Chapter 462 - 373: Boarding!

Eight o’clock in the evening.

Everyone had some experience with different aspects of airplanes, but this was the first time they had washed one.

Forty-eight people were busy at work, setting up three ladders, and it took an hour to finish cleaning.

They also got a glimpse of the interior of the aircraft.

Spartan.

Seats lined both sides.

However, the space inside was indeed large, with 26 positions just in the rear row and an equipment rack at the back.

But the bare interior left everyone with little to say other than "it’s huge."

The helicopter belonged to the Hubei People’s Armed Police Mobile Brigade, and it was piloted by a colonel and a lieutenant colonel.

The ranks of military pilots are high; they start as lieutenants straight out of the Military Academy and need to undergo years of training before they can take up pilot positions. They are typically captains and above, and it’s not uncommon to see colonels and major generals flying, even exceeding the ranks of their units. However, they are not in management positions and have few people under them.

In terms of rank, they were somewhat similar to the instructors at the Firefighting Training Base.

Everyone looked at the two pilots with a bit of admiration.

After all, the state had vigorously promoted the story of Wang Wei, the pilot of the Hainan Airlines J-8II fighter jet who perished in 2001 during "Flight 81192’s" unsuccessful return.

By the end of 2001, many soldiers had enlisted with the aspiration "to learn from the martyred hero Wang Wei and protect our homeland."

Some, still green and unaware, were assigned to firefighting at that time and now, had become second stage officers in their seventh year.

Nowadays, with less developed internet information, when everyone asked the pilots about Wang Wei’s story, they both smiled and said they didn’t know about Hainan Airlines as that was their idol as well.

One generation’s heroes inspire the soul of the next.

China’s first generation of pilots, who mostly perished in the Anti-Japanese War, had laid the foundation for the Air Force’s heroic spirit.

...

When the pilots lectured, everyone was remarkably quiet.

"...Visibility and wind strength are important conditions for helicopter takeoff, and the ground at the takeoff and landing site should be relatively clean and free of debris.

...The space must be larger than three times the diameter of the rotor blade, and the ground should be even with a slope less than 7 degrees.

Ground guidance for helicopter pilots is relatively simple since pilots generally have a broad view, but if there are unavoidable obstacles below, risky landings may be necessary, and there are several flight signals that can guide the pilots...

The helicopter’s weakness lies in its endurance range...

We won’t talk about combat. We’ll talk about helicopter rescue instead. When people, boats, or aircraft are in distress, the search method used by helicopters differs from that on the ground. There are sector searches, expanding square searches, trackline searches, creeping line searches, parallel searches...

When the distressed area is found, and if the space is sufficient, we generally opt to land directly.

If hoisting is needed, the ground rescuers should coordinate briefly with the people in distress, informing them of the precautions during the hoist and after boarding to prevent accidents. There is a precedent in the United States where a victim almost died from a prolonged turning of the stretcher caused by heart disease and sued the rescuers.

There are many safety precautions under the helicopter. The most important one to remember is that you must never walk around the back of a helicopter when it’s starting up. The tail rotor generates a strong wind that can disturb your movement, and if touched, its lethality... against which humanity is like paper."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

At that moment, someone curiously asked, "Instructor, I’ve heard that you can get sucked up by the helicopter blades if you’re underneath it. Is that true?"

The colonel laughed at the question:

"What you’re referring to is probably the turbine of a fixed-wing aircraft, which indeed can suck in surrounding objects.

The airflow from a helicopter rotor is downward, which is one of the principles that allows it to fly. Being pinned down by the airflow so you can’t get up is possible, but you won’t be swept up into the air.

However, it is indeed very dangerous to stand near a helicopter during takeoff and landing as the surrounding currents could sweep up lighter debris and hit the rotor blades.

The rotor blades are extremely hard but also very delicate, and they must maintain a balanced weight at both ends. Even a small weight fixed on one end could damage the entire balance system. If they collide with foreign objects, the helicopter is very likely to lose control, tip over, and the blades might strike objects on the ground, leading to collisions, fires, and explosions. This is why it’s crucial to clear the surrounding area."

"Oh..."

The soldiers listening intently below began to take rare notes in the notebooks distributed to them.

Aircraft were still a novelty to many, and close interaction with industry insiders and learning pertinent knowledge seemed enlightening.

However, Fang Huai felt somewhat disappointed inside.

They had talked so much about ground coordination, but had skipped all the flight knowledge.

In the rescue process, not a word was mentioned about the pilot’s operation!

He didn’t even know if he could learn these things by going to the flight academy.

Hu Peizhou, sitting beside him, took the opportunity during the breaks to remind, "While listening to the lecture, think about how to make good use of aerial forces in a major disaster."

Everyone laughed lightly upon hearing this.

They would definitely learn what they needed to, but why be so serious about it?

This attitude wasn’t undervaluing the training.

But it was the reality.

The attendees, as the spearhead of the southwest firefighting force, had almost all participated in the earthquake rescue in May.

During such a massive disaster, with hardly any helicopters available, they could have the clearest thoughts but where was the space for execution?

What they didn’t realize was that Hu Peizhou’s words represented the true will of the higher-ups.

It was this disaster that started to draw attention to two types of rescue forces.

Firefighting and helicopters.

The public demand for a helicopter rescue system grew louder. Everyone, from the government to civil society, began to invest heavily in building the helicopter rescue sector.

In the following years, the earthquake led to the independent innovation and upgrade of helicopters and even directly promoted the development of the "Zhi-20." Forest firefighting brigades established helicopter detachments, the People’s Armed Police expanded their helicopter fleet, and the Army Aviation Troops saw major additions and expansions. The number of helicopters available for emergency disasters grew exponentially.

could be described as China’s "first year of helicopter rescue."

As the top leader said, "What a nation loses in disaster, it must gain back in progress."

As the front line of the firefighting force, how could they not understand?

Fang Huai knew all this very well. Seeing the smiles on the faces around him, he began to strategize in his mind.

He had already seen the training plan for helicopters.

As for the other aspects, Hu Peizhou had taken out some specialized training content and discussed it with him.

From the location of the learning plan, he could almost figure out the overall route was heading north, because one of the training subjects in the fourth week involved Climbing Mount Tai.

They said that each period would have a special project, and the route would be determined according to the special project. The previous period was Mount Everest, and the window period for climbing peaks was in April to June every year.

However, the climbing was not successful.

Hearing that they had even attempted to climb Mount Everest, Fang Huai was quite envious. No wonder they were spending so much money; the equipment needed for climbing Everest was professional-grade and very expensive.

He also admired them for daring to go to the Nepal border at this time.

But according to Hu Peizhou, it was actually quite safe there. The Nepalese government was arresting exiles at the border to prevent them from entering their territory, and there were many people from China as well.

This period, they would pass through Hubei and Henan to reach within Shandong territory; the special project for this period was probably Mount Tai.

As for the training plan, many subjects were just teaching plus practice, with nothing much to change.

But, for the helicopter section, the original rappelling training wasn’t enough, absolutely not enough; it needed to be changed.

Some training plans could be integrated.

...

At half past nine, the course was completely over, and Fang Huai stood up, taking his notebook and entering Hu Peizhou’s tent.

He got straight to the point, "Captain Hu, we should stop by tomorrow’s rope-descending campsite."

Afterward, the tent flap closed.

Then there was a bout of arguing, followed by a period of silence.

Inside, Hu Peizhou thought for a while.

Subsequently, two helicopter instructors were invited into the tent, and all the instructors were called to the main tent for a meeting.

At half past ten, a bunch of logistics personnel left the area with long faces.

...

The next day.

At 7 o’clock, the dawn had already broken.

Everyone packed up their tents and, having nothing else to do, gathered together with a safety rope and a carabiner, studying the knotting methods taught over the past few days.

They took it very seriously.

But no one discussed last night’s helicopter lesson. They had already been notified at dinner that they would be rope-descending today; rope-descending was simple, and they knew how to do it. The rest of the content, they likely wouldn’t need.

The novelty of the helicopter lasted only a day.

Mainly because they had also washed the plane, examined it, and its insides were empty. After looking at it for a while, it was just a big iron lump; indeed, there was nothing too novel about it.

Moreover, after studying, they understood that general small helicopters had very limited carrying capacity. Rescue helicopters, first and foremost, cannot be too small in size.

But a large plane really limited some of their imaginative space; such a huge thing probably wouldn’t work well in the city, would it?

So, the importance of helicopter knowledge in their eyes was far less than that of the ropes and carabiners in their hands, as these were their bread and butter.

Around 7:15, the large and lonely main tent suddenly opened, and Hu Peizhou raised his hand to block the rising sun.

It was a bit glaring.

He had slept in.

This Fang Huai had kept him up half the night again.

This lad, organizing a training session, was more troublesome than he was.

"Li Kui! Assemble the troops!"

Kui Li patted his head, saw Fang Huai still energetically looking towards the helicopter parked not far away, moved his lips as if to curse, then took out his whistle and blew it twice, shouting:

"Fall in, assemble!"

...

This morning, unlike the usual quietness of past assemblies and departures, everyone lined up waiting, and soon a gusty wind stirred up some dust, accompanied by the "flap, flap" sound of the helicopter’s propellers.

When they saw the helicopter starting up, they began to feel a bit exhilarated again.

We’re going to fly.

"Everyone, carry a safety belt, D-ring carabiner, figure-eight ring, and emergency rescue gloves. Line up to board the helicopter!"

The equipment had actually been prepared by everyone already. After Hu Peizhou’s loud shout, Fang Huai darted to the front of the line like a gust of wind.

Everyone couldn’t help but smirk.

Number 1 was too eager for the helicopter.

What’s the use of being so eager? Could you even afford it?

The helicopter wasn’t very high, and boarding was just a matter of climbing a small ladder of three or four steps.

Except for Fang Huai who scurried up like a monkey, the others were trying their best to maintain a nonchalant attitude, not wanting to seem like a country bumpkin.

However, as the line progressed, those entering the helicopter began to shout:

"Captain Hu, there are no seats left, where do we sit? Wait for the next trip?"

From inside, a voice came through:

"Who has time to run you guys another trip? Can’t find a seat, then sit on the floor! There are safety belts for securing cargo on the ground, strap yourselves in!"

Damn.

Damn it!

You can sit on the floor of a plane?

Now, everyone exchanged confused looks, realizing.

Number 1 just now rushed on, he damn well grabbed a seat!