Great Power Long Sky

Vasily was clearly not bragging; he wouldn't joke about modifying a new aircraft model, and nobody would make such a joke.

According to him, Li Lu is a genius among geniuses in the field of aircraft piloting, with talent that is tens of thousands of meters high and has no upper limit.

Learning a new technology always involves going from theoretical mastery to practical application; very few people go from practical application to theoretical mastery.

Li Lu's theoretical analyses in the exam question set are clearly based on the theory of fit derived from practical operation.

A key premise is that Li Lu had never flown a Su-27, only sat in the cockpit a few times.

How did he manage to deduce the fit theory from practical operation?

There is only one reasonable explanation—he is a once-in-a-million flying genius.

In his assessment conclusion, Vasily lavished praise on Li Lu, giving him the highest evaluation he had ever received.

This conclusion was reported up through the military region headquarters and the air force headquarters. The relevant leaders were very surprised. Chief of Staff Wang Yong personally gave instructions and made special approval for Li Lu to directly conduct actual flight training of the Su-27.

The Russian instructors trusted Li Lu, so how could they, as his own people and superiors, not trust Li Lu's abilities?

Deputy Commander Chen of the Military Region rushed to the East China Sea Air Base to personally attend Li Lu's first day of conversion training and to see for himself whether Li Lu's actual skill level matched Vasily's conclusion.

Vasily personally led the flight.

Feng Liang specifically chose a good day.

At 9:00 a.m., Deputy Commander Chen, Deputy Division Commander Feng, and other leaders observed from the control tower, while Gao Wei sat in the commander's position.

Besides Vasily, Gao Wei was the one who knew the Su-27 best, and he had to be in charge of this command.

Gao Wei's feelings were complicated.

He read Li Lu's answer sheet several times. Even with his pride and arrogance, he couldn't help but admire such a perfect and correct answer sheet.

Li Lu was already a celebrity in the 3rd Air Division, with many accolades. Last year, when the first large-scale military exercise began, he continued to set "insane" combat records.

Cut off a Japanese P-3 anti-submarine patrol aircraft, shoot down a U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of the puppet army, penetrate the core air defense perimeter of the USS Kitty Hawk carrier battle group, shoot down two RF-5E tactical reconnaissance aircraft of the puppet army, force down an F-14D fighter jet, and force the USS Kitty Hawk carrier battle group to retreat...

Any one of these achievements would be the most outstanding in the army, and they all belong to Li Lu.

He was like a sky combat star rising vertically at breakneck speed, gradually becoming a deity over time...

Now, can the air combat star master the basic flight operations of the Su-27SK heavy fighter jet in just one day?

From theory to practice, how much of his theoretical achievements can he bring to fruition?

Gao Wei had questions in his mind, and everyone else had questions in their minds, but Vasily had no doubts about it, because Vasily was the one who knew the key points best.

At 9:30, the Su-27UBK stopped at its takeoff position on the runway, awaiting takeoff clearance.

In the preceding thirty minutes, Li Lu, sitting in the front cabin, had completed three taxiing training sessions under Vasily's guidance.

"Old Li, your control is fine. Follow the standard takeoff maneuvers and you'll take off smoothly," Vasily said over the radio from the rear cockpit.

Li Lu replied, "Understood, proceed with the standard inspection procedures."

"Flaps in good position, communication system in good condition, left engine in good condition, right engine in good condition, landing gear in good condition, flight control system in good condition, fuel level confirmed..."

Li Lu would announce each completed inspection over the radio.

Inside the control tower, Gao Wei sat in the commander's position, holding a microphone to his mouth with his left hand, ready to speak by pressing the call button, while his right hand held a pencil to mark notes on a drawing board.

Vasily in the rear cabin naturally didn't dare to let his guard down either, and visually inspected each subsystem in accordance with Li Lu's broadcast.

Li Lu's operation was steady and clear.

Despite having some prior knowledge of the Su-27's cockpit, Li Lu still found it difficult to reconcile the "interior quality" with the aircraft's elegant and sleek exterior when looking at the rough-looking instrument panel.

The interior of this aircraft does not reflect the level of the former Red Empire, but it does reflect the level of avionics technology of that deceased Red Empire.

It would be even more difficult to match with a beautiful and smooth aerodynamic shape.

History will prove that the Su-27 "Flanker" fighter family has one of the best and most beautiful aerodynamic layouts in the history of human aviation.

Soviet designers creatively made the aircraft "duck its nose," and this ingenious design brought numerous benefits and was a key part of the central lifting body layout.

The most direct advantage is improved visibility for pilots, with a significantly expanded field of view forward and downward, making it easier to observe low-altitude targets, ground targets, and formation positions during air combat.

This design, combined with the bubble cockpit and high seats, offsets the obstruction of vision caused by the slight tilt of the fuselage during cruising.

Therefore, when viewed from the side, the pilots in the Su-27 cockpit are seated very high, with most of their upper bodies exposed above the fuselage.

Secondly, the nose-mounted electro-optical system (IRST), installed above the nose and in front of the canopy, has a wider downward viewing angle, enhancing its ability to detect ground and low-altitude targets.

The forward fuselage forms a smooth lifting body, with the fuselage itself contributing to lift generation and improving the overall lift-to-drag ratio. The nose pre-compresses and guides the airflow, improving the flow field in the under-fuselage air intake, resulting in more stable air intake and higher total pressure recovery at high speeds and angles of attack.

With the large leading-edge extensions and the blended wing-body design, the nose pointing and vortex control capabilities are stronger at high angles of attack, enhancing stability and controllability at high angles of attack.

This is the key factor that enables the Su-27 to perform maneuvers such as the "Pugachev's Cobra" that exceed stall speed!

The turbofan engines used in the F-14, F-15, and even F-18 have better overall performance than those in the Su-27, but none of these fighters can perform the Cobra maneuver, and the reason lies in their aerodynamic shape.

What disappointed Li Lu was the Su-27's flight control system. It wasn't as precise as he had imagined, and its response speed was somewhat hesitant, quite different from the fly-by-wire flight control system Li Lu had envisioned.

Li Lu focused on studying the technical aspects and design features of the Su-27 flight control system. In short, the Russians weren't telling the truth.

The claim that longitudinal fly-by-wire enables high maneuverability and lateral mechanical safety is utter nonsense.

The root cause is that the Russians' fly-by-wire flight control technology was immature, and it was certainly difficult to control pitch and sway during the test. Therefore, they had to add a lateral mechanical transmission to solve the problem. It was just an old patch on the so-called new technology.

The addition of several hundred kilograms of structural weight will inevitably affect the original fuselage balance parameters, necessitating a readjustment of the entire fuselage balance.

Therefore, Li Lu concluded that the Su-27 simply did not meet all the performance targets set at the time of its initial design.

To put it bluntly, whether they use them themselves or sell them, they are all "incomplete flankers".

Li Lu's judgment was extremely accurate. The technical data provided by the Russians exaggerated the Su-27's capabilities, but in reality, it was an incomplete fighter jet.

It's not that the Su-27 is bad, but that it didn't meet their original design goals.

However, even in its incomplete state, the Su-27 can easily outperform all aircraft currently in service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force, and it is one of the world's best third-generation fighter jets...