Chapter 596 Training Day (Part 2) and Preparation for Action
Jack squinted and looked at the altimeter on his wrist. It was 28,000 feet, which converted to more than 8,500 meters, which would soon exceed the height of Mount Everest.
The seals began to help each other check the equipment. Jack also stood up, pushed his backpack behind his back, unhooked the oxygen tube connected to the oxygen console of the aircraft, and connected it to the oxygen tube he was carrying.
The noise is too great, all communication relies on gestures, and instructions are given through large pre-printed cards.
Jason waddled up to Jack like a duck and helped him tighten the tight-fitting equipment. Everyone had this image. Everyone's load was not light. To maintain balance in the cabin, this ugly posture is the most practical.
Because it was not a night skydiving, the cabin did not switch to the creepy red lights, but the 2-minute countdown siren and the constantly rotating red signal light at the hatch still made people involuntarily nervous.
Jason stood at the front, raising his hands high, scanning all the team members, "Everyone is in position!" The other team members also raised their hands to indicate that they had received the order to get into position.
Jack wasn't sure if the others could hear him clearly, because everyone was slapping each other and yelling loudly, and the deputy Ray Perry pushed him behind Jason and followed As agreed in advance, Jason would be the first to jump, and he would be the second.
He looked at the altimeter again. It was 32,000 feet (more than 9,700 meters), which was close to 10,000 meters.
The team members stood in a row and felt Ray Perry patting their shoulders from behind. Jack immediately patted Jason in front of him hard and stared at that person without blinking. A signal light that keeps rotating and emitting red light.
The next second, the signal light turned green without warning.
"Yah!" The surroundings were suddenly filled with howls of ghosts and wolves. Jason, who was standing first, turned around and made a humiliating stick gesture, indicating that the 10,000-meter-high altitude they were at at the moment was nothing more than the ground. It's just this little distance between his thumb and fingers.
Then he opened his arms and jumped out of the rear hatch.
This is not the first time Jack has jumped from an altitude of 10,000 meters, but the previous one was HAHO (high jump, high open). The parachute rope is directly connected to the aircraft, and the parachute opens almost as soon as he leaves the warehouse. .
What followed was a slow descent of more than 20 minutes. After getting used to the feeling of floating in the air, I could even relax and wait for the ice on my goggles to melt away, and gaze into the distance. skyline and ground scenery.
This time it is much more exciting. The opening height of HALO (high jump, low jump) is below 1000 meters. Almost the whole process is in free fall and the speed is between 55-60 meters per second.
The moment he jumped out of the hatch, Jack tried his best to stretch his arms and try to regain his body's center of gravity. Unlike extreme skydiving, at this time he was carrying equipment that weighed more than half of his own body weight, trying to get back to his body's center of gravity. It is impossible for those athletes to move in the air completely by their own will.
Despite this, he still stretched his hands and feet vigorously, trying his best to keep himself stable. Jason, who jumped only a few seconds before him, had become a small black dot under the acceleration of gravity. The earth, which still makes people feel a bit oval, has already rushed towards us.
One minute flies by, but is extremely long. Although I am clearly aware of my rapid fall, as the feeling of being out of control gradually disappears, I feel the airflow lifting my body, which makes people feel... Creating the illusion that he was standing still, Jack couldn't help but look at the altimeter on his wrist.
The significance of HALO (high jump, low jump) is to shorten the time the paratroopers stay in the air as much as possible, and at the same time, it can also facilitate the assembly.
If you choose HAHO (High Jump, High Open), even experienced SEAL Team 6 members who use easy-to-control, flat-canopy ram air parachutes with aerodynamic characteristics will land more than several kilometers away from each other.
If you are unlucky and encounter an air current, it is not uncommon for individuals to be blown seven or eight kilometers away. And HALO (high jump, low open) can ensure that the landing range of the entire team is concentrated within one kilometer, which is very important for gathering after landing.
Of course HAHO (high jump, high jump) is also of great significance, because the extremely high parachute height means that the skydiver can rely on the wind direction and "fly" from the jumping point to the target. “With dozens of kilometers, it is very suitable for infiltration operations, especially individual infiltration.
When the altimeter showed that the current altitude was less than 3,000 feet, Jack decisively pulled the parachute rope, and the small drag parachute was released. It inflated and gradually expanded with the airflow, driving the long control parachute. The belt snapped on top of his head.
This is also the most dangerous moment. If the parachute fails at this moment, Jack only has less than four or five seconds to cut off the main parachute and activate the backup parachute. If the reaction is not timely enough, or he panics and does not perform the correct operation, then he can only Pray that the AAD (automatic parachute deployment device) can work properly.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly this time. The latch was taken out of the drag parachute, and the canopy cover opened with a bang. As the air chambers in the rectangular parachute were inflated one by one, Jack seemed to be pulled hard by a big hand. After a moment, within a few seconds, the falling speed dropped to 4 meters per second.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at his feet. Jason, who was just a small black dot in his field of vision before, could no longer see it. A huge parachute appeared in his place.
Jack estimated that the actual distance between the two sides was probably less than a hundred meters. Everything went well. All he had to do next was operate two sets of chains, control the direction and follow him.
——
Compared with the extremely professional skydiving training in the military, Jack's process of learning to fly and pilot seemed less professional.
The Oceana Naval Air Station where Team B is located is the most important jet base in the Navy. , the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet made its last flight here and then retired from active service.
Then even Jason couldn't get Jack to learn to fly a plane at a military base, so they had to find another way and found a flight school near Virginia Beach run by retired Navy pilots, and made an appointment for him. Private flight instructor.
Then a confused Jack was put into the back seat of a Cessna 152 light aircraft and flew in the sky for more than an hour.
After this flight experience, the unshaven old pilot who looked to be in his fifties or sixties handed Jack a piece of paper with a series of book titles listed on it. Reference books such as Your Pilot's License - Eighth Edition.
Although you really want to consider a private pilot license, that is, "Private Pilot-Airplane Single Engine Land", in theory it only requires 40 hours of flight time, and then you can pass the theory test, oral test and driving test.
However, it is not that simple to pass the FAA exam smoothly, because taking the exam requires the recommendation of an instructor, and an instructor usually needs to maintain a first-time pass rate of at least 80 to 90% to keep his job.
Fortunately, reading books has become a habit for Jack. In addition to daily training, he spends his spare time on this pile of valuable reference books.
It took him less than a week to master such topics as Bernoulli fluid dynamics, the basic structure of the aircraft, the functions of various systems and components, the use of the E6B slide rule, and meteorological knowledge. The only thing that might be a little difficult It's just a series of abbreviated words.
In addition, there are definitions of airspace at all levels, entry and exit requirements, various airport signs, how to read aeronautical charts, use various navigation equipment, and how to confirm your position in the air when you are lost. position, and then Jack went up to the sky again.
The Federation has probably the best flying environment in the world. After obtaining the simplest license, you can fly at low altitudes at will. If you want to enter the clouds, you only need to undergo another instrument flight certification.
Jack's learning progress is astonishingly fast. In less than a month, the fixed-wing driving skills in his vehicle driving skills book have changed from gray to entry-level.
Just when he was already thinking about whether to ask Chris to help him get a second-hand JJ6 to play with after obtaining his private license, Team B finally received a formal action order.
(End of this chapter)