Zhou Zhihan did not dare to neglect and opened the transparent helmet.
It is very difficult to land on a ship without a carrier-based aircraft tail hook. Although he had practiced landing hundreds of times before this.
The B25 was circling over the aircraft carrier before landing. During this period, Zhou Zhihan lowered the height of the fighter according to the instructions on his helmet, checked the landing gear, and checked the lift and sideslip force of the wings. After everything was coordinated by the system, he transitioned the flight attitude to landing. Ship mode.
Everything was ready. Zhou Zhihan continuously performed 35-degree rollovers and then changed back to reduce the speed, trim excess stick force, and eliminate the lag feeling. This helped the fighter plane slide smoothly down the slope. At the same time, the helmet jumped out The panel gyroscope and pointer, which are not on the instrument panel, can provide Zhou Zhihan with accurate azimuth and glide path information.
The wings of the fighter plane were too wide. Sitting in the cockpit, Zhou Zhihan looked almost flatly at the deck, which easily led to blind spots in the angle of view. The panel gyroscope gave him enough time to make corrections.
Before landing, he turned off the communication with the tower and landed on an aircraft carrier for the first time. The tower commander had no experience and was inevitably at a loss.
Although, the landing commanders are all top pilots.
Zhou Zhihan glanced at the instruments and found everything was normal.
Just like driving a car, all pilots have their own mode of looking at the dashboard, that is, the habit of reading the information provided by the dashboard. The shorter the time to scan the dashboard, the higher the skill of the pilot.
The same principle applies.
It may not be a good thing to keep staring at the dashboard while driving. A glance at it is enough for those with good skills. Most novices will stare at it and you will lose your way ahead.
The airspeed indicator indicates that the airspeed consumption has reached the specified value.
Lower the landing gear and lock it by pressing the button to prevent it from rebounding.
Open the bomber's dive flaps.
The flight helmet is all green, indicating normal status. As long as there is a problem somewhere, a red light will light up immediately. It is very abrupt and the pilot can detect and correct it immediately.
Zhou Zhihan's hands were strong and steady. He held the joystick and slowly descended according to the helmet's instructions. As the overload continued to increase, he took a deep breath to ease the visual slope decline. The feeling of being slapped head-on by the narrow deck of an aircraft carrier reappeared. , Zhou Zhihan was a little nervous, breathing continuously, keeping his heartbeat steady and as calm as water.
The flight helmet is still green, like a prairie, it feels really good!
In order to make way for B25, all carrier-based aircraft on the Hornet were in the aircraft carrier's hangar.
All the pilots on the ship have been waiting for a long time to see this super ace land a bomber on the ship in an unprecedented manner. Many people here have learned how to jump from the side and land on the ship, knowing how difficult it is.
The Wildcat has a length of 8.76 meters, a height of 2.81 meters, a wingspan of 11.58 meters, a wing area of 24.15 square meters, and an empty weight of 2,612 kilograms.
Mitchell's length is 16.3 meters, height is 4.8 meters, wingspan is 20.6 meters, wing area is 75 square meters, and empty weight is 6,900 kilograms. (improved weight)
These two fighters are not in the same level, and the difficulty is very different. Therefore, everyone wants to see how this super ace will land.
Zhou Zhihan no longer looked at the dashboard. The green light in his helmet relieved him of his worries. He focused his eyes on the three key reference objects on the extravehicular aircraft carrier: the bridge, the deck, and the side of the ship. Among them, mastering the boundary arc of the ship's side is the most difficult.
B25 descended, descended, descended again, stabilized the slope, and approached the bow of the ship.
A pilot's palms were all sweaty and he stared at the bomber: "God, if it were me, I might hit the bow of the ship and be surrounded by fire in an instant..."
A person next to him said: "It's not possible, but it's certain. If it were me, I would have been unable to hold on to the pull up long ago. The feeling of being pushed to the deck is very uncomfortable..."
"Hell, if he's flying like this, isn't he afraid that his wingtips will hit the side of the aircraft carrier... Oh, God, he's still leaning in. The angle is wrong, and his wings will definitely hit the port side. .....”
"If it were me, sliding sideways like him, I would definitely float off the edge of the deck and fall into the sea. At this time, I must maintain a stable speed and slope so that the stern hook can hook the arresting cable at the appropriate position. ....Oh...I forgot he didn't have a landing hook, God how hard would that be...Damn...his left wing engine stalled... ...What the hell..." the pilot yelled, nearly jumping to his feet.
The left wing engine of aircraft No. 1 stalled, and everyone saw it. At this moment, Lieutenant General Haksi's heart almost jumped out.
Doolittle's expression changed drastically. In his opinion, Zhou Zhihan's landing angle was absolutely impossible to succeed.
Zhou Zhihan stopped the engine on the left wing, and the left wing immediately tilted slightly. The fighter fuselage stagnated, and the speed quickly slowed down. Then the power on the right wing automatically corrected the deviation caused by the left wing. In the blink of an eye, the No. 1 aircraft slid to the aircraft carrier. Below the plane on the left side of the head.
Immediately, everyone standing on the aircraft carrier lost sight of the No. 1 aircraft.
Slowly speaking, in fact all this happened in just a few breaths.
When the wing of the No. 1 aircraft was still more than 20 meters away from the left side of the bow of the ship, Zhou Zhihan quickly started the left engine. In an instant, the speed of the fighter did not increase. Instead, there was a lag band when the engine started. Zhou Zhihan lowered the throttle to the bottom. At the same time, the lever was pulled, and the B25 jumped to the upper left. The forward momentum was eliminated and most of it fell to the bow of the ship. It slid forward 80 meters at walking speed.
At this time, as long as the brakes are applied, the No. 1 aircraft can stop immediately, but before that, no one has piloted the bomber to land on the aircraft carrier, and all the personnel on the ship are not sure how to stop the bomber at the designated location.
Because the B25 is fat and big, the docking of the outermost fighter is very particular.
Applause and cheers erupted on the ship. This was an unprecedented landing of a bomber without a tail hook on the ship. It is unknown whether anyone came afterward.
The fighter plane continued to glide forward to the stern of the ship, with its nose extending out of the side of the ship. Zhou Zhihan was actually suspended on the water, and could only watch the navigator's flag operation without any surprises.
All the pilots of the Hornet don't know now that decades later, this kind of parking will be the most troublesome ending for pilots, and it is also nicknamed the "deck dance."
The pilot can't see the landing gear or the bottom of the belly of the fuselage. He relies on the navigator's signal to move forward. If he stops taxiing before reaching the designated position, it will be difficult to slide the huge aircraft to the reserved point, but if he continues to taxi too far, , it is possible to fall into the sea from the edge of the deck.
It's like driving a U-turn on the edge of a cliff. You can't see where the tires are and can only be directed by others. The tires will fall into the cliff an inch forward. If you lag a little bit behind, you won't be able to turn. You worry about rushing forward when you start again...
Zhou Zhihan didn't panic when the plane landed. He flew the fighter plane and performed a "deck dance" on the deck, but he was sweating profusely.
Finally, the commander gave the signal to turn left.
Zhou Zhihan pressed the left rudder pedal with his left leg and pressed the front wheel steering switch under the throttle with his thumb. The front wheel of the fighter jet moved forward along the side of the aircraft carrier. Finally, the rear right wheel came to a stop almost close to the side of the ship. .
Zhou Zhihan pulled the handbrake and let out a long breath, "Hey, be good, this is harder than landing!"
Immediately, the mechanics came forward and fixed various...
Zhou Zhihan stepped off the plane and was surrounded by applause.
With this landing experience, Zhou Zhihan then learned the ropes and landed all the bombers on the aircraft carrier.
The aircraft carrier is parked in the sea, waiting to set off.
On April 2, 1942, before dawn, the aircraft carrier USS Hornet set sail quietly, accompanied by two cruisers, four destroyers, and a supply ship.
16 bombers were arranged neatly and ready to go.
At this time, these bombers have not been refueled or loaded with bombs. During this period, they still need to undergo small improvements.
Prior to this, Lieutenant General Haksi sent two submarines to sea in advance.
After the secret meeting that night, Haxi felt that Zhou Zhihan's proposal was right. What if the fleet was discovered by the Japanese in advance?
Judging from the Pearl Harbor incident, nothing is impossible in war. When everyone thought it was impossible for the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor, he chose to be vigilant, thus at least saving the [Hornet] aircraft carrier battle group.
After breakfast, under the leadership of Doolittle, all the pilots participating in the operation followed the walking path that almost circled the deck, climbed down the stairs, and came to a huge watertight hatch.
There were two sailors on duty standing in front of the door. Seeing everyone approaching, one sailor opened the hatch with great effort. After everyone entered, he closed the hatch. The thick hatch blocked the sounds inside and outside. .
Here is the soul and heart of this aircraft carrier - the secret war room.
Everyone takes a seat.
"Gentlemen!" Doolittle stood in front of the tactical board with chalk in hand, "Let me tell you the final location of our meeting this time."
