CHAPTER 239: AFTER THE REVISION: CHAPTER 239 YIN MAIMAN TURNS THE CORNER

I’ve been traveling these days, temporarily changing to two updates, and will resume three updates when I return, very sorry!

...

Pilots are solitary. When they climb into the cockpit and fly into the sky, their fate seems to be connected with the aircraft but isolated from other people.

Shire warned the trainees in a low voice, "You should get used to all this, gentlemen. Learn to rely on yourself, acquire the necessary knowledge, or train the ability to fight independently. Only this way you can survive on the battlefield and ultimately become a qualified pilot."

The classroom went silent for a while, followed by enthusiastic applause.

After leaving the classroom, Carter took Shire to his office.

The office could also be called the headquarters of Carter, this deputy captain. It was still as messy as before; the chair handed to Shire was just cleaned out from the junk.

Carter sat in front of Shire, flipping through files while reporting, "We now have roughly over three hundred veteran pilots, over a hundred new trainees, and more than three hundred fighter planes. If we continue to develop like this, our club will need to expand; it can’t accommodate so many people and airplanes!"

Shire nodded without saying anything.

Expansion?

Carter was overthinking; that was because there were no aerial battles during this period, so pilots basically suffered no losses.

Once combat begins, there will be casualties among the planes and pilots. It would be good enough if the new recruits can fill in the gaps.

Carter seemed to realize this too, and he asked worriedly, "Is the aerial battle about to start?"

He gleaned some trends from recent newspapers; the flying squadron had a tendency to integrate army planes, which was preparation for aerial combat.

Shire didn’t answer, but instead asked back, "Are you ready?"

Carter straightened up and answered confidently:

"Yes, Colonel, we are ready!"

"We have been practicing the eight rules of aerial combat continuously. If the Germans don’t have this experience, we believe they are not our match."

Shire responded with a "hmm": "At first, it might indeed be the case, but as long as you apply the tactics on the battlefield..."

Carter agreed with this: "The Germans will soon learn these tactics, and next time, they will use them against us."

"Yes!" Shire said, "So you must keep improving."

"Understood, Colonel!" Carter answered.

Carter got up to make coffee for Shire, busy and shaking his head, as if talking about something very absurd:

"Many people asked me during practice what to do if the enemy gets on our tail?"

"I told him he should ask God about that, or simply pray!"

Shire didn’t answer; he suddenly thought of a tactic that could address the issue of getting tailed by enemies in this era, which might further enhance the combat power of the flying squadron.

Carter handed the prepared coffee to Shire, saying, "You wouldn’t be thinking about solving this problem, would you?"

Saying this, Carter laughed "hehe".

He thought it was ridiculous; we might get on the enemy’s tail, and the enemy might get on ours too. Thinking about solving this problem was like considering how to dodge enemy bullets—equally ludicrous and impossible.

"There are no undying people on the battlefield, no matter how much we practice, we can’t avoid it!" Carter said, sipping his coffee.

Seeing Shire still silent, Carter’s expression slowly changed. He looked at Shire with some doubt and a hint of anticipation: "You wouldn’t really have a solution, would you?"

"There’s only a possibility to dodge it," Shire calmly replied: "But it still requires practice."

"God!" Carter jumped up suddenly, spilling his coffee over the table. He quickly wiped it with a piece of clothing he grabbed nearby, then hurriedly took out paper and pen from the drawer.

"There’s no need to write it down, Captain," Shire said, looking around and picking up two aircraft models from the table.

These things were everywhere in the flying club; they used to be Carter’s "side job". The flying club previously accepted visits from outsiders and sold some souvenirs, just like a tourist attraction.

"We’ll demonstrate it once and you’ll understand." Shire held a model in each hand, aligning them front and rear to simulate tailing, while explaining as he simulated flight paths: "If the trailing pilot is skilled enough, no matter how we dodge, he will always follow our movements; even with feints, it’s hard to shake him off."

"Yes!" Carter nodded.

Then doubts appeared in his eyes; this assumption was a dead end. The rear fighter needed only to pull the trigger to shoot, and the front plane almost had no chance to escape.

"We should think about ascending, Captain!" Shire said.

"No, Colonel." Carter bluntly rejected this plan: "Ascending will only make us die faster; the enemy will choose the moment of ascending to shoot."

Disappointment showed in Carter’s eyes; he thought this time Shire had made a mistake.

The recent tailing exercises made him understand one thing: the most taboo thing when being tailed by an enemy plane is to ascend.

Diving left, diving right, or diving down, all are fast movements that might break free from enemy pursuit.

Ascend alone, affected by the plane’s weight, climbs very slowly, exposing a large area of the fuselage to enemy fire; doing so is nearly suicidal.

But Shire insisted, demonstrating and explaining unhurriedly: "Of course, we can’t ascend directly; we need to make a diving maneuver first before ascending..."

"A feint?" Carter was puzzled. It was premised that the enemy pilot would be a master, someone who wouldn’t be deceived by feints.

"This is not a feint, Captain," Shire answered: "This is the standard procedure for ascending. After the dive, immediately pull up the nose at a sharp angle. You will find the plane no longer ascends slowly at a small angle, but climbs almost vertically at a much faster rate; the enemy often doesn’t have time to react."

"Will... it be like that?" Carter was shocked with his mouth wide open; he had never tried this maneuver.

"Yes." Shire nodded: "Try it and you’ll see. After the steep climb, the plane will be in an inverted flight with the belly up. At this point, make a roll, and it will return to normal..."

Carter couldn’t help but exclaim: "At that moment, we will have the altitude advantage! One dive will put us on the enemy’s tail!"

Shire nodded lightly.

This was not Shire’s invention; he knew nothing about airplanes.

This maneuver was invented by Germany’s earliest ace pilot, Immelmann, hence named "Immelmann Turn" or "Immelmann Maneuver".

Even in modern times, this maneuver is often used in dogfight training or airshows.

(The above image is the Immelmann Turn; modern aircraft no longer need to dive before climbing. World War I aircraft, due to their low power and slow speed, needed to use the dive to reverse the climb and instantly adjust to a vertical climb position.)