Cobra Maneuver

Once again, the day of the annual flight cadet graduation assessment had arrived.

Commanders from the flying units of almost every military region had come to the academy. Dragon Country now had quite a few flight academies, but the one in Yuzhou remained the largest source of pilots for the major flying units.

Although coming here could not change the number of places that had long since been set, everyone hoped to get lucky. What if they could get one more?

They all watched the assessment from the viewing stands, hoping to spot promising talent. But the cadets were being tested on basic maneuvers, and those alone did not reveal much.

Among the crowd, only Lei Hu looked completely at ease. He had already secured the most promising cadet, so naturally he was in no hurry.

The assessment maneuvers were not particularly difficult for Li Zhi. In fact, they were not particularly difficult for any of the cadets.

Aside from a normal takeoff and landing, they only had to complete five basic maneuvers and one maneuver of their own choosing to finish the assessment!

Most cadets did not try anything fancy at this point. For their chosen maneuvers, they stuck to conventional combinations of basic maneuvers. After all, if they messed up, they would have to wait another year!

Soon, it was Li Zhi's turn to take the assessment.

As usual, a safety pilot had to sit in the rear seat because Li Zhi, as a cadet, was not yet qualified to fly solo.

The safety pilot was an instructor for other cadets, and Li Zhi had only met him a few times. To ensure fairness, cadets could not be assigned their own instructors as safety pilots during the assessment.

Just like a driving test, if the safety pilot took control of the plane, the assessment was a failure!

Although Li Zhi did not know the safety pilot, the man knew him. Li Zhi's name was famous throughout the academy; it was hard not to know him.

Before boarding, they had to inspect the weapon attachments, including the missile launch rails. Although nothing could possibly be wrong, the inspection was mandatory.

Next came the usual ignition, electrical power-up and system self-check. While the system ran its checks, the pilot also had to conduct a visual inspection.

"Self-check complete. No abnormalities detected!"

"01, this is 102, requesting permission to begin the assessment!"

After the self-check, Li Zhi requested takeoff clearance from the tower, ready to begin the assessment.

"102, cleared to begin. Field pressure 1005, north wind, force 2."

The assessment would last two full days. Throughout that time, the entire airfield and tower would serve only one aircraft at a time, so there was no waiting.

Release the brakes, apply throttle.

Li Zhi pushed the throttle all the way forward. He was already thoroughly familiar with the takeoff procedure and no longer hesitated as he once had.

Rumble~~~

Amid the roar, the jet trainer picked up speed. Once it reached takeoff speed, Li Zhi pulled it up and soared straight into the sky!

Quite a few people in the viewing stands looked surprised, though they deliberately tried to keep it off their faces.

They all had exceptionally sharp eyes, or they would never have been put in charge of recruiting new pilots. Li Zhi's takeoff distance was noticeably shorter than the other cadets', and they could not have been mistaken.

That small difference in distance was not to be underestimated. In combat, it was often all that mattered!

Although takeoff distance was not a standard for judging a pilot, especially a flight cadet, a cadet who could do that was generally no slouch.

Only Lei Hu remained as unruffled as ever. It was no use for these people to covet Li Zhi; he had already secured him!

"Cadet 102 beginning the basic maneuvers portion!"

The location, altitude and other conditions for the assessment were strictly regulated, mainly for the cadets' safety.

Left turn, right turn, climb, dive, roll. Every basic maneuver Li Zhi performed was precise and flawless.

"Now beginning the elective maneuver portion!"

The elective maneuver was a chance to earn bonus points. Its difficulty would not affect the assessment result, only the cadet's final assignment.

Although difficulty did not affect the assessment result, that was on the condition that the cadet completed the maneuver. If they failed to complete it or something went wrong, they might not even pass the assessment!

That was why cadets generally did not attempt difficult maneuvers at this stage. They did not want to waste another year.

The safety pilot in the rear seat had originally thought Li Zhi would make the same choice, but when Li Zhi began to climb, he knew things would not be so simple!

After reaching altitude, Li Zhi leveled off. He seemed to need some speed.

Suddenly, Li Zhi yanked hard on the control stick in front of him. The nose began to rise, while the powerful air resistance tried to keep it down.

But under the control of Li Zhi's powerful arms, the nose angle increased rapidly.

"Maximum angle of attack, maximum overload!"

The flight control system sounded an alarm at just the right moment. Fortunately, the safety pilot had heard of Li Zhi; otherwise, he might have taken control away from him on the spot.

The aircraft's speed dropped to its minimum in an extremely short time, and the aircraft had entered a post-stall state.

Li Zhi stopped pulling the control stick, letting the nose slowly fall back to its original position under its own weight.

Once the nose had returned to its previous position, Li Zhi went straight to full throttle and engaged the afterburner.

Rumble~

A louder roar than before rang out, and the aircraft surged forward again.

The Cobra Maneuver, also called Pugachev's Cobra Maneuver, was a post-stall maneuver that was very useful for quickly switching between offensive and defensive positions.

It allowed a pilot to slow his fighter from high speed in an extremely short time, causing an opponent or missile that could not react in time to shoot past him and giving him an excellent attack position.

Clap, clap, clap~~~

The people in the viewing stands applauded. Li Zhi's performance had indeed been spectacular.

Lei Hu also felt as though he had found a treasure. He had expected Li Zhi to be outstanding, but not this outstanding.

At this rate, Li Zhi would soon be able to fly solo and become combat-ready after joining the military!