Sky-cracking Rider

Three decades of wear and tear, even if sealed in a constant temperature and humidity environment, mechanical parts will inevitably undergo stress deformation, plastic parts will age, and even bacteria and fungi will mix in, causing irreversible damage to the machine.

Old David's dear friend, the F-22, might have had a few, perhaps a dozen, hours of flight life left until retirement, but after it was put on display in the Eagle Nest private airport's exhibition hall, no matter how well it was maintained and cared for, it would inevitably lose the ability to take to the skies.

In those crates sent to Chen Fei, many parts were professionally replicated, with the assistance of high-precision 3D printing technology. Non-metallic material parts were easy to manufacture, and even though the cost was high, it wasn't too exorbitant.

In contrast, metal parts that required precise alloy ratios, smelting processes, machining processes, and heat treatment were not something that could be solved by simply spending money—nor was it a small amount of money. Only the top sovereign powers of the world could afford to play that game.

With what little pension Old David had, selling the entire private airport and surrounding farms wouldn't even come close to affording it.

The metal parts that were a headache for Old David were, for Chen Fei, precisely the easiest to make.

A few Metal Elemental Psychic Power skills were thrown in, and after the replicated parts were modified, their quality and precision were even better than the originals.

The small transport plane had brought back about ten crates, and Chen Fei used up a little over half of them, finally filling in the shell of the F-22 completely.

Big Brother Xiao, leading the mechanics struggling with the F-22's technical manual in the maintenance shop, hadn't even finished the general overview when the F-22 "Raptor" jet fighter in Hangar 2 had already entered its pre-flight preparation process.

After fueling up and adding oxygen, the mobile power and gas supply equipment started to supply electricity to the aircraft and deliver high-temperature gas to the engine, assisting in warming up the machine.

The MiG-28 and the F-22 shared a lineage; many interfaces and support equipment were interchangeable.

Chen Fei came to the side of the F-22 warming up its engine and patted its wing, immediately hearing a loud roar as the F119-PW-100 low bypass ratio augmented turbofan engine's tail burst forth with a bright orange-red glow, a faint black smoke being expelled backward. At this point, the combustion efficiency wasn't at its best, hence the appearance of the orange-red tail flame and black smoke.

The entire Hangar 2 soon filled with the smell of aviation kerosene burning.

The vastly different immense roar attracted the "Genuine Fragrance" Combat Flight Squadron, which was on standby in Hangar 1.

"My God!"

Deputy Squadron Leader "Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios stared at the roaring "Raptor" in disbelief.

"Isn't that the big toy?"

Chekhov Big Bear hurriedly took out a bottle of Erguotou and took two swigs to calm his nerves.

The other pilots all shared the same shocked expression—this was playing on a grand scale!

What Chen Fei was up to in Hangar 2 was no secret. Through the newbie "Sauerkraut" Tempun Schneider, who had helped out, nearly half the Aircrew Base knew about it; whenever they were free, people would come to look and even take a few photos.

"Wow, can this thing really fly?"

"Sauerkraut" Tempun Schneider asked doubtfully; he had watched Chen Fei bring this big fellow to life.

The metal that made up the F-22 "Raptor" jet fighter had been hauled over from the scrap recycling station by Tempun Schneider and Chen Fei together, and it was beyond anyone's guess that this big fellow's precursor was just a bunch of recast Alloy Ingots.

Yet these pieces of scrap metal, in Chen Fei's hands, could be turned into something magical.

Chen Fei signaled to the ground crew, grabbed the "Dragon Guard" Tactical Helmet, vaulted into the cockpit, and the transparent canopy began to slowly close.

First to test the communication system.

"Tower, this is 'Rookie', requesting a flight mission."

The original electronic and communication systems of the F-22 were incompatible with today's data links, so both the onboard computer and the avionics fly-by-wire are newer technologies, with much stronger performance and functionality than the original.

Otherwise, Chen Fei's call would have turned into gibberish—completely off frequency with the tower, and they wouldn't even be able to decode basic communications.

"Beep! This is Tower Manager Mahnam speaking, what is this? An F-22?"

The duty manager at the tower couldn't believe the aircraft model that was automatically recognized.

Does 911 have this fighter jet?

Wasn't that a model?

Come on, stop messing around!

"Yes, that's right, F-22, 'Raptor', number 203!"

The two MiGs in the same hangar were painted with numbers 201 and 202; it was only natural for the jet-engine F-22 to be assigned 203. As Chen Fei's voice fell, the number "203" in white appeared on the aircraft's body, which shone with a silvery gleam, hardly distinguishable from a mirror.

"Young people these days, they really know how to have fun!"

"Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios was envious!

Chekhov glanced at the Erguotou in his hand and suddenly felt the drink was no longer appealing—jealousy twisted him.

Big Brother Xiao and his team of mechanics, ignoring the F-22 "Raptor" jet fighter ready to go in Hangar 2, were still engrossed in their work tablets, pouring over the technical manual. With a new combat aircraft introduced at Aircrew Base, they needed to quickly master maintenance and repair protocols, rather than leaving everything to Chen Fei.

What if one day Chen Fei was not around? Wouldn't the jet be grounded?

"Please explain why!"

The tower crew reflexively started the launch procedure, but Duty Manager Mahnam signaled for a pause to his subordinates.

This was utter nonsense!

The F-22 "Raptor" jet fighter was not listed as part of 911 Aircrew Base's flight equipment. Since it wasn't on the flight roster, why bother with a launch plan? It was nonsensical!

Mahnam was convinced that Chen Fei was toying with him, and surely Major Chekhov was behind it.

The guys from the "Genuine Fragrance" Squadron were just plain bored with Boss Hana having just left; they started to let loose.

An F-22? Why don't you go for an airship!

"I've put together an F-22 myself and I'm preparing for a test flight."

Chen Fei solemnly provided an explanation.

"Are you sure?"

Mahnam stood in front of the circular window in the tower, looking toward the hangar, the view somewhat unclear.

"Positive!"

Chen Fei's assertive voice transmitted through the wireless earpiece into the ears of the duty manager in the tower.

Mahnam took a deep breath and made a difficult decision.

"Permission to take off!"

Hmph! If it doesn't fly, watch how I'll report you and make the entire month's bonus for the "Genuine Fragrance" squadron go down the drain.

Squadron Leader Chekhov was standing by to take the blame...

"This is the tower, 199@03, altimeter: 29.01, weather conditions good for two hours, permission to take off."

Since it was a solo flight with no assigned mission, the tower supplied a set of meteorological data—wind from the west at force 3, a slightly low pressure at 29.01 but still within the normal range.

"203 received!"

Chen Fei gestured to the ground crew, and the area from the hangar to the apron began to clear, with personnel and vehicles giving way.

Once the aircraft entered the take-off procedure, all ground activities would give priority to the aircraft.

Boom!~

The roar of the twin engines grew increasingly shrill, the orange-red tail flames turned blue, and the black smoke turned to blue smoke as the aircraft began taxiing forward.

"Hey, stop staring!"

Seeing Chekhov Big Bear crunching on a bottle, Iline Rusios fluttered her hands in front of his eyes to snap the jealous ghost back to attention.

Chekhov said with a twisted expression, "I want one too!"

Jealousy could not only warp a person but also drive them insane.

"What do you want?"

Iline Rusios frowned, this big guy was becoming less and less presentable.

"Na Zi... Ow!"

Don't be fooled by the short-haired girl's petite size; a punch to the stomach was quite powerful, turning Big Bear into a big shrimp. No Na Zi, but the fist was plenty!

Having roamed the Jianghu for over forty years, one can be let down by anything in the world, only flying airplanes and Big Na Zi should not be let down. Squadron Leader Chekhov was still unyielding and hadn't forgotten his initial resolve.

"Sauerkraut" Tempun Schneider, "Angelica" Wadiye, and "Zisu" Takada Fuziko, the three newbies, were all taken aback by the scene—holy moly, the deputy squadron leader just walloped the squadron leader; such combat prowess was indeed surprising!

The rest of the "Genuine Fragrance" squadron members maintained a composed collective demeanor as they moved outside toward the hangar.

Just standard procedure, every few days Squadron Leader Chekhov would get his beating from Deputy Squadron Leader Iline Rusios—a little scene they were used to.

As the saying goes: Hitting is affection, scolding is love, when feelings run deep a kick will do, and sometimes you just need to be led by a "dog."

"Hmph!"

"Magic Pepper" strode out proudly, chest out, following the "Genuine Fragrance" squadron members.

She too wanted to see if the jet Chen Fei had tinkered with could actually take off smoothly, or if it was just a fancy facade, a big toy.

"Ow, ugh!"

Squadron Leader Chekhov shook his head, spat a few times, and sulkily made his way to the door of Hangar 2.

The thunderous roar of a massive engine zoomed across the main runway of the Aircrew Base, a silvery jet lifted its nose and powerfully rushed toward the sky.

Although the MiG-28 was also a twin-engine jet, its thrust and afterburner were far inferior to the F-22.

"WTF?!"

The duty manager in the tower, who had been skeptical all along, rushed to the window, eyes wide, watching the "Raptor" ascend rapidly and disappear from sight, then turned to look in the direction of the main runway.

It was already empty there, as if the jet that had soared to the heavens was just an illusion.

But the muffled thunder of the engine roaring from the sky and the clearly visible contrails and wingtip vortices were reminding him that, indeed, an F-22 had just taken off from the main runway. Explore stories at empire

"203 at 1500 meters altitude, direction 45."

The tower crew smoothly created a flight record for Chen Fei's F-22.

In truth, this operation was against regulations, but being a military contractor's Aircrew Base, they weren't too particular about such things.

Even their own assembled giant tricycle had a record and identification ID; now that they'd assembled an F-22, there was no reason not to create a file.

Chen Fei floored the gas (though there was actually nothing under his feet), casually increased the throttle, and began receiving inquiry signals from other nearby Aircrew Bases.

"This is 909, please identify!"

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