Moscow region, Kubinka airbase.

Grigory Andreevich Refchkalov, who is just twenty years old this year, is the most golden age of a person, and his whole body exudes a vigorous energy.

Wearing his flight cap, he and his pilot, Alexander Pokresikin, walked towards the tarmac together.

As an air force stationed near Moscow, they have to take to the skies every day, cruise around their capital, and at the same time, during the flight, they can also conduct some tactical training.

Stepping into his cockpit and putting on an oxygen mask, Rechkalov expertly started the engine.

The AM-35 engines roared, and the two MiG-1s slid off the tarmac and onto the runway, and then the two planes took off quickly in formation.

The 1,200-horsepower engine roared, pulling the two fighters to climb quickly, and after ten minutes, they climbed to an altitude of 10,000 meters.

Looking down from this height, you can see the edge of the earth, and it's a mesmerizing sight!

The heavy oxygen mask made it possible to hear the sound of his own breathing, and Lechkalov's sharp eyes looked around, searching the surrounding airspace little by little according to the fan-shaped search principle.

His long plane, Pokrysykin, and he each searched half of the airspace, and just like that, the two flew and searched at the same time, circling around the Moscow region.

This kind of cruising is quite boring.

"067 call 066." Lechkalov called his long-term plane on the radio: "Request for maneuver training, request for maneuver training." ”

"067, wait twenty minutes, we'll do it after we've flown our first cruise." Long machine Pokresikin shouted.

The old Soviet planes did not even have a radio station, but this newly equipped aircraft finally equipped the radio station, which greatly facilitated the flight communication in the air.

It's only been half a lap now, and you have to complete a lap of cruising before you can make a few movements in the air and feel the beauty of wandering in the sky.

"067 received." After Lechkalov finished answering, he looked around, the sea of clouds was vast, and the airspace below did not find any special circumstances.

When he withdrew his gaze, he unconsciously glanced upwards from the corner of his eye, and suddenly, a bright spot was imprinted on his retina.

In an instant, he became excited.

"066, suspicious target spotted, eleven o'clock direction, above us." While calling, Rechkalov pushed the throttle stick to increase the power of the engine to the maximum, pulled the operating lever, and the fighter began to climb again.

Pokresikin also turned his gaze there, and when he caught that bright spot, he felt his heart chuckle, high-altitude plane!

In his visual estimates, the plane flew at an altitude several kilometers higher than his own! It immediately reminded him of the visit of the German Führer to the Soviets a few months earlier.

At that time, they also dispatched the MiG-1, which was barely able to fly to the other side's flight altitude and complete the escort mission, after which Pokrysikin wrote a report on the performance of the German fighter at an altitude of 13,000 meters, and suggested that they develop a new fighter to deal with it.

It is said that Mikoyan attaches great importance to it and is developing a new generation of aircraft, codenamed MiG-3, which will soon be able to enter the army, and the high-altitude performance of this aircraft is a step higher than that of the MiG-1!

"066 calls the base, finds an unidentified aerial vehicle, and prepares to intercept it." Pokresikin shouted over the radio as he pushed the lever and began to climb.

Last time, it was an escort, as long as it could fly up, but this time, it was a battle, to intercept, no matter what height the enemy was at, to knock the other side down, invade the Soviet airspace, must be punished!

Two MiG-1 fighters, struggling to climb upwards, 10,000, 12,000, 13,000...

The distance gradually narrowed, and the plane entered the field of vision of the two more and more clearly.

This plane was unlike anything they had ever seen.

In terms of size, it belongs to the class of medium bombers, with only two engines, which are similar to the German Junkers-88, but the structure of the tail is different, and the sound of the engines of the aircraft is also strange.

In the known data, the Junkers-88 of the Germans, also definitely do not have such a large range, what kind of aircraft is this?

Moreover, the flight altitude of this plane has exceeded its own ceiling! Now it seems that the other party is at least a thousand meters higher than his own!

"Boss, we've got to think of something special." Lechkalov's voice came over the radio, and at this time, he didn't even care about the call code.

13,000 is already the ceiling of the MiG-1.

The higher you go, the thinner the air becomes. At maximum thrust, the higher you fly, the lower the lift. When the lift of the aircraft is equal to gravity, it cannot go up any further, which is the origin of the ceiling.

If they continue to fly upwards, they will enter a terrible spiral at any moment due to the stalling of the wings.

If you want to continue to fly higher, there is only one special means!

"What's the solution?" Pokrysikin asked.

"Boss, yesterday I went out of the base and rode a bicycle, but I encountered a big slope." At this time, Rechkalov suddenly told a story on the radio, which made the long plane Pokrishin very strange.

This guy, sneaking out of the base, must have gone to find a girl from a nearby village.

The distance between the two sides is also getting closer and closer.

"At that time, I was thinking about something else, I didn't find that it was downhill, I still pedaled hard, but the car got faster and faster, to the bottom of the slope, I woke up, quickly stopped pedaling, there was a big uphill in front, I didn't use any strength, the bicycle was thrown up in a bang." Refchkalov said: "Today, I will use this method to jump to a higher height!" ”

After speaking, Rechkalov estimated the altitude and distance, and then, pushing the throttle and pushing the operating lever, the MiG-1 whistled and began to fly downward!

If you want to fly higher, you have to fly down!

As he dived, the speed of the plane became faster and faster, and the voice of Pokresikin came from the headphones: "Be careful, our plane has difficulty in pitching operations. ”

This is a common problem of the MiG-1, due to the problem of the center of gravity, the pitch operation is terrible and can get out of control at any time.

Rechkalov's face was stretched under the overload, even his voice changed, his plane had dived to a speed of 800 kilometers per hour, and then, his body struggled with the overload, and with all his strength, he hugged the operating stick backwards into his arms.

His plane, with its graceful curves, was like his bike yesterday, running down the slope and then suddenly upward!