Great Power Long Sky

There are at least two ground-based radars tracking the aircraft in the sky.

One is the Yuanling Radar Station, which is an early warning radar mainly used for long-range air surveillance, but it can also detect aircraft over the Donghai Airfield. The other is the radar of a radar station near the Donghai Airfield, which is mainly used to direct and guide aircraft take-off and landing and conduct training in the local airspace.

The radar operators at the two radar stations promptly relayed the positions of the two aircraft to the plotter via radio, and the plotter immediately plotted them on the plotting board.

The control tower had a very clear view of the exact locations of the two aircraft. Feng Liang immediately informed Xue Shuang of their positions, and Xue Shuang was also very clear about them.

However, Li Lu was unaware of this information.

Li Lu, unaware of the malfunctioning airborne radio, continued to engage in combat close-quarters combat according to his own plan.

It should be said that Xue Shuang knew Li Lu's flight parameters, where he was flying, his altitude, and his speed. Even if he couldn't contact Li Lu, it would be easy to find him.

Once they are within eye range, Xue Shuang can communicate with Li Lu using sign language.

Just then, the weather window appeared ahead of schedule, and the clouds suddenly rose rapidly, covering the airspace where Li Lu and Xue Shuang were located.

This phenomenon occurs because the warm air blowing from the Pacific Ocean once "defeated" the southward-moving cold air, forming an upward airflow that "pushed" the clouds upward.

This is getting a bit troublesome.

Due to the cloud cover, Xue Shuang could hardly see Li Lu.

Xue Shuang decisively slowed down again to maintain level flight in order to avoid a collision.

On the control tower, Feng Liang and Xu Hailiang both stood up, their minds highly focused. Xu Hailiang kept his eyes glued to the plotting board, acting as Feng Liang's assistant.

As the two aircraft rapidly approached each other, Feng Liang shouted to Xue Shuang, "Turn right! Turn right immediately!"

Upon hearing the instruction, Xue Shuang immediately began to maneuver the rudder to the right.

Now he is the only one in the sky who can receive instructions from the control tower. Although there is no radio call sign in the tower's calls, he knows very well that the instructions are for him.

Air traffic control language must be concise and clear because aircraft travel at extremely high speeds; if you use a lot of long-winded language, the aircraft may already be dozens of kilometers away.

A shadow flashed past his left wing at high speed, stirring up the clouds that were rolling wildly.

The two planes almost collided at the last second.

Feng Liang broke out in a cold sweat.

The radar operator reports the aircraft's position information to the plotter, who then reflects it on the plotting board. After reviewing the plotting board, the commander issues instructions to the pilot. This process typically takes several seconds, but in practice, it can easily take more than ten seconds, and sometimes even longer.

For an aircraft moving at high speed in the air, a change in position of more than ten kilometers can occur in just a few seconds. By the time the pilot receives the instruction, it may be too late to eject.

Therefore, in the past few decades, air combat training has had to be conducted according to prescribed altitude differences.

High-altitude air combat training is not something that happens naturally; rather, it stems from too many bloody lessons.

There is no good or bad in training methods; they cannot be measured by a single standard.

The difference between altitude difference air combat training and free air combat training lies solely in whether they are adapted to modern air combat.

If this air combat training follows the principle of altitude difference, even if the tower commander does not issue any instructions, the two aircraft in the sky will not collide, even if their headings are the same or opposite, because of the altitude difference.

When Xue Shuang made an emergency right turn, he saw Li Lu, and Li Lu saw him too.

But Li Lu didn't know that his airborne radio was malfunctioning!

Li Lu's first thought was—hey, Lao Xue is improving so fast, he figured out my intentions so quickly.

However, you're still too green to shoot me down, Li Lu thought to himself.

Another point is that the weather in this airspace has changed, but the control tower has not issued any new instructions. Li Lu was still thinking that this Deputy Division Commander Feng has really taken a big risk this time.

Li Lu immediately made a small left turn.

Xue Shuang was turning right, and he was turning left, and they were flying at the same altitude.

Two airplanes flying at the same altitude relative to each other, one turning right and the other turning left—isn't that like bumper cars?

Of course, this is on the premise that both machines maintain this operation unchanged.

Feng Liang immediately gave Xue Shuang instructions, asking him to climb up immediately to create a height difference with Li Lu, thus eliminating the danger of a collision.

"Weather report! The weather window has been moved up!" the weather forecaster suddenly announced loudly.

Xu Hailiang suddenly looked at Feng Liang.

They knew very well that the least costly approach at the moment was to get Xue Shuang back to base and land. The weather window might close anytime soon, so saving one aircraft was crucial.

However, if Xue Shuang returns, Li Lu will be left in the sky like a headless fly.

"Vice President Feng, I suggest that the on-duty aircraft be launched immediately, and then Xue Shuang be sent back to base," Xu Hailiang suggested in a deep voice.

Feng Liang paused for a moment, then looked at the weather forecaster and asked, "When is the next forecast window?"

The weather forecaster's lips were trembling with nervousness.

His position involves being dispatched by the airfield meteorological station to participate in flights; he is one of the five key personnel in the control tower, and weather forecasting is of paramount importance.

"Report! The weather station hasn't updated the information yet!" the weather forecaster said truthfully.

Feng Liang picked up the telephone receiver. "Connect me to Lening from the weather station!"

The weather station at the airfield is very important. Feng Liang is very familiar with several key technical personnel there and knows who is on duty today.

The call was connected quickly.

Feng Liang asked directly, "Tell me, when is the next contact window? Li Lu's aircraft's onboard radio is malfunctioning and we can't contact him. I can't risk sending another plane!"

Le Ning immediately realized the seriousness of the situation. He dared not conceal anything and truthfully reported, "Reporting to the commander! Given the current conditions, we cannot predict the next window of opportunity, but we can be certain that the current window is no more than twenty minutes long, as cold air is replenishing the supply!"

Previously, due to the weakness of the cold air, the warm air blowing from the Pacific Ocean gained the upper hand, causing the clouds to rise and creating a window of improved weather.

Conversely, if the cold and hot continue to collide in the airspace above this area, turbulence will return, and rainfall will resume.

Feng Liang knew that it was already extremely difficult for Le Ning to do this; being able to predict the window time down to the minute was the limit of what he could do.

After hanging up the phone, Feng Liang picked up the microphone he hadn't let go of and pressed the call button to give Xue Shuang the order: "Dong San San, return to base immediately!"

Xue Shuang was taken aback, then replied, "Tower! I still have fuel. Please allow me to establish contact with Dong Sanguai before returning to base!"

Feng Liang said in a deep voice, "Dong Sansan, obey orders!"

Xue Shuang gritted his teeth and remained silent for a long time. He then accelerated his search according to his prediction.

Feng Liang looked at the chart board and learned about Xue Shuang's changing location. Time passed by, and the weather window was closing.

He called out again, "Dong Sansan! You're a soldier! Obey orders!"

Xue Shuang took a deep breath and finally responded, "Yes! Cave 33, return!"

He followed the control tower's instructions to return, searching around with his eyes wide open, but still found nothing by the time they were ready to establish a landing path.

The control tower knew where Li Lu was, and the radar was constantly tracking him, but the communication was down, and Li Lu didn't know where he was!

That's the real problem!