#60 - Chapter 60 The Troubles of Happiness

Inside the helicopter training field in Yangcheng.

The multiple helicopters presented before everyone made all the combat队员 widen their eyes in surprise, some almost drooling.

Looking at these crystallized achievements of human technology, tools that could conquer the skies, especially with the prospect of owning them soon, no one could remain calm!

So awesome!

Even Qin Jin couldn't help but feel his heart surge.

He didn't expect to achieve such a great victory on the first target!

And it was much better than expected!

Indeed, he didn't choose the wrong target!

He recognized the models in front of him, all civilian helicopters; he had piloted one of them during his studies.

This was normal, as this was originally a training base open to the public, so there wouldn't be any military models.

He was quite familiar with the helicopter closest to him, the small model he had used for practice.

It was an AC310, a domestically developed and produced 1-ton civilian helicopter with a wide range of uses, including TV interviews, rescue operations, and even short-distance transportation; it was also a mainstay training aircraft.

It could accommodate a coach teaching two students at once.

The aircraft had three propellers, with a maximum length of 9 meters, classifying it as a small helicopter.

Its maximum cruising speed was 176 km/h, with a standard cruising speed of 159 km/h.

The maximum takeoff weight was 900 kg, with an effective payload of over 400 kg. Fully fueled, it could fly approximately 600 kilometers.

The parameters were ordinary, but very practical. By removing some unnecessary components and adding more fuel, it could theoretically carry 3-4 people for 800-1000 kilometers!

That meant it could travel 400-500 kilometers round trip, enough to extend the influence of the Green Source base very far! (Please use my parameters as the standard)

This was the most common model, and the most numerous. A quick count revealed that out of the remaining 9 helicopters, 6 were AC310s!

Qin Jin continued to observe the helicopters, even touching the fuselage, thinking, 'What treasures!'

As he continued walking, he saw another, larger helicopter. Being prepared, he naturally recognized it.

It was an AC352!

This was a medium-sized multi-purpose helicopter, with 5 propellers, weighing 14 tons, and a fuselage length of 19 meters! The wingspan was nearly 20 meters, and its cruising speed reached an astonishing 280-300 km/h!

Especially with a takeoff weight of 7.5 tons!

And an effective payload of 4 tons!

Removing some comfortable items like seats, it could carry more than 20 people! With extra fuel, it could travel to places thousands of kilometers away!

For the Green Source base, it was definitely a strategic weapon!

It absolutely had to be protected!

Everyone was excited to see this even bigger treasure; the Green Source base's strength had greatly increased!

Unfortunately, as everyone continued to observe, the last two helicopters seemed to have problems!

Previously, they were too far away to see clearly, only roughly counting the number, knowing there were 9 aircraft. But they didn't expect the last two parked planes to have accidents!

Of the last two, one was also an AC352, but this one had burn marks on its exterior. On the side facing away from them, there was a car crashed under the fuselage!

Looking at the burnt-out car and the charred remains inside, they could guess that during the previous chaotic night of mutations, a survivor had crashed into the plane in a panic for some reason.

Not only did they burn to death themselves, but they also doomed the helicopter.

Qin Jin carefully examined the burnt areas on the fuselage, near the engine. Even the tail wings had some signs of burning. He felt a chill in his heart; could this plane be scrap metal!?

With this worry, his gaze swept to the last one, also the largest one in the field.

Model AC333!

Also a large civilian helicopter independently developed by China, with a fuselage length of 22 meters, a wingspan of 23 meters, weighing 15 tons, and a maximum cruising speed of 300 km/h!

With full fuel, it had a range of 900 kilometers, and with two auxiliary fuel tanks, it could reach 1600 kilometers.

Although these parameters seemed similar to the AC352, this AC333 large helicopter had a maximum takeoff weight of 13.5 tons! And an effective payload of 6 tons!

By discarding some unnecessary items and carrying extra aviation kerosene, the range could be extended to an astonishing 2500 kilometers! (Trust me)

This model was a variant of the military version, with external armor far stronger than the other two!

It could fly up to an altitude of 6000 meters and transport more than 30 people at a time, or even 50 people if packed tightly!

It could be considered the ceiling of civilian models!

But at this time, its cabin door was open, and the faintly visible red bloodstains indicated that things were not simple.

Qin Jin quickly walked over, leaned against the side of the fuselage, and cautiously looked inside.

He saw a mess inside the cabin, with dark brown dried bloodstains covering the floor, and some dirty objects scattered around.

These traces extended all the way into the helicopter's cockpit. Qin Jin drew his pistol, climbed onto the plane, and carefully searched inside.

Finally, he saw a skeleton that had been completely gnawed clean in the cockpit.

Although there were no zombies here, this scene broke Qin Jin's heart.

He saw that the cockpit was in chaos, possibly because too many zombies had squeezed in here to gnaw on the unfortunate victim, causing varying degrees of damage to the console and various instrument buttons!

Damn it!

Could this most precious large helicopter be scrapped just like that!?

He carefully examined the damaged areas, but couldn't really determine whether the plane could still fly.

But even if it could fly, he wouldn't dare to fly it.

If something went wrong in the sky, then he would really be going to heaven.

The excitement he had just felt was immediately doused with cold water, and a feeling of gaining and then losing filled his heart.

Walking out of the plane, he said to the other team members with a heavy heart:

"Everyone, check these planes separately for damage. It's not that simple. Check the inside of the planes that look fine on the outside!"

The others also noticed the abnormality and ran to other places to check the condition of the planes.

Before long, everyone gathered back to report.

The result was:

Of the 6 small helicopters, 3 were intact, and the other 3 had varying degrees of damage!

There were traces of zombies gnawing on people in the planes, or someone seemed to have operated them roughly, causing some damage to the control rods or buttons.

One even had traces of a vehicle collision on the side.

It was very likely that it was the same car that was stuck under the medium-sized helicopter.

Of the 2 medium-sized helicopters, one was fine, and the other had its exterior fuselage damaged by a car crash and fire. The extent of internal machine damage might require professional disassembly and inspection to determine.

Finally, there was the largest and only large helicopter. The main damage was in the cockpit, and it was unknown whether it could still fly.

This result was more serious than he had expected, and it was unbelievable that so many problems had occurred inside these planes.

After Qin Jin learned the results, he pondered for a while and said to Xia Yan, who was also nearby:

"Mr. Xia, take a look at these damaged helicopters. Can you fix them?"

Xia Yan had been with the combat team for a while and had confirmed that these people were not from the official side, but just a group of survivors who had come to find these helicopters from somewhere.

He didn't have much affection for the helicopters in the training base. He had only worked here before.

After eating something earlier, he had recovered some strength. Facing the leader of this group's questioning, he didn't dare to be negligent and replied:

"It's hard to say. I took a rough look. Except for the medium-sized helicopter whose outer shell is severely damaged, the others are in relatively good condition on the outside. I just haven't looked inside to make a definite conclusion."

"Then please help me check these planes and see if there is any possibility of repairing those that are damaged."

Qin Jin said unceremoniously. Saying he was asking Xia Yan for help, but the unquestionable tone was clearly not a request, but an order, because this was too important.

Xia Yan also knew that he couldn't refuse this matter and nodded to go and check each helicopter.

Zhong Yu also followed Xia Yan at the boss's suggestion to see if he needed any help.

"Everyone else, start checking the supplies in this training base. Count the number of aircraft parts, related equipment, and aviation kerosene. We're not just taking the planes, the other things that go with them are also very important. Everyone, get moving!"

The teams responded.

Without the boss having to arrange it, they each went to work under the command of their captains.

This base was quite large, and it would take them thirty people quite a bit of time.

Qin Jin simply found a place to sit down and began to think about the next course of action. Getting so many helicopters at once was beyond his expectations.

Originally, according to his expectations, he would be burning incense if he could get 2-3 planes on this trip.

He didn't expect to get such a big haul on the first try.

Even if those helicopters that looked problematic really couldn't fly, he didn't plan to give up. If needed after pulling them back to the base, he could keep them to dismantle for parts, right?

The two semi-trailers they brought were 17.5 meters long. The fuselage width of the small helicopters was only a little over one meter. Placed diagonally, with the propellers folded together, as long as they were fixed, one semi-trailer could pack all 6 small helicopters.

Then there were the two medium-sized and one large helicopter, which could be fixed on another semi-trailer in the same way, or a single one could be fixed and transported with a heavy truck.

He had made preparations in this regard before coming out.

The crashed ones also needed to be disassembled for useful parts.

And there were definitely many other things in this training base that had to be packed up and taken away.

At least all the aviation fuel definitely needed to be packed up. This kind of fuel was different from the gasoline that cars burned, and the possibility of having it in other places was extremely small. All of it here would definitely need to be extracted and packed.

It should be known that the helicopters found were all turboshaft engines and needed to burn aviation kerosene.

Other helicopter parts, maintenance equipment, and maintenance supplies definitely couldn't be let go, otherwise, if something went wrong after flying for a while, there would be no way to repair them.

Just as he was still thinking, Xia Yan, who had completed the inspection, walked over with Zhong Yu's support.

He was already weak, and his face was now covered with sweat. If Zhong Yu hadn't been supporting him, he probably wouldn't have been able to stand steady, but he still insisted on returning to Qin Jin's side to report.

"President Qin, I just checked all the planes. 3 of the small ones have faults. Two of them were damaged a bit seriously and can't be repaired with my ability. One only had some damage to the cockpit, and I can try to fix it. I should be able to handle it."

"Then there's a medium-sized helicopter. The outer shell is too severely damaged and needs to be replaced. We need to find the original manufacturer to have the outer shell, but it seems like the conditions don't allow it at present. And the inside also needs to be disassembled and overhauled, so it's hard to judge the extent of the damage inside."

The implication was that he couldn't handle this one.

"And the last large helicopter, some important parts were damaged inside the cockpit, but our training ground itself has these parts. I used to be a coach here, and I learned some repair knowledge by seeing and hearing for a long time. I can try to repair it, but I can't guarantee 100% that it can be repaired. At most, I only have a 30% chance, and it's estimated that it will take a long time."

Qin Jin heard what he meant. The odds weren't great, and it would take a long time.

Hearing this, he sighed slightly in his heart.

One of the small ones could be saved, and the large one still had some chance of being repaired.

Not good, not bad.

He nodded to the tired and weak Xia Yan and said in a gentle tone:

"Mr. Xia, thank you for your hard work. I will need you to take on more responsibilities in the future. Go down and rest first."

Then he gestured to Zhong Yu next to him, and the latter knowingly took Xia Yan to rest.

This person must be well protected. Not only will he need to repair the planes in the future, but he will also need to teach others how to fly helicopters, so the relationship is of great importance.

Next.

After understanding the situation of these helicopters, Qin Jin asked people to keep an eye on these planes. Although it was unlikely that anyone would come in and target them, he still didn't dare to be careless.

Then he took the others and found a building to stay in and began to set up defenses here.

They needed to spend the night here.

Originally, according to his plan, he would need to stay here for a considerable amount of time today, because there definitely wouldn't be enough time to return to the Green Source base today.

He didn't plan to fly the helicopter back himself first. He couldn't possibly go back to sleep one night and then fly back the next day, right?

It would be a waste of time and fuel, and there would be some danger.

After all, he only knew how to fly and wasn't very proficient. If he had a choice, there was no need to take this risk at the time.

It would be safer to let Xia Yan accompany him to familiarize himself with it later, and then check and confirm that the plane was okay before going out.

Moreover, today's harvest was a bit beyond expectations. Just transporting, packing, and loading the trucks would probably take a lot of time, and it was questionable whether they could leave tomorrow.

And he wasn't sure whether to go to other places with helicopters next. Those places generally only had one, which would take a lot of time to find.

Everything was troublesome.

Today's big haul had already spoiled his appetite, and it was difficult for him to feel excited about the harvest of one or two planes.

He planned to revise the battle plan later and decide how to handle things then.

So many things had suddenly piled up, giving him a headache and yet filling him with joy.

It was a happy problem, to say the least.

(End of Chapter)