50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 772 Eight Years of Cultivation, A Stack of Gold Bricks

There was no particular reason why Sun Zhiwei wanted to fly by himself this time; it was simply because he didn't have any pilots he could trust.

The million veterans were all discharged from the most basic branches of the military, including the army and sailors, but there were no pilots among them.

The pilots of the helicopters on Subi Island were all temporarily trained by him; they could only be described as having an amateur level of skill and being able to fly.

As for becoming a real fighter pilot, they are completely unqualified.

In theory, training a civil aviation pilot requires four years of theoretical study, followed by one to three years of experience as a first officer.

After accumulating 2700 hours of flight experience in the co-pilot position, one must pass an examination to obtain a formal pilot's license.

This kind of pilot's license is completely different from the amateur pilot's license that Sun Zhiwei obtained; one is a professional license, and the other is an amateur license.

If a regular civil aviation pilot wants to be promoted to captain of a large aircraft, he/she needs 5-10 years of flying experience and there must be a captain vacancy before he/she can be promoted.

This is already considered easy, because civil aviation pilots fly subsonic aircraft, which do not require high physical fitness.

If you're a fighter pilot, that's even more terrifying; the selection process alone is incredibly competitive, with only one in ten thousand applicants.

Because current and future fighter jets are gradually becoming supersonic, the physical capabilities of ordinary people are simply not sufficient to pilot a fighter jet at supersonic speeds.

In the traditional fighter pilot training model, a formal fighter pilot needs to undergo 5 years of college training plus 3 years of regular training.

It takes them eight years to become a full-fledged pilot; the training period and cost are incredibly high.

A layman once asked how much it costs to train a fighter pilot.

An insider gave an analogy, saying that the cost of this training would require building a tower of gold bricks from the ground up to the top of the pilot's head.

This shows how precious pilots are; becoming a fighter pilot is truly a golden opportunity.

When you're young, you can fly fighter jets; when you're middle-aged, you can fly transport planes; and when you get older, you can become a coach or flight instructor.

In short, it would be a waste of the enormous training costs not to fully utilize the value of a pilot.

Therefore, the talk of troop reduction and streamlining doesn't even apply to pilots; the higher-ups only worry about not having enough pilots.

Therefore, after sweeping up the air force base in Java, Sun Zhiwei had no intention of taking out the captured fighter jets.

There isn't a single qualified pilot on Subi Island, so the fighter jets are just for show and are prone to damage.

I've heard that in order to change this situation, the Chinese Air Force is preparing for pilot training reforms.

The original "three-aircraft, three-level system" will be changed to a "two-aircraft, three-level system," and flight school training will be shortened to three years to meet the future Air Force's large demand for fighter pilots.

The so-called "three aircraft" refers to three types of trainer aircraft: the CJ-6, the JL-8, and the JJ-7. Only after completing training on these three types of aircraft can one fly actual fighter jets.

This is also the most time-consuming part of pilot training.

The change to "two aircraft" refers to two new types of trainer aircraft. However, this is still just a plan, and its formal implementation will depend on the completion of the development of the two new trainer aircraft.

After taking off in his C-141, Sun Zhiwei quickly ascended to an altitude of 10,000 meters and entered cruise mode before engaging autopilot and taking a short break. According to international aviation safety standards, there are two main types of rest for pilots on long-haul flights.

One type is called "in-situ controlled rest," which means that the pilot does not leave the cockpit but only takes a short rest and cannot fall asleep.

Another option is to go to a dedicated rest area to take a nap, which is only possible if there is a backup driver available.

His current rest is "controlled rest while in office".

Although you can't sleep, it's good to take a nap in your seat. There are still nearly ten hours of flight ahead, and it's easy to have problems if you don't rest.

However, there are regulations governing this kind of rest.

First, each rest should not exceed 40 minutes; second, wake up at least half an hour before landing; third, after waking up, you need to have 15 minutes to recover before operating the aircraft, unless dealing with an emergency.

There's actually a fourth rule: you must clearly inform the co-pilot and flight attendants before taking a break. However, since there's neither a co-pilot nor flight attendants on this plane, that's not necessary.

Q: Is the shortest flight route from Washington to Hong Kong Island: Washington-Los Angeles-Honolulu-Hong Kong Island?
A: Of course not.

If refueling isn't needed along the way, the shortest route would be northwards, crossing the Arctic Ocean from Canada, then through Siberia, and finally entering China via the northeast.

This is also the route Sun Zhiwei is currently flying, because he doesn't need to refuel. The aviation fuel in his space is already piled up like a mountain, and he can refuel his tank remotely at any time.

Although the flight route has been approved, it will definitely not be an easy trip once it takes off, because the route will pass through the airspace of the Russian bear.

That is, the route was only approved because the Russians and America had just signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and international relations began to ease.

But when you actually fly there, it's unlikely to be smooth sailing.

What does it matter if the relationships between those at the top improve, or what about those below them?

After so many years of confrontation, how can things just ease up like that? People aren't machines; they can't just respond to the push of a button.

Therefore, the first half of the flight, within American and Canadian airspace, is a rare safe phase.

Once the planes enter the Arctic Ocean, it becomes one of the main battlegrounds for the eagles to dominate.

The strategic bombers, fighter jets, and strategic submarines of both sides have been locked in a fierce battle in the Arctic Ocean for decades, and it hasn't stopped yet.

Although the two sides are unlikely to engage in direct combat, it is common for both sides to use tactics such as fighter jets locking onto your submarine with radar or submarines using active sonar to ram your submarine's hull, in order to hull the other side.

When encountering fearless fighter pilots, they might even lock onto each other and then start performing aerial acrobatics.

There have been numerous instances in history where submarine captains with fiery tempers have directly rammed their submarines into each other.

He encountered this incident while escorting the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Memphis back home that year.

I heard that back then, following his advice, the domestic research department spent more than half a year studying the H submarines that were damaged on both sides, and gained a lot of design experience.

Therefore, once he leaves Canadian airspace and enters the Arctic Ocean, he will be on duty around the clock, and there will be no long rest periods during the middle of the flight.

(End of this chapter)