I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 88 The Eagle Soars to the Heavens

"Changzai, is this the airplane you guys came up with?"
Isn't it beautiful? It looks very imposing.

This plane is really huge.

The tall, imposing headquarters leader said with a smile.

On July 28, 1937.

Chen Changzai led his students in the research and development, and the entire Wujiabao Industrial Base worked together to produce it.

The first airplane in northern Shaanxi can finally take its first flight today.

This progress was completely stuck within the timeframe set by Chen Changzai; it was neither ahead of schedule nor delayed.

On this day, almost all the leaders at headquarters, except those who were commanding operations in the field, came to an airport that had been under construction for a long time, located west of Wujiabao.

This is the airport that was built specifically for this aircraft.

However, the standards for what are now called airports are very simple.

As long as the ground is flat, without any major potholes or unevenness, and there are no large stones on the track.

That would almost allow fighter jets or small to medium-sized aircraft to take off at that time.

Unless it's a large transport plane or a bomber, because they are too heavy, then a dedicated airport is required.

The airport here is quite good.

Although there is no paved track here, this entire wide area is the ground that has been rolled dozens of times by hand-held tractors pulling large iron rollers.

Drainage ditches were also dug to drain the water.

Looking down from the sky, this place is no different from any other loess plateau.

They were all yellowish and bare.

This was exactly the effect Chen Changzai wanted.

Building a concrete runway without heavy aircraft is simply asking for trouble.

Were they afraid that if the Japanese planes suddenly flew in, they wouldn't be able to find the airport runway?

There's only one plane here right now. Even if there are more planes in the future, we can just draw more runway lines then.

The airport is located in a wide valley.

It is more than one kilometer wide and seven or eight kilometers long.

On the high ground on both sides of the valley, there are signal trees that can be knocked down.

When the airport is put into use and ready to receive aircraft, signal trees on the high ground of the valleys on both sides will be erected one after another.

From the sky, it can be seen as a wide yellow line, like a large running track, sandwiched between two lines that are red in summer and green in winter.

That's the valley runway area.

The hills on both sides of this valley are forty or fifty meters high.

Many cave dwellings of various sizes have now been excavated at the foot of these two mountains.

These cave dwellings will serve as the future air force command post and hangar.

Whether it's the large cave dwelling used as a hangar or the small cave dwelling used as a place for staff to work and rest, this place is a place for both large and small purposes.

The interior is entirely covered with arched ceilings made of red bricks and cement, in order to prevent the Japanese planes from breaking in if they were to actually enter.

If by sheer luck, that bomb might hit the exact spot and cause the cave dwelling to collapse.

Although the thickness of the cave ceiling, which is tens of meters, is not a problem, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

However, those standing on the two high grounds today are not the news trees, nor are they shepherds.

Instead, they were the internal security personnel responsible for security here, and the soldiers from the headquarters guard regiment who were transferred to Wujiabao to be in charge of security work.

These soldiers included both those in the open and those in the shadows.

Hidden in the shadows are soldiers dressed in khaki camouflage uniforms, carrying precision rifles or sniper rifles.

Ever since Chen Chang first painted camouflage on a three-wheeled vehicle, the headquarters leadership has tasked the logistics headquarters with tackling the printing and dyeing technology for camouflage uniforms.

Finally, the logistics headquarters' technical staff in charge of clothing mastered the printing and dyeing technology for this camouflage fabric in three months.

This thing isn't some amazing high-tech gadget; you just need to understand the principles behind its color combinations.

Compared to China's thousands of years of dyeing and printing culture, this is just a trinket.

Although the cost of this camouflage fabric is higher than that of coarse cloth.

However, it is still possible to equip certain special units with camouflage uniforms made of this camouflage fabric.

And those guards standing in the open.

Everyone wore steel helmets and khaki uniforms, a color that provided excellent camouflage on the Loess Plateau.

He wore thick-soled cloth shoes and leg wraps, and carried a Type 1 submachine gun on his back.

When steel production was very low, all resources were allocated to weapons.

Until April of this year, due to the increasing number of makeshift blast furnaces being built in various places.

And then the steel mill officially started production.

Therefore, some steel resources were surplus, which could be used to make steel helmets.

This helmet is a replica of the German M35 helmet.

The sample was obtained by a comrade from the Special Branch when he disguised himself as a member of Bald Lao's direct subordinate unit during a mission.

Chen Changzai also liked the helmet very much when he saw it.

He believes that the emergence of a steel helmet always reflects the needs of its time, and that using a steel helmet from later generations here is not really appropriate.

So he designed a new helmet style based on the basic skull size and shape of East Asians and the M35 helmet.

This new helmet is not significantly different from the M35.

Then they had the mold factory produce several sets of molds.

Using medium-carbon steel-based molybdenum alloy steel plates as the steel plates for the helmet, the helmet can be formed after six stamping and shaping processes.

The helmet's lining is made of thick, wide canvas straps, riveted to the helmet with three rivets, and there is an adjustable wide canvas strap under the forehead as a chin strap.

The area supporting the lower jaw is a movable piece of cotton cloth to prevent the canvas from chafing the jaw.

Although this helmet is simple, it is currently only partially issued to the most elite and important troops.

Other troops will have to wait.

After all, although steel production has increased somewhat, it is not yet so much that everyone can have a steel helmet.

The replacement of Type 1 rifles is not even halfway done yet; only more than 20,000 rifles have been replaced.

After hearing what the tall leader said, the leader standing next to him, who had a kind and gentle demeanor, looked up.

He said to a refined-looking leader with a large beard beside him, "This is just a two-seater trainer aircraft, yet it's so impressive."

I really can't imagine what our future fighter jets will be like.

I've fought wars my whole life, and I really never expected to see our own aircraft here.

This Comrade Changzai is truly a good comrade who dares to think and act, and who is really capable of getting things done.

The bearded leader then laughed and said, "Yes, I didn't expect that Comrade Changzai would say he wanted to develop our own airplanes."

It's amazing that they actually managed to get it done in less than a year; it was truly an incredible feat.

At this moment, Chen Changzai said to the dozen or so leaders, "Leaders, let me first give you a brief introduction to the basic performance of this aircraft."

If anyone is interested, the leaders are welcome to go up and take a look.

At this point, the tall leader said, "Alright, Comrade Changzai, could you give us a brief introduction to this big guy?"

At this moment, Chen Chang smiled and said to the leaders, "I would define this aircraft as a combat trainer."

As its name suggests, its primary duty, besides combat, is to train new pilots, allowing them to safely experience the feeling of flying.

This aircraft is 7.5 meters long and 3.4 meters high. The height here refers to the highest point including the wheels and landing gear.

The wingspan is 9.2 meters.

It features a dual-bladed opposed propeller, double-layered wings, a large horizontal tail, a small vertical tail, and a large tail rudder.

The main reason for this design is that it offers the best safety and is very beginner-friendly.

Moreover, this design excels in low-altitude, low-speed dogfighting performance.

Our current pilots are not very familiar with flying, so they often suffer in high-altitude combat.

That's why I created this old-fashioned biplane.

After listening to Chen Changzai's words, the leaders all nodded in agreement.

Because he was stating the facts before his eyes; the quality of an aircraft does not depend on how excellent its performance is.

Instead, we need to consider the environment the aircraft is about to face and whether the aircraft is suitable for that environment.

What Chen Changzai is talking about now is the actual situation of the newly formed Air Force.

Chen Changzai continued, "It uses an 800-horsepower V8 gasoline engine."

This engine can give the aircraft a maximum level flight speed of 460 kilometers per hour at a low altitude of 3,000 meters.

Its self-sealing fuel tank can hold 350 liters of aviation gasoline.

This amount of fuel allows the aircraft to have a maximum range of 1,000 kilometers.

In other words, its combat radius can reach 300 to 350 kilometers.

This combat radius does not simply mean that the flight range is reduced by half.

Rather, it means that after reaching the combat airspace, one-third of the flight distance must be reserved for combat time and airspace patrol time.

The simplest way to understand it is: use one-third of the fuel on the way there, use one-third during the battle, and use one-third on the return trip.

The leaders nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

The leader, with a kind and gentle face, then said, "More than 300 kilometers, that's quite far."

If we were to travel back and forth, it would take us quite a few days.

"Not close anymore, not close anymore!"

At this moment, Chen Chang said to his leader, "Leader, actually, these 300 kilometers are only a defensive distance for an aircraft."

If you want to fly further, you'll have to add auxiliary fuel tanks.

However, that would take up the weight of weapons and ammunition.

Given our current air force strength, I feel it's best to focus primarily on defense.

"Yes, Comrade Chang is right, our air force is still very weak."

If our air force can now conduct defensive operations, that would be quite remarkable.

"Comrade Changzai's assessment is very accurate." The bearded leader affirmed after hearing Chen Changzai's words.

The other leaders also nodded in agreement.

They were all very clear that their air force was currently no match for the Japanese air force.

Even the bald guy's air force can't compare.

First of all, we only have one aircraft on our side right now, which is a fighter jet that can also be used as a trainer.

Furthermore, among the pilots on our side, no more than three have actually flown fighter jets in the sky.

The rest are simulated on the ground.

At this stage, the air force is the seed of the future, and it must be carefully nurtured when it is young.

Seeing that the leaders understood what he had said, Chen Changzai continued, "The cockpit of this aircraft is a tandem two-seat design, with one seat in front and one in the back."

It has a half-body armored partition in the middle.

The seats in the back are slightly higher than those in the front. This is to ensure that the view from behind is not obstructed.

Both the pilots in the front and back seats can operate the aircraft.

Their joysticks and foot pedals are linked.

Moreover, in actual combat, the pilot in front can be responsible for operating the aircraft, while the personnel in the rear can operate the machine gun to fire.

This firing mechanism can be operated in conjunction with the previous and subsequent shots, or it can be operated separately.

The aircraft was equipped with four 7.92 mm aircraft machine guns.

Two were positioned on the left and right sides below the nose of the aircraft, and two were positioned near the root of the lower wing.

Each machine gun has a capacity of 500 rounds of ammunition.

The four machines together carry a total of two thousand 7.92mm high-carbon molybdenum alloy armor-piercing rounds.

It can also carry two 50-kilogram aerial bombs or one 100-kilogram aerial bomb.

Regarding the machine guns, my initial idea was to install two 12.7mm heavy machine guns.

However, considering that our pilots are not yet very experienced.

When facing enemy aircraft, a dense barrage of bullets, in the fleeting opportunity to fire, is often more effective than high-powered munitions.

Upon hearing this, one of the leaders said, "Comrade Changzai is right."

Key opportunities are often fleeting, and at that moment, you won't have time to aim slowly. If you have bullets, fire a burst of bullets first.

Even if you can't kill the enemy, you can still injure him; even if you can't injure him, you can still suppress him.

Only then can we take the initiative.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Chen Changzai said.

After Chen Changzai finished his introduction, all the leaders went up the ladder to the plane to take a look and even sat inside to experience it.

Everyone says it feels pretty good.

By the time the leaders had finished watching, the test pilots, who were already prepared, were ready.

Jiang Dacheng, one of the three pilots in the team who had actually flown fighter jets, went up to the front cockpit of the aircraft and sat down.

Behind him was another cadet pilot.

Just now, when the leaders visited the aircraft cockpit accompanied by Political Commissar He...

Chen Changzai then said to Jiang Dacheng and his co-pilot once again: "If you enter a slight spin while flying, do not panic."

As long as you take your feet off the control pads and release the sticks in your hands, the aircraft will automatically right itself and escape the spin.

If the engine malfunctions or the engine stops, don't panic.

Once the aircraft is properly positioned, follow the instructions in the operating manual to perform a gliding landing.

Remember? "

"We've got it covered, Director Chen. Don't worry, we'll do our best."

After the two pilots saluted everyone in the cockpit, they closed the cockpit canopy.

The engine was started.

The crowd watched from afar as the yellow plane, painted only with primer, slowly accelerated and taxied forward.

After taxiing for more than 100 meters, the wheels of the fighter trainer began to lift off the ground.

The plane, like a soaring eagle, swooped down into the blue sky.

Today, riding the wind from the ground, the eagle spreads its wings and soars into the nine heavens.

(End of this chapter)