Flight Simulator

Li Zhi finally began his life as a flight cadet!

Cadets could not possibly get their hands on an aircraft right away. Apart from playing flight simulation games in their spare time, they could not even use the high-freedom simulators.

For the first three years, their studies also consisted largely of foundational theory in areas such as flight performance, control principles, and aircraft structures.

They also had to learn things like standard dialogue and hand signals.

There was simply too much for them to learn. They would generally only get a chance to use an actual simulator in their fourth year, when they would also begin learning to operate real aircraft.

At flight academy, cadets could really only learn the most basic flying skills; the focus was on building a solid foundation. Their real advanced training came after they were assigned to flight squadrons, where veteran pilots would give them one-on-one professional instruction.

In the days that followed, Li Zhi and the others threw themselves into intensive study. They had too much knowledge to master and very little time, so everyone studied even on Sundays.

Their task, one could say, was to study and do nothing but study. Unlike the more relaxed life at an ordinary university, their workload was even heavier than it had been during the final push in their last year of high school.

It was worth mentioning that, of the more than two hundred cadets who had taken part in the reexamination, barely a hundred had ultimately entered the academy to continue their studies.

Even so, this class was the largest in the academy's history. In one of the previous years, it had recruited only a little over fifty qualified cadets.

Because Li Zhi had already undergone ten years of systematic study, he mastered professional knowledge far faster than his classmates, leaving them far behind. Even quite a few of his instructors were impressed.

Most of the teachers at the academy also knew about Li Zhi's past exploits and his experience piloting a large passenger airliner, so they had very high expectations of him.

In his second year of study, Li Zhi was even granted special permission to experience flying a simulator!

Normally, the earliest anyone could use a simulator was in the second half of their third year. No one had ever been allowed to use one in their second academic year before.

Li Zhi's grades were usually the best in his class, and he studied extremely hard. Everyone respected him and had no objection to his being allowed onto a simulator early.

When someone got better grades than you and worked harder than you, what right did you have to object?

A joke that circulated among his classmates showed just how hard Li Zhi worked.

Li Zhi worked so hard that even his teachers urged him not to push himself so much!

That really was no joke. If there had been anything wrong with Li Zhi's health, the academy's teachers might well have forced him to rest!

Even so, the academy could not let him skip a grade and finish his studies early. That would have harmed Li Zhi rather than helped him.

Allowing Li Zhi onto a simulator early was already the greatest concession the academy could make. Flying was a lifelong learning process, and no one dared claim to have completed every course.

Those years at the academy were the best time to build a foundation. Only with a solid foundation could one hope to fly farther and farther in the future!

As Dragon Country's premier institution for training pilots, the academy Li Zhi attended housed one of the country's two most advanced eight-degree-of-freedom flight simulators.

The other was naturally housed at the Northern Flight Command Academy, known as Dragon Country's eldest son. Together, the two flight academies upheld Dragon Country's skies!

Besides the top-of-the-line eight-degree-of-freedom simulator, the academy also had several six-degree-of-freedom simulators. Cadets who were just starting out on simulators generally used the six-degree-of-freedom ones, while the eight-degree-of-freedom simulator was reserved for senior cadets nearing graduation.

Li Zhi, however, was no ordinary cadet. As an outstanding cadet whom the academy president had personally authorized to begin simulator training early, he naturally received treatment others did not.

Every cadet had to become proficient at flying a simulator before being allowed to operate a real aircraft, and Li Zhi would be no exception.

The academy took Li Zhi's first simulator experience fairly seriously. Unlike ordinary universities, the flight academy had only a few dozen students each year, and its teachers outnumbered its students.

Every student was a precious treasure to the teachers, and that went all the more for an outstanding cadet like Li Zhi. No amount of attention was too much.

An eight-degree-of-freedom simulator was actually no different from flying a real aircraft; it was even more realistic than actual flight!

That was because it could simulate all kinds of complex, extreme weather, such as rain, snow, and wind shear.

It could also simulate common and rare aircraft malfunctions, such as engine failure. It could even accurately simulate the timing of an ejection after an aircraft became unrecoverable.

As a result, almost every cadet was thoroughly humbled the first time they used a simulator. Most could not even take off.

The academy did this deliberately, so that these gifted cadets would face reality, stop acting as though they were second only to heaven, and learn with humility.

But some with slightly weaker mental resilience were so discouraged that they never recovered. That was why a psychologist and an instructor accompanied cadets on their first simulator session.

On the day Li Zhi was to use the simulator, a large group of teachers and fourth-year students gathered in the simulation training room. By the fourth year, theoretical studies had reached a stopping point, and the students spent more of their time operating simulators and real aircraft.

Each student's simulator time had been scheduled well in advance, so Li Zhi's sudden arrival would inevitably shorten their sessions. Everyone was also curious about who he was that the academy would break its rules for him!

At the teacher's prompting, Li Zhi entered the simulator cockpit. All the instruments inside were still dark; clearly, the power had not yet been switched on.

The first thing Li Zhi did was start the engine and power up the instruments. The aircraft began its self-check.

"Self-check in progress..."

The flight control system also began broadcasting voice updates in real time. Although the self-check was completely unnecessary in a simulated flight, the simulator still reproduced that step.

Cadets who had mastered the takeoff procedure would generally switch to combat-readiness takeoff mode, greatly shortening the self-check.

Li Zhi clearly did not yet know this "little trick," so the entire self-check took nearly a minute.

He was not anxious yet, but the crowd of "spectators" outside were as restless as if cats were scratching at their hearts!

"Self-check complete!"

The self-check was complete. He could take off!