One morning in March 1972, I was on duty at the division command post at Xintai Airport in Shandong. Due to the weather, the blowing sand brought by the northwesterly wind made the visibility in the air very poor, which made it impossible for our troops to conduct flight training. In such an environment, my work is particularly important. On that day, most of Shandong was shrouded in floating dust, and although the sky was sunny, the visibility at medium and low altitudes was poor, posing a great threat to flight safety. At this moment, Liu Qingzhou, director of the airport dispatch office, reported that three MiG-15 Bis planes from a certain aviation school had taken off from Bengbu Airport and were scheduled to be transferred to Jinan Airport. After receiving the order, the officers on duty at the divisional command post began to get busy in a tense and orderly manner.
As the navigator, I immediately instructed the plotter Shen Shuangyin to notify the radar to turn on, and quickly marked the flight route on the plotting table and calculated the position of the aircraft. Subsequently, following the instructions of the plotter, the radar operator captured the position of the aircraft. Before the plane entered the area of responsibility of our division, I made contact with the air formation and learned about the weather and flight conditions of the route. It was my first solo duty as a navigator and it was a challenging experience. In bad weather conditions, my colleagues and I worked closely together to successfully complete the task of guiding the aircraft. This experience not only honed my judgment and decision-making skills, but also made me more deeply appreciate the importance of the profession of navigator. Shen Shuangyin carefully marked the flight trajectory, and the red pencil followed the direction of the plane's movement along the plot wrench, moving from south to north.
I watched the flight trajectory intently, and everything showed that the formation flight was proceeding normally. When the plane flew to the west of Xintai, I immediately informed the team leader of the distance of the plane from Jinan Airport and asked the pilot to contact Jinan Airport. After the command post resumed normal operation, there was no notice to turn off the radar, and Shen Shuangyin continued to mark the flight trajectory. Suddenly, he said to me, "Staff Officer Zhou, how did the plane fly over the Yellow River?"This sentence made me nervous, and all the staff on duty immediately focused on the plotting table. Since Jinan Airport is located on the south bank of the Yellow River, the planes flew across the Yellow River, which means that the pilots may not have spotted the airfield, and the formation is likely to have been in a state of transascension. I am well aware of the severity of an airplane after it gets lost, because there is limited fuel on a fighter jet, and there have been cases in the past where the plane ran out of fuel in the air due to a miscarriage and ended up with terrible accidents.
At this time, the plot map shows that the plane is flying west along the Yellow River, gradually approaching Dongping Lake, and getting farther and farther away from Jinan Airport. Soon news came from the Jinan airfield that the three formation planes had lost their flights, and that the air guidance capabilities of the aviation school and the combat unit were not on the same level. When Jinan Airport was helpless, it was decided to activate the air radio, and I used the radio to call the team leader and take over the command. I quickly reported the position of the aircraft, and after a series of operations, according to the speed and slope of the aircraft, accurately calculated the correction parameters of the aircraft, and then issued a password to the aviation troops, and issued an order to correct the course, and at the same time asked about the flight altitude, air visibility, remaining fuel of the aircraft, etc. I stared at the plotting table, and when I saw the three formation planes turning towards Jinan Airport, I began to report the location uninterruptedly, helping the pilot to find Jinan Airport as soon as possible, and reminding the team leader to call the Jinan Airport Orientation Station to confirm the direction.
After flying about five or six minutes toward Jinan Airport, the formation aircraft reported in the air that they had seen Jinan Airport. Only four months after I graduated, I still remember the first time I was on duty alone. This was my first challenge after graduating from aviation school, and it has become a forever memory in my heart.