Chapter 39: Emergency Descent! High Altitude Turbulence!

As usual, Lin Mo put on his pressure suit, tucked the metal coin, which took the form of "Gold Coin," into his pocket, and first went to the finance office to advance some money. He quickly had a bowl of porridge with steamed buns and side dishes in the cafeteria to fill his stomach before rushing to the hangar.

On the tarmac, a shiny twin-seat J-10 was ready for takeoff, equipped with conformal fuel tanks. Several ground crew and mechanics were making final checks. When they saw Lin Mo arrive, they waved and gave him a thumbs up, while the ground crew waved a signal stick to the team responsible for checking the runway and communicated with the tower that the pilot was in place.

“Safe travels!” Usually, a group of mechanics is responsible for a few aircraft. They patted Lin Mo on the shoulder and pushed him toward the cockpit, helping him secure the cockpit windshield.

Although he usually trained in the L-15 Falcon advanced trainer, Lin Mo was not unfamiliar with flying the J-10. He started the self-check program on the instrument panel and began the engine startup. The single-engine Russian AL-31-F turbofan engine produced tremendous thrust, propelling the aircraft, which weighed over ten tons, toward the runway.

Seconds later, the J-10 fighter jet numbered 11 roared off the runway and soared into the sky.

“Gold Coin calling Chicken Coop! Everything is normal, heading due east, currently at an altitude of 4000 meters!” Lin Mo communicated with the tower via radio. He learned during his first flight with a Boeing airliner that pilots must constantly communicate with the tower—not only to inform them of the plane’s status but also to convey the pilot’s mental state.

“Authorized altitude 12,000 meters, flight path has been logged.” The tower “Chicken Coop” navigated Lin Mo using radar and satellites.

The J-10 provided Lin Mo with immense thrust while firmly pressing him against his seat. The fighter jet was far from comfortable, but its speed was significantly higher than that of a commercial airliner. With the fuel tanks loaded, Lin Mo occasionally engaged afterburners to reach 1.5 Mach, enjoying the military airspace without worrying about evasive maneuvers.

Although it was called a supersonic fighter, it could only exceed the speed of sound when the afterburners were active; it could not maintain sustained supersonic cruising for long. This would double fuel consumption and put a great load on the engine. Even the U.S.’s F-22, hailed as a fourth-generation fighter, could only maintain supersonic cruising for up to half an hour. Typically, supersonic combat is only needed for tactical maneuvers, which can also be quite exhausting for the pilots.

Even so, Lin Mo could not freely patrol the area like around the base; if he strayed from his flight path, he would be warned immediately. If he were too slow, he could face disciplinary action. If he could not return to his course in time, he might find missiles chasing him down for a fiery spectacle, especially as he would pass over the capital, Beijing, and had to take a long detour.

Over this ancient capital, it is absolutely forbidden for non-Beijing Military District or specially authorized aircraft to fly directly overhead. Even any aircraft passing near the capital would be automatically locked on by multiple surface-to-air missiles.

Guided by satellites, Lin Mo crossed over 2,000 kilometers in just two hours, landing at an air force base in Dalian. After disembarking, he hurriedly boarded a military jeep that whisked him to the seaside seafood market.

Following the menu provided by Colonel Jiang, he gathered various seafood like abalone, sea cucumbers, and groupers and also roamed the farmers’ market, loading at least a hundred pounds of diverse delicacies into boxes. Once ready, he returned to Dalian military airport, called for the J-10, and took to the blue skies once more.

Colonel Jiang was right; after spending over an hour purchasing seafood and vegetables, Lin Mo arrived back at the base just in time for the tail end of lunch.

The cloud layer above and below was a completely different world. Even if heavy rain poured below, the sun above the clouds remained glaringly bright, and the air was incredibly pure. The clear blue sky rarely seen in big cities stretched endlessly like a vast ocean above the cloud layer. Without sunglasses, the unshielded sunlight at high altitude could easily blind someone. Lin Mo was very pleased with the sunglasses on the air force helmet. It was undeniable that the air force’s care for pilot comfort far exceeded that of his previous world, where the aerial knights exposed to strong winds and low temperatures had to rely on their own battle energy for protection.

Lin Mo’s battle energy attribute was light element. In the high altitude, his battle energy was far more active than on the ground. Every time he piloted through clouds, Lin Mo took the opportunity to condense as much battle energy as he could, ensuring he wouldn’t become too complacent with the easy life he currently had, lest he waste away the foundation of battle energy he had built up before.

“Gold Coin calling Chicken Coop! I am returning now!” At an altitude of 12,000 meters, which was over three thousand meters higher than the world’s tallest peak and above the usual cruising altitude for commercial airliners, Lin Mo enjoyed the ample oxygen provided by the onboard oxygen tank. The distant horizon showed a clear deep blue arc, resembling the Earth’s spherical curve.

At the J-10’s altitude, large patches of light clouds surrounded him, separated by a significant distance from the cloud layer below. These high-altitude clouds could appear above 10,000 meters, formed by moisture that had undergone “secondary evaporation” before condensing into solid ice crystals at the bottom of the stratosphere, drifting delicately, creating an ethereal scene.

“Radar has confirmed your location! You are expected to reach the warning zone in 60 minutes! Runway 2 has been opened for you!” The “Chicken Coop” control personnel located Lin Mo’s J-10 on the screen and received feedback from the onboard system regarding various parameters.

“Please inform the cafeteria to save me some lunch!” Lin Mo responded again.

“Received! We’ll contact you again in thirty minutes.” The reply from “Chicken Coop” was always succinct, ending the call.

Just as he finished the call, the J-10 suddenly dropped altitude. Lin Mo felt the fighter jet plunge several meters before being tossed upward again. Alarms blared in the cockpit as he maneuvered the control stick to slowly adjust the angle of attack.

“Report, Chicken Coop! Gold Coin has encountered high altitude turbulence!” Amidst the intense jolting of the aircraft, Lin Mo sent another transmission, maintaining a calm voice. Staying calm in any situation is the number one requirement for a pilot’s mental resilience.

Lin Mo had encountered this type of extreme high-altitude turbulence before in an alternate world. It was a peculiar turbulence at high altitude with no warning signs and a clear boundary; only upon entering would one know. It was invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by radar. According to textbooks from this world, he must be experiencing clear air turbulence.

“Chicken Coop received! Decrease altitude to exit turbulence!” The tower’s “Chicken Coop” tone switched from its usual calmness to a serious tone. High-altitude turbulence is a significant threat to aircraft. Recently, a fighter jet crashed at the base while landing due to wind shear, causing concern among the base leaders who would not take lightly any incidents involving Lin Mo’s J-10.

“If necessary, jettison the auxiliary fuel tanks!” The connection at the “Chicken Coop” switched to the tower’s supervisor, indicating the urgency of the situation.

“Uh!” Lin Mo glanced downward, seeing a large area of grey and uneven urban landscape below. His throat tightened, and he gulped hard. “Report, the area below is a city!” The remaining auxiliary tanks were not much less potent than aerial incendiary bombs.

“…” The person on the tower’s “Chicken Coop” went silent. It was as clear as day that jettisoning auxiliary tanks over densely populated areas was akin to an act of terrorism. Almost all air force pilots faced with a malfunction above urban areas would prefer to delay until they could make an emergency landing in a rural area or open space, even risking a crash. In such situations, pilots often wouldn’t have the time to parachute out and would likely not survive.

Since the founding of New China, there have been no incidents of air force pilots crashing in densely populated urban areas.

“Stay steady!” The tower’s “Chicken Coop” commander shared Lin Mo’s concerns, but the tone in the tower became a bit tense. Lin Mo remained unflinchingly calm, recalling the emergency procedures from the textbooks to tackle the situation one by one.