Chapter 396: Star Positioning! Major Soviet Event in 1983!
"Mr. Xu Cang, what should we do now?" The captain looked at Xu Cang with extremely complicated emotions.
Now, it is very likely that the damage to the No. 2 battery has prevented the CSM/G servo valve from opening, leaving the ramjet turbine only able to supply emergency hydraulic pressure but unable to generate emergency power.
Without emergency power, the current massive power outage on the aircraft would not be an easy situation to handle.
If it were daytime, he could rely on visual analysis to determine the aircraft's status and position. At night, many reference objects were invisible. Moreover, Xu Cang's condition was very bad now, and his perception ability had obviously declined. He was not sure whether he could rely solely on physical sensation to determine the aircraft's status.
There are very few problems with batteries because they are a very independent power supply device. Even Xu Cang has only heard of abnormal battery discharge, but has never heard of battery damage.
Actually, it is true. Severe solar storms are extremely rare, and I was hit by one. I was so unlucky.
"First, turn on the MAN ON switch on the 40VU hydraulic panel. The problem of the servo valve not being able to open... can be solved later. Now solve the hydraulic problem first." Xu Cang ordered: "I hope there is no problem with the thermoelectric battery bus bar."
The thermoelectric battery bus is a very high-level bus. Under normal circumstances, as long as the aircraft is running, this bus will always have electricity.
However, judging from the performance of other power systems, Xu Cang was not sure whether the thermoelectric battery bus bars could be spared.
However, as soon as Xu Cang finished speaking, the plane began to shake very obviously. This was not caused by the airflow, but a problem with the aircraft's control.
"Can you stabilize the plane?" Xu Cang instructed the co-pilot.
Now that the aircraft is almost completely without power, the hydraulic system will also be affected. The hydraulic system is essentially hydraulic oil to transmit power, but it still needs to rely on external force for actuation.
In terms of design logic , Boeing can disconnect the AB hydraulic system at certain special moments to achieve the purpose of directly actuating the hydraulic system by manpower, but this will result in extremely heavy force on the aircraft stick.
But at least there is a workable solution!
But Airbus is different. Its hydraulic system is entirely driven by electrical signals. Once the power is cut off, the hydraulic system will be stunned, and the control system will also be greatly affected.
The shaking of the aircraft was not caused by airflow, but by the lack of continuous control input, which made it impossible for the aircraft to maintain a stable state and began to deviate horizontally and vertically.
Now the plane is "flying freely" in the air with the air flow.
Of course, due to the aircraft's own power and its strong design stability, there will not be major deviations in a short period of time, but if left alone, who knows what will happen.
The co-pilot moved the sidestick, but the plane did not respond.
"First, turn on the 40VU hydraulic panel switch."
The co-pilot lowered the side stick and reached up to feel for the panel. Even though the light in the cockpit was extremely dim, as a qualified co-pilot, he should have known the positions of all the switches on the panel by heart. After a while, he finally found the MAN ON switch on the 40VU hydraulic panel.
After pressing the power switch, a ramjet turbine similar to a small fan will pop out from the aircraft fuselage. The impact of the airflow causes the turbine to rotate, thereby generating electric hydraulics.
The installation position, size, and even the number of blades of this ramjet turbine will vary depending on the aircraft model. The ramjet turbine of the A320 is a relatively common two-blade ramjet turbine.
After pressing the 40VU hydraulic panel switch, there is no display on the panel due to the lack of power, but the change can be reflected in the operation.
The co-pilot pulled the side stick slightly to the left, and after waiting for half a second, the plane also banked to the left.
This is not a problem of control signal transmission, but insufficient hydraulic pressure, which causes a problem in the hydraulic transmission link, and then the control surface responds slowly to the joystick.
In any case, a small ramjet turbine cannot provide the hydraulic power of the entire aircraft, and it can only ensure the minimum control. Richard is also on the plane, and he knows how to operate an Airbus plane. Even if there is a delay in control, with Richard's ability, he must be able to land the plane safely.
"Fortunately, there is no problem with the control signal transmission." Xu Cang thanked.
The control signals of Airbus aircraft are also transmitted through electrical signals. If there is a problem with this line, the aircraft is basically useless and there is almost no possibility of control.
Although the solar storm was very powerful, it did not destroy the entire electrical system. For example, the thermoelectric battery bus was also intact.
"All right?" The captain was behind Xu Cang. Seeing that the plane had regained control, he was overjoyed: "Turn around, turn around, go back to Tokyo, and tell the control that it's PANPAN!"
At this time, the captain didn't care about the "extra money", he just wanted to survive.
Even though the hydraulic system has recovered somewhat now, the electrical system is still mostly faulty. Who knows what other problems may arise later, so it is best to return home quickly.
"But the communication system is broken." The co-pilot pointed to his headphones: "Now I can only hear a continuous electric sound."
The captain was startled: "Have you tried high frequency as well?"
"Ah? Do we have to try high frequency again?" The co-pilot's forehead was covered with sweat. He had never used high frequency before and he didn't even know what frequency the high frequency should be adjusted to.
"The VHF is unusable, so the HF is probably unusable too." Xu Cang interrupted: "Let's not worry about the communication for now, there won't be any planes nearby."
"Why are you so sure?" the captain asked puzzled.
Xu Cang glanced at the captain coldly. The captain's heart skipped a beat and he immediately understood.
Even if there were planes nearby, they would follow the controller's instructions to avoid the area. Only they would rush in without hesitation in order to escape by parachute in the designated area.
"This is the first time I've heard of an ionizing radiation zone, too. I thought the controller was just talking nonsense." The captain gave a dry laugh.
"If you can survive, you know what to do." Xu Cang said indifferently.
It goes without saying that the entire crew involved will definitely be subject to legal sanctions after landing. However, in today's situation, the prerequisite for accepting legal sanctions is to save their lives.
The captain was extremely humble: "With Mr. Xu Cang here, we will definitely be able to land."
Xu Cang did not react at all to this flattery. This was not because he was pretending to be profound, but because he really had no confidence, especially when his condition was extremely bad.
The captain became nervous when he saw Xu Cang's cold reaction.
However, he did not dare to say any more, for fear of angering Xu Cang. After all, he was an accomplice in the assassination of Xu Cang.
"Now listen to my orders." Xu Cang was too lazy to care about the captain anymore. If the plane could land, they would have legal sanctions. If it crashed, everyone would die together and the grudge would be settled.
However, before that, Xu Cang had to deal with the possible cabin smoke situation: "Blowing fan OVRD position, exhaust fan OVRD position, cabin fan OFF position, kitchen OFF position..."
Hearing this, the co-pilot was mumbling Xu Cang's instructions to remember while looking for the corresponding switch, but soon the co-pilot felt that this command was somewhat comfortable, and asked with his head tilted: "Is this the procedure for smoke/odor/electronic equipment adventure?"
Xu Cang asked back: "Is there any problem?"
"But we don't have electricity right now, so many steps won't work." The co-pilot was a little confused: "For example, using a fan or something like that."
Without electricity, many devices cannot be used. In a sense, there is nothing wrong with what the co-pilot said, and many of Xu Cang's commands are futile.
Xu Cang sighed: "Really? Then just adjust the electrical emergency mode and shut down the emergency generator line No. 1."
The co-pilot did not act immediately, but looked at the captain first. The captain nodded silently behind Xu Cang. Once the electrical emergency mode is set, it is basically equivalent to assuming that the electrical system cannot be restored.
This is a situation where the fault is isolated, but one's own retreat is also destroyed.
However, three minutes before landing or at an altitude of two thousand feet, you will be required to reopen the No. 2 generator and the emergency generator No. 1 line, but before that, there will be no possibility of the electrical system recovering at all.
In the absence of any power, it is even a question whether the plane can fly back.
It is precisely because of this concern that the co-pilot is not very willing to adjust the electrical emergency mode.
But in this situation, the captain could only follow Xu Cang's wishes and nodded to the co-pilot.
The co-pilot took a deep breath and finally shut down the emergency generator line No. 1.
Xu Cang lowered his head slightly. Since the ND screen was off, he naturally couldn't see the PFD. However, there was a mechanical backup instrument in the cockpit, from which he could see the airspeed and altitude.
Because it is not integrated, the heading can only be seen from the water compass below.
However, Xu Cang soon discovered a problem: "The plane should be flying roughly south now?"
The captain was stunned behind him. What kind of question was this? "Yes, we naturally fly south to Guam. What's wrong?"
Xu Cang pointed to the water compass and said, "Then why does the water compass indicate that the plane is flying east now?"
"What?" The captain's face changed drastically. Now the water compass is their only navigation equipment. If this thing goes wrong, they will not be able to locate themselves in the vast ocean at night.
If an airplane were to fly around like a headless fly, it would undoubtedly be quite dangerous.
The captain leaned closer, staring at the water compass. From the scale on it, he could see that the heading indicated was about 100 degrees, which meant the plane was basically flying east.
However, in the route plan, except for a small deviation in the departure section, once entering the cruising route, the flight path is basically a standard north-south direction. Even though the aircraft deviated slightly from the lower route due to the failure of the hydraulic and electrical systems, the absolute deviation was not large, and it would not deviate by dozens of degrees at once.
So, the biggest possibility now is that there is something wrong with the water compass.
"Degaussed?" The captain's hair went numb. This was not good news. No, it was bad news.
Looking down now, it is almost pitch black, with no reference points at all.
"It's not demagnetization. We are now in the range of the aurora, which has a huge magnetic field that affects the indication of the water compass."
The water compass itself relies on the earth's magnetic field to indicate the direction. The earth's magnetic field is everywhere, but the magnetic field strength is not high. If the water compass is placed in an area with a strong magnetic field, other magnetic fields will cover the effect of the earth's magnetic field, making the direction indicated by the water compass wrong.
Hearing this, the co-pilot suddenly asked, "If we leave the range of the aurora, can the water compass be restored?"
"No!" Xu Cang shook his head: "The error has already occurred. Even if we leave the strong magnetic field of the aurora, the error will still exist. If we want the water compass to indicate correctly, we must calibrate it."
"How to calibrate?" the captain asked immediately.
"You need a standard orientation and a strong magnet."
"Standard direction? Don't we just not know the direction now?" The captain asked anxiously, "Besides, where can we find a strong magnet? A strong magnet is... a magnet?"
“In fact, we do have standard reference directions.”
The captain was stunned: "You know the direction."
"Continuously turn left..." Xu Cang said, "Try it."
"U-turn? How many degrees?" asked the co-pilot.
Xu Cang frowned and said, "You should try it first. Maybe the magnetic field outside is stronger than expected."
The co-pilot was stunned for a moment, not really understanding what Xu Cang meant, but he didn't ask any more questions. Xu Cang asked him to turn left, so he started to turn left. After the side stick was pulled, the plane immediately formed a left turn. Some important flight data can be seen from the standby instruments, such as attitude, speed and slope, of course, that's all.
However, the standby instrument does not have an LED fluorescent background, which makes it very inconvenient to observe in such a dim cockpit.
"Make the slope smaller." Xu Cang reminded.
"oh."
At Xu Cang's request, the co-pilot limited the deflection slope to within ten degrees, so that the aircraft's deflection speed was very slow. After waiting for a while, the range of the red aurora disappeared from the windshield, so the heading deflection had exceeded ninety degrees.
However, the aircraft should have deflected more than ninety degrees, but as reflected on the water compass, the heading change was only thirty degrees.
The magnetic field in the aurora region is so strong that it keeps pulling on the compass, and the water compass has almost lost its effectiveness.
After the aurora disappeared, Xu Cang straightened his body slightly and stared outside.
Xu Cang shouted softly: "Reduce the slope further, within five degrees."
As if sensing the seriousness in Xu Cang's words, the co-pilot's heart trembled, and he immediately reduced the slope as he was told.
A slope of about five degrees is already very, very small, and the angular velocity of the aircraft's deflection is almost undetectable.
To be honest, neither the captain nor the co-pilot knew what Xu Cang was thinking about.
After waiting for a few more seconds, Xu Cang finally found the target in the starry sky. It was seven large stars connected in the shape of a spoon, which was the Big Dipper constellation.
There is an extremely bright star on the line that is five times the extension of the distance between the two big stars Tianxuan and Tianshu at the tip of the spoon.
"North Star!" Xu Cang murmured softly, and then pointed in the direction of the North Star: "That's due north."
"There!" The captain was stunned, but soon realized that the direction Xu Cang pointed to was a bright star, and he understood it a little bit: "Is that the North Star?"
"That's right!" Xu Cang nodded.
Star Orientation!
The captain opened his mouth. Is this the ability of the world's top pilots today?
You can even see the celestial phenomena.
Although many people know how to find the North Star, locating it is not something that can be done easily.
"North! Now that we know where the north is, let's head towards the direction of the North Star. Isn't that returning to Japan?" The pilot was delighted.
"No!" Xu Cang shook his head: "We have deviated from the route just now. Now we are flying due north, which may not be towards Japan."
The co-pilot was not slow to respond: "You mean Russia?"
"Russia?" The captain looked at Xu Cang: "It doesn't matter where it is facing, as long as we fly towards the land, we will always find the airport. The fuel is sufficient. After seeing the land, lower the altitude. The lights of the airport are very obvious in the dark night."
Xu Cang turned around and stared at the captain: "Do you know what happened in 1983?"
"In 1983?" The captain was stunned, and then he was shocked: "The incident when the Soviet Union shot down a Korean Air passenger plane?"
At this point, the captain and the co-pilot turned pale.
If it mistakenly enters the airspace of another country, there may be escort operations, and Russia may directly shoot it down once it enters.
Of course, the incident in 1983 was very complicated and we cannot draw a direct conclusion, but there was a precedent in this regard after all, so Xu Cang did not dare to test it.
To be precise, no one dares to test that bottom line because the price is their own life.
"What should we do?" The captain was going crazy . He didn't know where he was and only knew north. How could he get back?
Xu Cang pursed his lips and said, "We are not going north, we are going... west!"
