War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1028 The Special History of the Flying Watch Shop
At the gate of the hangar where the Il-76 was parked, Uncle Chubu put away the laser pointer, slowly took a big puff of his cigar, and waved his hand amidst the puffing clouds, "I'll give you 10 minutes, go up and visit by yourself."

After finishing speaking, this fat man with a fierce face but an exceptional kindness has already walked towards the next hangar on his own.

Wei Ran and Ji Ma glanced at each other, quickly quickened their pace, and circled the huge transport plane.

After this lap, both of them found something special. First of all, although Uncle Chubu said that this is a military aircraft, on the waistline on both sides of its nose, it is marked with the civilian type "IL- 76TD-90VD".

Not only that, but directly under the wing, the pair noticed that the aircraft's registration number began with the letters "UN".

Just like "B" stands for China, and "RA" stands for Russia, Wei Ran and Jima, who have been to Kazakhstan several times, naturally know that the two letters under the wing definitely do not represent the United Nations, but represent the United Nations. The aircraft is registered in Kazakhstan.

When the two of them went around the tail of the plane with their necks up, they also noticed at a glance that the tail turret of this military transport plane was not only removed as Uncle Chubu said, but also two pieces of turret with leaking gaps were installed. The metal skin was painted pure black, turning the exposed turret base into a fairly round spherical surface.

Entering the interior of the cabin through the wide-open cargo door at the rear, Wei Ran immediately noticed that compared with the Il-76 that was transported in Irkutsk and flew to the small town of Tula, the cabin was the most beautiful. The obvious difference is that the "interior" of the cargo compartment is much neater, at least those pipelines and the like are all tightly covered by a layer of milky white hard guard.

If there are differences, there are also similarities. In the cargo hold of this transport, there is a row of foldable seats of the same type against the bulkheads on both sides.On the bulkhead directly in front, there is still a large black LCD screen hanging.

Passing through the small door leading to the cockpit, the two went down the ladder to look at the pilot cabin below. At this time, although the plane was only parked on the ground, they looked out through the glass windows of the pilot cabin. , still makes people fascinated, looking forward to what kind of beauty it will be from here when the plane takes off.

After visiting the pilot cabin, when the two of them climbed into the cockpit, they looked at each other in astonishment.

In this narrow "stairwell" directly behind the cockpit, there is a single bed against the wall.This single bed located directly under the skylight on the top of the plane is not only complete with bedding, but also has a black leather jacket hanging on the armrest next to it.

But on the left and right arms of this slightly worn-out leather jacket, there is a flag of the Ukrainian Air Force and an armband that attracts special attention.

"The 15th Ukrainian Air Force Transport Regiment"

Jima squeezed his sleeves and read the words embroidered on the armband, but his small movement also made the jacket slide off the wooden hanger, revealing two photo frames hanging on the bulkhead.

In the photo frame above, there is a not-so-large Ukrainian Air Force flag.In the photo frame below, there are six men wearing camouflage pants, black jackets, and military caps, standing straight side by side at the cabin door of an Il-76 transport plane.

Glancing at Jima, Wei Ran stooped to pick up the leather jacket and hung it up on a rack, covering the two photo frames that attracted endless guesses.

"So this plane came from Wu Kelan?" Jima had already walked into the cockpit while speaking, and at the same time took off the slightly stuffy headgear.

"Probably"

Wei Ran also tore off his hood and guessed, "Remember what Uncle Chabu said just now, this plane flew here from Tashkent, 900 kilometers away, and it never took off since then except for inspection flights Passed. Let me guess, maybe this plane was secretly sold before it even landed in Wu Kelan."

"So Uncle Chubu is actually an arms dealer?" Jima asked in a low voice.

"Otherwise? You don't think he's an obstetric nurse, do you?"

While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already walked into the cockpit, sat down on the captain's seat, and carefully looked at the turquoise "Ilyushin Flying Watch Shop and Sky Gym".

Compared with the Il-76 he once visited on the cargo flight to the small town of Tula, everything in this cockpit is not much advanced, at best it can only be regarded as "new but also retro" .

After recovering, Wei Ran signaled Jima to sit down in the co-pilot's seat, then lowered his voice and said, "Jima, don't be silly, we are in trouble."

"Trouble? What trouble?" Ji Ma asked puzzledly while holding the joystick with both hands.

"What kind of trouble can it be?" Wei Ran pointed around, "This is trouble!"

Seeing that Jima still didn't understand, Wei Ran sighed weakly, "Jima, this is an Il-76, and this is the trouble. Do you know how much fuel this big engine consumes per hour? I really can't imagine using this The fuel is earned back from the profit generated by transporting something.”

"Isn't it okay to transport tourists?" Jima asked subconsciously as he let go of the joystick.

"What do you think?"

Wei Ran grinned, "We can't use this transport plane at all. It is too big and exaggerated for us. Of course, the most important thing is that we can't afford it at all. For us, its practicality Sex is even far inferior to that ugly monster just now."

"Then what do we do?"

Ji Ma finally came to his senses, and immediately came up with a bad idea, "Why don't we sell it?"

"To whom? The small supermarket in your village?" Wei Ran asked helplessly.

"Forehead"

Ji Mahua pulled the back of his head, and after thinking for a while, he came up with a second relatively reliable bad idea, "Or ask Uncle Chabu to exchange it for one, no, two, use it for two of that ugly thing just now ?”

"I don't think the other party is willing to trade with us"

Wei Ran sighed secretly. According to that big fat man Chubu, this transport plane seems to be for Ninel, and he can only be a "representative of reward".In other words, even if it was a refusal, it was Ninel who had to do the refusal.

When he and Ji Ma were staring and worrying, an unfamiliar phone number called Wei Ran's satellite phone.Wei Ran didn't shy away from Ji Ma at all, and absent-mindedly pressed the answer button.

"Did you see it?" As soon as the phone was connected, someone on the other side asked in Russian.

Although it was just a question without beginning and end, Wei Ran could still tell that it was Ninel who called!

"I see." Wei Ran replied after looking around.

"Receive it for me." Ninel on the other end of the phone said in a rambling manner, "I'll explain the details to you when you bring it back."

"Can"

"beep--"

Wei Ran didn't finish his sentence, but Ninel, who was on the opposite side, simply hung up the phone.

Glancing at Jima, he shook his head helplessly, "It can't be changed, this is Ninel's transport plane."

"Which Ninel?" Jima thought for a while, "The Ninel we cleaned together in Kirov?"

Wei Ran spread out his hands, "Which Niell can there be besides him?"

"So it really can't be replaced?"

After a short period of disappointment, Jima became excited again. While stroking the joystick in front of him like a pervert, he said with a smile on his face, "It's okay! Ninel is a good brother worthy of our unconditional trust, so Ninel Your transport plane is my transport plane, and I will take good care of this big guy."

"Are you sure you're not saying something stupid?"

Wei Ran reminded with a sneer, "Even if this big guy stops here like the dead Brezhnev, it will cost money. Jima, you'd better calm down, keeping such a plane is very important." It would be a huge financial burden for us."

"It's really a huge financial burden for us"

While Ma was talking, he had already stood up and patted Wei Ran's shoulder vigorously, "But I believe that this is not necessarily a burden for Aurora. Victor, you should ask Aurora's opinion , maybe she has a way?"

"You have confidence in her." Wei Ran stood up, dumbfounded.

"Of course confident"

Ji Ma spread his hands, "For you, Aurora is just your girlfriend. But for my Inta friends, that girl has really helped them live a good life."

Speaking of this, Jima asked while walking out, "Speaking of this, how long has it been since you have been to Inta?"

"It's been a long time"

Wei Ran followed behind and replied, "Ever since Sister Katenka became her assistant, I seem to have never been to Inta again."

“Me and Maya were there just a week ago”

Jima had already put on a black headgear while speaking, "Victor, you should go to Inta to see Aurora's results."

"Since you've said that, I'll check it out"

Wei Ran, who also put on the hood, walked down the cabin, and then saw the fat Chubu standing outside the cabin.

"Now that you're done visiting, continue to stroll around here with me."

The drunken Uncle Chabu waved his hand warmly, took the two of them away from the transport plane temporarily, and continued towards the last two hangars.

In these two hangars, there is also an Il-76 parked in each. The only difference is that the painting of the two transport aircraft is very similar to that of the Soviet Air Force transport aircraft, and the initial letter of the registration number under the wing has changed to UR, which represents Wu Kelan, has a logo of a bunch of purple grapes surrounded by a sickle and a hammer on each of the fuselages.

"These three are actually from the same transport group of Wu Keran"

The big fat Chubu habitually took out the laser pointer, shot a conspicuous light beam and introduced, "The only difference is that the one you are about to take away was sold here before it had time to serve. And the two , they were the two active transport planes in the best condition at that time.”

After finishing speaking, the fat man pointed to the distant building with a laser pointer, "Not only is the plane in the best condition here, but the best crew member of the transport plane group is also here."

"The transport group."

"them?"

The big fat Chubu smiled contemptuously, "They have already sold all the transport planes that can still fly, and all the excellent crew members are gone. Without transport planes and pilots, they are naturally dismissed."

Having said that, he patted his belly full of fat, and said while walking back slowly, "Boys, go back to the cabin with me and continue to have a drink. If you need air transportation service, you can always go through Carl Pu contact me, I will give you a low enough discount."

We don't even know what to fill that transport plane with
Wei Ran and Ji Ma muttered something in their hearts at the same time, but they agreed politely.

(End of this chapter)