In the Blue Sky Airlines archives, the flight training manager was introducing the status of the company's aircraft to Qin Xin, with the aim of allowing Qin Xin to select an aircraft for wet lease.
"7211, 1233, 5408, these three are the newest, and all are SFP aircraft with double-winglets, which are most suitable for short runway airports like Erhai." The flight training manager spread the information of the three aircraft in front of Qin Xin: "However, if Miss Qin just wants to do a pilot operation, I think it would be better to wet lease the smaller 737-700. As for the 700, 5520 and 5122, these two aircraft are good, they have just undergone D inspections, and they don't need major repairs within five years."
Although the flight training manager is mainly responsible for training, he is also a member of the Blue Sky Airlines' airport reception team. Whenever Blue Sky Airlines purchases a new aircraft, he will take the lead in going abroad to handle the handover matters.
If we were to discuss who is most familiar with the company's aircraft, this flight training manager would be second to none.
Qin Xin held her forehead helplessly: "Manager Li, is there anyone you think is suitable?"
"Ms. Qin, this is a serious matter, and I ca n't make a decision for you. However, if it's just a suggestion, I think the 5520 aircraft is more suitable." The flight trainer took out the information of the 5520 aircraft separately: "This aircraft is six years old, not very new, but it has never had any major problems. It is a trustworthy aircraft."
Qin Xin took the flight information of 5520 and handed it to the secretary standing behind him: "What do you think?"
"Miss, I don't know how to answer your question." The secretary didn't even look at the book: "Miss, do we need to ask someone who knows the business for advice?"
No one in Chunxia Travel is willing to support Qin Xin, and Qin Xin is determined to do what she wants, so Qin Xin can only take responsibility. Although it is reasonable that Blue Sky Airlines should not deliberately harm them, they still need to be careful. It is also a safer approach to find a third party who knows the business.
"Someone who knows the business?" Qin Xin thought about it and first thought of Xu Cang, so she asked Fei Xun Manager, "Manager Li, can I take these materials away?"
Qin Xin did not hide her conversation with the secretary just now, and Manager Feixun heard it all. He did not agree immediately, but asked: "Miss Qin, do you want to find a third party to evaluate it? If so, it will be difficult to handle. Although these things are not top secret, they are not suitable for outsiders to see."
"It's okay!" Qin Xin smiled and said, "I'll just ask someone from your company to check it out. I think it won't be a problem, right?"
Manager Feixun was startled: "Who...who is it from our company?"
Qin Xin gathered all the documents on the table and signaled the secretary to put them away. She also responded to Manager Feixun's words: "This is my personal matter, so it is not convenient for me to tell Manager Li. However, I can assure you that it is only for internal staff of your company to view and will not be leaked."
"Ah? Oh!" Although Manager Fei Xun was confused, he didn't say anything in the end. In terms of integrity, he still believed in Qin Xin. Moreover, these things were not particularly important. Even if Qin Xin broke her promise, it would not be a big problem.
After the secretary collected the things, Qin Xin continued to ask: "Manager Li, I heard from President Luo that you also participated in the construction of your company's branch base, so you should be very experienced. I wonder, what do you think of the feasibility of building a base in Erhai Lake?"
"Ms. Qin, to be frank, I still advise you to give up this idea." The flight training manager said solemnly, "Ms. Qin may think that Erhai Lake has great tourism resources. I admit that Erhai Lake and Cangshan Mountain are indeed excellent tourist attractions. But the problem is that the three major airlines have all thought about establishing branch bases in Erhai Lake. I think their original intentions should be similar to Miss Qin's. However, with the strength of the three major airlines, they ended up in a mess."
Qin Xin's heart tightened: "Why is this happening?"
The flight training manager was very thorough: "Let's not talk about the extremely bad flying environment of Erhai Airport itself, let's talk about their logistics environment. Erhai City is a place with high mountains and dangerous roads. Land transportation is extremely scarce. There is only one road with a poor surface connected to the urban area. There is no airport hotel at Erhai Airport, and the crew can only take more than an hour's drive to the urban area. Although Erhai City is named as a city, it is actually a county-level city. There are no decent hotels in the urban area, and the accommodation conditions are very poor. In addition, Erhai City is too high in altitude, and most crews have poor sleep quality if they stay overnight in Erhai City, which often leads to poor condition when performing flights the next day, increasing safety risks out of thin air. It is for this reason that the crews of the three major airlines who stay overnight at Erhai are constantly complaining about the accommodation conditions, which will also become a major problem for airlines."
If people from plains or low-altitude areas have not lived in the plateau since childhood, they will experience a lot of physical discomfort when they come to the plateau, such as insomnia, or having many dreams after falling asleep, often waking up suddenly, or having very short sleep duration.
Therefore, if conditions permit, when arranging for crew members to stay overnight in plateau areas, airlines will, if they are generous, directly arrange pressurized rooms, that is, similar to the pressurization of aircraft, the room where the crew rests will be pressurized to achieve a physical sensation similar to that in low-altitude areas.
However, this only applies to wealthy airlines, and most airlines do not have this ability.
"In addition, the roads from the city to the airport are all built along the mountain. Once Erhai City is hit by heavy rain, the roads leading to the airport will most likely be affected. If you are unlucky and the roads are completely blocked, there is really nothing you can do." The flight training manager said, "This was the first time that Guoda Airlines encountered this problem after the Erhai base was built. As a result, all flights were cancelled that day."
The flight training manager continued, "Also... Erhai Lake is relatively... isolated, so the locals are... difficult to get along with. I heard that when crews from the three major airlines stayed overnight at Erhai Lake, many flight attendants were harassed, so many flight attendants were unwilling to go there even if they had to risk being fined."
Qin Xin couldn't help but fall silent after hearing what the flight training manager said. Yes, if the three major airlines were not fools, and if Erhai City was really a piece of buried jade, how could it be their turn?
"These are all logistical issues. In actual operation, due to the chaotic airflow at Erhai Airport, all flights must be led by Class C instructors, and the co-pilots also need to undergo specific training, which means the labor cost is too high." The flight training manager frowned, "In fact, I don't quite understand it. The three major airlines have also opened routes from Erhai Lake to major cities in China, but the occupancy rate is not high. If they really want to make money, the three major airlines can tolerate this or that problem and will not withdraw so simply."
The secretary had never agreed with Qin Xin's decision to set up her own aviation base, and after hearing what the flight training manager said, she immediately backed off. So, she called Qin Xin softly, "Miss!"
"I know!" Qin Xin immediately stopped the secretary. She politely asked Manager Fei Xun, "If we really get to the stage of actual preparation, we will need Manager Li's help then."
"Of course. But Miss Qin hopes you can think about it carefully again."
Qin Xin nodded: "I'll think about it carefully. Well, thank you for your hard work today, Manager Li."
As he spoke, Qin Xin slowly stood up, nodded slightly to Manager Fei Xun, and went out. When the secretary saw that Qin Xin had left like that, he immediately followed.
As soon as he came out, the secretary saw Qin Xin was on the phone. Soon the call was connected, and Xu Cang's voice came from the other end: "What's wrong?"
"Where are you now? I want to talk to you about something."
Xu Cang's voice was relatively quiet: "I'm at the company, how about you?"
Qin Xin was a little surprised: "Then let's meet in the lounge on the first floor in ten minutes, okay?"
"Okay!" Xu Cang answered very straightforwardly: "See you later!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Cang hung up the phone.
Qin Xin was really helpless about Xu Cang's behavior of hanging up without hesitation. If other people had such an attitude towards her, they would have been blacklisted by her long ago.
The secretary followed up and said, "Miss, do you have anyone to see?"
"Yes." Qin Xin nodded: "Go to the lounge on the first floor and wait."
…
At this moment in the flight department meeting room, Xu Cang slowly put down his phone. His eyebrows twitched slightly, showing a hint of surprise: "Boss Luo, do you want me to go to Feiyulong?"
"That's right!" Luo Yong nodded, very sure: "The plan you proposed naturally requires you to fly."
Xu Cang almost laughed out of anger. What kind of bullshit bandit logic is this? However, he still held his temper and said, "Boss Luo, my eyes haven't fully recovered yet, so I can't fly. I'm just making a suggestion. If you think it's not okay, you can just ignore what I said."
"No, what's your attitude, little brat?" One of the old teachers, named Zhang, was hot-tempered. He waved his hand and tried to drive Xu Cang away: "Get out of here. This is not the place for you to get involved. You are just talking nonsense."
At this time, Teacher Zhang was narrating that a much younger teacher came close to his ear and whispered something. Teacher Zhang showed a trace of confusion on his face: "9811, what 9811?"
Although Xu Cang was in the limelight during the 9811 incident, it does not mean that everyone knows Xu Cang. Many pilots just punch in for work and have no interest in anything outside of work. Some have heard of him but have never met him.
"Oh, instructor! He is the second mate who brought down plane 9811 not long ago!" the young instructor reminded.
"What's so strange about a plane landing?" Teacher Zhang rolled his eyes. It was obvious that he was the type of person who didn't care about anything else.
However, just because Mr. Zhang didn't know didn't mean that others didn't know either. Many teachers who had heard of it but couldn't put their names to it were slightly surprised for a moment, and then they put away their contempt.
Xu Cang looked a little embarrassed. If he had known this, he would not have come. He heard that Yulong was seriously affected by the disaster, so he wanted to help. However, he was scolded by the old teacher as an arrogant young man. It was really unfair.
Teacher Zhang was immediately displeased when he saw that Luo Yong had not expressed his opinion. "Luo Yong, are you really considering what this kid said? Disaster rescue is such a big thing, and you let a kid who hasn't even grown all his hair fly there. Are you kidding me?"
"You're taking advantage of your age!" A mocking voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
"Who is it?" Instructor Zhang turned around and followed the voice, only to find that it was Jin Fuli who said that. He swallowed back . He had a lot of experience, so he was not afraid of Luo Yong. But Jin Fuli was even more experienced than him, so he didn't dare to offend him. He could only glare at him fiercely: "Jin Fuli, are you crazy to favor this kid? We have so many leaders and instructors here, are you going to point your finger at him in the end? Is there such an outrageous logic in the world? Besides, you are from Airbus, why are you meddling in our Boeing affairs?"
"Yohoo!" Jin Fuli was getting excited and snorted, "I feel like this place..."
Before he could finish his words, Xu Cang saw that the situation was not right and immediately interrupted Jin Fuli, saying respectfully: "Captain Jin, what Teacher Zhang said is right. This is not the turn of a junior like me."
Teacher Zhang stiffened his neck and said, "Look, he said so himself."
"Xu Cang is a good boy, he won't argue with you." Jin Fuli despised the teacher named Zhang in his heart, but he was never forgiving in his words: "As for you, you are disrespectful to the elderly! Others get better tempered as they get older, but you are the opposite. Control your temper, or your blood vessels might burst one day, which would be unpleasant."
Teacher Zhang's face flushed red all of a sudden. Fortunately, Luo Yong tried to persuade him: "Okay, we are here for a technical discussion, not for you to curse in the street."
Halfway through his speech, Luo Yong looked at Xu Cang and said, "Xu Cang, you are not well yet, can't you fly?"
"It's really not healed, Mr. Luo." Xu Cang pointed at his eyes: "Now my eyes can't stop crying when they encounter strong light or if I overuse them. My vision has not fully recovered, and the things I see are still a little blurry."
Luo Yong was standing about three or four steps away from Xu Cang. He could vaguely see a lot of bloodshot in Xu Cang's eyes, so he believed it a little.
"But Xu Cang... you should have never flown Yulong, so how come you are so familiar with the terrain of the approach?" Luo Yong asked curiously.
Although Yulong Airport is easier to fly than the more complex airports in the province, the second mate is never arranged to participate in the flight. Logically, Xu Cang should have never flown there.
Xu Cang was stunned. He wanted to say that he would be in charge of the comprehensive promotion of PBN technology in the future. The promotion of RNP AR was the top priority, mainly for some complex airports that could not afford the blind landing fee, and Yulong Airport was one of them.
The construction and maintenance costs of blind landing systems are very high, which can be a considerable burden for some airports with small flight volumes. With the emergence of RNPAR-like precision approaches, it can completely replace blind landing at some airports. The cost of RNP AR approaches is much lower.
Because the southwest region is mountainous and has harsh terrain conditions, it has become the primary location for verifying RNP AR technology, and Xu Cang is the host.
Because RNP AR can set the approach route according to the terrain, it is necessary to know the terrain around the airport. Xu Cang has all the terrain maps around the major airports in the southwest region in his mind.
However, the truth must not be told. So Xu Cang pointed at Zeng Wei and said, "Instructor Zeng Wei told us this during the training in the fleet."
"Ah?" Zeng Wei was stunned. He was indeed in charge of the training for the next flight, but wasn't this just a mess? At the beginning of the training, they handed out a brochure, and then some played with their phones, some chatted, and they didn't do any work. He was so responsible that he even explained the topographic map around Yulong Airport.
No, after racking his brains, he seemed to have no idea about the width of the valley bottom near Yulong Airport. Could it be that he had forgotten?
Luo Yong didn't doubt it at all, and nodded to Zeng Wei with appreciation: "Not bad, not bad! You are very attentive in the training of the fleet this time."
Zeng Wei's face turned red, but in this situation, he had no choice but to agree.
"Since Xu Cang is not feeling well, forget it. Let's follow Zeng Wei's plan." Luo Yong turned his gaze to the irritable teacher: "Teacher Zhang, thank you for leading the team this time."
"No problem." Instructor Zhang's chest straightened up, feeling extremely proud. Among all the instructors, he was the one leading the team, which showed that his skills were recognized.
After selecting the responsible captain, Luo Yong pointed at Wang Xuan and said, "Wang Xuan, you can be the co-pilot for once, is that okay?"
"No problem!" Wang Xuan always had that icy expression on his face, as if it wouldn't change in ten thousand years.
Then, Luo Yong raised his chin towards Lu Jinghua: "Jinghua, you can go too."
"Ah? Me?" Lu Jinghua never expected that he would be called upon, and immediately looked embarrassed: "I don't have the qualifications to operate within the province, so this can't fly."
Luo Yong was a little unhappy: "You don't have the operating qualifications of a captain, but you still have the qualifications of a co-pilot. Once a co-pilot obtains the qualifications for operating within the province, it is permanent. It's not like you are the captain and you just sit in the back and supervise."
"I..." Lu Jinghua was speechless for a long time. He really wanted to refuse, but with so many people watching, it would not be good for him, the general manager of the flight department, to back down at the last minute. In the end, he could only agree with a bitter face: "Okay, no problem on my side."
The C-class instructor is the captain, the chief pilot is the co-pilot, and the general manager of the flight department is the observer. To be honest, this lineup is the strongest lineup that Luo Yong can put together at this stage.
"Okay!" Luo Yong narrowed his eyes slightly. "I believe everyone knows that the company has been having a hard time recently, and the bureau is very dissatisfied with us. This time, we must fight a beautiful turnaround and change our image in the bureau's mind in one fell swoop. Okay, Teacher Zhang, Wang Xuan, Jinghua and Zeng Wei, please stay and discuss the details. If the rest of you don't have any questions, let's adjourn."
Except for the few people who were in charge of the flight and the relevant supporting personnel, the rest left one after another when they saw nothing was wrong. Xu Cang also joined in. Anyway, he had proposed his own plan, and the rest was beyond his influence, so he just let him do it.
Although some teachers have complaints about Xu Cang, it does not mean that all people are like that. At least after he came out, many young teachers praised Xu Cang for his youth and promising future.
After thanking them one by one, Xu Cang felt his cell phone vibrate. He took it out and saw that it was a text message from Qin Xin, saying that she had something urgent to do and they could talk about it later when there was a chance.
Anyway, Qin Xin has already made it clear that he wants to build the Erhai base, so there is no need to rush and we can just take our time with the rest of the things.
Xu Cang didn't think much about it and went home to rest peacefully.
…
The next afternoon, in the office of the manager of Muhua Airlines' strategic development department, Ma Cheng was listening to his assistant's report on his company's order from Boeing.
The assistant showed a strange look: "Boss Ma, Boeing wants to allocate 50 aircraft to us."
"Fifty...fifty?" Ma Cheng could hardly believe his ears: "We were only allocated fifty out of a production capacity of three hundred. Did I hear correctly?"
The assistant nodded. "I also find it incredible. I confirmed with Boeing again and again that it is 50. Then, the remaining share will be divided equally between the other two."
"This..." Ma Cheng touched his head. He really couldn't understand how it could turn out like this. Logically, Ma Cheng thought that the production capacity of these 300 aircraft would most likely be evenly distributed, but in the end, Muhua Airlines was the only one that was hurt.
It is obvious that Muhua Airlines was deliberately targeted.
Ma Cheng pondered for a long time, then suddenly waved his hand: "You go out first."
The assistant obeyed and left. When the office was empty, Ma Cheng called Li Rongcheng. The call was quickly connected, and Ma Cheng immediately started to scold: "Li Rongcheng, what do you mean by asking us to cut so much production capacity?"
"Are you asking me?" Li Rongcheng on the other end of the phone sneered: "Then let me ask you, what does it mean that Muhua Airlines uses its premium routes to exchange Xu Cang? What do you want Xu Cang for? Is he blackmailing us? Do you think we have no means to counter you? Ma Cheng, we have a good personal relationship, and you treat me like this?"
Ma Cheng fell into a long silence, and finally sighed: "Everyone serves their own master! Forget it, let's see who's the real one!"
After saying that, Ma Cheng hung up the phone. Although he had a falling out with Li Rongcheng, at least Muhua Airlines was indeed targeted. Ma Cheng was not the kind of person who was willing to accept his fate. Boeing wanted to teach him a lesson, so why couldn't he turn the tables on Boeing?
After thinking for a while, Ma Cheng called the dispatch room: "It's me, Ma Cheng! Please arrange a crew for me to go to Jianchuan as soon as possible!"
…
At the same time, the third leg of Yulong Airport is Cangkou, which is 13 nautical miles away from the airport. The restricted altitude of this point is the MSA altitude of Yulong Airport, which is 5,700 meters. In principle, after this point, it is the 11 nautical mile point of the 250 radial line of Yulong Airport, and the restricted altitude is 12,300 feet. After passing the point, the aircraft can make a 120-degree turn to descend to an altitude of 11,300 feet and then directly cut into the final leg.
But the problem is that the terrain at the starting turning point has changed, and the original restricted altitude can no longer be used. There is not enough time to survey the terrain and create a new program. Therefore, after passing Cangkou, we cannot lower the altitude, but maintain an altitude of 5,700 meters until we pass the starting turning point before we can quickly descend and intercept the glide path.
"Blue Sky 9000, after passing Cangkou, did you descend according to the procedure?" Although there was an earthquake in Yulong, the tower was fortunately still intact, which was good news.
As for the flight number of Blue Sky 9000, it is only because this is a transfer flight, so the flight number is naturally different from the usual one.
"No! The terrain at the starting turning point is unknown, and we cannot descend according to the procedure. After passing Cangkou point, we will maintain 5,700 meters through the starting turning point, and then descend after passing the point, and establish No. 21 blind landing according to the procedure trajectory." Wang Xuan, the co-pilot, communicated with the tower controller about the subsequent flight plan.
In fact, after Blue Sky Airlines formulated the approach method, it informed the control tower of Yulong Airport through the authority. However, before the actual implementation, the control tower had to confirm with the crew in advance to avoid any communication problems.
The Blue Sky Airlines' plan was easy to understand, but the tower was also concerned: "Blue Sky 9000, if you start descending from the starting turning point, will the altitude be okay?"
"We will intercept the course later on the final leg and make appropriate left and right maneuvers. We should be able to land it," said Wang Xuan.
"Okay! You can just implement it according to your own plan, and report five nautical miles on the fifth side." The flight below was beyond the capabilities of the tower controller, so it could only be done by the Blue Sky Airlines crew.
"Five nautical miles!" Wang Xuan answered and glanced at Instructor Zhang on his left: "Instructor, let's fly according to the plan."
"Sure!" Instructor Zhang answered confidently. They had simulated the flight process many times yesterday and knew it by heart. There would definitely be no problems.
Lu Jinghua was yawning in the observer's seat. The only advantage of Zeng Wei's plan was that there was no need to worry before the final approach, and the risk was in the final approach. Xu Cang's plan was exactly the opposite. The final approach was the same as a normal approach, but it was very dangerous before the final approach because it had to descend below the restricted altitude.
Lu Jinghua half-closed his eyes. Until they reached the fifth approach, there was nothing to worry about the plane, so he just leaned his body, his posture very casual.
After passing Cangkou Point, the aircraft did not descend, but maintained an altitude of 5,700 meters as planned. According to the plan, Instructor Zhang began to slow down and set up the landing configuration.
One thing they were lucky about was that the restricted altitude at Cangkou was 5,700 meters, or 18,700 feet, which was lower than 20,000 feet, so there was no restriction on deploying flaps. If the restricted altitude was higher than 20,000 feet, they would have difficulty deploying flaps and slowing down, and the situation would have become very embarrassing.
Because it was in level flight, the aircraft decelerated quickly, and the flaps and landing gear were lowered one by one, and soon reached the landing configuration with flaps 30 and landing gear lowered.
Soon, the plane will reach the starting turning point, and after that, it will be the moment to decide the fate of the plane. Although Instructor Zhang is extremely experienced, he still feels guilty, and he goes over the operation procedures with Wang Xuan and Lu Jinghua in advance.
"After passing the initial turning point, adjust the altitude to 11,300 feet first, and then to 7,300 feet after passing the final approach fix point. Use the speed brake to fly in position, use V/S to descend, and adjust the initial descent rate to 2,000 feet. After passing the final approach fix point, reduce the descent rate to 1,500 feet until you catch up with the glide path." Instructor Zhang said: "In view of the special situation, unless there is a terrain warning of Terrain PULL UP, all others will be ignored. Once a terrain warning appears, perform terrain maneuvers, increase the throttle, press TO/GA, use maximum thrust, and start at a 20-degree attitude..."
"Okay!" Wang Xuan interrupted Instructor Zhang halfway through his speech: "There's no need to repeat the terrain maneuver, we all know it. In addition to the high descent rate on the final leg, release the autobrake as soon as possible after landing and switch to maximum manual braking. According to estimates, the aircraft speed can drop below 60 knots before leaving the runway. Pay attention to turning at high speed, even if the angle is only 30 degrees."
Although Teacher Zhang had a bad temper, he couldn't stand up to Wang Xuan and nodded quickly: "I know."
After saying that, Wang Xuan looked back and said, "Mr. Lu, do you have anything else to add?"
"Nothing to add. I've said everything I need to say yesterday." Lu Jinghua pondered for a moment, and finally said, "The only thing to pay attention to is the touchdown speed and touchdown point. If there is a problem with any of these data, then abandon the approach and make a go-around immediately!"
Teacher Zhang nodded again and responded.
Just as Lu Jinghua said, most of the things had been discussed yesterday, and there was really nothing to repeat. After that, Lu Jinghua slumped back in his chair, returning to his usual inattentive self.
After everything was confirmed to be correct, as soon as the aircraft passed the initial turning point, Instructor Zhang immediately adjusted the altitude window to 11,300 feet, then increased the descent rate to 2,000 feet and pulled up the speed brake to the flight position.
Since the landing gear and flaps are extended, they objectively provide some resistance. Therefore, in a low-altitude environment, the aircraft can not only achieve a descent rate of two thousand feet, but even have some surplus, that is, the engine thrust is not reduced to slow speed.
This means that the aircraft can theoretically descend faster. However, since there is still terrain below, a too-fast descent will result in an excessive closing rate, which can easily cause a terrain warning.
I had already calculated it on the ground yesterday. As long as we can descend according to the predetermined plan, although it is a bit thrilling, we can still successfully intercept the glide path.
When the aircraft began to turn into the final leg, it was reasonable to press VOR/LOC to intercept the localizer. However, in order to have more time to descend, Instructor Zhang did not intercept the localizer or continue to maintain horizontal navigation, but switched the roll mode to heading selection.
First, the course is turned 20 degrees to the right, and when the aircraft is about to turn to the predetermined course, the course knob is turned to 20 degrees to the left of the course, so that the aircraft starts to turn to the left again, and the aircraft forms an S-shaped curve with the course as the center line. In this way, the aircraft's range will be increased, thereby obtaining a longer descent time, and it can also roughly maintain on the course, and can correct back to intercept the course at any time.
This is a little trick used when the final edge is high, and I used it this time.
Yesterday, Zeng Wei calculated a rough descent profile for them. The three people in the cabin were silently calculating in their minds. Fortunately, the altitude was not much different from that calculated on the ground, which meant that there was no problem with the plan.
The three of them couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, finally they didn't encounter any unexpected problems before landing.
However, after the aircraft descended and passed the final approach fix point, Instructor Zhang immediately adjusted the altitude to 7,300 feet, which is the rounded-up value of the blind landing decision altitude for Runway 21.
In addition, the descent rate was reduced from 2,000 feet to 1,500 feet while still allowing the aircraft to fly an S-curve around the localizer.
Logically, if the aircraft can maintain a descent rate of 2,000 feet, it should be no problem to reduce it to 1,500 feet. However, as the aircraft descended to a lower altitude, the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft increased with the increase in air density. Even if the aircraft configuration remained unchanged and the thrust of the two engines was reduced to slow speed, the aircraft began to be unable to maintain speed at a descent rate of 1,500 feet per minute.
At first, Lu Jinghua thought that the increase in the aircraft speed was due to temporary turbulence. But after a while, the airflow stabilized, the aircraft was no longer bumpy, and the aircraft's airspeed did not drop at all, but continued to maintain the reference speed plus ten knots.
If the plane can maintain this speed, then even if it is a little faster, it is still acceptable. However, the continued high airspeed made Lu Jinghua feel a little uneasy.
Wang Xuan, who had been a little relaxed just now, now had a stern expression on his face. The situation did not seem to be good.
The moment the control tower was notified at five nautical miles and landing permission was obtained, the airspeed, which had been stable at the reference speed plus ten knots, suddenly began to rise slowly. The faces of the three people in the cockpit all changed suddenly.
"The plane can't get off!" Lu Jinghua shouted softly.
The V/S descent method gives priority to ensuring the descent rate, but if the descent rate exceeds the maximum descent rate that the aircraft can provide at slow thrust, the aircraft's speed will increase, which is inevitable.
The aircraft speed was about to exceed the reference speed plus fifteen, which was obviously far beyond the predetermined approach speed.
Wang Xuan looked anxious. The speed brake was down, the throttle was reduced, the landing gear was down, and all means of descent had been used. They had nothing else to do.
"What should I do?" Wang Xuan's face was as gloomy as water, and he was screaming wildly in his heart. He was extremely unwilling to accept the setback of such an important task.
"It's okay, just keep the descent rate. We haven't reached the speed limit yet." Instructor Zhang gritted his teeth and suddenly said, "Once we intercept the glide path, we can slow down."
At this time, the three people in the cockpit could even clearly see the cracked runway at Yulong Airport. The destination was within sight, and no one was willing to give up.
Lu Jinghua's mind was working rapidly, and he did not immediately reject Instructor Zhang's suggestion. Indeed, there was still some margin in the airspeed, and it could be allowed to increase further.
However, even if the glide path is intercepted and the descent rate can be reduced, can the aircraft really reduce its speed again?
However, just as Lu Jinghua was hesitating, he suddenly felt the plane seem to rise slightly. The change in state was so slight that even Instructor Zhang did not notice it.
However, Lu Jinghua's face turned pale: "Oh no, the flaps are unloaded!"