Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 102, 101: A Flight Across China, Overlooking Half of the Republic of China

December 27, 1932.

Fang Wen piloted the Shrike into the air.

Starting a long-haul flight of tens of thousands of kilometers is completely different from a regular flight.

This is an unknown journey, something only adventurous and highly talented pilots can take on.

To this end, Fang Wen also did a lot of preparatory work, learning about the deeds of some predecessors in the early long-distance flight exploration.

Ten years earlier, in 1923, Oakley Kelly and Lieutenant McCready took off from Hempstead on Long Island, flew over the American continent, and finally landed in San Diego, California.

This is the first time in human history that a transcontinental flight has been undertaken without any layovers.

The range is 4500 kilometers.

In 1927, Lindbergh piloted the Spirit of St. Louis aircraft from New York to Paris, flying continuously for 33 and a half hours without stopping, completing the first transatlantic flight.

The range is 5800 kilometers.

Since then, crossing the Atlantic Ocean has become a popular challenge for adventurers.

However, no one has ever developed a flight route from China to Europe.

This route only existed during the Hump airlift route in the War of Resistance against Japan.

Fang Wen now wants to open up this shipping route before the War of Resistance against Japan.

Clearing his mind, he focused intently on piloting the Shrike.

The flight from Shanghai to Wuhan is very easy.

The plane crosses Taihu Lake, passes through Suzhou and Huzhou, goes through Xuancheng, and then to Tongling on the banks of the Yangtze River, which is half of the journey.

Fang Wen took out the map, used mechanical sensing to determine the location, and marked it on the map to serve as data for future route design.

Next, the plane flew over a mountainous area with relatively low elevation.

This is one of the few mountainous areas in Hubei Province.

After flying for about forty minutes, the plane passed through the mountains and arrived over the Hubei Plain.

Although there are mountains here, they are only a few hundred meters high at most.

If you keep flying forward, you'll reach Wuhan.

From the air, Wuhan is not a single city, but rather consists of three regions.

They are Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang.

It wasn't until 27 years later that these areas were merged, leading to the saying "the three towns of Wuhan".

Wuchang is south of the Yangtze River, while Hankou and Hanyang are north of the Yangtze River.

Fang Wen could understand the name Hankou, which simply means the outlet of the Han River. But he didn't understand Hanyang at first. Later he learned that Yang means north of the river, that is, the side of the Han River, or the north bank of the Yangtze River.

Fang Wen piloted the Shrike, circling above Hankou.

After circling for a while, we saw Wangjiadun Airport.

It's not very big, just one runway.

He turned on his radio and called the ground.

"The Shrike is calling the airport. The Shrike is calling the airport. Please respond."

After three consecutive calls, the ground responded.

"Ground control tower has received the message; the runway is now clear for landing."

"Received. The Shrike will land immediately. Over."

Fang Wen put down the microphone, adjusted the aircraft's position, and successfully landed on the empty airport runway.

Once the plane was parked, an officer came over.

Fang Wen got off the plane, shook hands with the other person, and the two talked.

"Hello Fang Wen, I have long admired your name. Seeing you in person is truly an honor. You are indeed a young hero."

"I'm not a teenager anymore, I'm married," Fang Wen replied.

A little awkward, the officer quickly changed the subject.

"Ah, settling down and starting a family is good too. By the way, is this an American P-26 fighter jet?"

Fang Wen's sole responsibility on this flight was to introduce the aircraft on behalf of Boeing at the transit airport, which was also the condition for obtaining various forms of assistance from Boeing.

But Fang Wen wouldn't hide anything from his own people.

He expressed his feelings very frankly.

"My aircraft is a P26-B, and its performance is decent. It has a 12.7mm M2 Browning machine gun mounted in the nose, which is air-cooled and can fire 500 rounds per minute. It can be loaded with both standard and armor-piercing rounds, so its firepower is sufficient."

The officer nodded, waiting for Fang Wen to continue.

Fang Wen pointed to the wing.

"The wing uses a low-wing design and is connected to the fuselage by support wires above and below the wing. I think this design will soon be phased out, and future wings will no longer be fixed with external steel wires."

"Really? Let me make a note of it."

The officer took out a notebook and carefully wrote down what Fang Wen had said.

Fang Wen continued, "The P26 and its series models all use Pratt & Whitney air-cooled engines, which are relatively stable and reliable in terms of performance. I have flown it for 600 hours and have not found any major problems."

The officer nodded; a long flight would be the best test.

But then Fang Wen went on to say what he didn't think highly of p26.

"Although the P-26 series fighter jets have an advantage in speed, as one of the first monoplane fighter jets, it may be replaced by other airline products. In addition, in order to achieve higher maneuverability and speed, its fuselage is thin and compact. I heard that the US Army gave it a nickname: 'toy gun'."

The officer paused writing, guessing at the origin of the nickname: "Do Americans not like small planes?"

"Probably. Overall, this aircraft is capable of dealing with current Japanese fighter planes, but it needs a lot of training to make up for its offensive capabilities and operational shortcomings."

Fang Wen then summarized the discussion.

The officer nodded and took careful notes. He then warmly invited Fang Wen to dinner and also invited several people from the airport to accompany him.

At the dinner table, everyone chatted casually, toasted each other, and had a harmonious relationship.

After drinking, the officer became more talkative, complaining, "This kind of aircraft is about the same size as the Japanese Navy's Type 3 carrier-based aircraft. It has a low payload and cannot fly long distances. What else does it have besides agility and speed?"

Fang Wen nodded: "So it's for the US Army, not the Navy. It's fine for short- to medium-range operations."

"I heard from above that they're planning to buy ten to take a look first." The officer suddenly realized he had misspoke and quickly changed the subject to something more casual.

Half an hour later, he took Fang Wen to the airport dormitory and arranged for him to stay in a room for the night.

After the other party left.

Fang Wencai untied the canvas bag he had taken off the plane and took out a newly replaced hand-cranked telegraph machine.

This telegraph machine was purchased from an intelligence dealer and was a special espionage device, about the same size as the original hand-cranked telegraph machine.

In addition to hand-crank power generation, dry cell batteries can also be used to provide electrical energy.

Using dry cell batteries is more stable than hand-cranked power generation. Fang Wen took out a box of 'Yongbei' brand flashlight batteries and put them into the battery slot.

Then I checked the time, it was 7:30 pm.

He adjusted the frequency to send the message.

"We have arrived in Hankou."

This was an agreement with Neil: the domestic route had three stops, and I had to contact Neil by telegram at each stop.

Twenty minutes after the message was sent, a radio wave of the same frequency was received in response.

"The Chongqing and Kunming authorities have confirmed this."

Their conversation was simple and direct, without any unnecessary chatter.

In addition to communicating with Neil, Fang Wen also needed to reassure his family that he was safe.

He waited until 8:30 before adjusting the frequency to send the message.

Similarly, it says: "Has arrived in Hankou."

This is a telegram sent to Taishan Airlines. The recipient is Manager Liu, who has been a skilled telegraph operator for two months.

Ten minutes later, there was a radio feedback.

"Received. Please fly carefully, and be cautious when landing at an airport in a different location. Also, Yue Jinping brought news that your sixth sister has been arrested. I am sending someone to inquire about it and will report to you tomorrow."

Fang Wen was stunned. How could this happen so soon after he left Shanghai?

But he had already set off and there was no way he could go back, so he sent a telegram back.

"Don't tell my parents yet, just say that my sixth sister came to visit me."

After the telegram call ended, Fang Wen thought that his wife, Kuang Mingzhu, was a steady person, and his brothers were also very capable, so they should be able to solve the problem.

So he lay down on the bed fully clothed and fell asleep, his mind completely at ease.

The next morning, a knock on the door woke Fang Wen. He got up and opened the door to find a messenger: "Sir, the officer asked me to take you to breakfast."

He put his belongings into a large canvas bag with drawstring closure and followed the messenger to the airport canteen.

After having breakfast, Fang Wen asked, "Can we take off now?"

"I don't know, I'll have to ask the officer. Do you want to leave now?"

Fang Wen nodded: "Yes."

"Then you wait here, I'll go ask right now."

The messenger ran off.

After a while, he returned with the officer he had met the night before.

"Let's go now," the officer said warmly.

"Time is a bit tight; we need to fly the next two stops in one day," Fang Wen replied.

"Alright, I'll make the arrangements right away. You can get on the plane now and contact me by radio."

Fang Wen shook hands with him and left, then boarded the Shrike in the waiting area and turned on the radio.

Half an hour later, a sound came through the radio.

"Shrike, you are cleared for takeoff. Please proceed to the runway area."

"receive."

Fang Wen started the Shrike and drove it onto the runway. Airport staff waved signal flags ahead, and the plane accelerated for takeoff.

Back in the sky, Fang Wen adjusted his position and flew towards Chongqing.

The plane flew over the vast plains of Hubei, relying on the Han River for support.

After leaving the Han River in Xiantao, we arrived at Jingzhou, another city along the Yangtze River.

The plains then transformed into mountainous terrain.

The plane flew in a straight line until it returned to the Yangtze River section.

That place is Chongqing, a city built against the mountains.

It is also the confluence of the Jialing River and the Yangtze River.

Fang Wen suddenly realized that Chongqing and Wuhan were somewhat similar, both being waterway cities where two rivers meet.

At this time, Chongqing was already very prosperous.

Where is the airport?
Fang Wen quickly discovered Guangyang Island, a sandbar island in the Yangtze River.

Guangyang Island is not large; it is located in the middle of the river and divides the Yangtze River in two.

The airport above is easy to identify.

Fang Wen turned on his radio and made a call.

"Calling airport control, the Shrike requests landing."

The Sichuan dialect was transmitted from the radio device.

"Okay, are you coming down?"

Fang Wen then landed at Shazhou Airport.

He wouldn't stay overnight here, but would refuel and rest along the way before setting off for Kunming in the afternoon.

After airport staff refueled the plane, an officer came over to inquire.

The Sichuan dialect is rich and distinctive.

"You're Fang Wen, the one who bombed the Japanese warship?"

"Yes, I wasn't the only one on the mission. I just took credit for throwing the bombs," Fang Wen said modestly.

"Don't be so polite. I've flown planes before. Hitting a target when dropping bombs from the sky isn't easy. Come on, let's have a drink."

The officer extended a warm invitation.

Fang Wen politely declined the drink.

"I can't drink it, I'm leaving this afternoon."

"Then let's eat something, and I'll bring a bunch of child soldiers to listen to your story about blowing up the warship."

He then took Fang Wen to the airport military camp, directed the soldiers to bring a table of food, and while they ate, he listened to Fang Wen recount the stories of the air battles during the January 28 Incident.

These things were all new to the people in the southwest region, and the soldiers sat around listening with curiosity.

It was one o'clock in the afternoon when Fang Wen checked his watch.

"I'm leaving now, thank you for your hospitality."

Fang Wen stood up and took his leave.

This time, the officer didn't try to stop him: "Fine, if you're flying 10,000 kilometers to Europe, I won't hold you up any longer."

He beckoned, took a bundle from the soldier, and handed it to Fang Wen.

"It's nothing valuable, just a local specialty of Chongqing. Please don't be offended."

Fang Wen wanted to refuse, but when he heard that they were just local specialties and the other party was so insistent, he had no choice but to accept them.

He boarded the plane, bid farewell to the officers and soldiers, and took to the skies again.

In mid-air, Fang Wen opened the bundle.

It was full of food, wrapped in oil paper, perfect for passing the time on the flight.

He glanced at the writing on the packaging: "Strange-flavored broad beans" and "Peach slices."

One is spicy, and the other is sweet. They've thought of everything, so there's bound to be one that suits your taste.

Fang Wen took a slice of Hechuan peach and ate it before continuing to drive attentively.

The entire flight route from Chongqing to Kunming is through mountainous areas.

Without obvious landmarks like major rivers to guide you, the mountains below all look pretty much the same.

This is similar to the situation when flying in South Asia; Fang Wen had to find other ways to ensure that the flight path was correct.

He began to enter a state of mechanical perception for an extended period of time.

After absorbing the four golden Buddhas for several months, the duration and consumption of mechanical perception have greatly improved. Unlike before, I won't be exhausted after a high-intensity flight battle.

However, after absorbing energy for so long, the four-faced golden Buddha could no longer provide energy to enhance its mechanical perception. To continue improving, it would be necessary to find a treasure similar to the four-faced Buddha.

After a half-hour flight, the Shrike passed through a large mountainous area, where the terrain gradually rose.

That is the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the second largest plateau in China after the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The most dangerous thing about flying over high altitudes is the oxygen content.

In this era, fighter jets were still open-type, so even more care had to be taken.

Although Fang Wen did not trigger a hypoxia response, he still took corresponding preventative measures.

He pulled open the storage compartment on his left and took out a device that he wore over his mouth.

Those were diving equipment from that era, the first generation of scuba gear.

The scuba tank is connected to a compressed air cylinder, which contains oxygen-rich air from low-altitude areas.

If oxygen deficiency occurs, turn on the compressed gas cylinder to replenish oxygen.

Of course, this was just a precaution; Fang Wen did not experience altitude sickness all the way to Kunming.

It was already 4 p.m.

The sun had already begun to set, casting its glow in the evening light.

He must land at Kunming Wujiaba Airport as soon as possible.

The plane circled over Kunming to observe.

There is a lake on each of the southwest sides of the city.

To the south is Fuxian Lake, and to the west is Dianchi Lake.

There is an airport in the area above Dianchi Lake.

It was Wujiaba Airport.

Fang Wen turned on his radio and called the ground.

After receiving a response, the plane landed at the airport.

This area is controlled by another warlord faction in the southwest.

According to the flight plan, Fang Wen also had to give a briefing on the aircraft to the officers sent by Long Yun from Yunnan.

Once these steps are completed, the domestic itinerary is considered finished.

(End of this chapter)