Chapter 74: Brute Force Makes It Fly

"Everyone, keep your feet on the ground. These are village roads; if we ruin them, we're just shaming ourselves!"

Chen Yonggui was supervising the villagers helping to repair the road when he heard the sound of a car approaching from behind.

"Old Chen, Old Chen!"

Yang Tai jumped out of the 212 and subtly rubbed his sore, numb buttocks.

"Township Head, what brings you here?"

Seeing Yang Tai, Chen Yonggui felt a bit of inner criticism; since the Gaijin Shipyard was established, the Township Head had been coming eight times a week.

"Why couldn't I come? Boss Tang is famous again!"

Yang Tai held a rolled-up newspaper, unrolled it, and showed Chen Yonggui the cover headline:

"Our city's emerging enterprise produces its own engines, selling well outside the province; four engines exported to Xiangjiang for 120,000 US dollars."

"Oh, is that so!"

Chen Yonggui's eyes widened too; had Gaijin started doing export business?

But in less than half a second, he understood; what was this small matter to the Dragon Group?

A mere 120,000 US dollars—how much did they look down on the Featherless Arrow?

Just showing a little skill and attracting such attention?

Those bumpkins who've never seen a warship; this is nothing, just bring out a cruiser to scare you a bit.

Yang Tai was completely immersed in joy at this moment; this newspaper had been brought to him by the town.

With a slight push from Vice Director Zhang, the newspaper office figured out this headline, making Dawan Town and Dawan Village famous overnight.

Only now did the city learn that under Dawan Town there was actually a small factory capable of independently producing engines; although the newspaper headline had suspicious exaggeration, being able to independently produce small-horsepower diesel engines was still remarkable.

Upon further inquiry into the background of the Gaijin Shipyard, it turned out they were even building thousand-ton ocean-going fishing vessels, which was even more extraordinary.

Echeng didn't have a decent shipyard; being able to build thousand-ton fishing vessels absolutely held hope of becoming a pillar enterprise locally.

According to the instructions conveyed by the town, the city would come tomorrow to inspect the situation at the Gaijin Shipyard and might classify it as a high-tech enterprise, providing certain support.

"City leaders are very interested in the Gaijin Shipyard; you absolutely cannot drop the ball!

This is an opportunity, an opportunity for the entire Dawan Town. Township Head Lu is quite busy, otherwise he would come personally to tell you!"

Hearing it was the city's attention, Chen Yonggui also became serious; he hadn't yet encountered such a high level before.

Unlike the pitiful, meager policy support of Dawan Town, Echeng is a prefecture-level city; even a slight tilt in resources would be immense assistance.

For instance, regarding road repair, Dawan Village and Tang Wen could only repair the roads within the village; with more effort, they could connect to the cement roads in the town.

But as long as the city was willing, the highway to Dawan Village would be given higher priority, with both quality and speed far superior.

Even projects like the fishing company and tourism village would benefit from this.

Chen Yonggui couldn't hold back either; he immediately set out to find Tang Wen, determined to ensure the reception work for tomorrow was done well.

"Wait, bring Little Liu along."

Yang Tai called out to stop Chen Yonggui, who then noticed a young man had also gotten out of the 212.

"Little Liu" looked to be in his thirties, wearing a fashionable leather jacket and jeans of the time, plus a very trendy pair of frog-eye sunglasses.

"This is the pilot I invited, Liu Kan, the son of an old friend from the flight school.

Don't let his youth fool you; he started fixing planes with his father at five years old and can fly planes just the same."

Chen Yonggui looked at Liu Kan; he smelled of a young punk, radiating an untrustworthy aura from head to toe.

……

"My dad broke his leg over the New Year and is still recovering, so he sent me to take a look."

Liu Kan felt no pressure looking at Tang Wen, who was even younger than him, and introduced himself quite casually.

"I've flown the Cessna 5, the Type 99, the Type 97, the P-51, and the P-40; I haven't flown jets, but piston engines are absolutely no problem."

Chen Yonggui had never had a good look for this young man dressed like a thug, but Tang Wen was different.

Just now, when Liu Kan introduced himself, the man actually worked at a flight school!

The Northeast Old Flight School has now been reorganized into an Aviation University, known as the cradle of the Air Force.

Leaving other things aside, more than half of the astronauts after the millennium came from there.

Liu Kan played at the flight school since childhood; while other children rode wooden horses, he was already on airplanes. Although he didn't enter the Air Force when he grew up, he found a job as a pilot at the Aviation University.

Although not a pilot, he was second only to one, so naturally he had some pride.

Hearing there was an F4F Wildcat, Liu Kan, who was on vacation, immediately wanted to come and broaden his horizons.

However, he didn't believe the claim about a brand-new Wildcat; that was something from so many years ago, how could there be a new one?

Although many World War II vintage planes can still fly today, they are meticulously maintained; unless one is a super-wealthy person or a seasoned enthusiast, after decades they long ago lost their ability to fly.

He was more inclined to think that F4F's appearance was well-maintained, and it would be enough for him to take some photos as a souvenir; he had no expectation at all of it flying.

Tang Wen trusted the professional quite a bit; after thinking for a moment, he let Tang Yi take him to see the plane, while he himself discussed the city leaders' inspection with the Township Head and the Village Head.

This inspection would be beneficial and harmless to the shipyard, and the construction cycle of the Hashirito was down to only ten hours; it would be completed tonight.

The turrets and weapons on the surface would be directly removed, so the exterior could be viewed freely.

However, since it was an inspection, some preparations were still necessary.

……

"How old is your boss? Did he also like airplanes since childhood?"

"Which model is the collected F4F? Has it been modernized?"

"Where was it bought from? Was it restored from wreckage or a surviving complete aircraft?"

"I heard the engine can start; is it a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 or a Wright Cyclone 1820?"

Liu Kan asked a huge pile of questions like a curious baby, but where would Tang Yi know these things? He could only say "I don't know."

The former was instantly somewhat disappointed; with a nervous heart, he followed Tang Yi to the warehouse, pushed open the iron gate, and saw the fighter jet looking up.

First impression: the surface skin is intact, the paint job has no issues either. Not bad.

He bent slightly; the landing hook was still there, and the communication antenna on the tail was visible. Original and authentic; the collector is a person of discernment.

Although it was his first time seeing an F4F, Liu Kan had long studied various aircraft from all kinds of data. He opened the cockpit with practiced ease, then stared blankly at the instrument panel filling the cabin.

Hiss, the maintenance is this good; no sign of wear at all?

Liu Kan jumped into the cockpit, first stepped on the pedals, then began randomly flipping switches. The crisp tactile feedback had no wobble; it was even better than a brand-new CJ-5.

This left Liu Kan stunned. He immediately climbed out of the cockpit, crouched by the landing gear to observe the internal structure and hydraulic lines, and touched the connector directly, immediately feeling it was slick and smooth.

The entire landing gear retraction structure had no rust spots; the piping was orderly with no damage. Judging by the lubrication status, it had been meticulously maintained, truly like new.

Liu Kan, refusing to believe it, peered at the engine through the gaps in the nose cooling fins. The oil seepage and exhaust pipe residue surprised him even more:

Either this engine underwent a complete disassembly, repair, and reassembly, or it is brand new and has barely been run for a few hours.

He looked blankly at Tang Yi and asked:

"Is there gasoline? I'll try it."

Tang Yi nodded. One aircraft was nothing; Tang Wen had said to mess around freely.

"When the leaders arrive, you must ensure the workers are busy, like welding, you know? Just... hey, what's that sound?"

Yang Tai was eloquently reciting the preparations for the inspection when he heard a huge noise outside, quickly recognizing it as the sound of an aircraft engine.

"It must be a test flight; no problem. I'll go close the window."

Tang Wen said indifferently. After closing the window, the sound immediately diminished significantly.

A while later, the noise vanished. For ventilation, Tang Wen went to open the window again.

But leaning by the window, he discovered that the F4F in the warehouse had reached the gate, its wings folded, about to exit the gate.

"??"

Hearing the plane had been pushed out the gate, several people hurriedly ran down, only to see Liu Kan had restarted the engine and was about to climb back in.

Tang Wen hurriedly told him to stop, but heard the other party say:

"Boss Tang, truly one cannot judge a person by appearance. I didn't expect such an expert as you to be hidden in a small fishing village.

This Wildcat is not only an original 1942 F4F-4 early model, but it is maintained even better than the CJ-5 at the flight school!

I checked; this aircraft is in incredible condition, flawless everywhere. I've filled the tank with fuel and will take it up for a test flight."

"What, fly right here?"

Yang Tai was dumbfounded. He had only asked Liu Kan to come take a look, and now he was about to jump straight in and fly it?

There isn't even an airport; how can it fly!

Dawan Village has flat open ground, but taking off with an aircraft there would probably still be very difficult, right?

"This is enough!"

Facing Yang Tai's doubt, Liu Kan smiled and replied:

"The F4F is a carrier-based aircraft; it can take off in just over two hundred meters and was fully designed for wartime field takeoff scenarios.

That flat ground just leveled for road construction ahead has sufficient distance and smoothness; absolutely no problem.

Boss Tang, don't you agree?"

"This..."

Tang Wen was also speechless regarding this Northeasterner; daring to take off immediately upon arrival, your courage is truly great.

He was just thinking how to persuade the other party to get down, when he heard Yang Tai suddenly say:

"If the leaders can see a fighter jet flying tomorrow, the tourism village project will definitely be approved."

Chen Yonggui, who originally thought Liu Kan was just making a fuss, heard these words and his mind turned.

Yes, just looking at shipbuilding probably has no novelty; how much face does an aircraft bring?

"Brother Liu, you..."

Tang Wen was about to speak up to dissuade him, but was blocked on both left and right simultaneously by two hands.

Yang Tai: "I trust Little Liu's skill and judgment."

Chen Yonggui: "The quality of this aircraft is absolutely beyond question."

"Boss Tang, you wouldn't want to disappoint the leaders, would you?"

"Little Tang, the professionals have judged it can fly, so it must be correct. Does your aircraft have a problem preventing it from flying?"

"This..."

In Tang Wen's dumbfounded gaze, Liu Kan had already jumped into the cockpit. Before the villagers watching the spectacle in the distance could approach, he lowered the flaps and then pushed the throttle to MAX.

The F4F's tail control surfaces deflected, making a beautiful turn toward the freshly leveled road where the foundation had just been poured.

The 1,200-horsepower radial piston engine started at full power, and the noise immediately drowned out all other sounds on the scene.

The fighter began taxiing on the leveled road, accelerating at an astonishing speed; the rear wheels had already left the ground.

As a carrier-based fighter, short-distance takeoff and landing in harsh environments is basic skill.

Simultaneously possessing the Soviet-style 'heavy brick flies' design philosophy, the F4F reached takeoff speed in less than half a minute.

Liu Kan pulled back on the control stick; the F4F's main landing gear also left the ground, and the fuselage banked right, climbing toward the direction of the sea.

Then...

Inside the cockpit, Liu Kan frantically cranked the handle on the right side of the seat.

As the Soviet Union's first-generation main carrier-based aircraft, the F4F's landing gear, while hydraulic, lacked an electric retraction function; the pilot had to manually crank the handle 29 times to retract the landing gear.

Fortunately, the designer humanely considered the characteristic that a person's right hand is stronger; Liu Kan cranked all 29 times in one breath without spending much time.

Compared to the CJ-5, the F4F is a proper high-speed fighter; its top speed can exceed 500 kilometers per hour, while the CJ-6 is only 280 kilometers per hour.

Under the surging engine power, Liu Kan had never felt an aircraft could be so agile; after a steep climb, he deflected the rudder and executed a crisp, clean barrel roll.

And on the ground, the trio stood with mouths agape; nearby construction crews and villagers alike halted their work, fixing their eyes intently on the agile warplane dancing in the sky.