Chapter 1482 Arrested Landing

The three planes began to coordinate turns.

As the altitude decreased, the outline of the coastline became clearer, and the land training facility next to it that simulated the deck of an aircraft carrier was particularly eye-catching.

"Plane 07, enter the third approach, altitude 3000 meters, speed 500." Zheng Hui reported his position and began the pre-landing inspection procedures.

"Aircraft No. 07, you can enter the four sides. The wind direction is 280 and the wind speed is 8 meters." The tower controller responded.

Zheng Hui skillfully operated the plane, completing actions such as turning, extending flaps, and lowering landing gear.

Although this was a land-based landing, they still followed the standard procedures for landing on an aircraft carrier - this is the iron rule of the carrier-based aircraft force, and every take-off and landing is a training exercise.

"Aircraft No. 07, enter the final approach and align with the runway." Zheng Hui concentrated on controlling the aircraft, ensuring that the glide path and heading were perfect.

"Flight 07, you can land." The tower issued the final permission.

Zheng Hui gently adjusted the joystick to allow the plane to approach the runway along the ideal glide path.

The landing process of a carrier-based aircraft is quite counter-intuitive, as the landing platform itself is not completely stable, so success does not entirely depend on the pilot's skills.

Always be prepared for a go-around.

Not only does the throttle need to be kept at a certain opening, the speed brake must never be raised to avoid affecting acceleration.

"Lower the tail hook." Zheng Hui followed the procedure while keeping an eye on the position of the arresting cable in front.

At the last moment before touching the ground, he pulled up the nose of the plane slightly and let the main landing gear touch the ground first.

The plane landed smoothly on the runway, and with a violent vibration, Zheng Hui felt the plane being pulled suddenly.

The tail hook successfully hooked the second arresting cable. The aircraft decelerated rapidly in a distance of less than 100 meters and finally came to a complete stop.

"Flight 07, arrested landing complete."

Zheng Hui reported and started the shutdown procedure.

At the same time, aircraft 08 and 03 also landed. Lin Shuyan's landing was a bit conservative, and his descent rate was low, causing him to miss the first two arresting cables, but he finally managed to hang on the last one. Wang Wei, like Zheng Hui, hung on the second cable perfectly.

At the same time, in the tower, Chang Haonan, Bi Fengchun and others were observing the landing process of each plane through telescopes.

When they saw all three planes landed safely, everyone smiled with satisfaction.

"The electromagnetic arresting system is performing very stably."

Chang Haonan suddenly said, with a hint of certainty in his tone.

"Academician Chang, how did you know we were using electromagnetic arresting?" Bi Fengchun turned his head in surprise, "I don't think I mentioned this detail to you."

As an ordinary deputy division-level cadre, his understanding of Chang Haonan actually mostly came from the limited introduction given by his superiors.

To put it simply, we know that he is a tough guy, but we don’t know exactly what makes him tough.

Chang Haonan did not put down the telescope, but just smiled:

"The traditional hydraulic arresting system will make the aircraft feel a noticeable jerk during deceleration, but judging from the deceleration curves of the three aircraft just now, the force is very uniform. This kind of smoothness can only be achieved by the electromagnetic system."

Bi Fengchun's eyes were filled with even more surprise: "You can see that, too?"

"I know a little bit." Chang Haonan said modestly, "I think the performance of your system has reached the international advanced level."

"That's true..."

Bi Fengchun nodded and added:

"Although the No. 16 ship does not have a catapult and most of the arresting energy storage is wasted, the biggest advantage of electromagnetic arresting is that the force can be precisely controlled, causing less damage to the aircraft and the system... So the Navy decided to skip the traditional hydraulic arresting and use this electromagnetic system. Judging from the current test data, the effect is very good."

At this time, another officer next to him also interrupted:

"Because the construction of Ford has been delayed, if nothing unexpected happens, the 16th aircraft carrier should be the first in the world to use this technology..."

A happy atmosphere suddenly filled the control room.

……

On the tarmac, ground crews were busy surrounding the three landing planes, and pilots were climbing out of the cockpits one after another.

As soon as Zheng Hui stepped on the ground, he saw Chang Haonan and Bi Fengchun walking over.

He immediately stood at attention and saluted: "Report to the commander, Unit 07 has completed its mission and returned!"

Chang Haonan stepped forward and handed a bouquet of flowers to the other party as usual: "Thank you for your hard work, Comrade Zheng Hui. You have completed the task excellently."

Zheng Hui was flattered, but also felt a little awkward for a moment.

I could only answer somewhat stiffly:

"This is what we should do, Academician Chang."

"Let's go and look at the data together." Chang Haonan took the lead. "I need to hear your pilots' direct feelings."

……

One hour later, at the base data analysis center.

Various parameter curves of the previous task were displayed on the huge screen. The technicians were busy sorting out the data and discussing in low voices from time to time.

"According to the sensor records, the missile's separation and ignition process were all normal." Chang Haonan walked to the main console and called up the key data before and after the missile launch: "How do you feel at an altitude of 11500 meters?"

Zheng Hui thought for a moment and replied:

"At this altitude, the aircraft's power performance is very good. Even if the speed reaches 1650 kilometers per hour, I still feel that the engine has sufficient thrust reserve... In short, as long as there is enough time to climb and accelerate, it is not a problem to form the launch conditions."

"But what about at low altitude?" Chang Haonan asked sharply, "I noticed that your operational input increased significantly when you were below 6000 meters."

Zheng Hui nodded: "Yes, at relatively low altitudes, especially below 6000 meters, even if the missile is hung on the centerline of the belly, the additional flight resistance can be clearly felt."

After a brief pause, he continued:

“The operating feel… how should I put it? It’s like the plane suddenly became heavier.”

Wang Wei interjected:

"From the data just collected, this increase in drag is mainly concentrated in the subsonic stage. Once the sound barrier is broken, the situation will improve."

Chang Haonan stared at the data curve on the screen, thinking:

"This is consistent with the aerodynamic characteristics of the waverider. The tangential cone design focuses on optimizing the lift coefficient above Mach 5, and mainly provides drag at lower speeds, especially subsonic speeds."

After that, he suddenly turned to the technicians and said, "Turn out the correlation curve between the flight angle of attack and speed."

A captain officer operated quickly, and several new data curves appeared.

Chang Haonan stared at it for a while, then walked to the screen and picked up a telescopic antenna to point at one of the lines: "In subsonic speeds, especially in the range below 800 kilometers per hour, the handling characteristics of an aircraft with missiles are mainly affected by the flight angle of attack, rather than the speed itself."

He turned to Bi Fengchun and the pilots and said, "Look here - when the aircraft is climbing, although the speed is reduced, the control response is more linear. This is because the larger angle of attack changes the flow field distribution around the missile body."

Bi Fengchun thought thoughtfully: "So the problem is not the speed itself, but the flying posture?"

"That's right." Chang Haonan said affirmatively, "I have two suggestions for improvement on this issue."

He picked up a pen and started drawing on the whiteboard.

"First, from the perspective of our ammunition developers, future missiles can be equipped with a fairing that can be jettisoned after launch to improve the aerodynamic shape in the subsonic stage."

His painting skills have improved over the years. Although it is still difficult to call it good-looking, at least he is not embarrassed in front of others.

"Secondly, in terms of aircraft carriers... considering that catapult-type aircraft carriers cannot impose an initial angle of attack on aircraft, the J-15's front landing gear may need a certain degree of extension capability, so that it can obtain greater lift protection during catapult takeoff."

If it were someone else who was working on missiles and asked the aircraft to make certain changes to accommodate the weapons, no one would take it seriously.

But the person in front of him was obviously different.

Wang Wei's eyes lit up: "Rapid forward launch? Like the American F-35C?"

Chang Haonan nodded: "The principle is similar, but the specific design will definitely be different. This will increase the safety margin when leaving the ship without increasing the deck wind."

The discussion lasted nearly two hours, and the technicians recorded a large number of suggestions for improvement.

When the meeting ended, the sun had already set, covering the base with a golden coat.

The electronic warfare aircraft that took off in the afternoon just appeared from the clouds in the distance and slowly descended towards the runway.

As pilots, Zheng Hui and Lin Shuyan were the first to walk out of the meeting room, while others still needed to continue sorting out the data.

The shadows of the two people were stretched very long.

Lin Shuyan stretched his stiff body and said, "I have gained a lot today. Academician Chang is indeed worthy of his reputation. He saw the key to the problem at a glance."

Zheng Hui nodded: "Yes..."

The relationship between him and Chang Haonan is still only known to a few base leaders, and there is no need to publicize it.

Lin Shuyan thought that the other party's attention was not on this topic, so he followed Zheng Hui's gaze and looked at the No. 16 runway under construction in the distance: "When the electromagnetic catapult is installed and the No. ship goes to sea... then, we will be the first batch of real carrier-based aircraft pilots in China."

Only then did Zheng Hui come back to his senses.

The electromagnetic catapult looks particularly spectacular in the twilight.

He seemed to have seen the future - China's aircraft carrier fleet would be galloping in the distant sea, and they would be part of that steel eagle.