Chapter 53: 53, Arriving In Fuyang, Inspecting Airport Construction
Outside Fuyang City.
On the newly built makeshift airfield.
The County Magistrate of Fuyang County, officials from the County Government, and wealthy merchants and gentry from the city had all come to wait.
Also present were the Regiment Commander and Deputy Regiment Commander of an infantry regiment sent from Hefei.
And behind them, there was a band, and local Fuyang residents watching the spectacle from a distance.
They stood under the sun, occasionally shielding their eyes with their hands, looking up at the sky against the glare of the sun.
“They’re here. I see a shadow.”
Someone shouted, and everyone became excited.
The County Magistrate quickly ordered, “Quick, notify the people from Bada Company. Didn’t they say they would contact us via radio to confirm landing arrangements?”
Bada Company was an enterprise established by the Eight Great Families of the Northeast to invest in an airline company.
The Deputy Regiment Commander of the infantry regiment explained, “County Magistrate, no need. They can contact us themselves. See the plane circling? It’s about to land. Let’s all step back a bit so as not to interfere with the landing.”
“Right, right, everyone step back. Band, prepare.”
Immediately, the crowd retreated in unison to a spot 50 meters away from the airport runway.
In the sky.
Fang Wen, after departing from Nanjing, arrived over Fuyang airspace more than three hours later.
A call came through the radio device on the aviation frequency.
“This is Fuyang Airport, please respond if you receive.”
Fang Wen picked up the microphone, “Received, this is Qingyun Hao.”
“The airport runway has just been leveled, it’s a bit soft, please be cautious.”
“Understood.”
He put down the microphone, Fang Wen adjusted the fuselage, gradually descending, and landed precisely on the runway.
The newly constructed runway was not very smooth, and the hydraulic landing gear experienced slight up and down movements, causing the fuselage to shake accordingly.
The Potez 25, officially renamed ‘Qingyun Hao’, taxied for a considerable distance before slowly coming to a stop.
It overshot.
Seeing the crowd walking towards him from behind, Fang Wen controlled the plane to turn and taxi back.
The crowd then stopped, waiting.
The plane stopped in front of the crowd. Two airport staff members pushed a boarding ladder over, and Fang Wen alighted from the aircraft.
As soon as he stepped down, he heard someone shout, “Play music.”
A melody of strings and flutes filled the air.
It wasn’t Western orchestral music, which made Fang Wen look over.
The band members, dressed in long gowns, were both standing and sitting.
There were many instruments. He recognized the yangqin, dizi, sheng, and yueqin, but not the others.
At this moment, the person in charge of the airport, Sun Debiao, led a group of people to welcome him.
“General Manager, this is the Fuyang County Magistrate, the Captain of the Security Brigade, and the Education Official.”
Fang Wen responded with a smile, without speaking, and shook hands with each of the local officials and gentry.
After introducing the local officials and gentry, Sun Debiao was about to introduce two other men in military uniform.
This time, he didn’t need to say anything. The two men walked directly up to Fang Wen, saluted, and shook his hand.
“We have long admired Mr. Fang’s name. It is a great honor to meet you today. My name is Ning Hangsheng, and this is my deputy, Ni Shinai.”
After everyone had been introduced, they had a preliminary acquaintance.
Fang Wen then spoke, “Everyone, I have two matters to attend to on this trip. First, to cooperate with aerial reconnaissance for bandit suppression, and second, to inspect the airport construction. Perhaps I should handle the second matter first, so I can focus on cooperating with bandit suppression later?”
The County Magistrate, wearing a Zhongshan suit, said with a smile, “This is our first time here as well. Shall we take a look together?”
The others nodded in agreement.
Subsequently, the group toured the airport.
Fang Wen carefully inspected the construction status of the airport.
Although the airport was still very rudimentary, it had all the necessary facilities.
The hangar, staff dormitories, Security Brigade barracks, the airport’s control tower, and the fuel depot were all completed, along with the runway.
This was the result of money paving the way, a lot of silver dollars were used, and Fuyang’s labor had been working here during this period.
The runway was constructed by first laying gravel and then covering it with soil and compacting it. The surface was somewhat uneven and required continuous earth filling, which placed certain limitations on aircraft landing and takeoff conditions.
This type of runway was acceptable for landing the Qingyun Hao, but it would pose problems for a Boeing 80.
The runway would need to be repaved with cement in the future.
The hangar, used for storing and maintaining the Boeing 80, was the largest building.
Due to limited conditions, a full steel frame hangar could not be built; instead, a simpler structure combining steel structures and wooden panels was used, with an iron sheet covering the roof to protect against wind and rain erosion.
The internal facilities of the hangar were relatively basic but were equipped with essential repair tools and stands for equipment, to meet the needs of aircraft maintenance and repair at the time.
The staff dormitories consisted of several simple brick and tile houses with a limited number of rooms and basic internal facilities, primarily for meeting essential living needs.
The Security Brigade was responsible for the airport’s security, and their barracks were located between the airport entrance and the fuel depot for quick response.
The barracks were a solid brick and stone structure, capable of withstanding some external threats.
Additionally, sandbag positions and guard posts were constructed at the entrance for defense.
The fuel depot was one of the airport’s important facilities for storing fuel required by aircraft. Lacking advanced storage technology and equipment, the fuel depot used relatively simple underground storage tanks, surrounded by firewalls and drainage facilities to ensure safety.
For fuel transfer, a simple hydraulic device was used to pump the fuel into storage tanks, which were then transported to the hangar.
The final check was of the control tower.
The control tower was the airport’s command and control center, responsible for aircraft landing and takeoff scheduling and air traffic management.
It was also the tallest building at the airport. The Fuyang Airport control tower could not compare to those in Nanjing or Shanghai; it was made of brick and concrete, with observation windows all around the top to observe aircraft takeoffs and landings.
The control tower was equipped with radio devices to communicate with aircraft.
Additionally, there was a generator room.
Inside, a twenty-horsepower diesel generator was installed to supply electricity for the airport’s radio equipment and for lighting during future operations.
After the inspection, Fang Wen had a brief exchange with Sun Debiao, instructing him to rectify the runway and other issues he had discovered.
This concluded the airport inspection.
The entire inspection took only about an hour.
The County Magistrate made a timely suggestion.
“It’s lunchtime now. Let’s go into the city for a simple meal, and then discuss the matter of bandit suppression.”
As he was the local official, Fang Wen had no objections and naturally agreed.
The group then left the airport and boarded cars to head to the county town.
The county town was not far from the airport, only about 2 kilometers away.
From a distance, an ancient city of great age could be seen standing on the plain.
The County Magistrate explained, “This place was formerly called Yingzhou City. Later, the prefecture was abolished and changed to a county, thus becoming Fuyang.”
“Is that so!” Fang Wen looked at the ancient city and suddenly recalled a term he had seen on the internet before his transmigration.
“City Demolition Movement”
It seemed that during the War of Resistance, in the Central Plains urban clusters, the ancient city walls left from ancient times were ordered to be demolished.
That meant that in a few years, this ancient city with a long history would disappear.
What a pity.
As he was lost in thought, the convoy entered the city gate and stopped outside a restaurant with a plaque that read ‘Dongtian Chun’.
The group went upstairs and was divided into three tables.
Fang Wen, the County Magistrate, the most powerful and wealthy individuals in the county, and two military officers sat at one table.
The restaurant’s shopkeeper asked with a smile, “County Magistrate, may we serve the dishes?”
“Is that even a question? Hurry up and go.” Without waiting for the County Magistrate’s reply, someone urged.
Immediately, steaming hot, freshly prepared delicacies were served and neatly arranged on the tables.
Under the warm hospitality, Fang Wen tasted the local delicacies.
They tasted really good.
Seeing his expression, the County Magistrate said, “This is authentic Huaiyang cuisine, famous for its river delicacies. Fuyang is well-connected from south to north, with countless restaurants. Tomorrow, I will take Mr. Fang to another place, I guarantee the taste will be excellent, yet completely different.”
Fang Wen nodded, “Thank you. Shall we discuss the matter of the bandits now?”
