Chapter 81: 80, Harassing The Japanese First Fleet, Self-taught Military Flight Maneuver: Aileron Roll, Taking Disciple Pan Jiafeng
September 28, 1932.
In the early morning, Shrike Hao was flying at 3000 meters altitude.
They had already passed over the SH urban area below.
In the nearshore position, a warship broken in half was sinking into the sea.
That was the Izumo cruiser.
Fang Wen piloted the airplane over his spoils of war and flew toward the sea surface.
Looking down at the sea surface from high altitude, it was not boundless; some scattered small islands dotted the sea surface.
These islands had become the best barrier in Hangzhou Bay.
After flying over these small islands, Fang Wen searched for Japanese Army warships on the sea.
This sea area was the boundary between the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. On the vast sea surface, even as Fang Wen looked down from high altitude, he still saw no reference object.
This was a major danger in sea flight; the vast sea surface made it difficult to position the flight path using reference objects.
More often, they used a compass, map, or even the sun and stars.
Fang Wen checked the compass, confirmed the direction again, and flew north.
After the airplane flew 200 kilometers, Fang Wen, in mechanical perception state, finally spotted the target.
On the sea surface, there were several small black dots lined up, moving slowly southward.
After lowering flight altitude, Fang Wen confirmed they were the Japanese Navy fleet.
He then dove down at high speed.
Japanese Navy Combined Fleet First Fleet cruising.
This had originally been Chinese sea area, but due to insufficient military force to protect it, these invaders’ fleets ravaged the sea surface unchecked.
They were brazen, even frolicking on the ships, paying no mind to danger.
In the eyes of these Imperial Japanese Navy officers and soldiers, they were the strongest in Asia, and no one in Asia could challenge them.
The fact was as such; these arrogant guys controlled Asian sea areas during the War of Resistance.
But today, their perception was shattered.
A black dot from high altitude dove down rapidly.
Many soldiers and officers on the deck noticed this scene.
They shouted loudly one after another, rushing urgently to their posts, as the alarm sound spread throughout the entire fleet.
It was an unknown enemy fighter jet, with astonishing speed.
The angry warship commander issued an order via radio for carrier-based aircraft to take off.
Those short Type 3 carrier-based aircraft hastily flew into the sky, trying to encircle the enemy aircraft with numerical advantage.
Fang Wen piloted Shrike Hao in a dive over the Japanese warships, completing the provocation.
This was not a reckless suicide mission, but something Fang Wen had carefully considered.
Shrike Hao’s speed was between 350 and 400 kilometers per hour; the Japanese Type 3 carrier-based aircraft could reach at most 240 kilometers per hour and simply could not catch up to him.
And the shipborne anti-aircraft weapons of this era were just anti-aircraft machine guns, manually aimed, and simply could not capture Shrike Hao’s flight path.
Just as he had planned, before the anti-aircraft machine gunners could calculate the shooting elements, Shrike Hao had already arced back into high altitude.
And the Type 3 carrier-based aircraft that took off from the enemy ships had even less chance of catching him.
But this was far from over.
Shrike Hao flew into the high-altitude cloud layer and vanished.
The pursuing Type 3 carrier-based aircraft encircled this airspace, forming fighter jet teams to search by area.
But they did not know that Shrike Hao was lurking above them at 8000 meters altitude.
At this moment, Fang Wen had absolute confidence to take down one or two enemy fighter jets and then quickly escape.
But he was considering whether it was worth doing so.
War was not one person’s affair; once he opened fire now, it would inevitably break the just-signed ceasefire agreement, not only creating unnecessary trouble for himself but also complicating the future.
Merely for a momentary thrill and bringing war early was not what Fang Wen wanted.
He forcibly suppressed his desire to shoot, merely adjusting the fuselage to dry-aim the machine gun at one enemy aircraft, then piloting the airplane to quickly disengage.
But on the return journey, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
He relied on his mechanical perception ability to forcibly widen the gap in flying technique, thereby gaining advantage.
But this was not all of air combat.
It was just like a peerless swordsman.
To dominate the jianghu, he needed a good sword（airplane）, extraordinary talent（mechanical perception）, and unfathomable swordsmanship（military flight tactics skills）.
What he lacked was the last one.
But in biplane teaching, there was not much of it.
Now the monoplane era was about to arrive; even without teaching knowledge in this area, he had to figure it out himself.
Time passed in a flash; another month went by.
Citizens of Shanghai had recovered from the shadow of war and resumed peaceful days.
No one knew that in this month, Japanese Navy fleets on the sea had already suffered 3 harassments by mysterious airplanes.
That extremely fast enemy aircraft gave them endless headaches; despite using various response methods, they could not deal with this mysterious and unpredictable airplane.
This was Fang Wen using the Japanese fleet to hone his air combat ability.
With the absorption of the four-faced golden Buddha mysterious energy, he felt his mechanical perception ability continuously improving; Type 3 carrier-based aircraft that were half as fast had become the best training targets.
And it was precisely this actual combat military training that allowed Fang Wen, combining mechanical perception ability, to create the first set of tactical maneuvers that biplanes could not perform but suited Shrike Hao.
Tactical maneuver aileron roll: Performing a gyroscope motion in the air, rapidly flipping the fuselage to achieve the basic tactical maneuver of slowing speed and evading enemy pursuit.
Although this set of maneuvers was basic, it was not as easy to execute as it sounded.
Especially on a first generation monoplane.
Fang Wen needed to continuously change lift direction during this roll around the longitudinal axis, coordinating with push-pull rod actions to swiftly perform spatial direction maneuvers.
Moreover, the aileron roll maneuver could be subdivided to cope with different tactical environments.
For example: quick roll, slow roll and large radius aileron roll, as well as ascending aileron roll, vertical aileron roll, level aileron roll, and descending aileron roll.
Mastering this military combat flight maneuver gave Fang Wen a feeling of comprehending a divine skill secret manual.
He could not help but think of Pan Jiafeng, who wanted to take him as master.
This tactical flight maneuver could be passed down; perhaps he could teach it to Pan Jiafeng, letting him pass on this military flight technology, which would also better elevate the quality of the Chinese Air Force.
With this idea, after work each day, Fang Wen would write lesson plans at home.
When the lesson plan was finished, Fang Wen had Shunzi go to the training center to call Pan Jiafeng.
“Young Master, Pan Jiafeng is here.”
“Let him come in alone.”
Fang Wen said in the room.
Pan Jiafeng swallowed, feeling nervous.
He walked in the door and stood straight, not daring to speak.
“How has your recent study been?” Fang Wen asked.
“First in the class in cultural studies, first in physical strength training, first in flight simulation,” Pan Jiafeng replied, a hint of pride in his words.
“Not bad. Tomorrow, come up on the airplane with me,” Fang Wen replied flatly.
“Ah?!” Pan Jiafeng, surprised, suddenly beamed with joy: “Can I do actual flight training now?”
“Not yet, but you can learn by following me: watch more, think more. By the way, this military flight technology manual I just wrote, take it and read it. Ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand.”
Fang Wen took out the booklet he had just written and handed it to Pan Jiafeng.
Looking at the booklet in his hand, Pan Jiafeng could not help but open it.
When he saw it written: “Military Flight Training Manual, Basic Air Combat Maneuvers: Rolls.”
This thing was no less than an ancient secret manual.
Pan Jiafeng dropped to his knees with a thud and said loudly: “Master above, please accept this disciple’s bow.”
The commotion inside was heard outside.
Shunzi regretted: “Young Master has taken a disciple. If I had knelt first, would he have taken me first?”
Fang Shouxin knocked hard on his son’s head: “You can’t even pass the flight apprentice exam, you don’t even qualify to speak. Don’t embarrass yourself here. Go study some cultural lessons and take the exam again next time.”
After scolding Shunzi, Fang Shouxin shook his head regretfully and went to knock on the door.
“Young Master, the apprenticeship matter needs to be done properly, not privately. Especially since you are a famous person in Shanghai, even if you don’t hold a grand ceremony in the city, you should invite some people to observe the rite. At the very least, announce it in the papers.”
Fang Wen in the room was stunned; he had taken the apprenticeship matter too lightly.
Since that was the case, he would do as Fang Shouxin said.
“Don’t make it too big. How about this: set a table at the tavern, have Sun Debiao, Shopkeeper Liu, Shao Sishen, and Howard come as witnesses.”
“Alright, Young Master, I’ll arrange it right away.”
“No need for arrangements. Let’s go to the tavern first and see who’s there.”
Then Fang Wen took Pan Jiafeng directly to the tavern.
In the tavern, Sun Debiao and Howard were drinking together.
After long-term interaction, their relationship was not bad, especially when drinking; Fang Wen, Shopkeeper Sun, and Shao Sishen treated drinking ordinarily, but these two reveled in it daily.
Seeing Fang Wen enter, the two stopped drinking.
“General Manager, you’re finally free today,” Sun Debiao asked with a grin.
“I’m free. I’ve taken a disciple and plan to set a table here to have you all witness it,” Fang Wen replied.
“Oh, great.” Sun Debiao shouted in his loud voice: “Boss, come over quick, prepare a table of good wine and dishes. Our General Manager is taking a disciple.”
The tavern immediately bustled up.
Fang Shouxin also went out to find Shao Sishen and Shopkeeper Sun.
After a while, Shopkeeper Sun and Shao Sishen arrived, and everyone was present.
Under the witness of Fang Wen’s own circle partners, Pan Jiafeng formally became his disciple.
Pan Jiafeng’s apprenticeship meant Fang Wen’s small circle had one more trustworthy person.
In this era, the master-disciple bond was as weighty as father and son.
Especially when Pan Jiafeng’s parents learned their son had apprenticed without a grand process, they came specifically to scold him.
For apprenticeship, how could the master handle it? It should be the disciple’s responsibility.
According to their family’s customs, they picked an auspicious day; Pan Jiafeng prepared generous gifts and went to perform the apprenticeship rite, holding another lively ceremony before it ended.
Now, all of Shanghai knew that Taishan Airlines’ General Manager had taken a direct disciple and was passing on aviation skills.
Some envied, some were jealous; talk about Pan Jiafeng spread in Taishan Airlines.
Pan Jiafeng felt great pressure and could only study well to prove himself.
Thus, he reported on time every day for boarding and learning.
There were no extra seats on the airplane; he took over the air mail carrier’s position, counting and handling mail and cargo after takeoff and landing.
During flight, unlike other air mail carriers who stayed in the cargo hold, he was in the cockpit watching how Fang Wen piloted the airplane, studying earnestly.
With the master operating beside him, able to ask questions anytime, and since the Boeing 80 was a civil airliner focused on stable operation, learning was relatively much simpler.
And Pan Jiafeng did have some talent in flight, quickly mastering the Boeing 80 flight essentials.
After fifteen accompanied flights, Fang Wen decided to let Pan Jiafeng do actual flight training.
But not on the Boeing 80, but on the biplane Qingyun Hao.
To better complete test flight training, Fang Wen decided to convert Qingyun Hao into a trainer aircraft. After all, now that he had Shrike Hao, he basically would not use Qingyun Hao anymore; converting it into a trainer aircraft would make it perfect for flight cadets’ actual flight training.
Qingyun Hao had two pilot seats; the rear seat was originally for the machine gunner and bombardier, and needed to be converted into a linkage device so the front and rear could operate the airplane flight simultaneously.
This way, if the airplane encountered a student’s panicked piloting error, the instructor in the other pilot seat could promptly correct it.
After several days of modification, the linkage device was completed, and Taishan Airlines’ first flight apprentice actual flight training began.
For this, all flight apprentices at the training center paused classes and came to the airport to observe.
Under watchful eyes, Fang Wen took Pan Jiafeng aboard.
He sat in the rear pilot seat, Pan Jiafeng in the front.
Looking at Pan Jiafeng’s stiff shoulders ahead, Fang Wen said: “Deep breaths, relax, don’t be nervous.”
Pan Jiafeng took a deep breath and nodded firmly: “Master, I can start.”
“Alright, actual flight training begins. First step: airplane ground acceleration.”
Upon receiving the order, Pan Jiafeng started the engine, controlled the airplane to move forward slowly. As speed increased, Fang Wen said: “Good, stop. Note some issues: your acceleration was uneven. Pre-takeoff acceleration needs a uniform speed increase process.”
“But I don’t know how to increase speed uniformly?” Pan Jiafeng replied troubled.
“Can you sing?”
“Master, I can sing.”
“I’ll give a beat, memorize it, and next time during acceleration, gradually increase throttle according to the beat.”
This was a little trick Fang Wen had summarized, based on his mechanical perception understanding of Qingyun Hao, the most reasonable acceleration method.
In this way, Pan Jiafeng smoothly reached that state, greatly boosting his confidence.
“I think I can take off.”
“Then give it a try.”
Fang Wen agreed; with him there, even if Pan Jiafeng had piloting issues, he could promptly take over control and adjust the flight status back.
Then, the airplane taxied back to the takeoff point and accelerated again.
When speed reached takeoff state, Fang Wen said: “Ascent.”
Almost simultaneously, Pan Jiafeng reflexively did so.
The airplane lifted at a small angle and gradually flew into the air.
“How did the first takeoff feel?” Fang Wen asked with a smile.
“Thank you Master for the guidance. I’ve memorized the feeling at takeoff moment; next time I can succeed too,” Pan Jiafeng replied confidently.
Facts proved he was indeed good pilot material, growing rapidly in actual flight training.
Though not reaching Fang Wen’s level, he could count as a successfully initiated pilot.
Next, it was time to let Pan Jiafeng learn to pilot the Boeing 80, so Fang Wen could free himself for other matters.
