Chapter 645： Aerial encounter

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The engine rumbling, sitting in the open cockpit, wearing a flight jacket, wearing a flight cap, the fully armed Philcos was in a mood of anticipation.

As one of the only three squadron captains of RF20, Philcos has enough reason to be proud. Own, the RF20 Peregrine Falcon can be described as the latest Romanian fighter, which is quite different from the previous Albatros fighters that I piloted.

First of all, in terms of speed, the speed of 440 kilometers per hour of the Albatross fighter is not the same as the speed of 596 kilometers per hour of the Peregrine RF20 fighter. Of course, apart from the peregrine RF20 fighter jet equipped with an enviable 1200 horsepower 12-cylinder liquid-cooled V-engine.

This engine is the latest work by the National Power Laboratory, with a net weight of 610 kg, a total length of 1352 mm, a full width of 705 mm, and a full height of 1027 mm. The maximum take-off output power is 1200 horsepower, the rated power is 110 horsepower/4500 meters (8 minutes), the maximum continuous power is 1060 horsepower/5000 meters (30 minutes), the maximum cruising power is 940 horsepower/5700 meters, and the maximum economic cruising power is 900 horsepower/5500 meters. . It can be said to be an excellent engine leading the world's similar products.

Of course, in addition to the powerful engine of the Peregrine RF20 fighter jet, its excellent aerodynamic structure also provides a huge help.

The Peregrine RF20 fighter adopts a semi-spindle nose, which is different from the flat and thick nose of most airplanes. It has a good rectification effect and low resistance. The engine is installed on the fire-proof bearing wall behind the support frame, and behind it is the middle and rear fuselage with a semi-monocoque structure. The wing adopts an elliptical plane-shaped cantilevered lower wing, which has good aerodynamic characteristics and a large lift-to-drag ratio.

In addition, the aircraft cockpit adopts a streamlined integrated cover, which improves the driver's field of vision and is beneficial to its operations. Of course, as Romania's latest fighter, its firepower is also extremely powerful. In addition to its belly equipped with two 20mm cannons (each cannon has 60 rounds), it is also equipped with 2 12.7mm large-caliber machine guns (280 rounds per cannon) on the wings.

Moreover, because the Peregrine Falcon RF20 is facing the threat of the Soviet Union, it has a higher demand for the voyage, so sufficient consideration has been made in the research and development of the voyage. Its maximum range is 1,200 kilometers, with auxiliary fuel tanks of 1,500 kilometers.

Such a powerful firepower is enough to help Romania establish the status of the modified aircraft in the current world.

Therefore, the pilots flying these new aircraft are the current elites of the Romanian Air Force, and Philcos, as the squadron leader, is even better. In the local war in Luosu, he drove an albatross fighter and shot down a total of 4 fighters, 1 bomber, and 1 reconnaissance plane. It was more than enough to be a squadron leader.

We must know that there were more wolves and less meat in the local war in Luosu at that time. Many people drove a fighter plane for a few laps without seeing a Soviet aircraft, and he can obtain so many results, of course, it can be described as good luck.

And this time their squadron was transferred to Spain, obviously intending to test the capabilities of the new fighters. An aircraft that has not been tested on the battlefield cannot be a good aircraft.

And this time their mission is very simple, that is, to protect the National Army's bombers from bombing the Madrid government. Although the two sides entered the stalemate stage, everyone knew that this was just preparing for the next battle. In order to delay the deployment of the Madrid government forces, aerial bombing is an inevitable choice.

And this time it was to bomb a traffic point outside Madrid. Of course, such a dangerous mission would inevitably require the most elite protection. And in the Spanish battlefield, where is there a fighter squadron that is more elite than the Philcos squadron?

With the command from the command tower, Philkos drove his 11 subordinates off the runway in a fighter plane, and then they needed to meet the bomber group they needed to protect.

After arriving at the designated assembly airspace, a large group of bombers were slowly flying towards here. Of course, this slowness is the result seen in Philcos' eyes. In fact, this group of bombers composed of BR.20 is not slow at all. Its maximum flight speed reaches 440 kilometers per hour, which is comparable to the speed of many fighter jets today. Of course, when this is empty, the fully loaded BR.20 will naturally not reach this speed.

And this is a new type of Italian bomber that was qualitative only this year. From this, we can see that the Italian government is not indifferent to support Franco's National Army.

After meeting with the bomber group, Philkos led his subordinates flying 12 RF20 peregrine fighters to protect the bomber group and flew towards the target.

…………

The small town of Flexie, located 20 kilometers west of Madrid, is a key link to the Barcelona Railway. A large number of trains carrying a variety of materials through the railway to supplement materials and troops to the Madrid front line, in order to resist the possible attack by the National Army. Because Madrid is too important, the government cannot bear the consequences of losing the capital.

Today is a little different. The soldiers and civilians in the town heard a buzzing sound from far to near.

"Look at an enemy plane coming."

A sharp-eyed government soldier said aloud what he saw.

"Quickly, air defense preparations. Call the rear, we have suffered a large-scale air attack, the number of enemy aircraft is about 40, most of which are bombers."

The officer holding the binoculars saw more details.

As the high-pitched air defense alarm sounded, the soldiers and civilians on the ground immediately fled, and everyone was trying to find shelter. At the same time, many people are praying to God to protect themselves from harm.

Without giving the town’s soldiers and civilians much opportunity to prepare, the bomber group consisting of 24 BR.20s immediately rushed up viciously.

They abusively dropped bombs on major targets such as train stations, military camps, and warehouses, and the railway bridge outside the town became their main target. However, the government has few ways to deal with bombing, and a small number of air defense weapons were lost within less than five minutes of firing.

The lack of the cover of anti-aircraft weapons made the bombers unscrupulous. The town is even more like a **** on earth, and the main targets of railway stations, military camps, warehouses, etc., have attracted many people's attention.

The railway bridge outside the town was also broken into two sections during repeated bombings. I am afraid that it will not be repaired in a few months.

As for the **** fighters led by Philcos, they hovered boringly at high altitude, seeing the bombers tormenting them below.

Boring, so boring. Old man, please let me see the enemy plane.

This is the thinking of most Philcos squadron members.

Maybe it's because God is too boring and can't stand it anymore. After a while, Philkos heard the excitement of his team members on the radio.

"Squadron leader, an unknown fleet was found on the left. The number of aircraft is around 18."

The information from the radio made Philkos immediately refreshed. He looked to his left, and nearly twenty small black spots appeared over there.

Philcos hurriedly raised the 8x telescope allotted to him and looked at it. A stubby monoplane appeared in his eyes. This is the newest Soviet Iraqi-16 fighter, and Philkos has seen pictures of this fighter in the Air Force. This fighter was only available in the Soviet Union in 1935.

Philcos was not afraid of it at all, and immediately issued the order. "Deputy Captain Berkeley, you lead the third squadron to continue to cover, and I lead the first and second squadrons to meet the incoming enemy plane."

"understand."

After getting a response from the deputy squadron leader, Philcos continued to give orders. "The first and second teams follow me and shoot them down."

Suddenly there was a burst of cheers from the radio station.

Seeing the cheerful voices of the boys, Philcos smiled.

I saw 8 Peregrine RF20 fighters in the sky quickly rushing towards the invading enemy aircraft, and the Iraqi 16 fighters, which had the advantage in numbers, were naturally not afraid, and immediately greeted them.

As if they were a cheetah seeing their prey, both sides flew towards each other!

Now, the two sides are flying head-to-head, Phil Kos has no fear. He steadily holds the plane, staring closely at the sight in front of him, and firmly sets the plane in front of him in the cross ring, and then , Pressed the button on the joystick.

And now it's time to show the firepower of both. Two 20mm machine guns and two 12.7mm large-caliber machine guns equipped with Peregrine RF20 fighter jets immediately fired deadly bullets, while the four 7.62mm machine guns of the Yi-16 were not rivals at all. The engine was directly stopped on the spot, and a thick smoke came out of it, losing control of the aircraft and falling to the ground at a large angle.

The skilled Philcos even had time to find another opponent, and saw that he set another Iraqi 16 into the sight, and fired again.

"Haha, another one."

Philcos happily calculated the results himself.

After Philcos took his subordinates to the end of the attack, the eight RF20 Peregrine fighters were no less than one family, except that one suffered traumatic wing damage. The Iraqi 16 behind him was missing seven, and one was clearly damaged. Now everyone is rapidly approaching.

The reason for this result is that in addition to the different quality of the pilots, there are also differences in the firepower and protection of the aircraft. Not to mention the firepower, the power of the two 20mm machine guns and the 12.7mm machine gun is not comparable to the four 7.62mm machine guns. And in terms of protection, in order to increase the efficiency of head-on attacks, the RF20 fighter also adds armor to the nose. In the face of its new armor, which is equivalent to 14mm protection, the 7.62 caliber machine gun is so weak.

What's not said next, continue to raise the dive attack. Altitude is very important in air combat, and it happens that the climb rate and altitude of the RF20 fighter jets are unmatched by the Iraq 16. In the face of the RF20 fighter's maximum lift-off limit of 12,000 meters, the Iraqi 16 is its opponent, but the 8270 meters limit.

At this time, an anxious voice from Berkeley's deputy squadron came from Philcos Radio. "Sixteen enemy planes were found on the right and it is visually recognized that they are enemy Iraqi 15 fighter jets."

Hearing what his deputy squadron said, Philcos still didn't understand. I saw him immediately ordered. "Tell the bomber group to immediately stop bombing and evacuate. We are responsible for cover."

In fact, without their orders, the commander in charge of the bombing had already dropped all the bombs as quickly as possible, and immediately turned on the maximum speed to leave. Anyway, their basic purpose has been achieved, are they still here waiting for the enemy to catch it?

As for Philkos, he started to climb with his subordinates, using altitude and speed to get rid of his opponent. Although the Spanish government's air force commander wanted to keep them all, it was impossible to face fighters with higher performance than their own.

As for chasing the bomber, the BR.20 bomber, which has a speed of 440 kilometers per hour after dropping the bomb, is also beyond the reach. In addition, there are RF20 fighter jets in the sky, and they dare not expose the tail of the aircraft to the opponent, but I have never heard of fighters attaching weapons to the tail.

So the first battle that Romania participated in ended in such an imperfect way. Although the result was not perfect, it still worked. At least the next time a government air force plane faces an RF20 fighter jet, it will have a headache.