Sky-cracking Rider

The most significant difference between civilian and military engines lies in the design of the afterburner construction.

The former doesn't include an afterburner, its rated output is capped at the threshold of maximum safety and economy, and even flooring the throttle keeps it within rated power.

The latter, for combat purposes, sacrifices lifespan for extra power output, as both training duration and actual combat time are much less than civilian operational hours. Designing for too long a life would lead to excessive costs and also affect the renewal of current equipment; therefore, the best technology is not necessarily the most advanced.

If military engines were to be used with reduced power requirements and operational standards, their fault-free operational lifespan could far exceed their original design parameters.

In some ways, they could also be used as universal engines.

The A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" light turboprop attack aircraft, which Chen Fei is most familiar with, uses the PT6A series engine—a quite mature universal engine, widely applicable, mass-produced, and inexpensive to maintain.

Because the afterburner design leans toward aggressive specifications, its stability could never meet the safety standards of civilian engines, thus if issues arise, they tend to be major.

Chen Fei attributed the cause of the crash to the afterburner, namely the main engine part, largely based on his own experience.

Although he started out mid-career, with numerous technical certifications and a wealth of experience accumulated through supernatural powers, he had by today earned the right to be called an industry expert, no longer the inexperienced rookie he once was.

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The furthest debris from the crash of the No. 2 prototype of the "Canglong" project reached over a kilometer away, almost extending to the airfield's residential and administrative areas. Multiple drones continuously flew back and forth, scanning the ground, searching for wreckage, creating plans of the debris field, and concurrently searching for the aircraft's black box.

Even in a crash, as an invaluable lesson, not a single shard could be overlooked.

The drones identified a black box with traces of orange-red, however, even with its special protective design, it wasn't completely fail-safe.

The found black box was not only shattered, but all the backup storage chips had turned to char.

A stir went through the wind barrier.

It meant that some data from the final moments of the crash were completely irretrievable, resulting in incomplete crash data for the No. 2 prototype.

"The mobility data from before the No. 2 machine matched the design specifications perfectly, why would there be a malfunction during the leveling out phase? That shouldn't happen!"

"Could it have been the Magic Array? I saw a flash of collapsing elemental energy when the aircraft went out of control."

"The final leveling data was a bit off, it could also be an electronic system failure, a technical flaw in the control system."

"How could it be the control system? The 'Canglong's' control system wasn't independently developed, it was a transplant from a universal system. If there were such severe technical defects, they should have been discovered under the same standards long ago."

"If it isn't a systemic or technical issue, could it perhaps be a human operational error? How is the test pilot doing?"

"He broke his thigh upon landing, he's in surgery... we probably won't be able to speak to him until the day after tomorrow."

"Let's rule out other problems first! Before the elemental energy collapsed, there was smoke trailing from the aircraft, focus on checking the fuel supply and the power supply modules."

...

Although the discussion was technical, no personal attacks were made, but the tone was becoming increasingly acrimonious. The dozen experts in the room disagreed with one another, eventually forming roughly four factions and engaging in endless debate.

"Um, I'm Shen Fei from the secretarial office; could you all please speak one at a time, so I can make notes of this discussion?"

Shen Fei squeezed into the debate with a smile that was awkward yet graceful, carrying a notebook and a pen, with a voice recorder also at work.

With many people speaking, voices overlapped, and even the voice recorder couldn't keep up, recording only the clamor; what was actually said couldn't be clearly understood.@@novelbin@@

"All right, all right, let's start over and clear our thoughts," President Sun Qiuguo said, raising his voice.

He looked toward Vice President Sun, who nodded in agreement.

The young woman who had just reached their side was the Deputy General Manager of the group company supporting the "Canglong" project and the only daughter of Shen Songling; both officially and privately, she deserved some courtesy.

"Let's start from the beginning and straighten out our thoughts!"

Vice President Nangong Ruiyang of the "Canglong" project, also a senior engineer at Northern Weapons Industry Group in charge of aerodynamic control, pointed to the first expert on his left.

"Worker Ge, you start!"

The slightly balding expert organized his thoughts and said, "My judgement is..."

Shen Fei's pen moved quickly; most of the content was recorded by the voice recorder and would be converted into text later. The notebook contained only the key points to present more clearly to her father for review.

The secretary's job is to focus on the essentials, simplify complexities, distinguish truth from falsehood, and help improve work efficiency, solely not responsible for decision-making, at most providing reference opinions; thus, meticulousness and robust handling of first-hand data are necessary.

One after another, four main lines of reasoning were proposed, and the atmosphere at the scene became well-organized.

A delighted Shen Fei mentioned offhand, "Could it be a problem with the main engine's afterburner?"

Diagnosing failures is the experts' job, and Shen Fei's remark was a bit like teaching one's grandmother to suck eggs.

The experts exchanged glances, collectively smiling but saying nothing.

Vice President Nangong Chengyu said smilingly, "Oh? Little Shen, how did you know?"

He knew his son, Nangong Rui, fancied the Deputy Vice President Shen's daughter, and regardless of the final outcome, his demeanor had to be much better than that of others at the moment.

It's common for laypeople to make layman's guesses, which are understandable and shouldn't be too harshly judged.

"My friend said that, at the time of the crash, he happened to be passing by and guessed it was probably a main engine failure."

Shen Fei relayed Chen Fei's eyewitness account then.

Then pointing towards the distance, parallel to the main runway was a national highway, about two kilometers away but still within sight.

An expert shook his head and said, "A layperson's guess isn't enough to rely on; analyzing the cause of failure is a very rigorous process."

Several experts nodded in agreement, showing no disrespect, but that was the reality.

So many amateur mathematics enthusiasts studied the several famous mathematical conjectures, but ultimately, it was the professional national teams that succeeded in solving them.

Shen Fei's next response, however, surprised everyone.

"My friend is an expert; he's a professional fighter aircraft maintenance worker."

"Is it from the maintenance workshop? What's his name?"

Nangong Chengyu instantly guessed it was someone from the corporate company.

Shen Fei shook her head and smiled, "No, not at all! He's not someone from the corporation; he's a friend I made while teaching there."

Director-General Sun Qiuguo from the "Canglong" project asked, "Oh? Which company then? Dragoon Magic Industry? Boeing Aerospace? Sky Battleship? Or National Defense Star?"

The layman's words could be heard but need not be taken to heart, whereas the insider's words are worth considering for insights.

The stone from other mountains can be used to polish jade, and this stone is not just any stone.

"No, he's with a military contractor and is also an outstanding pilot."

Shen Fei didn't know Chen Fei's combat record, but judging from the attitude of others at the Aircrew Base, she guessed he was probably doing quite well.

"Military contractor, huh! It's a mix of dragons and snakes, but there are actually some experts there, both pilot and maintenance worker, really?"

Although Director-General Sun Qiuguo was somewhat skeptical, he soon thought that the greedy capitalists, in a bid for profit, exploit to the extreme, making one person do the work of two; this so-called "multiskilled" originates from precise exploitation by the capitalists.

Shen Fei speculated, "He has qualifications for maintaining turboprop and jet engines, he must be quite capable."

After all, she was truly a layperson and didn't know much.

"Oh, interesting! If possible, invite him over for a look sometime."

Given that it was Director Shen's young daughter speaking, Director-General Sun just made a courteous remark in passing.

After all, a military contractor was hardly going to compete with the Northern Weapons Industry Group, let alone have business dealings with them; the two were totally different worlds, not connected by any means.

"Sure, he's at Airport 310."

Too honest, Shen's daughter made an offhand comment turn into taking advantage of the situation.

"What? Here, at this place?"

Airport 310 being a military base, it was hardly a place where just anyone could freely enter, Director-General Sun Qiuguo exclaimed in surprise.

Could it be he's not just an employee of the military contractor but also connected to the military?

The experts were collectively flabbergasted.

"He drove me here; the main gate just let us through, and I don't know why?"

╮(╯＿╰)╭ Shen Fei threw up her hands, her mind still filled with a giant question mark.

Director-General Sun Qiuguo said, "So that's how it is. Ask Director Shen if it's okay, and then bring your friend over for a look since it's all just junk anyway, nothing really matters."

There must be some military connection; otherwise, how could it be so simple to get through?

"Alright!"

Shen Fei turned around and found her father, Vice President Shen Songling of the corporation.

"Director Shen!"

"What's the matter? Secretary Shen!"

The father and daughter were indeed strictly business-like.

Secretary Shen tentatively asked, "The friend who drove me here might be able to help analyze the crash cause; should we invite him over for a look?"

Shen Songling immediately shook his head and said irritably, "Nonsense, how can we just let outsiders get involved with company secrets?"

Only his own daughter dared to speak so; anyone else would have been criticized by now.

"I've asked Director-General Sun, and he said we could have a look."

Shen Fei, considering another hand on deck as beneficial and seeing her father's constant frown, guessed the crash had dealt a significant blow to the entire project.

"Recklessness; aren't you afraid of 'Canglong' project's being leaked?"

Shen Songling was alert and did not easily relent.

"My friend is a pilot and maintenance technician with the military contractor, and also a Metal Ability User; don't worry, he's very tight-lipped. Oh, and 'Ah Mao' was a gift from him."

In Teacher Shen Fei's view, Chen Fei had never been a flamboyant person but rather very steady and low-key, always trustworthy and reliable. Read chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

She spoke and then stomped her foot.

"Aw!"

The black-furred wolf emerged from the shadow at her feet, grinning foolishly, smelling strongly of hotpot — leftovers and all, everything cheap went to it.

"Really... a supernatural power user? A Metal Elemental Psychic Power user?"

Shen Songling finally remembered, recalling the young man his daughter had mentioned meeting while teaching.

However, what he valued even more was the identity as a supernatural power user.

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