On x month x day, 2015, in the East China Sea, 288 nautical miles away from Zhoushan Base, it was an ordinary afternoon. The wind and waves were strong and the sky was gloomy.
There were more than a dozen naval aviation soldiers standing on the deck, all of them looking up at a small gray dot approaching rapidly in the east - a third-generation J-15 fighter jet was searching for the ship, its altitude steadily decreasing.
Zhou Qichen sat in the fighter jet, holding his breath and manipulating the handle to descend. When he was only 300 meters above the deck, he could hear his heartbeat pounding, hitting his eardrums through the huge wind and noise.
The landing speed of carrier-based aircraft is over 300 kilometers per hour, but the runway is only 300 meters, less than one-tenth of the land-based runway. The landing area is only a few dozen meters, which converts to less than one second. In this second, the pilot must complete the landing, hanging the cable, and deceleration. Unlike civil airliners, all carrier-based aircraft pilots must fully throttle for landing. If the cable fails to hang, they will immediately take off at full thrust. Therefore, the deceleration action can only be completed by the tail hook of the fighter plane hanging on the steel arresting cable on the deck. Therefore, the landing of carrier-based aircraft is also called "dance on the edge of a knife." Zhou Qichen has danced this dance thousands of times. To be precise, it is 5,860 times.
Look for the ship, circle the ship. One turn, two turns.
Under the guidance of the electronic landing aid, he maneuvered the J-15 towards the landing signal light little by little. The wind and waves were surging, the airflow at the rear of the ship was fluctuating, and the ship itself was constantly rolling and pitching. It was really not good weather. But he had landed in the same weather before, so this was not the reason for him to be nervous. The real reason was that this was the 5861st time, and also the last time he landed a J-15.
In the headset, a voice that he was very familiar with came out: "Vertical alignment, crosswind, wind direction 280, go-around if it is difficult to see the lights." The landing commander assists the carrier-based aircraft pilots to align the runway and complete the landing mission. They say a lot to new pilots, while those like Zhou Qichen who have been flying for seven or eight years can only say one sentence, which is this sentence before landing. Today, the sea conditions are not stable and the wind is strong, so there is an additional wind direction reminder.
Zhou Qichen just replied with two words: "No need."
His fighter plane was very close to the deck of the Zhiyuan, so close that he could see three white vests standing on the LSO workbench on the rear port side. The one in the lead was wearing a hat, earphones and sunglasses. He thought, all the actions were the last time, the last call sign, the last touch of the joystick...
He pushed the throttle to the bottom, and the J-15's wing almost passed over the man's shoulders.
Look at the lights, center, maintain angles. Lower the landing gear and tail hook.
100 meters, 50 meters, 30 meters, 10 meters,…
The roar was deafening and the deck shook violently. The J-15's tail hook firmly hooked the No. 2 arresting cable on the deck. The steel collided with steel, creating a string of sparks. Then, in just a few seconds, the J-15 quickly slowed down and stopped at the far end of the deck.
The people watching on the deck, including two of the three commanders at the workbench, all applauded. The young pilots, who had barely touched an airplane, praised his landing skills. One even approached Zhou Qichen as he stepped out of the J-15.