At this moment, under the huge thunderstorm clouds, the two escorting Type 36 fighter jets were blown up and down by the airflow, while the larger special plane was slightly better.
Although the strong headwind caused the aircraft's ground speed (speed relative to the ground) to drop rapidly, it still maintained a certain airspeed.
Their ground speed has been reduced to about 140km/h, and their airspeed is still close to 200km/h.
After finally passing through the thunderstorm clouds from below, the scene ahead suddenly became clear, and the previously gloomy, dark, thunderstorm-filled environment finally disappeared.
The pilot reset the autopilot altitude to 3,200 meters and the aircraft began to climb.
As a result, the strong winds facing the aircraft gradually weakened, the airflow flowing through the wings dropped sharply, and the lift experienced by the entire aircraft also decreased.
What's even more terrible is that the plane is still climbing at this moment, with the nose pointing to the sky at an angle of 10°. If the power is not increased, the speed will naturally decrease.
However, the damage to the pitot tube made it impossible for the autopilot to know the current situation. Neither the machine nor the pilot thought that the aircraft was still at the standard cruising speed of 220km/h.
However, during the slow and continuous climb, the aircraft's speed has gradually dropped to 120km/h, while the stall speed of the Youyun-2 passenger aircraft is 105km/h.
The feeling of walking through thunderstorm clouds before was really scary. It always felt like walking in front of the gate of hell.
Now that they had escaped, the two pilots were relieved and inevitably relaxed a lot in their mentality.
Finally, the co-pilot, who picked up the water glass and took a sip of tea, noticed something strange.
He stared at the instrument in front of him, then glanced at the pilot's head again, and wondered: "It's strange, why is this speed still fixed?"
The latter also felt something unusual, "Two hundred and two? Hiss... Weird thing, did the autopilot give too much fuel?"
Climbing will reduce speed, so the autopilot will automatically increase the throttle during this process, giving the aircraft more power to avoid stalling, but generally maintain a speed slightly lower than cruising speed, about 190-200 ㎞/h.
So why is it fixed at 220㎞/h today?
The two pilots had a tacit understanding and turned to look at the throttle on the center console almost at the same time.
Aha? Is the throttle still in the level cruise position? Autopilot doesn't increase it?
Then why is the speed when climbing now the same as when flying level? Could it be...
The driver and co-pilot felt their hearts skip a beat, and instantly realized that something was wrong. The ghosts were coming!
"Speed up!!!"
"Pull up the oil!"
At this time, they were horrified to find that the scenery outside began to roll irregularly, which meant that the plane was spinning!
Because there is no fixed reference object and the self-balance receptors are confused, in some extreme cases, pilots may even become spatially disoriented.
Immediately afterwards, a slight feeling of weightlessness also quickly came. If the seat belts hadn't fixed the two of them in their seats, they would have been airborne.
Panic screams and shouts also came from the cabin across the door.
Now, because the speed difference between the oncoming airflow and the wing is too small, the entire aircraft falls into a spin caused by a unilateral stall.
From the perspective of the escort fighter pilot, this bright yellow special plane is like a withered yellow leaf in autumn, turning over and falling...
Because the various speeds of fighter jets and passenger planes are quite different, it is naturally impossible for the two escort fighter jets to follow the passenger plane in climbing slowly, otherwise they will stall. Therefore, they will first climb to a predetermined altitude at normal speed, and then circle around. A large circle comes back to rejoin.
Therefore, the opportunity to discover that something was wrong with the aircraft was missed.
From the invention of the aircraft to later generations, most of the tragic aviation accidents were caused by this kind of superimposed mistakes. It is difficult for a single omission to kill a fully equipped aircraft.
The cabin was in a mess at the moment, with teacups, dinner plates, chopsticks, books, documents and other things flying up and down and falling everywhere.
Looking out through the round window, one second it was a blue sky, the next second it was a vast expanse of blue ocean.
And as the rotation continued, people were soon dizzy and couldn't tell where was the sea and where was the sky.
In the cockpit, both pilots knew that they were halfway to death.
No, it can even be said that he has fallen into the gate of hell, with only half of his feet still outside the door.
"Close the fuel! Stop the fuel!!!" the main driver screamed.
But the co-pilot didn't give any reaction. I don't know if he was confused by the shaking or simply frightened by the situation.
The main driver stretched out his right hand and fumbled for several times, finally put his hand on the throttle lever, and then pushed it hard back to the idle state.
Then, he pressed the right rudder with all his strength - because at this moment the plane was spinning counterclockwise and falling.
Retracting fuel and reverse rudder are the standard methods to correct a stall and spin, and then you can only leave it to fate.
Five seconds? Ten seconds? Fifteen seconds?
People under high stress often cannot tell time, and the main driver did not know how much time had passed. The rotation of the scene outside the driver's window slowed down, and finally stopped.
God bless! It really changed successfully!
In an instant, he regained hope of living, and the co-pilot next to him finally came to his senses.
"Full oil, full oil, full oil! Pull the lever!"
Two Crane-type 900-horsepower radial engines burst out with maximum power, and the three-blade metal propellers rotated at high speed.
During this period, the terrified fighter pilots had been calling desperately through the radio, but how could the two men, who were struggling on the edge of life and death, have any spare time? There was no time to even talk.
At this point, the bright yellow special plane had descended to an ultra-low altitude of only 100 meters. It fell here from a height of 3,000 meters in a short period of time.
One after another, the entire aircraft was on the verge of disintegration under the action of huge shear force.
Such a sudden dive and climb beyond the design has reached the theoretical limit. The reason why it did not disintegrate during the fall can only be said to be that the aluminum alloy fuselage frame manufactured by Zhongsheng Company is too strong.
For half a second, the thought of "going to the aircraft manufacturer to pay my respects when I get back alive" flashed through the mind of the main pilot.
However, the height of the plane from the sea was still too low at this moment. Before it could start climbing again, it raised its nose and shot into the calm Daming Sea.
Thanks to the decisive response of the main pilot, the relative speed of the aircraft to the sea surface when it finally fell into the water was already relatively low - about 30km/h.
The aircraft structure, which was on the verge of breaking during the previous dive and pull-up process, could no longer hold on and disintegrated instantly.
But...at least it wasn't broken into pieces and turned into powder.
Except for a few people who were unconscious due to the huge impact, the rest survived despite considerable internal and external injuries.
Since the plane had been turned into pieces, the inflatable lifeboat and lifebuoy were naturally missing. They could only float on the sea with a few pieces of fuselage skin.
The two escorting fighter jets also quickly dropped in altitude and began to circle and search.
Because the special planes of the Ming Dynasty royal family are all painted in bright yellow or ocher yellow, the contrast is obvious on the blue sea, and the sharp-eyed pilots can see the countless large and small fragments at a glance.
They immediately reported the situation via radio, along with the coordinates of the crash site.
"...Please reply when you receive it, hello?"
"Ah?! Wait, wait, you mean the prince's plane crashed into the sea?!"
It’s hard to imagine the feelings and state of the call taker who heard the news - shocked? Confused? incredible? Confused?
But the response speed of the Air Force and Navy was very fast, and the emergency takeoff was incredibly fast, skipping all routine procedures.
Just ten minutes later, a Type 32 seaplane with only half of the fuel took off from the naval base in Shanghai.
Immediately afterwards, the Hangzhou Naval Martial Arts Practice Ship, which was conducting routine training in nearby waters, also suspended its mission and sailed at full speed to the target sea area carrying a ship full of instructors and naval cadets.
"What?!"
In the mansion, Zhu Lingjing, who was having dinner, froze when she heard the news.
The delicate ivory chopsticks stopped on the crystal tofu, denting the soft tofu a little.
Zhu Lingjing knew that this couldn't be a joke, and no one dared to joke about it. After a few seconds, with her eyes wandering, she murmured: "It's ridiculous!"
"Your Highness, the cabinet wants you to go there immediately, without any delay." Su Yiyi reminded carefully.
"I understand, let's go."
Zhu Lingjing put down her chopsticks and stood up slowly, feeling as if the sky was about to collapse.
She took a deep breath, walked out of the house, and couldn't help but look at the sunset in the west. She felt that today's sunset was particularly dazzling.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, then walked quickly to the garage in the front yard.
When we entered the Forbidden City and arrived at the Wenhua Hall, the busy and formal atmosphere in the past had changed and it had become extremely cold and solemn.
There was no expression on the faces of the people coming and going in Zhongshushe, and there was no trace of joy, anger or joy.
After walking around inside, we came to the meeting hall. As soon as the door opened, we saw more than ten cabinet ministers gathered here. Some of them were still wearing casual clothes at home. They must have arrived in a hurry.
Faced with such huge and shocking changes one after another, no matter how calm you are, you may not be able to remain calm.
The emperor and his son suffered a stroke and a plane crash, both narrowly escaping death.
Therefore, Zhu Lingjing's face was very ugly now. She didn't shed any tears, but it was much uglier than when her consort died.
Seeing her like this, Gao Qingkui, who was standing with his hands behind his hands, said calmly: "There is good news. Although the plane lost control and fell into the water, the pilot operated it properly and no one was killed. The prince is still alive and no one was killed."
Hearing this, Zhu Lingjing suddenly felt dizzy and quickly held on to the door frame next to her, almost staggering and falling.
Fortunately, he is young and in good health, otherwise someone with a bad heart would be so sad and happy that he might faint on the spot.
Lin Xi, who was diagonally in front, smiled bitterly and said: "Your Highness, this is the news that has just been sent. The airship (seaplane) sent for search and rescue has arrived. Except for two people who are missing, the other eleven people have all survived."
"..." Zhu Lingjing opened her mouth to speak but was speechless. She hesitated for a long time before she uttered a sentence, "God's blessing is a blessing among misfortunes."
"This accident is so strange. Why did it happen?" An anxious Li Guangyuan knocked on the table, "I'm afraid someone didn't deliberately murder him."
"Everything in the world is unpredictable. It doesn't look like a conspiracy. The prince returned home urgently. This was a temporary move. Even if someone in the Japanese country had planned it for a long time, it would be impossible for him to react." Yu Shenhua denied his speculation.
"I also feel that it is not like an assassination. Temporary changes of mind and sudden changes in itinerary are good ways to prevent assassination." Xie Qinrui said thoughtfully: "Of course, I can't say for sure. After all, it was in Tokyo. Before the truth came out, , the speculation cannot be taken seriously.”
Lin Xi frowned and said, "None of this is important right now. Think about the army first. Pretending to be on standby for drills won't last long."
Li Guangyuan felt that this was not a difficult problem and said nonchalantly: "Then let's take advantage of the situation and transfer the two army divisions away from the capital and let them go to other places to practice for a while. The various departments of the Forbidden Army have lifted their combat readiness and can continue as usual."
"Otherwise, each department of the Forbidden Army will be cut in half, divided in half, and half of the troops will be transferred to other places?" someone suggested.
Lin Xi laughed angrily when he heard this, and regardless of the face of his colleagues, he retorted mercilessly: "Don't you think about what you said? Even the Imperial Army can't believe it, so the Ming Dynasty is now The children can be dissolved."
Zhu Lingjing was not interested in the conversations among the cabinet members - since her brother was blessed with great fortune, everything was fine and within control.
My father is not young, and his physical condition has not been good since his mother passed away. Although this sudden emergency was unexpected, it is also reasonable.
If it is purely rational measurement and judgment, the emperor's death now is just right, not too early and not too late. If he waits until the war breaks out to die, the transfer of power during the war will only have a greater negative impact.
"In this case, I will return home first."
"Your Highness, walk slowly."
Transferring the Army's 3rd and 4th Divisions to other places was a redundant move in Zhu Lingjing's opinion. The 4th Division had already been strictly investigated after the mutiny last time. The same was true for all the troops in Beijing. It was almost impossible. Something went wrong.
Sometimes, it is indeed difficult for young people to understand some of the "safe" actions of older people.
At seven o'clock in the evening that day, the seaplane carrying Zhu Lizhen landed at the naval base, and he was immediately sent to Shanghai No. 1 Prefectural Hospital.
Two ribs were cracked, multiple bruises and blood bruises on the body surface, three exposed wounds, and a mild concussion. The results of the examination amazed the doctors.
It’s hard to imagine that he suffered only such minor injuries despite being hit by a catastrophe in the air. It’s really God’s blessing on Ming Dynasty.
"It's a big mistake. It was obviously God's failure that caused the accident. His survival was purely a result of man's fault." Zhu Lizheng, who was undergoing wound sutures, was very disdainful of the doctors' sighs.
In short, a lengthy telegram was sent to the court. In a nutshell, it was, "The prince's injury is very minor and he will recover in a few days."
Everything seemed to be just a false alarm.
The next day, it was a sunny morning.
Before the temperature had risen, Zhu Lingjing was about to go to the Imperial Hospital to visit the emperor when she was suddenly stopped.
Su Yiyi, with a face full of panic, walked over quickly and said hesitantly: "Your Majesty... Your Highness, the Crown Prince... has a sudden high fever."
"Due to convulsions?"
"No...no, I'm infected with a germ."
(End of chapter)
