"Your attack planes are almost ready. When are you going to pick them up?"
"Well, it might have to wait!"
"What are you waiting for?"
"I'm not a pilot enough!"
Shepard said carefully on the phone.
Then, the voice of a certain Marine Rear Admiral on the other end of the phone instantly drowned out the sound of the car engine outside.
"What are you doing? I've chosen a plane for you, and you tell me there's no pilot? Are you a fool?"
If someone else said this to Shepard, then even if he is not dead now, he will definitely be a dead person in the future. Even if he cannot become a dead person, he will always become a half-dead person.
It's a pity that this person is none other than cheap daddy.
The old man has been very proud of himself recently. Not only has he been promoted one level, but he has also been transferred to the commander of the aircraft carrier group. He is also considered a rising star in the military world. He is also one step closer to the military-business collusion that Shepard mentioned. Of course , it is still early for the three-term military, political and commercial alliance, but this can be done when the old man retires from the military.
The A1H Skyraider attack aircraft Shepard wanted was an old model and was considered a capable fighter during the Vietnam War. Although it was a piston propeller aircraft, its combat capabilities, especially its ground attack capabilities, were no better than those of jet aircraft. Not much, because its mounting capacity is astonishingly large, and its effective airborne time can even reach ten hours.
After all, as a military contractor, Shepard hardly needs to consider the issue of air combat, because if he really encounters an air combat, it is not something he can participate in. Therefore, from all aspects, piston aircraft are much better than jets. , especially in terms of attendance costs and maintenance. After all, Congressmen know how to save money, and Shepard, as a self-financing contractor, does the same.
But here's the problem. Now that we have planes and weapons, we only lack the people to pilot these things.
Fixed-wing aircraft pilots are also considered a hot commodity in the industry, especially those who master maritime aviation technology. To put it bluntly, they have no shortage of employment opportunities at all. Even if they retire from the military, they can still earn well in private companies. salaries, therefore, military contractor positions are not attractive enough to them.
After all, the work of Shadow Company is no different from what they do in the army in some respects, which is to fly to other people's heads and drop bombs, and it is even more dangerous, because the army has friendly forces to cover and support it, but private military contractors , you may have to carry the burden alone.
Therefore, Shepard's recruitment advertisements have been posted quite a lot, and the salary has even reached an annual salary of 160,000, which is no different from the salary of the military. There will even be higher subsidies, but those professional attack aircraft pilots still Not many were willing to come. Those who were willing to come were pilots of transport aircraft or other types of aircraft. They were a little reluctant to fly attack aircraft.
"Forget it, let me find a way for you!"
For the sake of Shepard buying a new house for his family and buying himself a new car, the old man sighed and said.
"Then I leave it to you, General!"
"Um?"
"No, thank you, my general father!"
Shepard heard the other party's dissatisfied hum and immediately changed his tune.
A week later, Shepard received news from San Diego that the pilot and ground team had been found and were now on their way!
"It seems that the general has to be more reliable!"
Hannibal didn't forget to make some jokes, but Shepard saw that his father had solved this kind of trouble, so he didn't say any harsh words.
Until he saw the professional team brought by his father at the airport.
"Uh, Navy Lieutenant Pilot Wiseman?"
"Yes, sir!"
Looking at the gray-haired but still tough old man in front of him, Shepard glanced at Hannibal beside him, then looked at the autographed letter he had brought with him from a certain Major General, and finally extended his right hand.
"Welcome to the Shadow Company, gentlemen! I hope we will get along very happily in the future!"
"Then I wish us a happy cooperation!"
"Well, the car is ready. Everyone is tired after taking the plane. Let's go to the base to rest first!"
Seeing the professional team getting into the car uniformly, Hannibal, who had been holding back for a long time, smiled and slapped Shepard on the shoulder.
"professional team?"
"Don't laugh, I am indeed professional, but quite experienced!"
"Well, the average age is fifty-two, so they are indeed very experienced!"
That's right, a certain general found a professional team for Shepard, all composed of old men. Almost all four pilots had gray hair on their temples. Although their qualifications were impressive, each of them was comparable to a ruthless bombing machine. , who have been on duty for more than a thousand times, and the bombs they dropped are all measured in hundreds of tons. It can be said that they are all real veterans.
But the problem lies in the age of these veterans.
Flying is a laborious job, especially for an attack aircraft that has to stay in the air for a long time. Young people will be tired after one flight, let alone these old men. Moreover, they also have to consider the possible combat readiness. Can these old men be able to carry it? Accommodation is a problem.
But now that people have arrived in Colombia, and the plane has arrived at the port via a transport ship, it is just waiting to be disassembled and assembled at the airport. It is unrealistic to drive people back.
Shepard could only let these old men try it first.
And he didn't plan to make any changes in the contract. After all, these people were indeed the pilots he needed, so he only needed to work according to the contract.
The arrival of the old men really made the PCs' eyes widen. Then, the crowd of PCs who were watching were chased away by the ground crew leader, an old man who was over sixty years old and was holding a pneumatic wrench.
"Gungun, don't interrupt our work. Do you believe I can use this thing to open a hole in your butt?"
However, the PCs were not afraid at all, and even took the initiative to provoke each other.
"Dad, you are so old, stop showing off your waist!"
"Dodge?"
The old man immediately tore off the cheap T-shirt he was wearing, revealing the strong muscles underneath, and then picked up a box weighing dozens of kilograms with two hands and put it aside.
"Dad, I'm not old enough to be laughed at by young people!"
And the ground crew he brought with him were not bad at all. After everyone entered the hangar, they were as motivated as a young boy who wanted to pick up his first car.
Even the four pilots headed by Wiseman were the same. They put down their luggage immediately and started flight preparations. They made a flight schedule, confirmed the airspace conditions, and even spontaneously conducted simulation exercises.
"It seems that this old man's attack team is not useless after all!"
"Maybe they can bring us bigger surprises!"
