Chapter 181: Electricity in the Void! Weird and Unpredictable!
Facing Xu Cang's half-smile, half-serious, half-joking words, the air was filled with a moment of stiffness. Finally, Leo trembled his lips and squeezed out an ugly smile: "Mr. Xu, you are really a joker."
"You definitely didn't check the weather. The weather on the route is not very good. If anything happens, I will save you, right?" Xu Cang said with a smile, "Do you think what I said makes sense?"
Leo was startled, then he breathed a sigh of relief, a bright smile immediately spread across his face: "If something really goes wrong, I'll really have to trouble Mr. Xu to help."
When Xu Cang said his opening remarks just now, Leo was a little nervous for no reason. After all, in Leo's opinion, Xu Cang was not to be taken lightly. As a result, from Xu Cang's subsequent words and expressions, it seemed that he was too nervous. Perhaps, this was Xu Cang's unique way of greeting.
After Leo finished speaking, he looked at the seat number of the seat next to Xu Cang, then turned around and asked the flight attendant if he could move his seat next to Xu Cang.
The aisle of the 747 first-class cabin is very spacious, and Leo's parking does not affect the passage of the following passengers. Moreover, unlike the 737, which has only one aisle, the 747 has two aisles, so the worst case scenario is that they can use the other aisle. Therefore, no one complained about Leo's behavior.
But when Leo turned around, he happened to see Song Xinyang who was following him not far behind. Leo was stunned for a moment, then he smiled like a gentleman and greeted Song Xinyang: "Mr. Song, I didn't expect to meet you here!"
The exchanges throughout Europe are very close, and there are naturally frequent exchanges between Airbus and Rolls-Royce. Song Xinyang's rank is not low, so it is not surprising that Leo knows him.
Facing the Airbus CFO, Song Xinyang believed that he was of lower status and kept a low profile: "Mr. Leo, what a coincidence! Are you going home?"
Airbus's headquarters is not in the UK. If Leo works, he should go to Toulouse, not Heathrow. But Song Xinyang knows that Leo's hometown is in the suburbs of London.
"Yes, I recently dealt with a very difficult matter and went home to rest for a while." Leo nodded.
Song Xinyang probably knew what Leo was talking about, so he just flattered him, "Mr. Leo, thank you for your hard work."
"Not hard!" Leo laughed, his eyes gradually becoming more far-reaching: "But I feel like Mr. Song has been very busy lately, right?"
Song Xinyang's face looked very unhappy. The Concorde crash caused great damage to Rolls-Royce. In addition, Rolls-Royce was already at a disadvantage in the competition with General Motors and Pratt & Whitney. If it didn't find a solution, it would probably be squeezed out of the ranks of the three giants of aero-engines.
Facing Leo's slightly teasing words, Song Xinyang was not annoyed, but seemed a little anxious. He stepped forward and said, "Mr. Leo, if it's convenient, can we talk about the A380?"
Leo is a real senior executive of Airbus. If he can be convinced, it will have a huge impact on Rolls-Royce. Of course, from a rational point of view, Song Xinyang doesn't think he can convince Leo with just his mouth. However, it is a pity to waste such a good opportunity.
However, Leo shook his head repeatedly: "Now is my vacation time. I don't talk about official business when I'm on vacation. Besides, my friends are here now, so I'm afraid I don't have time to talk to Mr. Song about such serious matters."
"Friend?" Song Xinyang took a few steps forward and soon saw who Leo was talking about. When he saw who it was, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "Xu Cang?"
Leo looked at Xu Cang and Song Xinyang curiously, a little surprised that the two actually knew each other.
Xu Cang raised his eyelids: "Where's Yang Tian?"
"He's in economy class and will board the plane soon." Song Xinyang was very suspicious and became alert: "Do you have something to do in London?"
Xu Cang smiled, revealing two rows of white teeth: "If I say I want to visit the Rolls-Royce headquarters, is that convenient?"
Song Xinyang was startled: "If you really want to go, why not?"
Leo is a smart guy. Just by listening to the conversation between Xu Cang and Song Xinyang, he immediately guessed: "It seems that Mr. Xu is very busy."
Then, he snapped his fingers at the purser and said in English, "If it's convenient, please help me exchange my seat with this gentleman."
The flight attendant probably knew Leo's identity, so he immediately agreed and went to check the information of the seat next to Xu Cang. Fortunately, after some confirmation, there was no one on the left and right of Xu Cang, so Leo and Song Xinyang moved to the left and right of Xu Cang respectively.
Although Xu Cang's flight this time was for a certain purpose, he also needed the help of Leo or Song Xinyang at the critical moment. After all, if the crew of this plane was stubborn and refused to let him enter the cockpit when something went wrong, it would be quite troublesome.
With Leo or Song Xinyang, two well-known people, coming forward, it would be quite easy for him to intervene. However, Xu Cang did not like Leo and Song Xinyang sitting on his left and right, like left and right protectors, which would make Xu Cang uncomfortable.
However, after Leo had made the arrangements, Xu Cang was too embarrassed to ask him to leave, so he could only accept the situation.
When Xu Cang thought about having to sit like this for the next ten hours or so, he felt his waist starting to ache.
…
At this moment, in the yard of Erhai Base, Yi Feng from the National University’s Aviation Strategy Department actually appeared here.
Previously, because Xu Cang needed to prepare to deal with the Great Britain Air Crash, and some minor problems occurred when submitting the materials for establishing an airline, which delayed time, Xu Cang postponed the matter of leasing 20 ARJ21s.
Qin Xin listened to Xu Cang very much. Xu Cang said that they would talk about it after he came back, so Qin Xin cancelled the plan to go to Hanjing. As a result, Yi Feng couldn't wait any longer in Hanjing.
If those 20 ARJ21s stayed at Guoda Airlines for one more day, they would lose one more day's money. How could Yi Feng bear that? So, Qin Xin did not go to Hanjing, but Yi Feng made a special trip from Hanjing to Erhai Lake.
Yi Feng had been pampered since childhood, and the bumpy road to Erhai Lake was really a torment for him. When he arrived at the Erhai Base, Qin Xin was already planning to go to Jianchuan Air Traffic Control Bureau the next day. If Yi Feng was late for one more night, it would be a wasted trip.
Qin Xin naturally wanted to warmly entertain the executives of Guoda Airlines. Qin Xin originally planned to send Yi Feng to the city to stay, but Yi Feng was very anxious. He ate something at the base and then started to talk to Qin Xin about the loan of ARJ21.
In the yard, Qin Xin and Yi Feng sat on the edge of the flower bed in the middle of the yard. Qin Xin said straight to the point: "Xu Cang is not here. What we have discussed today is at most a decision of intention. All matters need to wait until Xu Cang comes back before making a decision."
"I know. What is Xu Cang busy with?"
"He is probably on a flight to England now."
Yi Feng frowned and asked, "He went to England, what was he doing there?"
"I don't know. If he doesn't tell me, I won't ask." Qin Xin got back to the point: "Boss Yi, you came all the way here. Is there a consensus within the National University?"
"That's right! As long as you are willing to lease our ARJ21 fleet, we can give you a 10% discount and provide training assistance in the early stages, including theoretical instructors and simulators." Yi Feng was straightforward and said it directly.
To be honest, the conditions offered by Guoda Airlines are quite sincere. It can be seen that the ARJ21 fleet is an awkward existence in the route structure of Guoda Airlines at this time. Previously, due to political considerations, a batch of ARJ21 was purchased, and now it has become a complete loss-making product.
"A 10% discount." Qin Xin was already tempted after hearing this: "I heard that you have 20 ARJ21s? Do you mean to rent them all out?"
Yi Feng said anxiously: "Of course, they must have all been rented out, why would they keep them?"
"Twenty ARJ21s." Qin Xin dragged out the last line of the sentence, which made Yi Feng feel itchy. "Boss Yi, I can hear that you are very sincere. However, we don't have that much money to lease twenty ARJ21s at once."
Yi Feng was stunned: "What do you mean, no money? Then why did Xu Cang promise to cooperate with me?"
"Boss Yi, we are not kidding you. We still owe the rent for the 737 we rented from Muhua Airlines! Recently, we have introduced a lot of pilots, and the expenses are a bit high. In addition, there was a flight accident at Jianchuan Airport before, which has caused funds to be tight now."
"Are you talking about the time when there was a problem with the elevator feel centering device?" Yi Feng still knew about the 9951N flight accident. After all, Boeing has since provided each airline with a self-checking software to check whether there are any software problems with the elevator feel centering device.
Qin Xin nodded: "Boeing has agreed to compensate, but the money has not yet arrived. Later, we still need to communicate with Blue Sky Airlines about the previous wet lease agreement, so it will take some time for us to sort out the funds."
"No, then what do you mean?" Yi Feng rubbed his temple: "You don't want us to give it away for free, do you?"
"How could that be?" Qin Xin lowered her head, hiding her expression in the darkness, and whispered, "My idea is that 20 ARJ21s are indeed too many for us. Even if it's just the rent, we can't afford it for a long time, so can we rent fewer, such as five first?"
"Five?" Yi Feng was immediately unhappy: "What about the remaining fifteen? Either you take all of them, or you don't take any of them. How can you only take five? The planes are still for sale?"
Guoda Airlines's intention was very simple. It was almost meaningless to just ask for five aircraft. But if these five aircraft were given, wouldn't the ARJ21 fleet, which already had a weak presence, be further marginalized? Yi Feng couldn't accept this feeling of being neither up nor down, neither left nor right.
Either rent it all out, or give up this business.
Qin Xin immediately showed a look of embarrassment. There was no other way. Taking in twenty ARJ21s at once would be enough to overwhelm the entire Erhai base. Twenty planes, this was already the fleet size of a medium-sized airline.
Seeing Qin Xin was silent, Yi Feng was also very anxious. He had finally found someone who was willing to take over the ARJ21 project, but he was unwilling to give up.
So, Yi Feng thought about it for a while and asked tentatively: "How does Xu Cang plan to use this batch of ARJ21?"
These are not commercial secrets. Qin Xin told Yi Feng directly: "Xu Cang wants to use ARJ21 to fly intra-provincial routes."
"Intra-provincial routes? ARJ21 is indeed suitable for short-haul regional flights. But can this really make money? We have also tried to let ARJ21 fly short-haul routes, but it can't be said to make money, just to reduce losses."
"I'm not in a position to reveal more details." Qin Xin said, "However, Xu Cang is very optimistic about the prospect of ARJ21 operating on provincial routes. We really want your 20 ARJ21s, but we are short of money. Of course, this business cannot be done. We will compensate Xu Cang for the losses caused to the simulator in Hanjing. However, as far as the amount of compensation is concerned , we think it is a bit too much. We hope to send someone to verify it."
Qin Xin had heard about Xu Cang burning the simulator in Hanjing. Although it seemed a bit outrageous, Qin Xin did not intend to deny it. However, Qin Xin felt that it was unfair to put all the losses of the simulators on Xu Cang. Even if compensation was required, it was necessary to clarify how much responsibility Xu Cang should bear.
Qin Xin said this, which meant that she was ready to break the deal. After all, Yi Feng's premise of not pursuing Xu Cang's responsibility for burning the simulator was to facilitate the leasing of ARJ 21. Now that the deal was estimated to be impossible, the liability for compensation was naturally inevitable.
Yi Feng understood immediately after hearing what Qin Xin said. He was a little panicked in his heart, but his expression remained calm: "If you don't want our 20 ARJ21s, how are we going to fly the subsequent provincial routes?"
As if knowing what Yi Feng would say, Qin Xin smiled and said, "I heard that Muhua Airlines still has ten ARJ21s. We can seek cooperation with Muhua Airlines."
"Muhua Airlines? Didn't you just say that there is still a plane leased by Muhua Airlines that has not been paid off? Are they willing to lease another plane to you?"
"We don't have much money, but we have the leverage over Muhua Airlines!" Qin Xin said with a smile.
Yi Feng was confused by Qin Xin's words: "What do you mean by that?"
Qin Xin suddenly shouted towards the administrative building opposite: "Linglong!"
As soon as the voice fell, a pretty figure walked out of a room on the first floor of the administrative building. It was Si Linglong.
Si Linglong walked up to Yi Feng with a smile and called out timidly, "Brother Feng."
"Ling... Linglong, why are you here?" Yi Feng looked at Qin Xin in horror: "What do you mean, you kidnapped the granddaughter of the old man from Muhua Aviation?"
Wow, that really gave Muhua Airlines a firm hold on their hands.
…
More than an hour later, in the cockpit of British Airways Flight 1009, the captain and the co-pilot were chatting aimlessly in English. The second captain sitting in the back yawned and patted the captain on the shoulder: "I'm going to go upstairs to sleep first. I'll take over in three hours."
Such an ultra-long-distance international flight certainly cannot be flown by two people. This time, there are two captains and one co-pilot. These three people take turns to operate the aircraft so that the two people on board can maintain high energy at all times.
To be honest, British Airways' crew configuration this time is actually quite stingy. If they had more resources, they would probably have sent two complete flight crews, including two co-pilots.
In a three-person crew configuration with two pilots, it is said that they take turns to rest, but in reality the co-pilot will definitely work longer hours while the captain can get more rest.
The 747 has a two-story structure in the nose part. Most of the time, the flight crew's lounge is located in the second-story space and has a small bed, which is considered a qualified rest area.
The captain in charge waved his hand: "Go!"
After the second captain left, the two people continued chatting. Pilots are basically like this. They chat not necessarily because they have so much to talk about, but to kill time. Because once people start to get bored and can't move, they will immediately start to feel sleepy.
Especially to many pilots, the sound of the engine running is like a lullaby. If they don't have something to keep them awake, they will soon feel sleepy.
While chatting, the co-pilot glanced outside and suddenly felt something was amiss. He stopped talking, looked at his navigation DU, then at the weather radar panel, confirmed that his weather radar was on, and then showed a hint of doubt.
The captain noticed that the co-pilot was a little strange, but he didn't react in any special way. He just asked casually, "What's wrong?"
"Captain, look, are there clouds outside?" the co-pilot pointed outside the windshield.
"Hmm?" The captain sat up straight and shifted his sight to the outside of the windshield. He immediately realized that he could see the bright moonlight and the sky full of stars just now, but now it was pitch black outside the windshield. He really couldn't see any stars or moon at all: "It seems like we are in the clouds."
Generally speaking, if you can't see the starry sky during a night flight, it means there are clouds. This is common sense, and it is common for co-pilots to have such questions.
The captain looked back from the side window again. He couldn't even see the navigation lights on the wing. He couldn't help but sigh: "The clouds are so thick?"
The visual conditions in this short distance from the nose of the plane to the wingtip are so poor, how thick must the clouds be?
"Cumulonimbus clouds? Not like it!" The captain's hand touched the panel of the weather radar, and his fingertips felt that the button for the weather plus turbulence mode had been pressed, which meant that the weather radar on his side had been turned on.
Not only on the captain's side, but also on the co-pilot's navigation DU page, there was no display of bad weather. The captain squinted and looked at the co-pilot's range ring, but because the cockpit lights were turned off, the co-pilot's instrument display brightness was dimmed, and he couldn't see it clearly for a while: "How much did you adjust the range ring?"
"Forty nautical miles!" the co-pilot replied quickly.
"Forty nautical miles." The captain said, and he also adjusted the range circle to forty nautical miles. So, the captain quickly reset his range to eighty nautical miles and waited for a while for the weather radar to react so that the weather conditions within the eighty nautical miles could be displayed.
However, after waiting for five or six seconds, the complete 80-nautical-mile weather image appeared in front of the captain. There was only an extremely weak echo area at about 60 nautical miles away from the 10 o'clock direction of the plane. However, that place seemed to have nothing to do with the current location of the plane.
The captain's brow furrowed suddenly, and he expanded the distance circle to 160 nautical miles and 320 nautical miles, but the results of the investigation showed that there was no obvious weather that could be considered a threat.
"WTF!" The captain looked out again, and what he saw was an endless darkness that seemed to swallow everything. This was obviously not a sign of a starless sky, but a phenomenon that the plane had indeed entered the clouds. However, it was very strange that such a thick cloud layer had no reaction on the plane's weather radar.
The co-pilot then speculated: "Is it the clouds that lack water vapor?"
The working principle of weather radar is that it can only detect bad weather containing water vapor. If there is insufficient water vapor, even if the plane enters the clouds, it will not show up on the weather radar.
The captain certainly understood this principle, but the clouds were so thick that he couldn't even see the navigation lights on the wingtips. Cumulus clouds of this level didn't look like they were lacking in water vapor.
"Is the weather radar retained?" The captain pulled his seat back and turned around to get the aircraft's maintenance book to see if there was any retention or maintenance record on the weather radar.
"No way, we are flying at night. If the weather radar is not working, the plane will not be allowed to take off. Besides, the company dispatcher will not fail to remind us of such a big problem."
According to the regulations, if a night flight on an instrument flight does not have a weather radar, it is considered an unacceptable item and the flight will not be allowed.
The captain also understood this principle, but what if the maintenance staff and the company dispatcher lost their minds? As long as it is done by humans, there is a possibility of mistakes, no matter how outrageous the mistakes are.
Therefore, the captain did not give up the idea of checking the maintenance book, but continued to take it and began to check it. Not only looking at today's records, but even flipping back to look at the previous records.
Because some aircraft failures have precursors. For example, if there is a weather radar failure record, although it was repaired later, there is a possibility of recurrence, so it is easier to confirm the cause of the failure.
While searching the maintenance records, the captain asked the co-pilot without even looking up, "What's the outside temperature now?"
The co-pilot pulled up the outside temperature display from the CDU and replied, "Forty-two degrees below zero. Should we still use anti-icing?"
Forty-two degrees below zero, this is too cold to be considered icing conditions, at least in level flight. If you want to descend, you have to consider engaging anti-icing.
The captain finally raised his head and looked outside. It was still pitch dark outside. His face was full of worry. He clicked his tongue and said, "Open it now!"
"Oh!" The co-pilot didn't care and turned on the engine anti-ice without turning on the wing anti-ice.
About five minutes later, the captain finished reading a flight manual, slammed it shut, threw it back on the back seat, adjusted the seat back, sighed, and stretched his body: "Oh, there is no record on it."
"Captain, it should be just ordinary cumulus clouds, right?" the co-pilot said. "There is no forecast of dangerous weather on the route, so there should be no problem, right?"
The weather radar is fine, the weather report is fine, and the plane is flying quite steadily now, so there should be no problem.
The captain hummed, put his hands behind his head, turned his head and said, "Check with the control to see if any of our crews have reported dangerous weather or requested a detour."
"Is this necessary?" the co-pilot thought to himself. The plane seemed to be in the clouds, but it was flying steadily, not like it was in bad weather at all. He had checked the weather radar and the maintenance manual, but did he still need to confirm with the controller?
However, although the co-pilot thought it was unnecessary, he still followed the captain's instructions and called on the radio frequency: "Jakarta, British Airways 1009?"
"British Airways 1009, Jakarta, go ahead!"
"Has any aircraft reported bad weather or requested to fly around our current location?" the co-pilot asked. "Can you see any dangerous weather on the radar?"
Jakarta control quickly responded: "British Airways 1009, there is no indication of dangerous weather on our radar. The previous aircraft on your route was an hour and a half ago and did not report any bad weather or request a detour."
The captain smacked his lips and waved his hand, signaling to the co-pilot that it was okay.
"Got it, thank you!"
The Jakarta control was quite helpful: "British Airways 1009, do you need any help?"
“Not necessary for now.”
After ending the call with the air traffic control, the co-pilot smiled and said, "Captain, it should be just cumulonimbus clouds. There's nothing wrong with it."
"Yeah! It should be." Having done this, the captain felt that there was no big problem, so he yawned and said, "How about I close my eyes for a moment while you look at the plane?"
The co-pilot nodded: "Captain, I'll take over the controls."
"Go!" The captain twisted his neck left and right to stretch his muscles. Although he said he wanted to take a short nap, he did not close his eyes immediately. Instead, he casually glanced at the instrument display on his and the co-pilot's side.
Suddenly, the captain's eyes fixed on the airspeed indicator. He sat up straight abruptly, his eyes moving back and forth between the airspeed indicator on his side and the airspeed indicator on the co-pilot's side.
The co-pilot was confused by the captain's action: "Captain, what's wrong?"
The captain looked back and forth for a while and said, "That's not right. Our airspeeds are different?"
"Huh?" The co-pilot was startled, and then he looked down at his and the captain's PFDs. After comparing them, he immediately saw the problem, his airspeed was seven knots faster than the captain's.
"Seven knots behind?" The co-pilot's heart skipped a beat. "So big a gap?"
As long as the aircraft speeds differ by more than five knots, the airspeed can be considered unreliable. However, at this time, there was no indication on the PFD that the airspeed or Mach number was inconsistent.
However, according to the entry conditions of the "Indicated Airspeed Inconsistent or Unreliable Airspeed" checklist, the current situation already meets the requirements.
"Captain, do you want to do a checklist?" This situation was rather embarrassing. The airspeed was indeed seven knots short, and the entry conditions of the checklist were met. However, it seemed that the entry conditions were different from the previous entry conditions for the unreliable airspeed subject.
The captain hesitated for a moment, but soon he made a decision: "Go ahead. If the entry conditions of the checklist are met, then do the checklist."
The "Indicated airspeed inconsistent or unreliable" checklist has a memory item, so the captain directly disconnected the autopilot and autothrottle, and signaled the co-pilot to turn off the guidance switches on both sides.
According to the checklist, the aircraft's altitude, vertical speed, and EPR indicators were all unreliable in this situation. All they had to do now was figure out which was the correct data.
Fortunately, the plane not only has left and right airspeed indicators, but also a backup instrument. By comparing it with the backup instrument, it can be determined which data source is correct and which is wrong.
Because the subsequent steps involve reselecting the atmospheric data computer.
"Let's do the checklist!" The captain set a thrust for level flight based on his memory. The subsequent steps were no longer memory items, but had to be done according to the checklist.
The co-pilot reacted very quickly. He immediately took out a thick 747 quick checklist and quickly found the location of the "Indicated airspeed inconsistent or unreliable airspeed" checklist by looking at the directory index.
But suddenly, the co-pilot stopped moving.
The captain could not hear the sound of the co-pilot flipping through the checklist, so he turned his head to look at the co-pilot and found that the co-pilot continued to look through the checklist, as still as a sculpture.
"What's wrong?" The captain thought the co-pilot couldn't find the relevant content, so he shouted, "It's in Chapter 10, the first one."
"No, Captain!" The co-pilot finally moved. His face was full of confusion. He held up the quick checklist with his left hand while his right hand kept searching for it.
Then, the co-pilot slowly raised his right hand, and the paper on the checklist was lifted up directly as if it was stuck to the fingertips of his right hand.
Looking at this magical phenomenon, the captain took a deep breath.
The co-pilot showed a trace of fear on his face: "Captain, what is going on?"
However, just as the co-pilot's voice fell, a slight collision sound was heard from nowhere. The captain looked up instantly and saw countless dense electric lights exploding directly on the windshield in front of him.
