Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 162, 161: The 6000-kilometer flight challenge, crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

The Opel pickup truck drove out of Toulouse, stopped on the side of the road, and determined its destination.

The destination is marked on the unfolded map of Indiana.

The transliteration of "lacaune" into Chinese can be "拉科讷".

It is located between Toulouse and Montpellier, two major cities in southern France, and is said to be a pastoral area.

There are two routes to get there.

The first route is to head northeast, along the Tarn River, across the central plateau, and arrive at Laconé.

The second option is to head east, through a plain, with a section of road leading to Montpellier, and then into Lacone.

It was obvious that the lower road was more convenient, so after a brief discussion, the car set off, taking the flat route.

The Opel pickup truck traveled briskly along the 100-kilometer stretch of flat road.

In a town called Castel, the truck drove into Lacone.

Located in the southern part of the French Central Plateau, this area is protected from cold northern air by the plateau and nourished by moist Mediterranean air currents, creating a vast and beautiful landscape.

On the verdant hillside meadows, large flocks of Lacone sheep gaze at the passing trucks, completely unafraid of strangers.

The land here is fertile, but sparsely populated, and the houses of the locals are far apart.

This made Lin Shuiwang envious.

"I've been traveling at sea all this time and never realized there were such wonderful places in the French mainland. It would be great to buy a piece of land here and raise sheep."

“It’s really nice. You and Amu can stay here; she should like it,” Fang Wen replied.

Fang Wen was a little envious of such a beautiful view. If it weren't for the War of Resistance against Japan, he would have no problem buying several estates and large tracts of land in Europe and America with his current wealth.

Lin Shuiwang shook his head: "Staying here for a few days might be novel, but staying too long won't work. I'm someone who makes a living by the sea, and so is my mother. She won't like it here. General Manager, don't test me. I'm definitely taking my mother back to China. It's called returning to one's roots."

"I wasn't testing you," Fang Wen said with a smile, not wanting to discuss it further.

The last twenty kilometers were quickly covered, and we arrived at a small town in Lacone.

There, the three got out of the car, ordered local food at a restaurant, and ate and talked.

Indiana Low Channel:
“William said he was going to build a church here. He had already bought the land, and the cross was hidden in the basement of the house he bought. He originally planned to take it out after the church was built. But then the incident happened in Weimar, and he rushed to Port Seychelles overnight to take a boat to Tehran to find me.”

"Does the land he bought have a name on it?" Fang Wen asked.

“It’s a bit of a tongue twister, it’s French. I’ll go ask.” Indiana stood up and struck up a conversation with the restaurant owner.

The boss pointed in one direction and kept talking.

Back in Indiana, he excitedly said, "We know where it is now. We can't do it during the day; the locals will mistake us for thieves. We'll make our move at night."

Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang nodded; they got used to it after doing it so many times.

Instead of renting a hotel to rest, they bought more food, filled up the gas tank, parked their Opel pickup truck in the suburbs, and waited for night to fall.

As the sun set, Fang Wen suddenly realized why the area was so sparsely populated.

Large swarms of mosquitoes, attracted by the delicious food, gathered outside the car.

A buzzing sound came, and Indiana was the first to suffer.

He waved his hand vigorously to drive away the swarm of mosquitoes, and occasionally slapped his body.

But this was completely useless; without any protection, he was bitten by mosquitoes and cried out in pain.

"Fang, open the door quickly and let me in."

If you don't open the door, you'll be the only one; if you open the door, you'll be wiped out.

Fang Wen wouldn't do such a thing. He floored the gas pedal, and the Opel pickup truck sped toward its destination: "Bear with it, we'll be there soon. I drive with the wind on, the mosquitoes won't be able to catch up."

"Then hurry up!" Indiana cried out.

Laconé, in southern France, was already quite hot at the end of June. Beneath the beautiful scenery of lush vegetation lay a terrifying mosquito paradise.

Fortunately, Fang Wen drove fast, leaving the swarm of mosquitoes behind. The car didn't dare to stop and went straight to the land William had bought.

Under the moonlight, one could see the scene in that area: piles of timber lay to one side, and construction on the church had stopped before the foundation was even completed.

Next to it are five bungalows, which are probably the houses that came with the land that William bought from the locals.

Below the third room was the basement dug by William and the six Weimar officers who had already been executed.

Now, apart from William Indiana, Fang Wen, and Lin Shuiwang, no one knows there is another sacred object below.

The group quietly entered the third house and lit candles for light.

Indiana pushed aside the table in the middle of the house, lifted the carpet underneath, and revealed a wooden board with a pull ring.

The wooden planks were split in two. Indiana pulled one side and Lin Shuiwang pulled the other. By pulling on both sides simultaneously, the planks were opened, revealing the space underneath.

"I'll go down and take a look." Indiana couldn't wait to climb down the wooden ladder at the entrance of the cave.

A moment later, he responded from below: "Lots of rats. Throw down the candles."

Lin Shuiwang did as instructed, and after a while, a large area of ​​light appeared below.

Stimulated by the light, one by one, gray mice crawled out of their holes.

With so many rats, it's enough to trigger trypophobia. If someone who's afraid of rats were to encounter this, they'd probably be in for a rough time.

Fortunately, Lin Shuiwang and Fang Wen were not afraid. The two kicked the rats away and looked down.

In the light, Indiana stood before the True Cross, bowing his head in prayer.

After he finished praying, he looked up and said, "There are pulleys below; they must be used to place the cross."

Fang Wen raised the candle and looked up.

There is a metal ring on the main beam of the roof, and a pulley should be installed on it.

The three of them then got to work.

Indiana then re-tied the ropes left in the basement to the cross.

Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang then used a ladder from the basement to support the main beam and installed the pulleys.

After doing all this, hang the rope that is tied to the cross on the pulley, and you can begin.

Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang pulled hard on the rope and pushed off the ground with their feet, both of them backing away.

As the two people exerted force, the rope on the pulley system tightened, pulling the cross in the basement.

In the basement, Indiana carefully held the cross, pushing and adjusting its direction to avoid getting it stuck in the opening.

The three of them worked together to pull the cross out of the ground little by little until it was completely removed from the basement.

Then, the ladder was lowered so that Indiana could climb out.

The three rested for a while after arriving here to recover their strength.

After resting for twenty minutes, Fang Wen went out and drove the small truck outside the door. The three of them then worked together to slowly lift the true cross out and place it on the truck.

After finishing all this, the three were exhausted. After all, it used to be a job for six people, but now it was half as many, so it was no easy feat to get it done. After resting for a while, the three got up, covered the cross with the black cloth they had brought, wrapped it tightly, and then got into the car and left.

Fang Wen and his two companions rushed back to the Devatina Company Airport in Toulouse overnight, and under cover of darkness, drove their car into the hangar to complete the final tasks.

Put the True Cross into the airplane.

Fortunately, the d.332 was designed for both passenger and cargo use, with a cargo door at the tail that is just wide enough to fit the True Cross.

After another round of fuss, the cross was finally placed in the aircraft's cargo hold, completing the transfer of the real cross.

The three of them were so tired that they lay down and fell asleep on the passenger seats in the cabin, too exhausted to even turn over.

Fang Wen, who had only slept for two hours, got up just as dawn was breaking.

Although it was only two hours, he had fully recovered all the energy he had expended during the night's work.

Fang Wen himself couldn't explain why this happened.

It's unclear whether this was due to the enhanced mechanical perception or the fact that she was wearing a cross necklace that appeared to be stained with holy blood powder.

Anyway, over this period of time, my energy has been increasing and my recovery ability has been getting stronger.

Instead of waking the two men, he opened the airplane door and went out to stretch his legs.

At 7 a.m., Emir de Vatina arrived at the hangar.

"Several newspapers in the south, as well as journalists in Paris, are ready. If you're sure you're taking off today, I'll arrange for them to cover the event."

"Let's finish breakfast first," Fang Wen replied.

Then, three French breakfasts were brought: buttered bread, coffee cocoa, and fried sausage.

Fang Wen also woke up Lin Shuiwang and Indiana. After the three of them finished breakfast, the arranged interview began.

Several reporters entered the hangar to take a photo of Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang on the plane.

The interview was announced to be conducted by only two people, and the Indiana intelligence officer was naturally unable to appear in public.

After the photo session, the reporters asked questions.

"Mr. Fang, why did you accept this challenge?"

Fang Wen smiled and replied, "I personally enjoy flying and extreme flight challenges. The long-haul flight between Asia and Europe was just one attempt, but this time it's a challenge of a higher standard."

"Then let me ask you this: as far as I know, someone completed the transatlantic challenge in a biplane in 1919, and did so without landing. Is there any point in you repeating this challenge?"

The reporter's question referred to the non-stop transatlantic flight of British pilots John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown in 1919.

They were flying a modified Vickers Vimy biplane bomber.

The plane carried nearly 4000 liters of fuel to complete its transoceanic flight by passing the Atlantic's closest point.

Fang Wen replied, "I personally admire the feats of these two flying adventurers. They challenged nature and pushed the limits of mechanics. But this voyage is different from theirs."

The reporters realized that key interview information was about to emerge, and they all picked up their pens to take notes.

Fang Wen continued, "First, the D.332 passenger plane I'm piloting this time is a large passenger plane that will soon be put into service. Its normal range is already 2000 kilometers. To complete this transatlantic flight, its fuel tanks have been specially modified, and the amount of fuel it carries is enough to complete a flight distance of 8000 kilometers. Second, our route is from Toulouse to New York, a distance of 6000 kilometers. If this flight is successfully completed, it means that transatlantic commercial flights are possible."

These words were carefully recorded by the reporters, who planned to publish them later.

This reveals important information: transatlantic commercial flights are now possible. This was a promotional tactic for Devatina and Taishan Airlines, and also the main reason for inviting journalists for interviews.

After the interview, Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang loaded the supplies onto the plane.

A transatlantic route cannot be undertaken without preparation; in case of an accident, one must be able to save oneself.

Therefore, food and water are essential, as are life-saving equipment, such as signal guns, nighttime rescue lights, and an inflatable boat.

After completing these preparations, Fang Wen started the plane again and conducted his unique check. After confirming that there were no problems, the plane took off from the Devatina Company Airport and began its transatlantic journey.

The plane climbed to an altitude of 4000 meters and flew smoothly at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, departing from Toulouse and crossing the Garonne River, the fifth largest river in France.

The ground beneath the aircraft then began to sink.

That's the Aquitaine Basin, the richest land in France, equivalent to the Jiangnan region of China.

After passing through the vast farmland of the Aquitaine Basin, you arrive at the French coastline.

It was a huge bay called the Bay of Biscay.

From here, the flight entered the boundless Atlantic Ocean.

This voyage included approximately 4000 kilometers of ocean areas without any islands.

It is also the most tedious and dangerous area.

Without satellite positioning and radio navigation, Fang Wen must determine the correct course and maintain it to avoid veering off course.

Therefore, he entered a state of mechanical perception and used a compass to determine his location.

Using only a compass and mechanical sensors for positioning is not reliable, so another tool comes in handy.

That's a sextant.

It determines direction differently than a compass.

A sextant is an optical instrument used to measure the angle between two distant targets.

It is used to measure the angle between the sun or other celestial bodies and the sea level or horizon at a certain moment, so as to quickly determine the latitude and longitude of the aircraft's location.

This measurement result, combined with a map, mechanical sensing, and a compass, is necessary to determine one's accurate position and ensure that one does not deviate from the course.

Fang Wen had long since learned to use a sextant for positioning, but he couldn't use it continuously to take measurements while piloting the plane, so the veteran sailor Lin Shuiwang had to come in handy.

He was in the passenger seat, holding a sextant and rotating the index telescope.

This allows you to observe the sun and the horizon simultaneously in the field of view until they coincide.

The altitude angle of a celestial body can be read by the angle of rotation of the index mirror, and then the latitude and longitude coordinates of the observation location can be calculated.

However, this method of astronomical observation is not always useful; it becomes ineffective in stormy weather.

The flight lasted 2000 kilometers, reaching the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which was one-third of the entire journey.

The plane flew alone over this vast ocean.

Because it was flying from east to west, the plane was like a traveler chasing the sun, and it was taking a long time for night to fall.

According to Fang Wen's assessment, at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, the flight would take 20 hours. The flight departs from Toulouse at 8:00 AM, and if the time difference is taken into account, the flight would arrive in New York at 11:00 PM local time.

Therefore, most of the flight time will not be dark.

But this judgment was overturned by nature.

The sky suddenly darkened, large cumulonimbus clouds covered the sky, a strong wind blew, and a torrential downpour began.

d.332's transatlantic voyage encountered a crisis.

It's uncertain whether the D.332, with its swept wings, can withstand this thunderstorm.

Will Fang Wen's mechanical perception be able to play a role in this crisis?

(End of this chapter)