Chapter 11: Nanjing Airport, Learning Aircraft Maintenance, Five Consecutive Days On Shift
The airplane landed at Nanjing Airport.
Five passengers got off the airplane and left, ending the first day’s flight.
Only Fang Wen and Yue Jinping remained on the airplane.
The atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward.
Something should be said to break this social desert.
Fang Wen left the pilot seat and said:
“You might not be familiar with the job situation yet, so I’ll explain. The company has two flights per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each flight takes more than an hour. The morning flight returns to base the same day, while the afternoon flight stays overnight in the airport dormitory. We fly the afternoon shift, so we have to stay overnight in the airport dormitory tonight. First, let’s go get acquainted with the people at Nanjing Airport and have them arrange our accommodations.”
Yue Jinping tried her best to appear calm, standing straight. “Understood.”
This was an instinctive reaction, unconsciously revealing the habitual demeanor from long-term training.
Fang Wen was surprised: “Did you receive militarized training in Europe? Then why didn’t you join the army?”
“There aren’t enough airplanes, and the officer can only fly civil aviation too.” Yue Jinping replied with a bitter smile: “Besides, I’m the only female pilot, which isn’t suitable for the army, so I had to obey the arrangement and transfer here.”
“Don’t worry, gold will always shine.” Fang Wen comforted her. Instructor Liu at Nanyuan Aviation had said the same to him, and he hoped it would work for Yue Jinping too.
He and Yue Jinping walked down the airplane.
Ground staff from Nanjing Airport came over with a form.
“Commissioner Fang, please fill out the flight log.”
Taking the form, Fang Wen looked it over. It was just a simple record of the day’s flight situation, which had to be personally signed by the pilot.
He filled out the form and asked: “Has our accommodation for tonight been arranged?”
The ground staff replied: “I’m not sure about that. You need to ask at the airport control tower. The control tower here is our own people.”
Then, Fang Wen took Yue Jinping toward the control tower, explaining along the way.
“The morning round trip doesn’t require staying at the airport; that’s the American side’s privilege. Since we can’t dominate everything, we have to maintain this situation for now.”
“Understood, officer. I’ve undergone professional military training and can handle environments more difficult than this. No need to worry about me.” After this exchange along the way, Yue Jinping gradually relaxed.
The two arrived at the control tower. Before they went up, someone came out from inside.
A slightly balding middle-aged man smiled in welcome.
“Commissioner Fang, finally meeting you. I’m the station chief of Nanjing Airport dispatch, Zhou Youxian. Just call me Old Zhou. And this is?”
“Yue Jinping, the flight assistant assigned from above, and there’s also Fei Yizhen. They take turns boarding, and I do the actual flight instruction.”
“Oh, Manager Xie mentioned this. Tough job for you. By the way, since it’s your first time here, I’ll take you to see the accommodations, and we’ll go out for a meal tonight.”
“No going out today. Does the airport canteen still have food?”
“There’s food, so we’ll eat at the airport canteen tonight. Let’s go check the accommodations first.”
After smoothly completing the negotiations, station chief Zhou Youxian led Fang Wen and Yue Jinping to a small building on the north side of the airport.
That was the dormitory building specially built for pilots, with dedicated cleaning and hot water provided, just like a guesthouse.
Fang Wen and Yue Jinping’s temporary residence was arranged on the second floor, side by side.
Inside, it was fairly clean and tidy, just like staying in a hotel for one night.
After viewing the rooms and getting the keys, Zhou Youxian took the two to eat at the airport canteen, then gave them a tour of the airport before bidding farewell.
Through this, Fang Wen gained an understanding of Nanjing Airport and fully figured out his work process.
He said to Yue Jinping: “Let’s head back.”
“Okay.”
The two strolled along the airport runway in the night, and after a while, Yue Jinping spoke: “Officer, your piloting skills are so good. Why fly civil aviation?”
“Because I can only fly civil aviation. I graduated from Nanyuan Aviation.” Fang Wen replied. During this time, he had learned about the current situation of aerial piloting in the Republic of China. Graduates from Nanyuan Aviation were actually no longer on flight posts in many cases, and in the future, they could at most fly civil aviation.
But there was another group of pilots who had studied abroad in Europe and America and returned, like Yue Jinping and the others. Most stayed in the army flying fighter jets.
One sentence made it clear to Yue Jinping.
The scene became a bit awkward. To recover from her verbal blunder, Yue Jinping changed the topic.
“Actually, it’s not bad here. During the flight, I overheard passengers talking. A ticket costs 80 US dollars, about 300 silver dollars.”
“Really!” Fang Wen was quite surprised. These days, 100 silver dollars for a plane ride, and his own monthly allowance was only 150 silver dollars, not even enough for a round trip. And this was the short-haul Shanghai-Nanjing flight; longer distances would be even more expensive.
No wonder the American side was so enthusiastic about jointly establishing a civil aviation company and controlling the flight and technology; the profits here were huge.
“Yeah, ordinary people can’t afford it. My monthly allowance isn’t even enough for one flight.” Yue Jinping said helplessly.
The two chatted as they returned to the pilot dormitory building.
Here, there was suddenly nothing to say.
Standing at the door, Fang Wen said: “Rest up. See you tomorrow.”
Yue Jinping nodded, and they each entered their rooms.
Five consecutive days of flights, all eating and staying at the airport. Whenever arriving at Shanghai Airport, the two flight assistants would switch shifts, while Fang Wen kept going non-stop.
But it wasn’t bad; just over an hour of flying per day, leaving plenty of free time.
During this free time at Shanghai Airport, Fang Wen would be with mechanic Howard, either chatting or helping out.
This friendly behavior made him Howard’s friend, and their exchanges increased.
Through this, Fang Wen requested to learn aircraft maintenance and offered to pay tuition.
Howard gladly accepted.
In free time, he would take Fang Wen to inspect the airplane and impart his knowledge to this Eastern friend.
In just a few days of learning, Howard discovered Fang Wen’s amazing talent in aircraft maintenance.
This talent was specific to airplanes. Once Fang Wen had piloted an airplane, he could accurately identify problems with it.
And this was exactly what a mechanic needed most.
Thus, Howard enthusiastically taught this new friend how to repair various airplane components.
Just like that.
The first five-day shift ended, and by regulation, there was a day off.
Fang Wen and Fei Yizhen walked down the airplane. He went straight to Howard and invited him to go to the urban area together.
The naturally introverted Howard did not agree. Fang Wen said no more and left the airport with Fei Yizhen.
Outside the airport, Yue Jinping in a qipao was waiting, along with company Manager Xie.
Manager Xie smiled and greeted: “Commissioner Fang, you’ve worked hard. Let’s go to Danfeng Tower; their Hui cuisine is the best here.”
Fang Wen smiled back and nodded. “After five days of canteen food, it’s time to change tastes.”
