King of the Wilderness

Chapter 486: Chapter 270: Pilot License

"Dear, you are simply a genius. I’ve decided it’s more practical to prepare some late-night snacks for you."

Emily was more interested in another part of the content. Pointing at the back of the book, she inquired, "Flying isn’t just about physics, right?"

"Of course not." Lin Yu’an flipped to the later Chapters, his expression becoming serious, "Physics is just the foundation. Look here—aviation meteorology."

The pages displayed various complex weather maps, cloud classifications, and pressure symbols.

"A qualified pilot must be something of a meteorologist."

"You need to be able to read weather radar maps, understand what high-pressure ridges and low-pressure troughs mean, and know that towering cumulus clouds hide vertical currents, hail, and lightning strong enough to tear apart an aircraft."

He pointed to a screenshot of an aviation routine weather report, filled with code that looked like a secret language:

"For instance, this string ’KLAX 121852Z 25015G25KT 10SM SCT025 20/15 A2992,’ you must decode its complete meaning within three seconds."

"Los Angeles International Airport, 12th day, 18:52, wind direction 250 degrees, wind speed 15 knots, gusts to 25 knots, visibility 10 miles, scattered clouds at 2500 feet altitude, temperature 20 degrees Celsius, dew point 15 degrees Celsius, pressure corrected to 29.92 inches of mercury..."

"Especially in a place like Alaska, weather is the key factor determining life and death. You also need to learn to assess wind shear, mountain waves, and the risk of aircraft icing in clouds."

In the vast wilderness, weather is a more fearsome enemy than any beast. One wrong judgment could mean you won’t even have the chance to send a distress signal.

In the following hours, Lin Yu’an absorbed this knowledge like a sponge.

He wasn’t just reading; he was constructing a complete pilot thought system.

In the aerodynamics Chapter, he not only understood lift but delved deeper into the causes of stall and spin.

He learned that when the wing’s angle of attack is too high, causing airflow separation over the upper surface, a stall occurs and lift suddenly vanishes.

And if the aircraft is slipping at this time, it may enter a more dangerous spin state. Every diagram and warning in the book seemed to be written with the blood of predecessors.

The aircraft systems Chapter was like a detailed mechanical manual, starting with the principles of the simplest Cessna 172 piston engine.

Then it went deep into the fuel system, hydraulic system, electrical system, and those cockpit instruments that look cool in movies but are actually life-critical.

He had to build a virtual cockpit in his mind.

He needed to know clearly the roles of the airspeed indicator, altimeter, vertical speed indicator, attitude indicator, heading indicator, and turn coordinator—these six giants.

And when they present conflicting data or malfunctions during flight, how to cross-check them to determine which one has a problem.

He even began researching the working principles of GPS and modern glass cockpits because he knew his future aircraft would never have old-fashioned mechanical panels.

Aviation meteorology filled him with awe for the sky, while the Federal Aviation Regulations filled him with respect for the rules.

He learned that the sky is not a free realm but is meticulously divided by various invisible walls and high-speed highways.

From Class A to Class G, different airspace has completely different flight rules, access conditions, and communication requirements with air traffic control.

For instance, in the busy airspace near airports classified as Class B, intruding without permission could have consequences as severe as a bicycle crashing onto an F1 race track.

He also learned the fundamental difference between visual flight rules and instrument flight rules.

The former is flying by looking outside, suitable for clear weather, where the pilot is responsible for seeing and avoiding other aircraft.

The latter is flying blind in clouds or bad weather, completely relying on instruments and leaving much of the navigation and separation safety responsibility to the ground’s air traffic controllers.

In Alaska’s variable weather, mastering the ability to fly by instruments is truly mastering all-weather freedom.

Night deepened, the firelight in the fireplace gradually dimmed, Aliya and Emily already cuddled in the bedroom sleeping.

Lin Yu’an covered them with blankets and added a few logs to the fireplace, but the light in his eyes grew brighter.

He closed the book, shut his eyes, a complete knowledge framework already constructed in his mind.

He understood that to obtain that little booklet called a private pilot license—fixed-wing, he would need to pass three major hurdles.

First hurdle: The theoretical knowledge written exam.

Like a pilot’s college entrance exam, a computer-based test randomly draws 60 questions from a massive question pool, covering all the knowledge points in the book.

He must achieve 70 points to pass. This is the first step to obtaining the ultimate pilot license and a prerequisite for subsequent solo flight training.

Second hurdle: The oral exam.

This is the most challenging test of a pilot’s comprehensive knowledge reserves, conducted before the practical flight exam. The FAA examiner will act like a strict professor, holding a face-to-face Q&A session with you for one to two hours.

The questions are unpredictable, such as "If you were to plan a route from Anchorage to Fairbanks, what weather briefings and navigation charts would you need to check, how would you calculate fuel, weight balance, and flight time?"

"Look at this airplane outside, point out its static pressure tube, pitot tube, aileron, elevator, and rudder locations, and explain how they work together."