Chapter 101: 100, Confirming The Ten-thousand-mile Flight Path, Airplane Modification, Trouble For The Fang Family
It’s time to explain the flight path.
Neil took out the world map and introduced:
“Regarding the flight path, the domestic segment is handled by the National Government, and contact has already been made through the embassy. They agree to provide military airports along the way as transfer airports for landing.”
“You will depart from Shanghai Airport, and the first transfer airport is Wuhan.”
Fang Wen nodded. The airport in Wuhan was being negotiated by Taishan Airlines, but this airport was definitely not the one negotiated by Taishan Airlines.
That was a military airport built only in the Republic of China year 20, that is, last year.
Its location is in Hankou, marked as Hankou Military Airport on the map, but Fang Wen also knew its other name, because it was built in a place called Wangjiadun within Hankou, hence also known as Wangjiadun Airport.
Neil used a pencil and ruler to connect Shanghai and Wuhan with a straight line, then extended it to the left, reaching Chongqing.
“There is a military airport here for landing, on an island, called Guangyang Island Airport. After transferring here, you will fly to Kunming. The military airport in Kunming is called Wujia Ba Airport.”
The above is the domestic flight path, with a total length of two thousand kilometers.
It is not easy to fly the entire domestic flight path in one go.
Among them, Shanghai—Wuhan—Chongqing is controlled by the National Government, but Kunming is under Long Yun’s control.
Therefore, contact must still be made with both sides.
If Taishan Airlines were to step forward, no one would give them any face.
Fortunately, it was through U.S. diplomatic contact that landing opportunities were secured.
Neil said: “At that time, as the domestic contact person, I will arrange the landing matters for the three transfer stations for you. We will communicate via telegram. The key is that these flight paths are all ones you haven’t flown before. Can you really succeed in one go?”
Fang Wen nodded, “All Taishan Airlines flight paths were opened by me. No problem.”
This is Fang Wen’s authority in flying. Without satellite navigation, he opened three midway flight paths in China’s airspace and even trained a group of proficient flight path pilots, which others cannot replace.
Neil nodded, without questioning Fang Wen’s confidence.
He unfolded the map and continued: “Next is the foreign flight path. These transfer airports each have separate contact persons. You need to communicate with the next contact person at the previous transfer airport before you can take off.”
After speaking, he drew a left-slanting line on the map with pen and ruler.
The first transfer station is departing from Kunming, arriving at Kolkata Airport marked above the Bay of Bengal.
This place is not yet Bengal; it will become independent from India only 40 years later.
Taking off from Kolkata transfer airport, the next transfer airport is Delhi Palampur Airport.
Then flying southwest to Karachi in the Arabian Sea, where there is a transfer airport called Jinnah Airport.
The above three transfer airports are all under British control, which is straightforward.
Next.
Departing from Karachi, heading to Tehran Airport.
Then arriving at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport on the European side, which means entering the European area.
The entire flight path from Asia to Europe passes through 8 transfer airports: 2000 kilometers domestic, 7800 kilometers foreign, nearly ten thousand kilometers in total distance.
There is a reason for choosing this flight path.
Neil explained: “The airplane cannot cross the Tibetan Plateau, and flying north would require a longer detour. Only this line is the easiest.”
Fang Wen nodded, pointing to the last two segments of the transfer flight path: “Karachi to Tehran is 2000 kilometers, Tehran to Istanbul is also 2000 kilometers, but the Shrike Hao’s maximum range is only 1600 kilometers. How to solve this?”
“Here, we need to borrow small airports along the way for landing, one in mountain land environment, one in the desert. It will really test your flying ability.” Neil explained.
“How do I confirm the locations of those two small airports?”
“Not yet for the time being; we need to wait for the embassy there to confirm and send a telegram.”
“Alright, let’s end here today. Notify me promptly if there is new news.”
The discussion about the long-distance flight ended here, and Fang Wen saw Neil off.
Long-distance flight is not an easy task. Even with Boeing Company organizing and borrowing U.S. official power, it still requires a very complex process.
Each embassy along the way needs prior notification to make preparations.
Only after they confirm the airport matters can they send a telegram back to the United States.
Then Boeing Company notifies Neil, and Neil contacts diplomats from different countries one by one.
Back and forth like this, time flies by.
Unknowingly, it was January 1933.
And during this period, the article Fang Wen published in the newspaper did not receive positive feedback.
Someone in the newspaper specifically wrote an article criticizing this article.
Saying it was exaggerated and full of nonsense.
Some also mocked that although the air combat hero is great at piloting airplanes, he is arrogant enough to comment recklessly on world affairs, which is unacceptable.
The matter ended without any ripples, not even a splash.
People continued with what they were doing, and memories of that article quickly faded.
Fang Wen was also helpless. Telling the truth, but being treated as nonsense, his idea of reminding countrymen fell through.
In this world, if anyone else would believe his article, it would be his small team and his wife.
No matter what, the things that need to be done still need to be done; Fang Wen will not be discouraged by this.
Before Boeing Company confirms the along-the-way flight path matters, he himself needs to prepare for the flight.
A ten-thousand-kilometer long-distance flight, with some important issues to consider in between.
That is, midway inspection and repair of the airplane, and timely repair in case of malfunction.
Also, this trip to Europe will involve heavy spending; the gold at the gold firm needs to be exchanged into funds usable for the European trip.
Regarding the inspection issue, he and Howard have been discussing it.
The areas passed through on the way to Europe are complex: inland areas, subtropical monsoon environments, deserts, plateaus, none lacking; during long-distance flight, the airplane engine is likely to malfunction as a result.
This must be prevented.
Others are fine, but what Fang Wen worries about most is the desert environment.
Due to the destructive potential of sand and dust in desert areas to the engine, fighter jets should be equipped with efficient dust-proof devices to reduce the possibility of sand and dust entering the engine.
On this aspect, after discussing with Howard, Fang Wen prepared silk with good breathability to make a sand-proof net, to prevent sand from entering the cylinder and causing wear inside the piston engine.
These silks will be wrapped in the inner wall layer of the airplane to prevent small amounts of sand and dust from entering the internal engine area through gaps.
Another is the high temperature in desert areas; the effect of air cooling may not be that good, so a way must be found to cool the engine in that environment.
For this, Fang Wen’s plan is to add a set of water cooling equipment while using air cooling.
Having both cooling systems work simultaneously is not easy; just Fang Wen and Howard alone cannot solve this problem.
Therefore, two other Boeing-assigned mechanics from Taishan Airlines also joined the research.
They ultimately made a compromise choice: modifying the engine with a circulating water cooling system that is normally closed but can be opened when needed.
This way, in desert high-temperature environments, if the engine overheats, the water cooling system can be temporarily opened for cooling.
Regarding this, the three mechanics did not think such modification was useful.
Because when the engine overheats, most pilots cannot know in time, and after actual overload overheating, most remedial measures are in vain.
But Fang Wen still had them complete the modification and piloted the airplane for multiple flight tests.
What others cannot do, Fang Wen believes he can. Once entering mechanical perception, the airplane becomes one with him, and he can sense any subtle changes in advance.
With the airplane modification completed, through exchanges with the mechanics, Fang Wen gained more understanding of the Shrike Hao.
He can now say that he understands the Shrike Hao better than the mechanics. If the airplane encounters problems during long-distance flight, he can repair and solve it himself.
The United States also sent a telegram to Neil; the transfer airports along the flight path have been confirmed. For this, Neil specially made a telegram book, which can contact embassies along the way and their addresses.
The preparations before departure are left with exchanging the gold ticket into funds usable for the European trip.
January 3.
A passenger on the Nanchang to Shanghai flight got off the airplane but did not take the shuttle bus to leave.
He carried a small box, looking around at Taishan Airlines staff as if inspecting them.
Making everyone feel strange, but not good to ask.
In the end, he spoke first: “I’m looking for Kuang Mingzhu.”
“Hello, sir, may I ask what matter you have with our deputy general manager?”
“I’m her father.”
The staff was stunned and immediately called someone to notify the deputy general manager.
Kuang Mingzhu rushed to the airport hurriedly, and seeing it was indeed her father, she hurried over.
“Father, why did you come?”
“I’ve never taken your company’s airplane, so I specially came to take a look. Not bad.” Master Kuang said satisfiedly, then raised the small briefcase in his right hand. “I brought the things.”
“You came alone with such valuable things; good thing nothing happened. Let’s go home and talk.” Kuang Mingzhu showed a scared expression, left the airport with her father, and returned home.
As soon as they returned, Fang Wen received an employee notification and went home from the hangar.
“Father-in-law, why did you come? Shall we drink some tonight?”
“Sure, but let’s handle business first.”
Father Kuang said, placing the suitcase on the table and opening the password lock.
Inside was a thick volume of heavy paper.
“These are US Treasury bonds with a face value of 1000, hard currency, which can be exchanged for currency at major European banks or used for large transactions.”
Fang Wen picked up one and examined it carefully.
Although the U.S. economic environment is very poor now, once World War II breaks out, these treasury bonds will really be valuable.
After all, at that time, all European countries’ credit will drop sharply, and what can guarantee transactions will become U.S. dollars and these U.S. treasury bonds.
There are 300 in the box, that is, worth 300,000 U.S. dollars.
Fang Wen couldn’t help asking: “How much gold is this equivalent to?”
Before Father Kuang answered, Kuang Mingzhu skillfully used the abacus to calculate the value for her husband.
“Currently, the U.S. bank quotation is about 22 U.S. dollars per ounce of gold. Two tons of gold is 70,548 ounces, and the total value of 2 tons of gold is 1,552,056 U.S. dollars. 300,000 U.S. dollars in treasury bonds is worth about one-fifth of the gold.”
“Ah, when a daughter grows up, she’s gone. That’s the number. I brought the things over without even collecting the gold ticket yet. Won’t your family treat this delivery man well?” Father Kuang said in a pretentious manner.
Fang Wen quickly said: “Of course. Since Father-in-law is here, stay a few more days. I’ll take you around to play.”
“Play what?”
“How about taking you to tour all of China?”
Fang Wen’s words greatly interested Father Kuang. In his life, he had experienced a lot, but could not claim to have toured all of China.
But what the son-in-law said could be realized; he could fly around playing in an airplane.
Immediately, Father Kuang happily agreed to the suggestion.
The next day, he boarded the Qingyun Hao to tour the mountains and rivers of the motherland.
After playing for a day, Father Kuang felt refreshed. This feeling of overlooking the world from high altitude is not something anyone can do casually.
The son-in-law is good; he was very satisfied.
Just taking the father-in-law to see the motherland’s scenery is not enough. Fang Wen, about to embark on a long voyage, felt some guilt toward his wife and took her around to play these few days.
Jinan, Nanchang, and the Mongol Great Plains where airplanes can land.
Just like this, it was January 10.
Major Shanghai newspapers published a Boeing Company advertisement.
The Boeing advertisement, occupying half of the front page, promoted that Chinese pilot Fang Wen will pilot their company’s produced fighter jet departing from Shanghai, passing through 8 airports, flight range of 10,000 kilometers, arriving in Europe.
This will be a great feat, a flight path never completed by anyone before.
This report successfully attracted people from all walks of life in Shanghai.
People all remembered the airplane takeoff date and wanted to come together that day to witness the start of the ten-thousand-mile flight.
January 12, Taishan Airlines suspended business.
All employees wore neat work uniforms, lined up in formation at the airport, and said in unison: “We wish the general manager to successfully complete the flight and return safely.”
Outside the airport, it was crowded with people, all there to observe the airplane takeoff.
Fang Wen wore a flight suit and a custom leather flight cap made by his wife, with dedicated goggles on the hat.
He picked up his luggage bag, ready to depart.
“Wait.” Kuang Mingzhu carefully straightened her husband’s collar, lightly brushing as if sweeping away bad luck. “You must return safely.”
Fang Wen nodded: “Certainly.”
He strode toward the Shrike Hao, climbed the boarding ladder to the pilot seat, turned around, and waved to everyone.
Waves of applause sounded, and amid cheers, Fang Wen sat in the pilot seat and started the airplane.
The airplane moved slowly, about to accelerate for takeoff.
A figure appeared by the runway; it was Yue Jinping.
She waved vigorously, wanting Fang Wen to see, watching the Shrike Hao fly into the sky.
Then, Kuang Mingzhu walked over alone.
The two stood silently, and finally Kuang Mingzhu spoke: “Do you have time? I want to talk to you.”
“Talk about what? He and I are just friends. Now with the national crisis, as a soldier, romance has nothing to do with me.”
Yue Jinping said coldly: “This time, besides seeing him off, there is another matter. I think you can make decisions for him.”
“What matter?” Kuang Mingzhu asked.
“He has a younger sister, ranked Old Six, studying in school. Do you know?”
“I know.”
“Her teacher was arrested, and she was implicated too. I’m not convenient to intervene in this matter; you go handle it.”
“For what reason?”
“They organized anti-Japanese propaganda, but ran into Japanese, both sides fought, the Japanese were seriously injured, and refuse to reconcile. I can guarantee his sister won’t be bullied in the prison cell, but superiors prohibit involvement in this matter.”
After Yue Jinping finished speaking, she left directly.
Kuang Mingzhu looked at her back, wanting to say something but stopping; it seemed impossible to build a good relationship with her.
