War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 228 Which Air Tractor Driver Is Stronger?
Before getting on the plane, Wei Ran found an opportunity to put the "Confession" with the card in the food box, and then boarded the flight to Inta.When the plane landed smoothly on the runway still covered by ice and snow, Ji Ma had been waiting at the airport for a long time.

"Jima, what's going on with you? The camp went bankrupt or did you hook up with someone else's girlfriend and get beaten up?"

Wei Ran looked at the unshaven Ji Ma in surprise. This guy had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was messy and tied, and his face also had an over-indulgent and lethargic look.

This is not like the usual quarter horse, although this guy is a little gangster, but he is rarely so unkempt, and even his hair has turned into its original color since the camp's business got on the right track.

There was an unnatural smile on Ji Ma's face, "It's nothing, there are a lot of tourists these two days, and I haven't been idle."

Wei Ran didn't care when he heard the words, and changed the subject and asked, "Speaking of this, Sui Sui asked me to ask you if there is anything to do in summer. She is planning to bring some tourists over during the summer vacation."

"summer?"

Hearing that there is another business to take care of him, Ji Ma finally returned to normal. He slowed down a little and thought about it, and then said with a bit of a headache, "In summer, although the scenery here is not bad, and there are a lot of prey, But definitely not suitable for bringing tourists here.”

"What does it mean?"

"Mosquitoes, mosquitoes scarier than blizzards."

Jima seemed to have thought of some horrible picture, and he couldn't help but shivered when he said this, "Besides those mosquitoes that can suck up the reindeer's blood, the forest will also become muddy due to the melting snow. And there will be a lot of seasonal rivers, even Aliri's planes can't find too many landing sites."

"Is it okay at the hot spring camp?"

"Who would take a hot spring in summer?" Ji Ma glanced at Wei Ran like a fool, and walked towards the An-2 aircraft painted by Hongqi Forest Farm on the tarmac in the distance, and continued, "But here There is one activity that is very popular in summer."

"Excavate mammoth ivory?" Wei Ran immediately guessed what the other party wanted to say.

Jima nodded, "Yes, it is to dig mammoth ivory. Just find a creek or river beach and bring a high-pressure water pump to dig mammoth ivory. Of course, this work is very hard, but even if you don't want to dig it yourself, Excavated mammoth ivory can also be bought very cheaply in Inta.”

"Forget it, this thing sounds unreliable."

Wei Ran refused decisively without even thinking about it. Those who dug mammoth ivory were all desperadoes with their heads pinned to their waists. Besides, who would spend money to travel so far and suffer this?

Jima nodded regretfully, and said unwillingly, "I'll ask Alili and Misha when I have time, maybe they have something to recommend."

"It's not urgent, there are still two months left." Wei Ran walked quickly a few steps while speaking, and got in along the half-open door of the An-2 plane.

Before he opened his mouth to say hello, Karp, who had already been waiting in the cabin, pointed to the luggage bag on the rear seat, "Change your clothes, and put the umbrella bag on your back."

Regardless of Wei Ran or Ji Ma who followed closely behind, the two of them had already expected this to happen, so they quickly changed their clothes before Teacher Dalia drove the plane to the runway.

After the two of them put on their umbrella bags, Karp immediately handed each of them a test form, "Complete in 2 minutes."

This link was still expected, and the two immediately started sketching. When the time of 2 minutes was up, Karp took the test form and stuffed it into a bag on the side, and then began to spot-check all kinds of knowledge he had learned before asking questions.

During the question-and-answer session between the teacher and the student, Teacher Dalia flew the plane steadily to the abandoned airport next to the hot spring camp and began to circle.Glancing at the flashing red light on the bulkhead, Karp got up with a smile and opened the hatch.

Wei Ran and Ji Ma looked at each other, each hung the ripcord on the slide rail of the cabin door, and then rushed out.

With the experience of skydiving a month ago, this test is really not a big challenge for the two of them.

After landing smoothly and running to the abandoned airport for about ten minutes, the An-2 plane driven by teacher Dalia landed lightly on the runway.

When the hatch door opened, Teacher Dalia, who had almost completely blocked the hatch door, threw the two new umbrella bags in her hands to Wei Ran and Jima, "Children, in the next half month, our learning goals are mainly There are two."

After a short pause, teacher Dalia continued, "The first goal, you two must learn to use this plane to take off and land alive. The second goal, you must learn to operate the parafoil and complete the high jump at night open low.

Finally, hopefully at the end of the month, you two will be as healthy as you are now.Now if there are no other questions, Victor, you come to the cockpit, and Jima, you and Karp go to the control tower. "

Naturally, Wei Ran and the two had no other problems. They obediently obeyed Teacher Dalia's arrangement, each followed a teacher, or walked to the tower not far away, or got into the engine room.

As the cabin door closed with a bang, Teacher Dalia directly signaled Wei Ran to sit in the driver's seat and started explaining.

"First of all, airplanes are far safer than cars. Second, the An-2 is the safest of all airplanes, and it's not much harder to fly than a tractor. Finally, you've mastered skydiving, so even if the plane breaks up in the air, you'll have There is a high probability of surviving."

Seeing that the expression on Wei Ran's face was no longer so nervous, Teacher Dalia lit a cigarette and continued slowly, "After keeping these three points in mind, let's talk about more dangerous things."

"Take off and land?" Wei Ran's heart rose again.

"I like bright students"

Dalia snapped her fingers, "Takeoff and landing are indeed the most dangerous, but I will sit next to you at that time, so as long as you fasten your seat belt and follow my instructions, there will be no problems. Alright , now let's get acquainted with the gauges on the dashboard and the switches around them."

Under the extraordinarily meticulous guidance of Teacher Dalia, Wei Ran memorized the functions of each switch and instrument over and over again.

What he needs to memorize is not only these intricate instruments, Teacher Dalia even took him into the tail cabin, pointing to the wire ropes, explaining in detail where each one is connected and what it is responsible for. Function, what will happen if it is damaged, how to repair it or how to deal with it, etc.

Naturally, so much knowledge cannot be memorized in a short period of time, but obviously, Teacher Dalia didn't want to give him too much time. After explaining it in detail twice, he actually directed Wei Ran to start the engine of the nose!
"Teacher Dalia, are you sure I can fly it now?" Wei Ran's nervous palms were sweating.

"Probably yes!"

Teacher Dalia took out a wine jug from her arms and took a sip, "If you don't want to plunge into the snow and have half your head cut off by the flying propeller, then do as I say."

"How?" Wei Ran asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Put on the communication headset first, then push the accelerator forward, and slow down." Dalia pointed to the push rod on Wei Ran's right while speaking, and then pointed to a dashboard directly in front of him, staring at the with this.

Under the guidance of the former, Wei Ran carefully pushed the throttle lever, the propeller on the nose also turned faster and faster, and the noise in the cabin became louder and louder.

Under the guidance of teacher Dalia, as Wei Ran released a handbrake-like thing, the old plane, which was older than him, really started to taxi crookedly along the snow-covered runway!

"Keep pushing!" Teacher Dalia said casually.

"Gas pedal?"

"Otherwise? Push the electric fan?"

Wei Ran, who was stunned and had nothing to say, continued to push honestly. Before he could react, the An-2 had already left the thick snow on the ground.

"Now raise the nose and go slower."

As Wei Ran slowly pulled the steering rod, the nose of the plane that had been under pressure began to rise, and what he could see through the porthole was only the sky and the rapidly rotating propeller.

"Eye level and altimeter"

Dalia pulled out a half-meter-long slender pine branch from the side of the seat and tapped it on the instrument panel, "We will now raise the altitude to 2000 meters, and the elevation angle should not be too large. Now the accelerator can be retracted."

Wei Ran, who was tense, followed the manipulation like a marionette, and his eyes moved back and forth on the instrument panel following the pine branch in Teacher Dalia's hand.

"Okay, push the joystick flat." Dalia patted Wei Ran's right knee lightly with a pine branch, "Step down slowly, let's go around in a circle."

Under Dalia's guidance, the terrified Wei Ran steered the plane, which was full of propeller noise, to turn.

After hovering in the sky for more than half an hour, Dalia put aside the pine branch in her hand, and held the joystick of the co-pilot with both hands, "Now we are starting to land, and I will not do it unless necessary , if an accident breaks the plane, you are responsible for buying a new one."

Wei Ran nodded with a mournful face, stopped the accelerator under Dalia's prompt, and slowly pushed the joystick forward while stepping back and forth with both feet, trying to point the nose of the aircraft at the abandoned runway covered with snow.

As the altitude continued to drop, Teacher Dalia, who was not paying attention at first, finally became serious, and Wei Ran, who was next to him, felt his heart was about to jump out of his throat at this moment. God is sorry, he learned how to fly to the sky from the beginning. , the whole journey takes less than two hours!

While Wei Ran waited anxiously, following a tremor that was enough to frighten people to death, the plane's skids were somewhat roughly attached to the ground.

In the end, when the plane stopped taxiing completely, Wei Ran was completely spread out on the seat.It was only at this time that he realized that his forehead and back were already completely wet with sweat.

"not bad"

Satisfied, Teacher Dalia picked up the pine branch again, instructed Wei Ran to shut down the engine, then cut off the fuel and power, and then said, "I'll give you 10 minutes to go to the bathroom, and then we'll fly again."

"Still flying?" Wei Ran's eyes widened.

Teacher Dalia smiled, rolled up her sleeves and revealed a small wrist watch, "There are still nine minutes and 50 seconds left."

(End of this chapter)