Chapter 19: Unprecedented Side Slide
Just as Qin Xin expected, Jianchuan Airport had indeed entered an emergency state. Not only could the planes on the ground not take off, but the approach area also refused to accept planes. At this moment, there was only one plane, Feiyu 6321, in the airspace within a radius of 60 kilometers of Jianchuan Airport.
The aircraft did not follow the standard approach procedure, but joined the downwind under the command of the tower control. Normally, this work should be undertaken by the approach control seat, but in order to reduce the communication pressure of the crew, under the coordination of the duty director, the approach control work was directly merged into the tower.
Following the guidance of the radar , the aircraft turned to the fourth side and then made a 30-degree angle to cut into the fifth side.
"Feiyu 6321, we can establish blind landing on runway 23. Reporting fully established."
"We can establish blind landing on No. 23. Report."
As the tower gave the permission to establish an ILS, the captain made the final confirmation the moment the co-pilot's voice fell: "Course 231, frequency 108.15, identification code IUT, ILS No. 23 can be established, course reserved."
There were no problems with the course, navigation frequency, and blind landing identification code, so the captain pressed the VOR/LOC button to pre-position the localizer.
While waiting for the localizer to be intercepted, the captain glanced at the co-pilot and saw that he was sitting there like a sculpture, and he couldn't help but sigh.
He patted the co-pilot's shoulder and pointed back: "Switch seats with him."
This was unexpected for both the co-pilot and Xu Cang. After a brief moment of shock, the co-pilot asked a crucial question: "Brother, is this legal?"
It didn't seem reasonable to replace a crew member when he himself showed no signs of incapacitation. This was the co-pilot's subconscious reaction.
The captain said sternly, " In the current strong wind conditions, are you sure you can complete a single-engine landing? I mean in a real flight, not in a simulator."
Although the simulator can restore the operating environment of a real flight as closely as possible, everyone who has flown knows how big the difference is between the two. Whether it is the flight environment and aircraft performance, or the crew's operating mentality, the two are completely incomparable.
The co-pilot took a deep breath, and he understood what the captain meant. The captain was clearly unsure about the landing, and wanted to replace him with Xu Cang so that he could help at a critical moment.
After all, in this situation, the co-pilot was basically of no help for landing. Rather than letting the co-pilot who had no benefit to the key issue continue to sit in the seat, it was better to put hope on Xu Cang who looked very powerful.
Although Xu Cang claimed that he was the captain, he was not a fool. He would believe whatever Xu Cang said. But at this juncture, he had no choice.
At this point, even if the co-pilot still had doubts about the compliance of the captain's replacement, he still had a clear sense of priorities. If he wanted to accept the punishment, he had to be willing to accept it.
Xu Cang originally thought that the captain would let him take the seat only after he had tried once without success. But now it seemed that the pressure the captain said he was under was even greater than expected, so great that he was not even sure .
He silently unbuckled his seat belt, stood up, folded up the seat, and prepared to temporarily retract the seat. At this time, the captain's voice sounded again: "I just thought about it for a long time. No matter what, I can't leave the plane completely to you alone. I must be here, so you can only sit on the right. You may not be used to it, but this is my biggest concession!"
Many captains and even instructors feel a little uncomfortable when they return to the right seat after flying in the left seat for a long time, just like the co-pilot suddenly sitting in the left seat and using the right hand to operate the steering wheel will also feel uncomfortable.
In the captain's mind, Xu Cang was still regarded as a captain or above, even though there was no evidence to prove whether what Xu Cang said was right or wrong.
"It's okay, it's all the same." Xu Cang didn't differentiate between the left and right hands. He had flown with many senior co-pilots, captains and instructors who sat in the left seat in the future. At that time, he sat in the right seat and was already used to it.
When Xu Cang spoke, his tone was as steady as the calm surface of a well, without a single ripple, as if a thorny problem that could overwhelm a pilot was nothing to him.
When the captain heard Xu Cang's words, his heart seemed to be stabbed hard.
Too big, the gap is really too big! Any pilot with a little knowledge can understand the situation they are in at the moment. However, Xu Cang's calm demeanor seemed to give him the illusion that the pressure from the mountain was nothing special.
The co-pilot also stood up to give up his seat, and the two of them passed each other. Xu Cang stepped into the right co-pilot's seat. As soon as he sat down, the course was intercepted.
"Course intercepted." Xu Cang quickly adapted to his role and was still making standard calls while fastening his seat belt.
"Yeah." The captain was obviously a little nervous. He just responded softly, pressed the APP switch, pre-positioned the glideslope, and adjusted the go-around heading at the same time.
After fastening his seat belt and adjusting the seat position, Xu Cang touched the steering wheel, and the silky and cool feeling was transmitted to the skin of his palm.
"I should still be here."
I don’t know why, even though it is extremely dangerous now, as soon as Xu Cang sits in this position and touches the steering wheel, he can feel extremely safe, as if he was born to belong here.
Xu Cang stretched his left foot forward and found that the left rudder was almost at the bottom. He immediately wondered, "Is the sideslip so big?"
In reality, a single-engine aircraft may side-slip if the thrust is inconsistent, but it should not be necessary to press the rudder to the bottom.
"I don't know why. Is it the wind?" The captain didn't really understand the reason. "We'll be in the final descent soon. I'll lower the throttle. Let's see."
As the captain finished speaking, the glideslope was intercepted, and the captain adjusted the altitude for the go-around and issued the command at the same time: "Speed check, wheels down, flaps 15."
If the aircraft lands with only one engine, flaps 15 is the standard landing configuration.
Xu Cang confirmed that the speed was normal, lowered the landing gear handle, and placed the flap handle in the 15th position. At this moment, the plane had already begun to descend along the glide path, and the pilot's perspective moved downward, allowing him to see the entire Runway 23 of Jianchuan Airport.
I can only say that God is quite kind to us. The visibility is estimated to be over ten kilometers, and the sky is filled with small clouds, which basically does not affect the vision.
From a visual point of view, the angle between the nose of the plane and the runway was estimated to be forty-five degrees. This sideslip was something Xu Cang had never seen before.
