In the early morning, the test flight site was still shrouded in a thin mist.

Although it was not yet time to go to work, a group of people started working on the airport runway early.

"Squad leader, why did we start driving birds so early today?"

A young soldier, holding a shotgun in one hand, asked his squad leader with some confusion.

"There should be a mission."

The squad leader said his speculation for a moment, and then said solemnly:

"Don't know, don't ask!"

When the little soldier heard the stern voice of his squad leader, he no longer wondered what task he would perform today.

Instead, he began to seriously carry out the task of repelling birds.

Modern aircraft, because the flight speed is getting faster and faster, so the damage to the pilot and the aircraft is also increasing.

This is also the reason why modern airports attach great importance to bird repellent.

The test flight site often needs to carry out aircraft test flight work.

For bird repellent work, compared with general military airports, the requirements are actually higher.

Many of the test flights are fighter jets, and because the performance limits of the aircraft need to be tested, both the take-off speed and the take-off distance will be compressed to the limit.

As a result, if a bird strike occurs, the resulting accident is more tragic than a normal accident.

The soldiers who drove birds at the airport did their job seriously.

By various means, all the birds around the airport are driven away.

"Squad leader, the fog has lifted!"

The little soldier, who was sweating profusely just now, looked at the sun and said with a smile.

"yes."

"It's another good day for flying!"

The squad leader also wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and said.

And in the hangar of the airport, a very sci-fi appearance fighter is quietly waiting for its first appearance in the blue sky.

An angular fuselage, canards for maneuvering at multiple angles, a twin vertical tail in the tail, engines for binary vector maneuvering.

Although it is painted in the yellow livery of the experimental model, it still has a natural majesty and domineering.

The long airspeed tube ahead is about to pierce the sky.

"How's it going?"

In the preparation stage before the test flight, Zhang Xingyang asked Lei Gang.

"Don't have any psychological pressure, we can rebuild the plane if it falls, talent is the most important thing."

As a test pilot who flew the J-10 a few years ago, Lei Gang has been able to fly more than 1,200 hours per year in the past few years.

In this excellent domestic pilot, there are only 200 hours of flight time per year.

Lei Gang's flight time alone is worthy of ten excellent pilots.

The reasons for this are complex, although at this time there were already aero engines with a long service life in China.

It's no longer like in the previous life, where you have to overhaul the engine after a few flights.

But every time you fly, you still need to spend a lot of money.

Just the supporting fuel, vulnerable parts, etc., make the hourly flight cost of the fighter aircraft about tens of thousands of yuan.

This is also an important reason why no one in the Air Force and the Navy can achieve the same training time.

In the past few years, Lei Gang has only had seven or eight turbofans that have been scrapped.

Such flight training, even if placed in the world, is at an alarming level.

In recent years, NATO pilots have only flown about 250 hours a year.

"Mr. Zhang, I have experience, it's okay!"

Lei Gang didn't have such worries as Zhang Xingyang, patted his chest and swore that he was authentic.

"No, no, no, this fighter, you should have felt it when you were training on the ground before."

Zhang Xingyang seriously corrected Lei Gang's thoughts.

"His thrust and weight determine that he will be fast in the sky, and it is even possible to reach a cruising speed above Mach 2.2!"

"With the afterburner turned on, it is even possible to reach Mach 3.2."

The thrust of the new fourth-generation aircraft is very sufficient, and a single binary vector version of the turbofan ten can reach 178 KN.

So the thrust of the whole fighter is around 36 tons.

Nowadays, many advanced electronic equipment in the fighter has not yet been replaced, and there is a lot of spare quality.

Today the take-off weight of this fighter is 26 tons.

"This is indeed a lot faster than our previous J-10."

It was not the first time that Lei Gang knew the performance of the fighter he was going to fly today, but when he heard Zhang Xingyang talk about it, he was still much more serious.

"Chief Master Zhang, I will do my best to bring the plane back safely!"

After speaking, Lei Gang gave Zhang Xingyang a military salute and expressed his determination.

"I want to see you come back safely!"

Zhang Xingyang said after returning the salute.

"I do my best."

Lei Gang said this sentence with a hippie smile, and did not seem to pay attention to the test flight work he was going to conduct.

In fact, the danger of test flight work is extremely high.

Because of the test flight, there may be anything that you have never even heard of.

At this time, test pilots in the sky can only rely on the knowledge they have learned and their own judgment.

Determine if the plane will still be able to fly back, and whether to parachute?

From the first independent test flight in China, to now, dozens of test pilots have sacrificed their lives for the aviation cause of the motherland.

Of course, there were also many aviation experts and technicians who were on the plane at that time who sacrificed their lives together.

Many of these people are able to skydive themselves.

However, in order not to fall into a residential area and cause a large number of casualties, the plane was chosen to control the plane at the last moment of its life and fell into a no-man's land.

This is also an important reason why Zhang Xingyang had to give special advice before Lei Gang carried out the test flight work.

Although he has full confidence in the new fighter, it is possible that any unexpected situation will arise during the experiment.

If there is a situation that they did not expect in the experiment, then Zhang Xingyang still hopes that Lei Gang can give up the fighter and save his life.

If Zhang Xingyang didn't give a special advice, then there was an unexpected situation.

According to the ideas of Lei Gang and other test pilots, the first important thing must be the fighter plane that is tested and flown out.

In order to save the fighter, they could sacrifice their own lives.

Not far away, the doctor at the airport was about to conduct a final physical examination of Lei Gang to ensure that his physical condition was suitable for today's test flight.

"The doctor is waiting for you, go ahead."

Zhang Xingyang didn't know what to do to persuade Lei Gang to ensure his life safety first.

This matter feels many times more difficult than carrying out the most difficult scientific research tasks.

In the end, Zhang Xingyang could only give up and continue to persuade.

Glancing at Lei Gang, who was preparing for a physical examination, Zhang Xingyang turned around and walked towards the engineers who were still conducting the final inspection of the fighter jet.

"Master Zhang!"

In charge of the overhaul of the fighter jet was a young man who was not very old.

"How's machine 02 doing?"

Zhang Xingyang looked at the people around him who were still busy and said.

The No. 01 machine is a ground static verification machine, which is still lying in Chengfei's hangar.

"The inspection is almost complete."

The young engineer said, wiping the sweat from his head.

"No problems have been identified at the moment."

"There shouldn't be any problems, we checked it several times before the plane was transported."

"During the transportation process, we also tried to protect it as much as possible."

Although Zhang Xingyang also knew that the probability of problems with this fighter was very small, Zhang Xingyang still said:

"I still can't relax."

The success or failure of the first flight is not only related to the finalization of the subsequent fourth-generation aircraft, but also the corresponding strategic issue of the Air Force.

Zhang Xingyang has not said these questions, whether it is the fighter design team or the manufacturing team.

But he does bear a lot of pressure in this regard.

Because at this time, even Eagle Sauce's F-22 has not yet entered service, and everyone still has certain doubts about the development of such an expensive fighter.

Although the R&D cost of the domestic fourth-generation aircraft is not as high as tens of billions of dollars like the F-22, it also costs tens of billions of dollars.

After all, at this time, many domestic technologies are lagging behind when the J-20 was developed in later generations, which has increased the cost of research and development rapidly.

After the inspection work before the first flight was completed, the first flight of the fourth-generation aircraft is about to officially approach.

"Report, Lei Gang, the test pilot team, apply for the first test flight mission of Weilong!"

Lei Gang applied to Zhang Xingyang in a loud voice to start the first flight.

"Approval for the first flight mission!"

Zhang Xingyang also responded to Lei Gang with a serious face.

After receiving approval, Lei Gang turned around and entered the fighter jet through the telescopic ladder on the side of the fighter.

This is not the first time that Lei Gang has tested a domestically produced advanced fighter.

If the last time he flew a test flight, he still had a rapid heartbeat.

During this test flight, Lei Gang felt that his body was very relaxed, and the flight seat fit him very well.

Of course, this is not Lei Gang's illusion, the seat of the Weilong fighter has been adjusted to a large extent compared to the previous generation of fighters.

It is more ergonomic and provides thermal insulation and ventilation.

In fact, when piloting the J-10, many pilots proposed that when they were engaged in high-intensity confrontations, they would sweat a lot because of the intense physical and mental exertion.

In the process of high-intensity confrontation, the pilot's discomfort will be increased.

Therefore, when designing and manufacturing this fourth-generation aircraft, the professional design team of the sub-project has made key improvements in this regard.

However, after Lei just entered the cabin, what shocked him the most was actually the helmet he had just put on.

Although before, a flight helmet was also worn.

But that thing can only be said to have a certain protective effect on the head, preventing damage to the eyes due to direct sunlight at high altitude, or convenient oxygen supply.

However, as a fourth-generation aircraft with the highest level of domestic science and technology, the helmet is a higher level.

Not only does it have excellent protection performance, but more importantly, it integrates a lot of information into the flexible display mask on the helmet.

It allows pilots to learn a lot of data about the aircraft through the helmet, as well as helmet sights, which are relatively rare at present.

Allows the fighter to follow the helmet for target aiming.

Lei Gang took two deep breaths to calm himself down.

In accordance with the fourth-generation aircraft operating code learned earlier, a series of self-inspection work was completed for the aircraft.

"Aircraft 02, complete the preparations, apply for takeoff."

After gesturing to the crowd on the runway, Lei Gang said calmly in the communication system.

"You can take off!"

Clear orders came from the tower.

Zhang Xingyang stood on the runway of the airport, looking at the fighter in front of him who was only ten meters away from him.

In a very short period of time, the tail flame of the fighter turned from orange to blue.

The air around him seemed to be distorted by the heat.

Although separated by a distance of ten meters, Zhang Xingyang only felt a little bit of heat.

It just shows that the heat insulation of this fighter is excellent.

Otherwise, at such a distance, you must be able to feel the heat wave.

The fighter jets began to taxi down the runway.

Compared with the take-off distance of less than 300 meters of the Jian-10, the take-off distance of the Weilong, as a heavy twin-engine fighter, is longer.

But it's only a little bit longer.

After taxiing for three hundred and ten meters, the fighter gained enough lift to rise from the ground.

Different from the lightness and dexterity of the J-10 when it takes off, Weilong can make people feel the aesthetics of industrial violence when it takes off!

The yellow-painted fighter plane is like a yellow dragon, cruising in the sky.

Ray Gang piloted the fighter very steadily.

It's not as flamboyant as when he talked to Zhang Xingyang before.

At first, it flew around the test site three times at low altitude and low speed.

Although it is not difficult to fly like this, it can also be seen that there is no major problem with Weilong.

At least there is no problem in terms of structural design.

There is no such thing as falling apart as soon as it goes to the sky.

"Tower, tower."

"I'd like to try stealth performance."

Just when everyone thought that the first test flight was about to end, Lei Gang started to contact the ground command center in the sky.

At this time, everyone looked at Zhang Xingyang, who was the person in charge of the first flight.

"Agree to a stealth performance test!"

Zhang Xingyang did not end the successful first flight, as others had hoped.

On the contrary, he agreed with Lei Gang's bold ideas.

"Coming to disconnect the radar."

After receiving the reply from the ground, Lei Gang immediately raised his altitude and made the fighter disappear into everyone's eyes.

And in the ensuing time, also cut off contact with the ground.

"Ground-based radar, no target was found."

As a test flight site, there is a large radar here, which can even play the role of air detection in wartime, acting as the eyes of other fighters.

But now, this eye is blind!

Zhang Xingyang squinted his eyes and looked at the endless, clear blue sky.

There, now hides a Grim Reaper who can deliver a fatal blow to his enemies! (End of chapter)