Chapter 571: Free Flight
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Zhang Tie had not imagined that he could do this before. When he arrived at this base yesterday, he saw the glider being dragged by the car before flying off. Therefore, he hit this possible way——the glider should weigh less than 1000 km; additionally, he could catch up with the running speed of the car. As long as the terrain was proper, he could have his glider fly off.
He could lift about 1000 kg for sure, which was just as heavy as a battle hammer. He could also catch up with the running speed of the car. Therefore, he wanted to have the glider modified so that it could better adapt to his ability and play a greater role on the battlefield.
If it was successfully modified, he could fly off at any time once there was a hillside. As a result, his driving ability would be further improved.
The engineers soon understood Zhang Tie's thought, which made them thrilled. Therefore, they soon started to work it out.
As Zhang Tie expressed that he wanted to use this glider as soon as possible, the engineers didn't build a new one; instead, they started to modify a very well-matched excellent glider.
A WindTalker II was drawn out of the warehouse by those engineers. After moving away its cover, they started to split it one part after another in a warehouse and modify it.
...
When those engineers were modifying the glider, Colonel Ohlson took Zhang Tie into a office. The moment Zhang Tie entered it was he startled. He even wondered why Colonel Ohlson took him in a utility room.
Almost half of the room was covered with hats, notebooks, mini glider models and certificates of merit.
Colonel Ohlson revealed a bashful smile, "Since you came here yesterday, those b*tches outside asked for your signature; therefore, I have their items collected here, look..."
Zhang Tie smiled, "No problem. After all, I have some time; I will meet their wishes!"
"That's awesome!" Colonel Ohlson became thrilled as he instantly called in two soldiers to let them assist Zhang Tie to accomplish this.
There were more than 1,000 items in the room. Watching those pens which had been prepared for him, Zhang Tie rubbed his face as he fetched a chair and sat down. After drawing in a deep breath, he started his job.
As Zhang Tie always treated himself as a commoner, he knew what did those common soldiers think. Therefore, Zhang Tie did it seriously.
Zhang Tie didn't just sign his name; he also left a sentence.
"Salute to those brave humans who fought together with me in Selnes Theater of Operations——Zhang Tie!"
After living in Blackhot City for many years, although Zhang Tie's scores were not excellent, under the strict requirements of his dad and mom, he had a nice handwriting. His words combined agility and strength.
In the entire morning, Zhang Tie signed his name seriously without even having lunch. Colonel Ohlson came here to see Zhang Tie for many times. After watching Zhang Tie's serious look while signing his name on each item, especially under the translation of some advisers who knew Chinese, Colonel Ohlson's eyes turned wet.
At about 2 pm, Zhang Tie finally finished his job while that one-seat WindTalker II had also been modified and was put on the track. Its caesious color had a good concealment effect in the sky.
Given its look, this modified one-seat WindTalker II was nothing different from the original one. Their differences existed in the cockpit.
At this moment, an arc opening which was about 80 cm in length and 50 cm in width below the cockpit and two more concave metal handles appeared on both sides of the seat.
The chief engineer who was responsible for modification introduced it to Zhang Tie.
"On the premise of not increasing its weight, we have strengthened the stress structure of its frame. You can lift this glider by the two concave metal handles. Thankfully, the location of the cabin is the geometric center of gravity of the entire glider, you only need to carry its weight. You don't need to carry the burden caused by leverage factor."
"Additionally, we have opened a hole here at the bottom of the cockpit, where you could stretch your feet out for the sake of running. We made this opening movable. There's a hand-pull switch in the cockpit. When you fly off, you can withdraw your feet, at the same time you pull the switch by hand to cover the metal sliding closure. This would neither influence your flight rest nor the speed of this glider!"
"To reach such an effect, we needed to adjust some interlocks. Previously, the hard seat was not available; we have changed it into a folding chair. Besides feeling more comfortable, you will find no change in its flight performance and driving pattern. Your free mobility in the cockpit won't change either."
"Thanks, you're great!" Zhang Tie nodded after watching it for a while, "Can I have a try now?"
All the engineers nodded. Zhang Tie then jumped into the cockpit. Holding the two concave metal handles, he lifted the glider, which weighed about 800 kg.
Zhang Tie stepped on the ground as he steadily lifted the glider. This looked like a pair of huge plane-shaped metal short pants.
Zhang Tie ran a couple of steps and found that his mobility was not restricted besides his arm.
After a slight adjustment, Zhang Tie started to run by lifting the glider. After over 10 seconds, his speed had reached above 60 km/h.
Zhang Tie felt an elevating force on the wings due to the different upper and lower airflow as the weight in his hand gradually decreased.
After running hundreds of meters, being blown by the airflow under the hillside, the glider attempted to leave the ground. Zhang Tie felt no weight in his hands as the glider completely took him off the ground and flew into the sky. Zhang Tie rapidly withdrew his feet and put his feet on the pedals. Closely after that, he closed the metal sliding cover by pulling the switch. He then sat back into the seat and started to drive.
All the engineers yelled and applauded.
After half an hour, Zhang Tie returned to the track by the glider. All the engineers swarmed up and finished the final modification for the glider——increased two weapon racks outside both sides of the cockpit. Each weapon rack could contain six 1.1-m long metal spears as Zhang Tie's weapons towards LV 10 wing demons.
After accomplishing all these, the whole base became boiled; as all the soldiers had received Zhang Tie's signature and encouragement. As a result, the morale in the base surged to its peak at once.
These engineers were all reserved in the base. Those items where Zhang Tie signed his name on didn't include that of these engineers. After knowing that Zhang Tie left a very meaningful souvenir to the others, all the engineers revealed an admiring look.
Zhang Tie noticed their special looks. When some engineers took out the notebook with an expecting look and asked for Zhang Tie's signature, Zhang Tie posed the last request towards those engineers who participated in the modification of the glider, "I really appreciate what you've done for me today. This glider is my battle partner in Selnes Theater of Operations from then on. If you can sign your names on it and let them stay with this glider forever, it would be my great honor. I will take it as a souvenir gifted by you. If so, I will always miss you when I fight in the air. I promise you I will kill a wing demon for each one of you who leave their name on the glider!"
After hearing Zhang Tie's words, all the engineers felt their blood boiling in their hearts as they had an unprecedented sense of pride and honor. As a result, many of them burst out into tears.
Leaving their own name on the glider of the Selnes Eagle was the supreme honor and reward for an engineer.
...
Finally, after taking a photo with the commission officers and engineers in front of the glider, Zhang Tie left by the Idiots with the glider which was covered with 27 engineers' names.
Zhang Tie didn't return to the Crystal Battle Fortress; instead, he directly headed for north.
After 24 hours, the Idiots returned to the Crystal Battle Fortress with over 60 grim and terrifying heads of wing demons.
"Prepare a vehicle and hang all these heads over it!" Zhang Tie ordered with an aggressive killing intent...