Chapter 249: Chapter 247: Quick! Prepare for Rescue
At this, Char scratched his head sheepishly. The last time he’d flown to Paris—perhaps because it had been too long since he’d been in the pilot’s seat—he’d gotten a little too excited and pulled the plane into a steep, nearly 70-degree climb on takeoff.
That one move was all it took for the boss to relegate him to the back.
’If I hadn’t messed up that one time, I’d definitely be the one in the pilot’s seat, sipping coffee right now. Why else would I be stuck here as co-pilot, watching the boss fly while my own hands are itching for the controls?’
The plane quickly taxied to the main runway. Just then, a voice from the control tower came through their headsets:
"Runway is all clear. Chen Meng, you are cleared for takeoff. Have a good flight."
The "Chen Meng" was the name of Fang Chenyi’s private jet. He had no idea what it was called before, but when the ownership was transferred to him, he had the chance to rename it and chose this.
As one might guess from the name, it was a combination of a character from Fang Chenyi’s name and one from Bai Menghan’s.
After thanking the tower, Fang Chenyi addressed the passengers in the main cabin over the intercom. "Everyone, please fasten your seatbelts. We will be taking off in ten seconds."
As soon as he finished speaking, Principal Wang, who was in the main cabin, instinctively tightened his seatbelt and took a deep breath.
But when he looked over at Smith and the others across from him, he saw that everyone, including Qi Xiaotian, looked perfectly relaxed and at ease.
Principal Wang couldn’t help but ask, "Smith, are you guys really this relaxed about Brother Fang flying the plane?"
Smith shrugged and replied:
"Oh, my dear King of Eaters, why wouldn’t I be? The boss is the best pilot I’ve ever seen! Bar none. You don’t need to be so nervous. The boss’s skills are truly *very good*, and I can tell you for a fact, his flying is so smooth you wouldn’t even feel turbulence without a seatbelt."
After the last flight, and after learning about that heart-stopping near-disaster from the news, Char and the others analyzed the situation. They concluded that if any of them had been at the controls, there would have been absolutely no chance of survival. It was because of this that they all admired Fang Chenyi’s piloting skills from the bottom of their hearts.
As if to prove his point to Principal Wang, Smith suddenly reached down and unbuckled his seatbelt.
He then grinned at the dumbfounded Principal Wang.
"Just relax, okay? See? Not wearing a seatbelt won’t be a problem at all."
While they were talking, the ten-second countdown had already passed. Fang Chenyi glanced at the runway, scanned his instruments, and then pushed the throttles forward.
The plane’s two engines immediately let out a powerful blast, and the entire aircraft began to accelerate rapidly down the runway.
It quickly reached takeoff speed.
It was the kind of extreme speed that every man loves, just like the feeling of drag racing. The high speed sent a jolt of adrenaline through Fang Chenyi.
Fang Chenyi seemed to be getting addicted to the feeling. Even though they had reached takeoff speed, he didn’t pull up, instead choosing to continue accelerating.
As the speed kept increasing, Char, sitting beside him, grew puzzled. ’Why isn’t the boss pulling up yet? Any faster and we’ll be approaching the takeoff speed of a fighter jet.’
But before he could say anything, Fang Chenyi’s hands were already a blur of motion on the controls.
And just like that, the plane, now at near-fighter-jet speeds, shot straight up like a rocket, climbing toward the sky at an almost perfect ninety-degree angle.
Feeling the G-force of the near-vertical climb, Char cursed inwardly:
’Holy shit! Boss, and you gave me crap for my flying? You’re way more insane than I am! You just told me to be "steady." Steady my ass! Compared to this, my takeoff was the definition of steady, okay?’
Meanwhile, in the main cabin, Smith, who had been in the middle of endlessly bragging about his boss’s superior piloting skills, was sent tumbling head over heels from his seat by the vertical climb.
Across from him, Principal Wang and the others, who had fastened their seatbelts, were all left hanging face-down against their restraints.
"Holy fuck! Old Shi, you son of a bitch, didn’t you say Brother Fang was a steady pilot? Steady my ass! AHHHH! Holy fuck, thank God I wore my seatbelt, or I’d have fucking dropped to the floor!"
Beside him, Qi Xiaotian was also hanging face-down in his seat. He was much calmer than Principal Wang, but the way his hands were gripping the seat for dear life revealed that he, too, was terrified.
In the control tower, every staff member was on their feet, staring wide-eyed at the sky as they watched the Chen Meng’s insane takeoff. The airport’s emergency response team had even instinctively hit the alarm, ready to rush out the second the plane stalled and fell back to earth.
It was no wonder the rescue team was so tense. In over a decade in the military and all their time working at the airport, they had only ever seen a takeoff like this once before—from a fighter jet. And rumor had it the pilot that day was a holder of a super-class pilot’s license!
Even then, the angle of ascent had been a tiny bit less steep than this.
As for Fang Chenyi, a slight smile played on his lips as he enjoyed the immense G-force pinning him to his seat. ’Damn, this plane is something else. The kick is way stronger than my Lamborghini.’
Of course, for a pilot of Fang Chenyi’s skill, a maneuver of this absurd difficulty was as easy as breathing.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! EXTREME PITCH ANGLE! EXTREME PITCH ANGLE!
The alarm had started blaring the moment the plane began its vertical climb.
Char had been calm at first, but when he saw the large red exclamation point on the instrument panel and the display flashing a pitch angle of 89.9 degrees, his heart leaped into his throat.
He knew, without a doubt, that he could never pull off a maneuver this extreme.
Finally, after nearly half a minute, the plane’s pitch angle began to slowly decrease.
By the time they reached an altitude of 5,000 meters, the angle of ascent had returned to a more normal thirty degrees.
In the main cabin, a disheveled Smith rubbed his head as he finally managed to climb back to his feet. He scrambled into his seat and immediately fastened his seatbelt, pulling it as tight as it would go. Seeing this, Principal Wang couldn’t help but chuckle. The ridiculous sight was enough to make him laugh out loud, and the heart that had been lodged in his throat finally settled back into his chest.
Just then, the voice from the control tower came through Fang Chenyi’s headset once more:
"Chen Meng... badass!"
[To be continued...]
PS: Thank you to ’Ten Past Midnight’ for the 588 book coins!
Thank you to ’Old Wolf, Old Pervert’ for the 100 book coins!
