The first to take to the skies was the ace pilot from the 36th Division.
True to the reputation of the 36th Division's signature, he opened with a crisp and clean half-roll, putting the aircraft into an inverted flight position.
This is a classic maneuver for switching between offense and defense, allowing for rapid altitude loss and a change in flight direction.
The difficulty coefficient for this maneuver is roughly three and a half stars.
Next, the pilot pulled the fighter into a vertical climb to a certain altitude, letting the aircraft's own weight cause it to tail-slide downward.
After reaching a safe altitude, he executed a 180-degree horizontal roll to complete the tail slide, a maneuver with a difficulty coefficient as high as four and a half stars.
Finally, he concluded with a low-altitude flyby.
Amidst the deafening roar, everyone present broke into enthusiastic applause.
The judges in the stands were also nodding in approval.
With this stellar performance from the 36th Division setting such a high bar, the acts that followed, while still impressive and executed with considerable precision, couldn't match the breathtaking impact of the first pilot.
By the latter half of the show, the families in the stands had largely lost interest.
It was also partly because looking up at the sky for so long had left everyone's necks and eyes sore.
Meanwhile, in the operations room.
The competition wasn't entirely over, but based on the performances so far, the 36th Division had essentially locked in first place.
Consequently, the responsible officers from the other divisions began offering their premature congratulations to the 36th.
"Old Bai, your 36th Division really brought it this time."
"That performance was impeccable, definitely the top score!"
Well, what could you do? They got lucky with the draw, going first at just the right time.
Not to mention, their performance this time was indeed flawless.
"Ah, you're too kind, too kind," Director Bai demurred verbally, but his face was practically split by a grin, the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes stacked in layers. "Regiment Commander Huo from the 4th Division hasn't flown yet. It's still too early to say."
Noticing that Director Jin hadn't chimed in, Director Bai smiled and looked his way. "Regiment Commander Huo's skills speak for themselves. Even going last isn't much of an issue. I have high hopes for him!"
Oh, please! Listen to how hypocritical that sounds!
What 'isn't much of an issue'? It's a huge issue!
Everyone knows the most stable air currents of the day are around 10 a.m., while the most unstable period is the afternoon, specifically between 2 and 4 p.m.
The core reason is thermal convection caused by the overheated ground.
Furthermore, wind speed variations are also greatest during this timeframe.
For aerobatic flying, which relies on stable air currents, this is the number one obstacle.
And the 4th Division just happened to draw this exact time slot.
"Old Jin, why don't you apply for a two-hour delay? Wait for the air currents to stabilize a bit before flying?" The one speaking was Director Sun, the responsible officer from the 26th Group Army.
The 26th Group Army and the 4th Division were brother units, so naturally, he sided with the 4th.
"It's fine, no need." Director Jin sat in his chair with an air of calm composure, even having the leisure to blow on the tea leaves in his enamel mug.
Seeing his utterly unflappable demeanor, Director Sun sensed something was off. "What, do you have an ace up your sleeve?"
"Not really," Director Jin replied, putting down his mug.
For the sake of fairness, all pilots were flying the same aircraft model this time. Since Old Sun was genuinely curious, he added a couple more sentences. "It's not like you don't know how our usual training differs from the other divisions."
"How is it different?"
"We don't pick the weather, and we don't pick the wind speed."
In short, it boiled down to four words: Just get it done!
"Seriously? You train that recklessly?" Director Sun exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise. "That's the latest model fighter!"
"So what? When real combat hits, do you get to choose whether it's windy or rainy?" Even if the sky were raining knives, you'd still have to fly!
Director Jin didn't even have the heart to mention that their usual training conditions were far more severe than today's weather.
After all, Qiongzhou Island had wind year-round. Today's wind speed wasn't even enough to scratch their itch.
As they spoke, another fighter taxied slowly out of the parking apron.
The men in the operations room immediately got up and walked to the window, raising their binoculars toward the runway.
After a brief wait, Jiang Si finally heard that familiar name.
By now, Huo Tingzhou had taxied the J-7I to the starting point of the runway. Upon receiving takeoff clearance from the tower, he pushed the throttle all the way forward. Following a tremendous roar, the engine reached full power.
The fighter jet shot forward like an arrow from a bow, accelerating rapidly down the runway.
Upon reaching the midpoint, the aircraft's nose suddenly lifted.
With a sharp upward pull, the plane accelerated vertically at an angle close to ninety degrees!
This was followed by a 360-degree roll, the aircraft's wake tracing a complete and perfect circle in the sky—the classic 'Kulbit' maneuver.
Kulbit Maneuver
Immediately after, utilizing inertia, the aircraft transitioned into an inverted flight attitude.
After completing the lower half of the loop, it leveled out into straight flight.
The transitions between these maneuvers were fluid, executed with an extremely high degree of precision.
Before the crowd could fully process these actions, Huo Tingzhou sent the fighter into another high-speed climbing dash. After a vertical change of direction with continued acceleration, upon reaching the apex, he swiftly adjusted the aircraft's attitude, using the tail nozzle as the pivot point to flip the plane backward.
By adjusting the aircraft's posture, he made the fighter rapidly swing its nose downward around the axis of the tail nozzle.
Bell Maneuver
Witnessing this scene through her binoculars, Jiang Si's heart began to pound uncontrollably, her palms growing damp with a thin layer of nervous sweat.
Yet before she could even calm her racing heart, Huo Tingzhou executed an aerial emergency stop, the fighter suddenly flipping into an inverted flyby, followed by a small-angle directional change maneuver.
After a horizontal roll, the aircraft moved at an almost stationary speed, creeping forward slowly. This maneuver tested not only the pilot's skill but also their nerve and their ability to adapt flexibly to the wind conditions.
By now, suppressed gasps of astonishment were rising from the stands.
Next, the aircraft began another round of vertical acceleration.
Upon reaching a certain altitude, Huo Tingzhou once again manipulated the fighter into a backflip turn.
The mishap occurred in an instant!
Right after the aircraft completed the flip, it seemed to suddenly lose horizontal speed, and the nose began to sink continuously!
"What's wrong with that plane? It looks like it's going to fall!" More and more people in the stands noticed something was wrong, crying out in alarm.
Everyone in the operations room broke out in a cold sweat.
Unlike the somewhat vague understanding of the military dependents in the stands, their daily work involved flight training.
So they could tell at a glance that this wasn't a simple loss of control; the aircraft had entered a stall-spin state.
Commonly known as the Falling Leaves maneuver.
This requires the pilot, while the aircraft is in a non-flying state, to use control surfaces to make the plane descend in a controlled, slow rotation around its vertical axis, like a falling leaf.
This maneuver was extremely difficult, with the slightest misstep risking sending the aircraft into a stall.
Even seasoned veteran pilots wouldn't dare attempt it lightly.
Just as everyone's hearts were in their throats, Huo Tingzhou swiftly controlled the plane into a dive. During the dive, he executed a rapid barrel roll, recovering from the stall spin with incredible speed!
But the performance wasn't over yet!
After regaining speed, the aircraft followed up with three consecutive 180-degree forward and reverse flips, ultimately concluding the entire competition with a breathtaking ultra-low-altitude flight.
For a moment, the entire venue fell into absolute silence.
It took a full ten seconds for the reaction to set in. Then, wave after wave of thunderous applause erupted from the stands and even the training command room, lasting for a long, long time.
At this moment, Jiang Si's heart was pounding fiercely, and her emotions were particularly complex.
In an instant, infatuation, pride, worry… a whirlwind of feelings intertwined, compelling her to rise to her feet unconsciously—
