Reconnaissance aircraft flying at night, of course, do not turn on the navigation lights. If it is flying over the enemy and turn on the navigation lights, it will not only show off, it will be deadly. If the altitude is not enough, the anti-aircraft artillery can be beaten down.
Except for the take-off and landing phase, which is when refueling in the air, navigation lights are needed.
Nathan flicked the switch skillfully to turn on all the navigation lights. Graham behind couldn't help but say: "Nathan, I can't believe that you are flying a blackbird for the first time. You are just like our veteran pilots. "
"I have never forgotten. Before boarding the plane, I only read the cockpit manual once and I remembered it all," Nathan said jokingly.
If it’s a glass cockpit, touch screen, and menu mode, it’s really hard to find. If it’s a three-level menu, maybe you will find it for a long time. Now, there are countless knobs and switches, but after all, you just need to know Where it is, just open it directly.
On the wings and the nose, the navigation lights were all turned on. In the sky, the outline of the Blackbird reconnaissance plane could be clearly seen. Its huge figure was slowly approaching the air tanker.
In the dark night sky, the back of the Blackbird reconnaissance plane and the position of the air refueling port were flashing fluorescence.
If you can see clearly from the side, the Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft and the aerial tanker in front are quite similar in size. At this time, the two sides are flying steadily at a refueling altitude of 8,000 meters. The fueler of the aerial tanker in front , Said on the radio: "The position is normal, steady."
Then, he started to operate his small handle, under the tail of the tanker, a telescopic hard fueling rod, slowly backwards.
It is the same as playing video games, but if it fails, the consequences are very serious. Every fueler is a skilled player who has been trained thousands of times.
At this moment, the two sides were flying steadily, the relative speed was almost zero, and the hard rod for refueling steadily docked with the back of the Blackbird reconnaissance plane.
"The docking is normal, start refueling." The fueler said.
In the world, only the U.S. Air Force uses a hard rod for refueling. Its benefits are self-evident. It greatly reduces the pilot's work intensity. The pilot does not need to dock the constantly fluttering cone sleeve, as long as it maintains a stable flight. At the same time, Because the pipe is relatively thick, the refueling speed is very fast, and even when necessary, the tanker can also use the refueling pipe to drag the damaged aircraft forward.
There was no difficulty in the operation, and soon, the voice of the fueler came from the headset: "Refueling is complete, I wish you good luck."
As the fuel rod began to retract and disappeared from the top of Nathan's head, Nathan felt his adrenaline secreted. Well, from now on, the real flight has just begun!
Already filled up, let's start the exciting flight!
Afterburner open!
Fiery flames emerged from the tails of the two engines, dragging a flame more than 20 meters long backwards. Under the strong thrust, the black bird began to climb upwards.
"Turn off the navigation lights." At this moment, Graham in the rear compartment reminded him that this was the only reminder. Turning on the lights before refueling and turning off the lights after refueling was normal.
However, Nathan actually forgot.
"Understood." Nathan quickly got rid of the navigation lights. It was indeed a mistake. If in the execution of the task, such a small mistake would kill him.
The navigation lights were all turned off, and the huge black bird concealed into the darkness, only the heat flow from the tail continued to rise, gradually rising and rising.
The moment it passed the sound barrier, there was only a small tremor, and then the aircraft accelerated again. As the speed continued to increase, the intake cone in front of the engine began to move backwards and changed its working state.
The blackbird became lighter, and finally, Nathan saw the edge of the earth again, and the shining little stars were reflected on the goggles of his helmet.
The more times, you will fall in love with this feeling!
Time passed quickly. I thought it would be fine to stay at the base for a few days, but I didn't expect that after half a month, the MiG-25 hadn't been installed by the technicians.
Soviet, Far East, 30,000 meters above sea level.
"It is about to enter the sky over the Soviet Union and start the reconnaissance equipment." This is a black bird that has gone through an aerial refueling and just entered the sky over the Soviet Union. Now, the pilot in the front cabin, Lieutenant Colonel Olmsted, calmly orders the reconnaissance system officer behind.
"Understood, now the investigation begins."
This is just a routine investigative operation. The Soviets want to protest, so they should protest. In short, they can't reach it.
But today, it seems a bit unexpected.
"Found radar exposure."
"Don't worry about it."
Little by little time passed, and the reconnaissance system officer in the rear cabin had already focused on the reconnaissance. Suddenly, the sound of the radar warning receiver rang.
"We are locked by the airborne radar, it's the MiG-25!"
"Don't be afraid, it's just a stainless steel plane." Lieutenant Colonel Olmsted in the front cabin said calmly. Now, in the Blackbird base, everyone already knows that the MiG-25 used to be terrible, and its own titanium alloy The plane is like science fiction, who knows, it is made of stainless steel.
Don't be afraid, keep flying!
He was not afraid, the detective system officer in the rear cabin, the beating of his heart had already started to accelerate, and then he saw the warning on the screen.
"The opponent has launched four missiles!"
At this time, just twenty kilometers away from them, Andre drove his MiG-25 fighter plane and launched all four P-40 missiles he carried.
After the last conflict passed, the Americans were wicked. They always came to investigate over the Far East Military Region. Therefore, the superiors issued an order to shoot it down!
If you intercept, you can only fly head-to-head, the window is only once, and Andre is also very calm, guided by the ground radar, flies to the most suitable position, and then launches the missile!
The R-40 missile, weighing up to half a ton, is specially designed for the MiG-25. In order to hit a hit, these four missiles are of two types.
The radar-guided R-40R, fei is at the front, and the infrared-guided R-40T, because the infrared seeker in the front is round, the flight resistance is greatly increased, and it falls behind.
Although the infrared bombs of this era only have the ability of tail chase attack, but because the black bird has a high flying speed and aerodynamic friction, it generates a high temperature of several hundred degrees. This kind of missile can also lock the target in a head attack.
Four missiles were flying in the sky, and the ground personnel, Andre, were all staring nervously at his radar screen. The relative speed of the missile and the black bird was as high as Mach 8. When the opponent's trajectory was slightly inclined, he was calm with the missile. Pass by.
Interception failed!
The blue black bird reconnaissance plane flew over Andrei's head. (End of this chapter)