go around. If you cannot overcome this fear, you will not be able to become a qualified carrier-based aircraft pilot, and you will have to go back to where you came from.

At this time, the landing AWACS aircraft was holding up pretty well. It had to continue to descend, and it was necessary to descend bravely without fear.

 In the cabin, the two pilots were fully focused. Unlike the flight simulator, if you fall, you can start over. If you fall now, there will be no second chance.

 Carrier-based aircraft pilot, the crystallization of bravery and skill!

 Their eyes looked at the Fresnel-assisted landing mirror, which continued to slide down, down, and the landing area became larger and larger.

 “Good, very good, low-altitude clearance!” Delano shouted.

No mistake can be made in any landing action, otherwise there will be catastrophic consequences. Therefore, the critical first landing must be prepared several times. Just like now, the carrier-based aircraft is only one step away from landing. It came up, but it did not hit the runway directly and hook the blocking rope. Instead, it passed through the field at a low altitude, went around, and aimed at the landing area again.

 “Attention, same as last time, keep it up!”

The KJ-600 landed again. Just like last time, the flight was very smooth and the glide line was flawless. Delano shouted with satisfaction: "We can land!"

An average pilot would have flown the descent maneuver more than a dozen times before landing after being thoroughly proficient. But now, Delano was very satisfied with the pilot's performance of this aircraft, so he issued a landing order.

The huge landing gear hit the runway, the buffer device shrank a lot, and the aircraft body shuddered, and then continued to slide forward, firmly hooking the second arresting cable.

 The moment the plane came to a stop, bursts of cheers erupted from the scene.

 Hong Kong Jing-600 successfully achieved carrier-based takeoff and landing in Wasteland Village for the first time!

“Tow it back to the hangar within five minutes and conduct a second test flight at three o’clock in the afternoon!” Wu Shengli issued the order.

The gaps between satellites in the sky are really hard to find. Who would have thought that just a few minutes ago, a satellite suddenly changed its orbit and flew over here?

The long blocking cable was quickly restored, the trailer drove smoothly to the aircraft, and then towed the early warning aircraft to the hangar. Everything was done very skillfully, after all, this was already a daily operation.

“The pilots of carrier-based aircraft in the East are all top-notch.” Delano said: “In the U.S. Navy, there are not many pilots who can land in the second flight.”

"This is also because our simulator has excellent performance." The pilot said after coming down: "We can realistically simulate all real-life situations on the simulator. So now the real landing is almost the same as flying the simulator. Of course, the acceleration and The feeling of deceleration cannot be simulated.”

“We have to fly in the afternoon, so we can’t have a celebratory drink. Let’s go to dinner first, sum up the test flight experience, and prepare for the afternoon flight!” Wu Shengli said.

Lunch has been prepared in the canteen, but everyone is obviously not in the mood to eat, they are all excited.

“Our navy has been looking forward to a fixed-wing early warning aircraft for a long time. The air force has the KJ-2000, and our navy also has the KJ-600. The combat effectiveness of our navy can also be raised to a higher level!”

“This is our second domestic early warning aircraft. I hope our scientific researchers will continue their efforts and develop more and better early warning aircraft!”

“That’s right, a good thing like an early warning aircraft must be built no matter how much money it costs!”

"Everyone, you are worrying too much." Qin Tao said: "The early warning aircraft project did cost a lot of money, but this thing is not entirely a waste of money. We can also sell it to make money. Isn't Saudi Arabia planning to Are their C-130 airframes transformed into airborne early warning aircraft? Countries such as Laoba will also purchase them. Our current research and development funds will be recovered in the future."

Duan Yi nodded: "Yes, there are not many early warning aircraft using active phased array technology in the world at present, and we are the only one with a big deal. As long as we export it, there will definitely be many customers."

The first people to install active phased array radar on early warning aircraft were the Davidians, but they used a big nose and big cheek method. They only made a big deal when they cooperated with Dongfang for early warning aircraft. Unfortunately, they have not yet succeeded. The project was terminated due to Western interference. Fortunately, Qin Tao took precautions and set a high compensation in advance. The development of the current early warning aircraft project depends on that compensation.

Our own technology is advanced. As long as the military allows export, the market prospects will be good.

"I have an idea." Qin Tao suddenly said: "If the early warning machine can guide air-to-air missiles, then can our fighter jets just fly over, launch the missiles and then fly back? There is no need for relay guidance. In this way, our stealth aircraft will be even more silent."

The basic tactic of a stealth aircraft is to quietly approach the opponent under the guidance of the early warning aircraft, then launch the missile and return. However, if you elaborate on the details, you still need to turn on the radar before launching the missile, as long as it is not the infrared missile that locks the target in advance. Radar must be used to provide various firing data to the missile.

 Furthermore, even if it is an air-to-air missile guided by active radar, it is limited by the diameter of the missile, the power of the seeker is small, and the active guidance distance is only more than 20 kilometers. Before that, radar irradiation is still required.

 Hence, this short period of radar exposure is when the aircraft is most in danger.

If the relay guidance is given to the early warning aircraft, the stealth aircraft will completely become a missile carrier aircraft. It will fly over, launch the missile, and return. It is as simple as that, no need to elaborate.

Duan Yi thought for a moment, then shook his head: "This is difficult to do. After all, the radar band of our early warning aircraft and the fire control radar band of the fighter jet are completely different. We can't guide the missile. At most, we can only use the data link. Relay guidance is carried out, but if it is in complex airspace, our data link may have insufficient bandwidth or be interfered with, causing the missile to miss the target."

 Qin Tao nodded, knowing that his assumption was somewhat taken for granted.

"However, in the future, perhaps when technology develops faster, our early warning aircraft radar can also be equipped with dual-band radar, and it may be possible." Duan Yi said: "This is a development direction, and early warning aircraft will also have combat capabilities."

"This is just my personal idea, don't interfere with everyone's thinking." Qin Tao said, future early warning aircraft do not have this technology, and he does not know whether it will be possible. It is okay to brag, but if it is really done, there are still risks. of.

 He didn’t want to give everyone the wrong route. Now these words can be regarded as bragging.

 The ejection takeoff after increasing the load in the afternoon went smoothly. At night, another fully loaded takeoff was carried out. In this way, the ejection takeoff was considered to be the completion of the experiment. The next step is to conduct more experiments to find the most suitable takeoff and landing route. Apart from these, there is only one last important item left: ski jump takeoff.

"If our ski jump take-off experiment is successful, then our aircraft can not only test fly in the wasteland village, but also simulate real takeoff and landing on the 001 aircraft carrier. We can even train a group of pilots until the 002 aircraft carrier is built. , our pilots will be mature." At the celebration banquet that night, Duan Yi continued to suggest to Wu Shengli.

"Yes, for the development of the navy, this risk is worth taking. I will continue to stay and watch our ski jump takeoff experiment. If there is a risk, I will take it."

Wu Shengli took a lot of risks with his words, but for the sake of the development of the navy's carrier aviation, he took the risk.

“For the sake of safety, we will take off without a load first, and at the same time, the engine power output will be maximized.” Duan Yi continued: “Then we will increase the counterweight little by little and test it slowly.”

  No matter how many times you calculate it on paper, the risk of ski jump takeoff is still very high. So, compared to catapult takeoff, they have to take their time.

 “Okay.” Wu Shengli nodded.

 The next day, the sky was clear and it was still a good weather for flying.

 Delano was extremely excited when he learned about today’s test flight project.

 Ski jump and take off! Even the ace carrier-based early warning aircraft of the US aircraft carrier has not done this kind of experiment!

The U.S. Naval Engineering Experiment Center has verified that under deck wind conditions of 25 knots, the E-2C carrier-based early warning aircraft weighing nearly 25 tons can take off from a 165-meter-long, 12-degree ski jump deck. Looking at these data, we can know that this was tested on Asan's aircraft carrier. I don't know why this kind of test was conducted. Could it be that Asan wanted to purchase an E-2 early warning aircraft?

Of course, this was already in the early 21st century, and Asan had to have the Super Sun King to experiment. Now, American early warning aircraft have no experience in ski-jump takeoff. After all, they have no conditions unless they go to the British Invincible-class aircraft. Test it, but you can only take off, not land, because it has no arresting rope.

Yesterday's ejection take-off was already very eye-catching. After all, this is the first carrier-based fixed-wing early warning aircraft in China and the second in the world. It can eject and land successfully, which fully demonstrates that the Eastern Navy has officially entered the modern carrier-based aircraft. aviation stage.

However, if it can take off on the ski jump deck, it will be even more significant, and Dongfang’s existing aircraft carriers can carry it!

Everyone is looking forward to it. Early in the morning, vests of various colors lined up in a long line and walked repeatedly across the simulation deck. They confirmed that the entire deck was very tidy and fully met the needs of take-off fighter planes. Once a tire is punctured during takeoff, a major accident will occur.

 Near the front of the ski jump deck, fire trucks and ambulances are also in place. If it really doesn't fly but falls, they will have to be dispatched urgently.

Although the height of the ski jump deck is not enough, the take-off speed is very high, just like a car taking off on the highway, and the consequences are unpredictable.

Everyone was a little nervous. Even Delano rubbed his hands repeatedly and kept looking around, sometimes looking at the ski jump deck, sometimes looking in the direction of the hangar, sometimes looking up at the space, the **** reconnaissance satellite, When will everything pass?

"Delano, why are you so nervous?" Qin Tao looked at Delano and was very curious: "It's not like you need to fly today."

"If I was flying, I wouldn't be nervous." Delano said: "Today's flight is of great significance, but it's a pity that you won't let me participate."

“You want to fly? Will you completely switch to flying early warning aircraft in the future?” Qin Tao asked.

Delano stopped talking. He had never seen an AWACS take off from the ski jump deck, so he was looking forward to it. If he was asked to fly the AWACS every day, he would be bored to death. After all, the AWACS was stable and could not perform any maneuvers at all. Even if he is a mad dog, he would not dare to move. If he falls, he will not be the only one to die. He cannot harm his companions.

At this moment, the hangar door slowly opened, and the early warning aircraft was pulled out again. Just like yesterday, the entire aircraft looked so beautiful and majestic.

The large plate of the E-2 early warning aircraft is flat, while the large plate of the early warning aircraft in front of you is bulged and looks more rounded. This is not only a streamlined consideration, but also has many requirements for heat dissipation, radar wave transmission, etc.

 Far takeoff point.

 This kind of early warning aircraft cannot even think of flying from the two 105-meter take-off points. The longer the take-off line, the better. The far point of 195 meters is the most suitable.

 Looking at the early warning aircraft parked there, everyone held their breath and waited quietly.

When it was in the hangar, the AWACS aircraft had already made all preparations. Now, after being dragged out, it was ready to take off at any time. Just after aligning with the takeoff line, the engine started and the roar became louder and louder. The propeller is rotating faster and faster, and it has entered the maximum power output state!

As the two yellow vests made that familiar action, the Air Police-600 suddenly slid forward. Looking at this momentum, it was no worse than using a catapult?

With so much power, the KJ-600 rushes forward like a tiger descending a mountain, getting faster and faster with a power output of 14,000 horsepower.

 “Take off no problem,” Delano said.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Air Police-600 had already left the jump deck and continued to fly upward along the twelve-degree upward throw curve just now!

 Get up, relax!