Chapter 417: A Cobra
Compared with the previous MiG-25 and MiG-31, whose cockpits were shrunk in a small space with very poor visibility, the current Su-27 has been catching up with the West, with a bubble-type canopy and raised seats, making it feel like riding on a fighter plane.
Andrei took a deep breath. On the round dome in front of him, he could see the computer-generated scenes. Just from this, he could tell how significant the Soviet electronic technology progress was.
This kind of computer-generated image, of course, requires a powerful computer to depict the image vividly. The simulators of the West at this time still displayed patterns in strips because of the insufficient computer processing power. But now, our display is so detailed that even the grass leaves in the distance flutter in the wind, just like the images in computer games of later generations.
The positions of each button are basically the same as those in later generations. Andre turned on the power switch and gradually started the two AL-31 engines at the tail. As the low roar came, at this moment, it really seemed as if he was sitting in the cockpit.
Seeing that the instrument in front showed normal results, Andre turned on the afterburner, and the hydraulic device on the seat back began to squeeze, giving the pilot a simulated push-back feeling. The scenery in front was rapidly receding, and at the same time, the control stick was shaking slightly as the fighter plane glided.
Take off, take off! Andre didn't look down at the instrument, but only looked at the composite image on the dome in front of him to estimate his speed. He gently pulled back the joystick and saw the horizon receding rapidly. The plane had already pulled up!
At the same time, the entire simulator began to lean back. The three-axis movable simulator can simulate the posture of the fighter plane to the greatest extent.
Andrei didn't know that his takeoff operation had stunned the people watching below, including Sukhoi's chief test pilot Varamir Ilyushin. Seeing Andrei's graceful movements, they couldn't help but admire him. You know, the characteristics of this aircraft are completely different from those of the MiG-25 and other aircraft. The design of wing-body fusion and relaxed static stability makes this aircraft very flexible and not everyone can control it.
And now, Andre's takeoff was quite standard, but they didn't know that next, Andre performed one high-overload move after another on the simulator.
After taking off at a high angle of attack, he climbed rapidly. When he simulated flying to an altitude of 5,000 meters, Andre began to fly skillfully, rolling, climbing, and turning. The computer showed that many times, Andre pulled the overload to 9G! How did he do it? When he was not familiar with the aircraft, he could fly so well for the first time?
This is a flying genius! Three years ago, when Andrei used the vertical tail of the MiG-25 to cut the wing of the EP-3 in the air, he showed his strong flying ability. He was born to fly! Otherwise, how could he fly so well when he had never flown once and didn't even know the various performance parameters of this aircraft?
"Oh, no!" Just when people were extremely impressed by Andre, they saw that Andre's actions became more radical. After all, it was only a simulator and there was no need to worry about life-threatening. Andre actually turned off the restrictions of the fly-by-wire system and kept increasing the angle of attack of the aircraft!
30 degrees, 40 degrees, 50 degrees, 60 degrees! The simulator's computer system has begun to sound alarms. If the angle of attack is increased, it means a stall!
What was General Andre doing? Was he dizzy? Did he misread the instrument? Or was the instrument itself showing an error? Everyone was staring at the simulator screen, watching Andre raise the angle of attack of the fighter plane to over 90 degrees!
The tail of the plane was facing forward and the nose was facing backward. After flying for a few seconds, it automatically leveled off!
It looks like a cobra that will attack at any time!
Because the Su-27 is controlled by a fly-by-wire system, the computer will prohibit the fighter from making excessive pitch angles. Only by turning off the restrictions of the fly-by-wire can various super-maneuvers be performed.
Andre was also very impressed with this simulator. Originally, he thought that the simulator would show a crash after he increased the angle of attack too much. It seems that Sukhoi's electronic engineers did an excellent job and completely simulated the aerodynamic characteristics of the T-10S. After releasing the control stick, the aircraft would automatically level out!
When he came out of the cockpit, Andre was greeted by countless surprised eyes.
"General Andrei, you fly really well!" Simonov said, "If you were not the commander of the military district, I would really like to invite you to Sukhoi to serve as a test pilot!"
The first time you fly a new type of aircraft, even if it is just an ordinary takeoff and landing, you have to practice it many times. However, General Andre's first flight was so smooth with his takeoff and landing, especially when landing. There was no drag at all, and the descent arc was so beautiful, as if he had flown hundreds of sorties on T-10s!
"General Andrei, the angle of elevation you just pulled was over 90 degrees. That move was really amazing," said test pilot Grishin.
"This is a simulator, so I played with it for a bit." Andre said, "However, if the modeling of this simulator is accurate enough, our real fighter jets may also have such a super-stall capability. Moreover, the aerodynamic performance of the fuselage is excellent. If the pitch angle is too large or even stalled, if you release the control stick, the fly-by-wire system will automatically return to level flight."
In later generations, the Cobra maneuver was discovered from several accidents. Now, Andre just had some fun on the simulator and gave the other party a reminder. He specially studied this kind of flashy move, which was to be shaped for the stunning performance in the air show in the future.
In later generations, countless military fans talked about this action with great relish. In fact, the most important thing for a fighter plane in a fight is energy! This so-called Super Cobra action, even if it can rely on the sudden pull-up to cause the speed to drop sharply, allowing the fighter plane behind to rush in front of itself, is useless, because it causes the energy of the fighter plane to drop suddenly, and without energy, the fighter plane is a living target. Even if the afterburner is turned on, the speed will take dozens of seconds to recover! During this time, it is enough for the fighter plane in front to turn around and come back to cause trouble! Without enough speed, the fighter plane has no ability to fight!
At least if Andre were to fly this kind of fighter in an air combat, he would never do such a suicidal move in an air combat.