Chapter 60: Recruitment

"Ho, it's been over half a century, yet there's not a trace of aging."

Yang Tai climbed straight into the cockpit, staring blankly at the metal surface, which showed no signs of oxidation.

It was one thing for the exterior to look good, but the interior was maintained with such precision that even the rivet heads showed no signs of touch-up work.

He couldn't help but grip the control stick; the slight stiffness felt almost like a brand-new factory model.

A bracket for flight plans sat beside the cockpit; everything was so harmonious.

He even had a strong illusion that this wasn't some collectible at all, but a fully restored modern aircraft.

Moreover, compared to the Sishichu aircraft he had once studied, the F4F, though from the same era, had far more instruments as a fighter.

Besides, the Sishichu, the Ki-84, was designed by the Island Nation, while the F4F was an American plane, so their internal layouts differed greatly.

Fortunately, the basic instruments were common to both, so he wasn't starting from zero.

While the Township Head could sit in the cockpit and inspect everything, Chen Yonggui's education only supported him in uttering a "Wow."

"Aircraft"—what a high-end term.

When Pingtan Airport was first completed, the highest and most high-end thing local residents thought of was going near the airport to watch passenger planes take off and land...

"The exterior of this plane is well-maintained; has the interior been serviced too?"

"Of course. The entire engine and control sections have been disassembled and carefully maintained; it can be started at any time."

Tang Wen lied without changing his expression, but after all the turmoil of these past few days, starting this F4F was no problem.

There was a small amount of fuel in the plane now, and all parts had been thoroughly lubricated.

Starting a fighter plane only required the simplest method.

In the F4F's era, fighters hadn't yet adopted electric starters; they were mainly started via a Crosby starter and a hand crank.

The hand crank needed no explanation; the core of the Crosby starter was using a shotgun-caliber blank cartridge, detonating it to cause gunpowder gas expansion, which in turn pushed the engine to run.

After telling the two to step back, Tang Wen skillfully inserted a blank cartridge under the engine, pulled the firing mechanism, and heard a "Bang!"

Gunpowder gas leaked out from the bottom of the plane, and the powerful R1830 Twin Wasp engine began to run.

The three-bladed propeller immediately began to spin under the engine's power; as the engine's "da-da-da" exhaust sound grew faster, it then stabilized at a low idle.

The noise from the 14-cylinder radial piston engine was enormous; the "clack-clack" sound at idle even made the entire warehouse tremble, and the surrounding air was filled with the noise of the engine and propeller.

Yang Tai's heart trembled along with the engine's startup; after confirming the brakes were effective, he gently tested the throttle and immediately felt the wild, turbulent surge of the 1,200-horsepower engine.

Compared to the fierce Wildcat, the Ki-84 could only be considered a timid mole.

The plane's noise was too loud; Chen Yonggui could only shout at the top of his voice:

"It won't suddenly fly away, right?"

"It can't fly; I'm just testing!"

Yang Tai, also worried about engine overheating, tested the control stick's operation of the wings and the instrument displays, then cut the throttle to shut down the engine.

He wobbled down from the wing, his joy impossible to suppress:

"This plane is in such great condition. If all the planes in the tourist area are in this state, there's absolutely no need to worry about flight safety.

Why hasn't the airport been built yet? This is the core focus of tourism development; it must be expedited and accelerated!"

The last sentence was directed at Chen Yonggui; the shipyard had no takeoff conditions, and the dirt road outside Dawan Village wasn't even flattened enough to serve as a makeshift runway.

"This kind of fighter doesn't need a very long runway; a 1,000-meter stretch of concrete is enough. Are there any land requisition issues?"

"No, no."

Chen Yonggui quickly shook his head. After Yang Tai got on the plane, his enthusiasm for the tourism village project nearly doubled; he couldn't wait to see the F4F flying in the sky the very next moment.

Besides, all the project land in Dawan Village was poor land, mostly owned by the village, so there was no need to worry about disputes.

"That's good."

Yang Tai nodded satisfactorily, then encouraged Tang Wen:

"Xiao Tang, if you have any difficulties, just speak up. The township will prioritize anything it can handle; if it can't be handled, I'll go to the town and urge them to get it done."

"Funny you should say that; I actually have something here that really needs an expert's help."

Tang Wen had observed Yang Tai's expression closely; now was not the time to be shy about speaking up.

"Do you know anyone from the old aviation school? Could you ask how to get a pilot's license now? Otherwise, I have no one here who can fly the planes."

Yang Tai instinctively wanted to say he could do it himself, but then thought that since it was for operating with tourists, and it involved piloting aircraft, not having a license would be a bit troublesome.

"Small matter. I'll ask those old friends right away; wait for good news."

E City, a certain military dependents' residential compound.

Huang Dongshun drove his brother's Fiat small car and parked directly on the road opposite the compound.

As a residential compound for retired and active-duty military families, outsiders were generally not allowed to linger nearby for too long.

However, as a retired sailor himself, Huang Dongshun knew well that the road opposite the compound was the boundary of the restricted zone, and the guard post generally didn't monitor this area.

A small sedan was still quite eye-catching; people entering and leaving the compound almost instinctively glanced over there a few extra times.

This was exactly the effect Huang Dongshun wanted. He set up a wooden board slanted on the car roof, facing the compound gate, with the words written on it:

"Steam Turbine Seaman Recruitment, High Salary, Food and Lodging Included."

He himself moved a small stool over, sat leaning against the car, facing the compound.

This scene instantly attracted the attention of passersby; recruiting right here was extremely rare.

Almost everyone passing by would turn their heads to take a look before leaving with curiosity.

After a short while, a man riding a bicycle preparing to go home turned his head and saw a sedan opposite the compound with a recruitment sign on it.

Looking again at Huang Dongshun sitting upright on the small stool, he immediately knew he was also a veteran and instantly became interested.

He got off his bike and pushed it across the road; Huang Dongshun quickly stood up.

"Comrade, have you ever maintained a steam turbine?"

The man pushing the bicycle shook his head:

"I'm from the shore, never served on a ship. Are you recruiting sailors?"

Hearing he was a shore-based sailor, Huang Dongshun knew he wasn't his target and slowly sat down again.

Though somewhat disappointed, Huang Dongshun still replied:

"I'm the manager of Fudong Fisheries. I was a sailor too, just seeing if I could recruit a few old comrades."

"Fisheries? Doesn't that mean fishing boats?"

The man was instantly surprised:

"Fishing boats all use diesel engines. Why recruit steam turbine crew? Only big ships like destroyers and frigates have that post."

"I have a ship that uses steam turbines, that's why I need sailors who know this stuff."

Huang Dongshun had no choice; besides the navy, no civilian ship used this thing anymore.

Gaijin Shipyard had already started building ships, laying down the hull steel plates. Fudong Fisheries had to find all the personnel as soon as possible.

Fishing crew were easy to find, but there were at least 10 vacant posts for maintaining and operating steam turbines, and no one, including himself, was qualified.

Because the submarine chaser Huang Dongshun had served on was diesel-powered too, he really didn't know how to use steam turbines.

He had thought to come to the naval dependents' residential area to try his luck; if he found a retiree, it would be much easier to trace and recruit their comrades.

"Wait, your fishing company uses steam ships?"

The man on the bicycle was somewhat stunned; even he knew steam civilian ships were long obsolete.

But Huang Dongshun didn't answer his thoughts, just nodded casually and refused to explain further.

The man found it somewhat funny, but didn't leave; instead, his eyes rolled and he said:

"But I know someone who did this, just retired this year. He was in the engine room of Ship 108 before. Want me to introduce you?"