"Hoo! Hoo!" Even though he was separated by an oxygen mask, Sun Rui could still hear his nervous breathing. He once thought that 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 did not carry any weapons and was shaking up and down in the strong sea breeze. Sun Rui could feel the bumps of his plane, but this was not the reason for his nervousness.
The main reason that made him think he was 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 Tang Kingdom's aircraft carrier Tongcheng No. 1.
Aircraft carriers of this era actually do not have much technological content, and their cost is 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 main dimensions of the battleship are 265.79 meters and 44.99 meters, with a standard displacement of tons and a full load displacement of 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...
Powered by 4 steam turbines, steam propulsion, four shafts and four propellers, the maximum speed is 33 knots, the endurance is 15 knots, the flight deck is 262.13 meters by 29.26 meters, and the maximum aircraft capacity is 85-95 aircraft.
Although due to different aircraft types, compared to the historical Essex-class aircraft carriers, the number of aircraft carriers carried by the Tang Dynasty was slightly lower, but it was only a few aircraft short.
Although 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 was relatively tall, and he was flying a carrier-based aircraft with a fixed lower single-wing metal skin. This aircraft also had counterweights added to simulate the weight gain of the carrier-based aircraft's folding wings.
Due to 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 personnel involved in the experiment raised their heads and looked at the swaying 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 be more than just a simple experiment failure. At that time, the aircraft carrier would have to be sent back for repairs, and a new test flight aircraft would have to be manufactured from scratch.
Sun Rui was even more nervous. He repeated the steps to be performed over and over in his mind, and lowered the landing hook on the tail of the aircraft as he approached the aircraft carrier.
He must control his aircraft, enter the aircraft carrier's runway at a suitable angle, hook the arresting cable with the hook on the tail, and slow down the aircraft instantly to complete the landing.
If he flies too high, he will miss the blocking rope, 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.
Controlling all this is a set of signal lights. They are facing the channel where carrier-based aircraft enter the aircraft carrier landing channel, and rely on angles to inform pilots of 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 aircraft landing on the ship does not need to be so precise, because there are four arresting ropes.
The pilot of the carrier aircraft only needs to hook the landing hook on one of the arresting ropes to count as success.
There is actually a reason why a Stuka dive bomber is used as an experimental model: this type of aircraft uses fixed landing gear, is slower, and its structure is easy to reinforce, making it 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 was very good, and from the sky, the aircraft carrier itself could not even see any obvious shaking.
"Your posture is very good! Keep it up!" In the earpiece, the observer on the aircraft carrier reminded loudly while holding the communicator.
Sun Rui could feel that his palms 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 talk about 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 body stood up.
Although he has trained countless times on the ground, he has become accustomed to landing by watching the ship's indicator light, 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 damn "short takeoff and landing experiment". He never thought that he would be taking off and landing on a ship with a runway...
Those damn 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 was completely different from the takeoff he had just completed, because all he had to do to take off was 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, and it carried no ammunition and the 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 when 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 hung on the arresting wire, and he knew this without having to confirm. 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 propeller had not completely stopped rotating. The ground crew eagerly climbed onto the wing and helped open the cockpit cover of the aircraft.
Sun Rui inside still felt a little unreal. He had not yet gotten over the surprise of landing on an aircraft carrier for the first time.
Months of training were just for a landing like today. He had flown for thousands of hours, and almost all of his time was spent on takeoff and landing training.
While others are flying in the sky,
But 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 hard work finally paid off, he succeeded! He landed the plane on a movable... 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 had to fear the enemy's airports built along the coast, and at the same time it no longer had to worry that its battleships were outnumbered by the enemy.
The standard to measure the strength of a naval fleet is no longer the caliber of the cannons, nor the thickness of the armor. It is the number of radars, the performance of the 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 loud 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 by 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 flight 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
They said they moved the plane 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 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 really echoes the saying: The Air Force is a young soldier, and the Army is a beggar soldier... While the frontline infantrymen were studying how to eat compressed biscuits without stuffing their teeth, the Navy had basically eliminated compressed biscuits.
People on the runway were celebrating, and many people threw 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 nearby, 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 and waved their hats and arms towards the Tongcheng 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 this 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 the "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 was still the most powerful surface ship in the Tang Kingdom.
This "Bismarck" class battleship of the Tang Dynasty 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 realize what a huge threat the emergence of carrier-based aircraft poses to battleships, even though most
Most people are still focusing on the submarines that are currently in the limelight, but soon... everyone will know how important the aircraft carrier's position is in the history of naval warfare.
"I like cakes!" Sun Rui became excited when he heard about cakes. He loves sweets, and cream cake has become one of his favorite foods since it was invented by His Majesty the King.
"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 sail together to test the aircraft carrier's aircraft formation as soon as possible.
