Chapter 83: Feng Yuanxing’s Request for Help
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Xiao Tang, judging by your performance, did you undergo specialized training?” the leader asked.
“Yes, when 1 used to play with model aircraft, I practiced specifically for it, and later, I spent a long time playing flight simulators on the computer,” Tang Rui immediately replied.
“Do you want to become a pilot?”
“Well… 1 did consider it initially, but 1 didn’t pass the physical exam. Now, 1 don’t really mind anymore; being able to fly drones is good enough.”
Tang Rui wasn’t nearsighted, nor did he have any physical scars; it was purely his weak constitution that didn’t meet the standards.
After hearing this, the leader simply smiled and didn’t say anything.
Tang Rui didn’t say anything more either.
He continued to manipulate the joystick, performing consecutive rolls.
Rolling was never easy.
A slight movement of the joystick, and the plane would roll over.
That’s in the game, in a situation where you don’t consider gravity and aerodynamics, a slight joystick movement, and the plane flips over.
In real flight, when you move the control stick to roll, the nose of the aircraft goes down.
The more rolls you perform, the further the nose goes down.
Eventually, the aircraft becomes an invincible spinning wheel, heading straight for the ground.
To maintain a level flight while rolling, you must first pitch the nose up by 15-20 degrees before rolling and then manipulate the control stick.
That’s just for a single roll.
If it’s consecutive rolls while maintaining straight flight, the operation becomes even more complicated; you need to control three control surfaces simultaneously.
Is there enough skill?
How is the technical level?
Someone with knowledge can tell at a glance.
After completing consecutive rolls, Tang Rui pulled up the joystick again, raising the altitude.
From an altitude of 10,000 meters, he performed a leaf-falling maneuver.
He had already turned off the flight control assistance system.
If he didn’t turn off this system, the drone would automatically correct itself when it entered a stall, which would defeat the purpose of performing a leaf-falling maneuver.
For fighter jets without vector engines, performing a leaf-falling maneuver is challenging.
For example, the leaf-falling maneuver of the F-7 fighter would crash directly to the ground.
However, for drones equipped with vector engines, performing a leaf-falling maneuver was effortless.
You could perform it in any way you wanted and correcting it was straightforward.
It didn’t require coordinating control surfaces; you could simply adjust the engine’s direction and apply thrust.
Tang Rui’s flashy maneuvers made the leader standing behind him eager to try.
After all, he had transitioned from being a fighter pilot to a management position; his technical skills were still top-notch, it was just his physical condition that couldn’t handle it anymore.
Operating drones didn’t require physical fitness; having the skills was enough.
Even the leader was tempted to play around a bit.
After all, with vector engines, you could perform a lot of acrobatics.
However, the group of professors nearby wasn’t paying attention to Tang Rui’s maneuvers; they had been monitoring the flight data of the accompanying drone the whole time.
According to the display on the computer screen, the accompanying drone had always stayed to the right rear.
Even if the distance sometimes increased slightly, it would quickly adjust.
During Tang Rui’s maneuvers, the accompanying drone followed along, but not identically.
At the very least, when Tang Rui performed a leaf-falling maneuver, the accompanying drone didn’t follow suit.
What did that mean?
It meant that the following drone’s flight control system was already quite sophisticated and not a simple, mindless follow system.
The internal logic was perfect, meeting the requirements of a military program.
Half an hour later, the two drones, under Tang Rui’s control, landed smoothly.
The first test flight was a complete success.
All data was normal.
All functions were normal.
No problems had been detected so far.
Next, there would be more tests, even stress tests.
The first test couldn’t cover everything because the fuel allowance was only enough for half an hour.
“Not bad, very good. 1 hope you continue to work hard to develop even better drones. When this drone test flight is over, I will report to the higher-ups and make sure they purchase a few. Remember to give me a discount when the time comes,” the leader said with a smile as he was leaving, showing his confidence in the drone.
Of course, anyone with eyes could see that this drone was exceptional.
Those professors even wanted to take one of the drones with them, but the leader stopped them.
Itwas just a joke.
Could they really take one? What would that even accomplish?
In the afternoon, while Tang Rui was controlling the drone and having fun in the test area, he suddenly received a message from the control tower.
“Control tower calling Fish Pond.”
“Fish Pond here, go ahead.”
“Please check the tactical tablet; there’s a notification message on it.”
A message on the tactical tablet? Tang Rui was surprised because he had hardly ever used that device and it had been collecting dust in his bag.
But to his surprise, there was indeed a new message.
The message was concise: After submitting the morning assessment report, it had attracted the attention of the Air Force. The drone’s classification had been upgraded to top secret, and it needed to be transferred to Ma’an Airfield.
He could either control the drone to fly there and then join them, or he could let the drone return, and military vehicles would come to pick up the drone and him, taking them to Ma’an Airfield.
Ma’an Airfield? Tang Rui knew this military airfield; it had been relocated from the original Dai Jiaocang airfield to Ma’an Street in the Liuhe District.
It wasn’t too far or too close to his home.
By car, it would take a little over forty minutes to get there. That would be okay.
Tang Rui returned to the computer, contacted the control tower again, and stated that he chose to let the drone fly directly.
After all, he had to go there one way or another.
It was more troublesome to disassemble and transport the drone back and forth.
Under the control tower’s guidance, the drone landed on the runway at Ma’an Airfield.
After the taxi was completed, ground personnel arrived promptly.
To be honest, among all the flights Tang Rui had done with drones, this was the first time he had ground personnel assist him after landing.
This made him feel a bit unaccustomed.
After the drone was towed into the hangar by the ground personnel, he closed his laptop and began to pack up.
Soon, a military bus with army plates arrived at their location.
Tang Rui and his company’s team got on the bus and headed to Ma’an Airfield.
Over the next few days, they conducted tests on the drone at Ma’an Airfield.
Even though Tang Rui knew that the drone was perfectly fine, all the required tests had to be completed.
On the seventh day of testing, ground personnel arrived at the hangar with missiles because today’s task was a live-fire test.
“Lin, why have you been staring at me the whole time?” Tang Rui noticed that Lin Chao was acting strangely today, always watching him.
“Of course, you’re carrying missiles today. There’s an actual warhead inside; if you drop it in the wrong place, the consequences…”
“Lin, what are you thinking? How could I possibly drop it in the wrong place? This is satellite-guided, you know.”
“What if? You can do whatever you want usually, but today, I have to watch you.”
“Alright, alright, watch me then.”
Tang Rui felt speechless.
Trust between people, huh?
It was just a live-fire launch, not a big deal.
“Control tower calling Fish Pond…”
“Control tower, Fish Pond here. Is there a problem? Why did you interrupt the call?”
“Just wait for a moment; something came up on my end.”
After saying that, Tang Rui minimized the operating system and opened communication software.
He interrupted the call because he had suddenly received a distress message from Feng Yuanxing..