Chapter 36: Type 96 PKP 26

"Wait!" Zhou Zhihan suddenly interjected. "Brother Huang Xinrui, perhaps you shouldn't go to China."

As soon as the words left his lips, he regretted them.

Sure enough, everyone in the room was staring at him in stunned silence.

Zhou Zhihan quickly added, "Oh! I mean, if Brother Huang Xinrui stays in the United States, he could train many Chinese pilots, helping to secure the skies of our motherland in the future. That, too, would be a great contribution to the nation!"

That sounded reasonable enough.

Huang Xinrui smiled. "My purpose in going to China is to serve as a flight instructor. An American friend of mine, Claire Lee, who is soon returning from China, told me that Chinese pilots are in short supply and their flight skills are somewhat lacking, primarily because the country lacks qualified instructors. My friend is returning to the United States within the next two days, and Huang Panyang and I have been invited by him to return to China to teach."

Huang Panyang chimed in, "Claire Lee should be back any day now. If there's an opportunity, you should let me introduce you to him, Zhihan. He is quite famous in American aviation circles, and he might be able to help you in the future!"

Huang Xinrui said, "I'll arrange it when he returns. However, I heard him say that his stay this time will be very short; he has to meet with a high-ranking official. Once he has met this person, he will likely take us flight instructors back to China within a few days."

"A high-ranking official?" Huang Panyang asked.

"Yes," Huang Xinrui replied. "He told me he was meeting someone important in the military, though he didn't specify who. It likely has to do with training the air force in China."

Claire Lee? Zhou Zhihan thought to himself, wondering which air force instructor this might be.

Zhou Zhihan, Huang Panyang, and Huang Xinrui continued to chat about fighter planes over their drinks. Shu Qin, unfamiliar with aircraft, sat quietly with two other young men, listening.

*I never expected this guy to be hiding such depth; he’s actually a pilot,* Shu Qin thought. She had heard her uncle say that pilot selection was one in ten thousand. To become a pilot, one had to pass through layer after layer of rigorous screening. Even then, many faced the constant threat of being washed out because the training was so grueling—the attrition rate was a staggering forty percent.

"Boss, what's on the menu today?" Zhou Zhihan asked the owner as he walked in carrying a thermos of hot water to refill their tea.

"We have rice, steamed buns, and dumplings."

Huang Xinrui and Huang Panyang opted for rice. The other two young men chose steamed buns.

Zhou Zhihan said to the owner, "I'll have a bowl of dumplings. Hey, Shu Qin, what would you like?"

"I'll have the same as you!"

Zhou Zhihan said, "Great! Two bowls of dumplings. Oh, and boss, I need garlic—the minced kind!"

Shu Qin frowned slightly. Why did this man love garlic so much?

The meal lasted over two hours. Since arriving in the United States, this was the first time Zhou Zhihan had enjoyed drinking so much. He saw in these overseas Chinese the indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation, taking root and flourishing across the globe.

After the meal, the owner brought over two pots of fine tea, free of charge. He told them the meal was also on the house. While serving the tea, wine, and food, he had overheard their conversation and learned that these two overseas Chinese would soon return to their homeland to serve as flight instructors. The restaurant owner remarked that while he could not return home himself, this was his small way of showing support for the warriors who would.

After the two patriotic youths finished their meal and left, Zhou Zhihan, Huang Xinrui, and Huang Panyang spent another hour discussing the relative merits of the P-26, the Type 95 carrier-based aircraft, and the Type 96.

Seeing that the two men still maintained that the P-26 was superior to the Type 96, Zhou Zhihan called out, "Boss, do you have any paper and a pen?"

"I do!" Shu Qin pulled out a pen and a small notebook.

Zhou Zhihan laughed, "I need a larger sheet of paper."

After a while, the owner returned with paper and a pen. Zhou Zhihan wrote down the specifications for the two fighters.

Comparing the American P-26 versus the Japanese Type 96 carrier fighter:

Length: 7.19m vs 7.55m
Height: 3.06m vs 3.2m
Wingspan: 8.52m vs 11m
Wing Area: 13.89m² vs 17.8m²
Empty Weight: 997kg vs 1,216kg
Maximum Take-off Weight: 1,340kg vs 1,822kg
Maximum Range: 579km (980km with auxiliary tank) vs 1,200km (730km for carrier version)
Cruising Speed: 320km/h vs 380km/h
Maximum Speed: 377km/h vs 440km/h
Climb Rate (Ground to 3,000m): 3 min 55 sec vs 3 min 35 sec
Service Ceiling: 8,350m vs 9,800m
Powerplant: 500hp R-1340 air-cooled engine vs 710hp Nakajima Kotobuki 41 air-cooled engine
Armament: 2 x 0.30-inch machine guns, with bomb racks under the wings and fuselage vs 2 x 7.7mm Type 97 machine guns.

Looking at the data, the performance of the Type 96 carrier fighter was, on the whole, superior to the P-26.

Huang Panyang and Huang Xinrui sat in silence for a full five minutes. This wasn't just a slight edge; the Japanese Type 96 completely outperformed the American P-26 in speed, range, engine horsepower, and high-altitude maneuverability.

"Zhihan, where did you get this top-secret data on the Japanese Type 96?" Huang Panyang asked, his expression a mix of shock and delight, followed by a furrowed brow.

Zhou Zhihan was silent for three seconds. "Brother Huang, I cannot reveal the source. You two only need to know that this data is accurate so that you can better understand your opponent should you encounter them in the air."

"Furthermore," Zhou Zhihan whispered, "no one must ever mention the maneuverability data of the Type 96. It is a Japanese military secret. The Type 96 will be their main fighter; if they learn this information has leaked, they will surely upgrade their designs, and we will be the ones to suffer. Also, the data on the P-26 and its engine horsepower must not be leaked. Once you have memorized these figures, burn this paper, or there will be endless trouble."

Huang Panyang and Huang Xinrui nodded. Since Zhou Zhihan wouldn't say how he obtained the data, they didn't push. Having this information gave them the intelligence they needed to anticipate the enemy's maneuvers in future dogfights.

In truth, even American pilots at the time didn't know the exact horsepower of their own engines—it was a military secret. Pilots were simply expected to fly their planes. The specifications of fighter aircraft worldwide were often a mix of truth and misinformation, especially regarding engine power, onboard weapons, and maneuverability.

Take the Japanese Zero, for example. Upon its debut, it caused the Americans endless grief, as many talented pilots were lost to the Zero’s superior dogfighting agility and diving attacks. The American military had tried desperately to uncover the Zero's secrets to no avail.

To ensure secrecy, the Japanese military equipped every Zero with demolition charges, ordering pilots never to allow the Americans to capture a plane intact; even if it crashed, they were to detonate the engine. The discipline of Japanese pilots was well-known, and the Americans truly could not get their hands on an intact Zero engine.

It wasn't until a Zero made a forced landing due to mechanical failure and the pilot was knocked unconscious—preventing him from destroying the aircraft—that the Americans accidentally obtained a complete specimen. The military brought in all the nation's top designers to study it overnight, and six months later, the F6F Hellcat was born. From that point on, the F6F became the graveyard for the Zero.

Pilots might inadvertently leak dimensions like wingspan or height, but they would never know the true engine parameters.

After chatting for a while longer, Huang Xinrui took out a match and burned the paper containing the specifications. He and Huang Panyang then bid farewell and left, as they had a long journey ahead.

A short time later, they returned. Huang Panyang said, "Zhihan, when Claire Lee returns, we want to use one P-26 to simulate the enemy Type 96 against another P-26 in a mock dogfight. Do you have time to observe? We can take the opportunity to introduce you to him then."

"I'd love to, Brother!"

"Excellent! It's a deal. We're off."

Shu Qin laughed, "Brother Huang, I want to go too."

Huang Panyang replied, "Fine, I'll come to pick you both up then."

Now, only Zhou Zhihan and Shu Qin remained.