Dozens of large and small reefs, visible or dark, are connected to the Forgotten Reef in the shape of a necklace. Many years ago, there were not so many reefs, but as more people paid attention, the number of reefs gradually increased.
On the channel leading to the Forgotten Reef pier, two pilot boats are guiding the bulk carrier "Don't Forget Me" to sail in the opposite direction. Without the guidance of a pilot wheel, a bulk carrier of more than 30,000 tons can easily hit a reef and cause an accident.
The tower guided the three J-8Fs to turn 180 and fly at cruising speed at an altitude of 7,000 meters. About 400 kilometers south of Forgotten Reef is the Old Grandmother Sands, which is the farthest sand group from the mainland of the motherland. Patrolling the sea area where the Grandmother Shoal is located is one of the regular tasks of the Forgotten Reef flying team.
Today, Xue Zhengrong will familiarize the two new pilots with the performance of the fighter aircraft and the patrol routes.
"Dong San, Dong Yao requested to join the formation, over." Xue Zhengrong sent a request to Li Hai.
Li Hai is the lead aircraft in the two-plane formation, and any action that can affect the formation's flight must be approved by the lead aircraft, regardless of official position.
Li Hai said, "Dongyao can join the formation, it's over."
No. 81101 J-8F slowly approached from the rear side and entered the right rear position of Dang Weimin. The three fighters formed a slash line. The horizontal distance was controlled at thirty meters, the longitudinal distance was ten meters, and the height difference was respectively It's five meters and ten meters.
In this way, all three pilots can communicate visually, and the leader can direct the formation flight through gestures when necessary.
A four-engine passenger plane with a huge fuselage appeared far ahead. Li Hai raised his neck and looked at it. It was too far away to see what model it was. This airspace is where several important international air routes intersect, but the vast majority of civil airliners passing through this area fly at altitudes above 10,000 meters, so there is no need to worry about conflicts.
The fighter plane trembled suddenly. Li Hai held the control stick tightly to stabilize the fighter plane's attitude and said, "Dongyao, the airflow is stronger."
"No problem, just get used to it." Xue Zhengrong actually answered, "This is a tropical marine monsoon climate. It is the season of monsoon transition, so it is normal for some turbulent airflows to occur."
Li Hai looked up and said, "Dongyao, can you go up to a higher level?"
"No, there will be more air activities as we go south, and we cannot affect the flight activities of international civil aviation." Xue Zhengrong said.
"clear."
Li Hai could only carefully control the fighter plane to keep it as stable as possible. More than a minute later, they flew out of the turbulent airflow area, and the fighter plane finally resumed smooth flight. Immediately afterwards, the location of the geographical terms that I have been hearing since elementary school geography class appeared in front of me for the first time.
The famous Grandmother Shoal is right in front of you.
The multi-layered blue water is dotted with many white dots. Those dots are the reefs that emerge from the water. They will be submerged again when the tide rises. These reefs, which have grown tenaciously on the seabed for countless thousands of years, are so inconspicuous, but it is precisely they that define the scope of the motherland's maritime borders.
"I remember reading an article when I was a kid. The first batch of pilots and photographers who flew here to complete the shooting mission and symbolic patrol all won first-class merit." Li Hai said.
The party who had never spoken had doubts about the people and said, "Isn't it too exaggerated?"
"It's not an exaggeration at all." Li Hai said, "The J-8 had not yet been commissioned. The one with the longest range was the J-7, and we only had the J-7. Even though we tried our best to increase the range, we could not guarantee that we could fly back. So the pilots and photographers who participated in the operation wrote suicide notes before setting off. One J-7 and one Gaojiao-7 arrived over the old grandmother sand and could only stay for three minutes. In those three minutes, we got the first Zhang’s overhead photo of the Grandmother Shoal shows the first exercise of sovereignty patrol over the Grandmother Shoal.”
Is it difficult? It’s too difficult.
Grandmother Shoal is a full 1,600 kilometers away from the nearest airport, which is the maximum range of the J-7 without auxiliary fuel tanks. After mounting the auxiliary fuel tank, the J-7 can only fly 2,200 kilometers. By reducing weight and adding auxiliary fuel tanks, a J-7 and a Gaojiao-7 were modified through two major measures. Despite this, decades ago, it was still a feat that was determined to never come back.
Even though the military equipment is accelerating to the third and third-generation, and fourth-generation aircraft have been added to the series, there are still not many fighter models that can easily take off from the shore-based airport to patrol the old grandmother sands 1,600 kilometers away.
This is the reason why the Navy was eager to purchase the Flying Leopard after the Air Force refused to purchase it; this is the reason why the Navy would rather purchase a variant of the Flying Leopard than the J-10; this is the reason why the Navy overcame various difficulties in the Forgotten Reef The reason for building an airport capable of stationing fighter jets.
How do you prove this is the place for you?
Stay present!
Xue Zhengrong told the two new pilots, he said, "We must pay attention to the distance when doing flyaround patrols. Twelve nautical miles is the bottom line. No aircraft is allowed to enter the 12 nautical miles of the baseline of the sandy territorial sea, except of course, those reported in advance. .The scope of your activities is not allowed to exceed 50 kilometers beyond the territorial sea baseline, let alone enter the airspace of other countries. You must keep this in mind."
"yes!"
"clear!"
The Dang Weimin fighter plane suddenly swayed and tilted sharply to the left.
"Dong San, pay attention!" Xue Zhengrong reminded loudly as he was about to bump into Li Hai.
Li Hai suddenly pulled the lever and instantly climbed up, while turning his head to look over. The fighter plane belonging to the Party and the People tilted to the left and fell into the sea as if the rudder was stuck.
"Dong 4! Cave 4! What's going on!" Li Hai shouted anxiously.
The Party for the People did not respond.
Xue Zhengrong had already controlled the fighter plane and quickly followed him to check. Li Hai wanted to do this, but his movement was a beat slow and he almost bumped into Xue Zhengrong who changed his posture, and he broke into a cold sweat again.
"For the people! For the people!" Li Hai called out clearly.
"It's okay! It's okay! I'm under control!" Dang Weimin's voice suddenly came, and then he saw J-8F No. 81104 returning to level flight.
Xue Zhengrong rushed to fly level with the party for the people, turned around to observe the fighter planes of the party for the people, "Dong 4, report the situation!"
"The instrument, the instrument is normal, the instrument is normal, everything is normal." Dang Weimin was very nervous, and his voice trembled so much that his pronunciation was not normal.
Xue Zhengrong made a decisive decision and said, "Return immediately!"
"clear!"
Dang Weimin turned carefully and very slowly. It took him two minutes to resume level flight. Li Hai, who was flying with him on his left, was stunned. He checked the position data again and asked, "Dong 4, your heading is wrong. You should turn another fifteen degrees to the left. There is definitely nothing wrong with your instrument display. ?”
"The instrument display... Sorry, I saw it wrong. I am adjusting..." The party corrected the course for the people.
Xue Zhengrong could see that the party was already in a hurry and said in a deep voice, "Don't be nervous, Dongsi. Follow my instructions and we will take you back."
"I understand, don't be nervous!" Dang Weimin took a few deep breaths and said loudly.
Li Hai and Xue Zhengrong protected the party and the people on the left and the right. While maintaining a distance, they also reserved a height difference to avoid further collision signs.
Xue Zhengrong said, "Dong San, you go to the front to pilot, return directly to the site, contact the tower and land directly."
"clear!"
