With an order, Xia Yu and Wang Pengyu twisted the ignition switch of the scramjet engine at the same time, and Wu Degao, Du Junbao and Wu Min all unconsciously stripped their seat belts. After the scramjet engine is started, the speed of the aircraft will increase very quickly. If the throttle control is too intense, it is not much better than the feeling of the rocket taking off, and the huge overload force will press the person to the seat, and the pilot must contend with this powerful overload while confirming and adjusting the various parameters of the flight.

Although all the qiē were strictly implemented in accordance with the standards, everyone did not dare to be careless, especially Xia Yu, who served as the captain, was even more engrossed, paying attention to the reaction and attitude of the aircraft at any time. But after a few seconds, the working light representing the scramjet engine still did not turn on, and the information fed back by the aircraft did not change from before, Xia Yu knew that this time the start failed, reached out and twisted the start switch to the closed position, and said: "The first start failed, turn off the ignition switch." ”

After getting Xia Yu's order, Wang Pengyu also adjusted the start switch he was responsible for to the closed position, looked at Wu Degao and the three who were doing the processing work after the engine failed to start, and then contacted the flight control center: "Command center, this is the Shenlong." Group B entry 1 test, the first boot failed, and the reset is in progress. ”

"Command center received." In the flight control center, Yuan Limin felt that his heart was beating chaotically, but as the person in charge of the Shenlong project, he couldn't show this kind of situation, so he made up his mind and said to the flight commander: "Inform the Shenlong that after the reset work is completed, check the flight manual C books 112 to 131, E books 69 to 78, and confirm the content of the project information." ”

"The Dragon understands." After receiving the on-site command from Yuan Limin, Wang Pengyu reread the relevant information and said that he understood that Du Junbao and Wu Min could also hear the conversation between Wang Pengyu and the flight control center, so before Wang Pengyu reread, they had already begun to look for what Yuan Limin said.

After checking the number obtained in the flight manual and feeding back the number to the flight control center, Yuan Limin and other ground staff began to calculate nervously. Shenlong flies in the sky to burn oil, and if it takes too long to solve the problem, it will have to miss the opportunity to test this time.

However, soon the problem was found, it was about the problem of air intake and pressure expansion, according to the calculation results of Yuan Limin and others, after re-setting, once again the preliminary preparations for starting the scramjet engine have been done, and at the same time put his hand on the start knob, Xia Yu and Wang Pengyu glanced at each other, nodded, and with Xia Yu's password twisted at the same time, in the engine combustion chamber that the eyes could not see, the fuel injection device on the wall of the combustion chamber began to work, The precisely controlled amount of fuel injected is mixed with the air that is blasted in at more than the speed of sound, and it ignites.

On the clouds, the tail of the Shenlong, which had been flying steadily, suddenly erupted a huge tail flame, and then the Shenlong was like a chicken blood, dragging a long trail behind it. Xia Yu and Wang Pengyu in the front and co-pilot seats watched the number prompted by the airspeed watch keep growing upward, Mach 3, Mach 4.5, Mach 5.5, until it was basically stable at Mach 5.8, and the speed did not continue to increase.

Mach number below 6 belongs to the working range of the sub-combustion state, the speed above Mach 6 is about to start the super-combustion, for the sake of safety, the Shenlong did not start the super-combustion plan today, therefore, the speed of Mach 5.8 only maintained for thirty seconds, Xia Yu began to slow down according to the plan, turned off the scramjet engine and flew with a turbofan engine, and today's test basically ended here.

Of course, Xia Yu and the others had to let the plane land on the runway safely.

After the first test flight, a new aircraft wants to take off to the air for a second flight, and the interval is generally relatively long. Because the researchers must digest all the numbers collected on the first flight before it is possible to carry out the second or third test flight. So for a short period of time, Xia Yu and the others had no chance to continue flying, but this did not hinder their enthusiasm and anticipation for flying, especially after experiencing that crazy acceleration.

In fact, that kind of acceleration is similar to the feeling of Xia Yu driving the afterburner to control the plane to dive down with all his might, except that the Mach number is really not comparable to a fighter jet, in terms of excitement, it is actually not as good as a fighter jet. However, Xia Yu didn't mind this problem at all, because he knew that this plane could be faster, fast enough to fly out of the earth.

In the evening, a small celebration banquet for the success of the first test flight was actually an exaggeration, because the aircraft was still far from successfully completing its development. However, the fact that the plane successfully lifted off and started the scramjet engine flight was a great success that made everyone excited, and the number of test flights collected was very helpful to the next research and development process, which was a very perfect first step, so under Yuan Limin's suggestion, the big guys had a dinner together in the evening to celebrate the initial results of their preliminary work.

"Cheers!" All of them raised their glasses and drank them down, not in the glasses, but in drinks.

Basically, the researchers and five test pilots of the Shenlong project team here are here, among which Xia Yu and several other test pilots are expressly forbidden to drink any drinks with alcohol, and most of the personnel engaged in scientific research have no interest in alcoholic drinks at all in order to keep their heads clear, so there is no alcohol at the banquet, all kinds of drinks.

"I really envy the people of your test flight troops, who can touch all kinds of planes and fly in the sky." Wu Min swallowed the mutton shabu in his mouth and said, "It's like us astronauts, who don't have a chance to actually take off once a year. ”

Shaking his head, Xia Yu rolled the soaked mutton in the mustard dish several times with chopsticks, threw the mutton slices into his mouth under Wang Pengyu's frightened gaze, chewed it a few times and swallowed it into his stomach before he smiled: "But you go directly to space as soon as you have the opportunity, the plane doesn't have that ability, right?" ”

"Then we'll have to wait until that opportunity." Du Junbao couldn't help but sigh: "After so many years, watching the Shenzhou spacecraft send many people into space, I can't take my turn, but I'm depressed." I didn't expect the rocket that I had been waiting for didn't wait, I actually waited for the space plane, and I flew like this today, hey, this feeling, it is estimated that it is much more exciting than the rocket. ”