The fighter planes were piloted by two handsome Chinese Air Force pilots.
Zhou Zhihan piloted fighter jet No. 214 Hawker 3.
Zhang Mufei pilots fighter No. 503 Hawker 3. (Actually, Zhang Mufei later flew a 2503 Fighter MKI fighter)
Zhang Mufei's qualifications were far superior to Zhou Zhihan's, but the two of them sympathized with each other when they first met. When he heard that he would be Zhou Zhihan's wingman, Zhang Mufei almost jumped up with joy.
A month ago, Zhang Mufei saw with his own eyes Zhou Zhihan's skill in flying a Martin 139WC heavy bomber, and he was in awe of him at that time.
Yesterday, Zhou Zhihan piloted the Heinkel He111 A medium bomber to take off and bomb the Japanese airstrip. Then this morning, he made an unreasonable turn and shot down the Japanese Type 95 carrier-based aircraft. Not to mention Zhang Mufei, all pilots of the Chinese Air Force are now He regarded Zhou Zhihan as his first brother in flying technology.
Of course, for now, the number one brother of the Chinese Air Force is still the highly respected and skilled Gao Zhihang.
Zhang Mufei’s code name is Fei Falcon!
The two maintained the most popular main and wingman double aircraft formation and flew towards the Huangpu River in Shanghai. There, the Chinese fleet dispatched two of the Four King Kong ships [Haiqi Ship] and [Ninghai Ship] for air defense. Although the air defense capability of this warship is not as good as that of the Japanese "Izumo", the air defense weapons on the flagship also scare the Japanese fighter planes. There are not many Japanese planes stationed near Shanghai, and they do not dare to easily bomb these two ships for the time being. A Chinese warship.
The current main task of the Japanese fighter jets deployed around Shanghai is to assist the Marine Corps fighting on the ground to retreat and defend, waiting for reinforcements, rather than taking the initiative to attack.
The reason why the Chinese Air Force sent two fighter planes to defend Dongjiadu was to prevent the sudden intrusion of Japanese reconnaissance planes and bombers.
This was Zhang Mufei's first time flying a two-plane formation in actual combat. The experience he had when flying a two-plane formation during training could not be compared to what he felt now.
When training, fly double-knit with a calm mind in order to hone your skills and strive for excellence.
But now Fei Shuangbian's adrenal glands are surging, he feels stimulated, he feels a little nervous, he is mentally excited, and he looks forward to achieving something!
Zhou Zhihan pinched the chin of his flying hat: "Call 503 Flying Falcon, I am 214 Changkong!" There are communication systems on the two Hawker 3 fighter jets.
"503 Flying Falcon received!" Zhang Mufei was about 100 meters away from fighter No. 214, flying level with 214.
Zhou Zhihan: "503 Flying Falcon, the distance you follow is 100 meters, which is a bit close. Try dragging it back 85 meters. At the same time, raise your fighter plane three meters upward and keep flying in the right echelon at a slightly higher attitude of 214 meters." !”
The two-plane formation that Zhang Mufei flew before kept a distance of about 100 meters between the wingman and the lead plane, and the two planes flew at the same level.
The two-plane flying formation that Zhou Zhihan taught Zhang Mufei was the famous wingman maneuver combat formation, which was at least fifteen years ahead of the two-plane formation that Zhang Mufei flew before.
Although the distance between the two aircraft is only 80 meters longer, and the wingman can fly three meters higher than the lead aircraft, this change has been refined by countless Air Force pilots with millions of flight hours and flights. changes.
The wingman mobile combat formation is not just a formation. It has become a combat formation that can drastically increase combat power when highly skilled pilots cooperate with each other in air combat.
The lead aircraft and the wingman can cruise in a left and right echelon. This echelon formation means that the wingman is behind and to the side of the lead aircraft.
When the lead aircraft is to the right of the wingman, it is called a right echelon double formation. When it is on the left side, it is called a left echelon double formation. When the wingman is directly to the side of the lead aircraft, it is called a horizontal echelon double formation.
"503 Flying Falcon understands!" Zhang Mufei said, while retracting the throttle, he gently pulled the lever to maintain a distance of about 185 meters from the 214 fighter in front, and slightly three meters higher.
This change was like breaking through the last layer of window paper, and Zhang Mufei suddenly felt that this two-plane wingman maneuvering combat formation was completely different from the two-plane formation he had flown before!
It was only extended 80 meters backward and slightly higher by three meters. Flying as a wingman, Zhang Mufei suddenly felt that the combat effectiveness of his and the lead aircraft's dual-crew combination had leapt by more than one level!
This is like the vision produced when standing in front of a ten-meter-wide wall and looking at the wall one meter away, and standing back 80 meters and looking at the ten-meter-wide wall.
This retreats an additional 80 meters, allowing the two-plane formation to instantly increase its ability to detect enemy situations and survivability several times.
This change made Zhang Mufei ecstatic. He knew that if he could form a two-plane formation with Zhou Zhihan, he would definitely learn a lot of advanced flying techniques.
A two-plane combination is the smallest but most practical combat formation composed of two fighter jets used to jointly fight enemy aircraft.
Even in the infancy of air combat in World War I, one-on-one air combat clearly had serious flaws in actual air combat.
Throughout the history of air combat, 80% to 90% of fighter pilots did not realize that the crisis was coming only when they were suddenly attacked.
In all air combat, raids and counter-raids are considered the two most important factors in air combat.
The first principle of air combat is to detect the enemy aircraft one step ahead of the enemy.
Most fighter jets, especially single-seat fighter jets, have observation blind spots, such as the four, five, and six o'clock positions under the nose and the six o'clock position under the tail, which are collectively referred to as the visual blind spots of the fighter aircraft.
Although these blind spots can be checked by the fighter's rolls and turns, it is not advisable to use rolls and turns from time to time to check whether there are enemy aircraft in the blind spots during combat flight.
In a one-on-one air battle, the pilot needs to focus all his attention on the enemy aircraft, with little ability to distract and resist the attack of another enemy aircraft.
Therefore, double-clicking the appearance of the formation solves this problem.
Before an engagement, each fighter in a double-click formation can protect the other fighter from enemy aircraft.
When the leader knows that his most vulnerable position is protected by his wingman, he can attack the enemy with all his strength. This combat method is in line with the oldest and most practical military principle of "concentrating troops."
Zhang Mufei asked 214 excitedly: "I can already feel the broadened field of vision brought by retreating 80 meters and flying up three meters. Will this allow me to do more rear-mounted patrol maneuvers?"
Zhou Zhihan smiled. Zhang Mufei was really smart and knew how to teach him, so he said in a joking tone: "Yeah! You can teach me! You're so good!"
Zhang Mufei heard 214's laughter and laughed.
They are all of the same age and can understand it as soon as they hear it.
Zhou Zhihan continued to teach Zhang Mufei: "When you retreat 80 meters and fly with a slightly higher long plane, you will find that the ability of the two-plane formation to detect the enemy's situation has increased several times. The benefit of this change is that in In actual flight, the wingman's position will change from the previous fixed position to a very flexible one.
You can try to extend the extension line behind me to 60 degrees on both sides. You can move within the maneuvering range forming a conical airspace. In this way, you can find out whether there is an enemy plane quietly approaching behind you without rolling! "
Zhang Mufei gently pressed the stick and tilted the wings of the fighter plane to the left. At this moment, he saw in the reflector the airspace at the 6 o'clock position just below the tail of his plane.
"Saw it!"
Zhang Mufei shouted excitedly, "Chief instructor, if I come out with you once, I can compare to studying with German and American instructors for three years."
Zhou Zhihan: "Okay, okay, don't flatter..."
Zhang Mufei "..."
During the flight, Zhou Zhihan kept explaining to Zhang Mufei the use of the two-plane formation when approaching the enemy. Unknowingly, the two planes entered the sky above Jiashan, Zhejiang, and the sound of shelling from the direction of Shanghai could be vaguely heard.
This is a 150mm caliber heavy artillery piece imported from Germany.
After entering Pinghu, Zhejiang, the two of them flew the plane at a low altitude of 800 meters above the ground. They saw many people fleeing from the suburbs of Shanghai toward Zhejiang, supporting the elderly and the young. It was very miserable.
A few minutes later, two Hawker 3 fighter jets flew over Dongjiadu.
The sound of artillery and gunfire became thicker.
