Chapter 1: Reborn In The Republic Of China, Flight Cadet
Republic of China year 19, Andingmen Street.
As an important street in Beiping City during the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was previously the essential route for the emperor’s sacrificial ceremonies, thus also called the Imperial Street.
Nowadays the emperor has long abdicated, but Andingmen Street is still bustling.
On the spacious road surface, rickshaw pullers pulling rickshaws, water carriers driving mules, vendors hawking along the street with smoke frames, and passersby in long robes and cotton-padded jackets hurrying by.
There is also a team of youths wearing uniforms.
They stop at a sheep’s eye steamed bun shop, take out silver dollars to prepare to purchase the steamed buns from this shop.
But unexpectedly, a mule and horse is startled, rears up and runs past, the rope on the mule and horse catches the canvas eaves strut of the steamed bun shop, and instantly pulls down the front eaves of this bungalow.
Immediately, a uniform-wearing youth who couldn’t dodge in time is pinned underneath, and everyone in panic calls for manpower to come lift the canvas tiles and rescue him.
After some digging, they rescue the dust-covered youth, and after some questioning, confirm he is fine, then the sheep’s eye steamed bun shop boss finally breathes a sigh of relief, quickly compensates with a few silver dollars, and along with a steamer of steamed buns.
At this time, a military vehicle arrives, the uniform youths all board the vehicle, and the military vehicle heads outside the city.
Along the way, the youths chat and laugh, but only that unlucky guy leans in the carriage motionless.
Seeing his condition, his companions ask with concern: “Fang Wen, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’ll just sit and rest for a bit.”
Fang Wen replies to his companions and continues to maintain his sitting posture.
He feels so dizzy, two kinds of memories tangling in his brain.
Clearly walking on the street, hit by a falling billboard, but in the blink of an eye, he actually arrived here.
Could it be a body swap? I entered this body, and the owner of this body went to my body?
If that’s the case, I hope he has a good outcome, after all, when the billboard fell, I felt like it was over for me.
Fang Wen carefully savors the lingering memory fragments in the body to understand the current situation.
Now is Republic of China year 19.
He is a flight cadet at Nanyuan Aviation School in Beiping City.
Previously it was school vacation, everyone went to the city to have fun, but unexpectedly so unlucky to be hit by the eaves pulled down by the startled mule and horse.
Even more coincidentally, this body’s name is also Fang Wen, so after the body swap, even the name doesn’t need to be changed.
So, can’t go back, right?
Can I handle piloting aircraft?
With these questions, Fang Wen feels uneasy in his heart, seizes the time to organize the remaining memories in the body, learn as much as possible, so as not to give himself away in future studies.
After organizing, he discovers with surprise that most of the memories about aviation flight education are actually there, probably because he was always in a learning state, these memories are very profound and retained very completely.
After these memories are absorbed and fused, they become Fang Wen’s own.
But memories are just memories, whether they can be useful in future studies, he doesn’t know.
Besides this, there is a more serious problem.
He is not the real Fang Wen after all, can’t act exactly like him, future studies and life will more or less arouse suspicion from fellow students and instructors.
To change this predicament, he comes up with an idea: simply pretend that the accident caused a big personality change, and become a reclusive person.
………
A ray of sunlight penetrates the clouds, passes through the window of the Nanyuan Aviation School flight cadet dormitory, and shines right on Fang Wen’s face.
The light makes Fang Wen feel unaccustomed, he rubs his bleary eyes, and hears low conversations from his roommates by his ear.
“What’s up with Fang Wen these past few days? Always alone, could he have been smashed and damaged his brain?”
“Keep it down, we’re all brothers from the same batch, don’t gossip.”
“I have the latest news, our batch of flight cadets will be the last, afterward Nanyuan Aviation will disband and merge into the Aviation Bureau.”
“I’ve heard too, originally there were half a year of courses left, now they want to end early, I say brothers, we haven’t mastered flying technique yet, probably about to go our separate ways.”
“Graduation turns into hasty conclusion, our batch has no hope.”
“It’s all about the same, the higher-ups have no money to buy airplanes at all, previous batches either stayed at school as instructors or found their own way out, no one really became pilots.”
“Enough, stop talking. There’s actual flight operation class today, if we’re late the instructor will scold.”
The conversation ends here, after a bustle in the dormitory, they all leave.
Fang Wen sits up from the bed, can’t help but feel depressed.
Just crossed over here not long ago, originally thought that after mastering flight knowledge he could pilot aircraft and soar in the sky in the Republic of China, but unexpectedly it would be this outcome, even graduation hastily arranged early.
No, no matter what, he must pilot aircraft and fly in the sky a few times, to not waste the hard work of constantly reviewing the memories in his brain during this time.
Thinking of this, he quickly gets out of bed, puts on his uniform and hurries out of the dormitory.
Along the way, the scenery of Nanyuan Aviation School comes into view, the school’s buildings are not tall but neat and orderly.
Instructors wearing military uniforms, patrolling soldiers, full of militarized management atmosphere.
Of course the most attractive are the airplanes on the distant airport runway.
A total of five, all British biplane trainers of the Avro model purchased from 1920 to 21.
Having absorbed the learning memories in the body, Fang Wen knows the structure of this biplane trainer well.
Its fuselage uses a steel tube structure paired with fabric coverage, this structure is both lightweight and has certain strength.
The wings are wooden, with wing spars reinforced by struts and steel cables working together, this design not only provides sufficient strength but also makes the wings have certain elasticity, able to better adapt to airflow changes in flight.
In addition, the Avro trainer’s wing fabric cover has multiple round holes, these small holes reinforced by cable loops. The design of these holes is very clever; if a landing accident that might damage the wing occurs, the mechanic can reach into the wing interior through these holes and remove the connecting structural spar cables, this design is called the “heavy landing ring”.
At the same time, these small holes can also help flight cadets judge the aircraft’s flight status by observing the wing’s vibration.
This is the trainer aircraft purchased after World War I.
This kind of airplane is completely different from future flight modes integrated with electronic equipment.
Pure manual transmission, even encountering enemies in the air, it’s straightforward visual aiming shooting and bayonet clashes, air maneuvers.
Thinking of piloting this old antique into the sky for flight, Fang Wen feels a surge in his heart.
That feeling is like driving a manual transmission old master car, piloting this kind of airplane should have a special flavor.
While thinking, he has already walked into the airport runway area, fellow students line up in three rows, Fang Wen hurriedly joins the ranks.
The flight instructor looks solemnly at all the cadets and says: “Regarding the early graduation matter, everyone has probably heard, we’re also surprised by this, but can’t change it, after all it’s the higher-ups’ decision. But now it’s still teaching period, hope everyone studies seriously and cherishes every teaching opportunity.”
“Yes, instructor.”
The cadets respond in unison, but from the tone, many already have their minds not on studying.
The flight instructor doesn’t say more about it, but directly starts teaching: “Now actual flight operation, each person two hours flight opportunity, start in sign up order.”
Among the cadets, several raise hands, directly applying to skip flight.
The remaining flight cadets also don’t seem very interested.
Fang Wen is the most eager, he walks to the flight instructor’s side.
“Instructor, flight cadet Fang Wen is ready, apply to start actual flight operation.”
