Post by Korvalis on Sept 25, 2023 4:10:40 GMT
Col. Kateryna Nykolaichuk, Pilot
Credentials:
—Age 45, 22 years of service
—Test Pilot School (Ph.D. in Flight Test Engineering)
—Air Force Aerospace Science and Engineering University (Master's in Aerospace Engineering)
—Ziezów National Aviation University (Bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering)
—Command Pilot rating (4,558 total hours flight time)
—Military Instructor Pilot rating (1,422 hours as an instructor)
—Graduate of Fighter Weapons and Tactics Instructor School (TOP GUN)
Lt. Col. Vadym Pavlenko, Reconnaissance Systems Officer
Credentials:
—Age 41, 19 years of service
—Test Pilot School (Ph.D. in Flight Test Engineering)
—Air Force Aerospace Science and Engineering University (Master's in Mechanical Engineering)
—Lyuchersk University (Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering)
—Master Combat Systems Officer rating (3,982 total hours flight time)
—Combat Systems Officer Instructor rating (1,027 hours as an instructor)
T-minus 2 hours to flight:
Colonel Kateryna Nykolaichuk and Lieutenant Colonel Vadym Pavlenko sat in silence the chow hall. Their meal was a high-protein diet, a simple buffet of steak and eggs with Gatorade or water. Meanwhile, their ground team was busy assembling the pressurized flight suits the pair would soon wear.
T-minus 1 hour to flight:
Their vitals were taken by an experienced flight surgeon. He signed off that they are physically fit for the flight. The ground crew assisted the pair into their pressurized suits.
"Alright ma'am, take a deep breath and hold it," said one of the ground crew. She complied and held her breath as the mask was slipped off. The crew then placed the helmet on and locked it into the collar. They switched the external oxygen pump on, and the suit began to pressurize. They then bled the air for several seconds so only pure oxygen remained within the suit.
"Okay ma'am, you can breathe normally again." She exhaled and leaned back while the crew continued to adjust the straps and ran through their checklists.
When they finished with the task, the crew stepped back as the supervisor inspected their work. He gave his approval. The pair remain seated for now.
T-minus 30 minutes to flight:
After the ground crew finished, the supervisor climbed up and double-checked their work. Satisfied everything was in order, he gave the pair a thumbs-up and climbed down. The ground crew removed the boarding ladder and moved to their positions.
T-minus 15 minutes to flight:
They began their pre-flight checklists.
"Batteries online," Kat began.
"Positive voltage," Vadym replied.
"Roger, oxygen generator online. Ejection system armed. Master Arm set to SAFE. Closing canopy now... canopy closed and locked."
"Confirmed closed and locked."
"Switching left and right fuel pumps on."
"Positive fuel pressure on both sides."
"Roger, bringing APU online now."
She flipped the appropriate switches and waited as the APU spooled up.
"APU is online," she said. "Switching generators on."
"Generators online, we have positive power," Vadym responded.
"Roger, switching batteries off."
"Power still in the green."
"Confirmed," Kat said. "APU bleed air on. Starting left engine."
She pushed the left throttle forward from the OFF position to IDLE.
"Left engine spooling up. Exhaust gas temperature climbing. Oil pressure in the green. Idle RPM reached. Left engine is online."
"Left engine confirmed online, gauges are in the green."
"Switching hydraulic pumps online."
"Hydraulic pressure in the green."
"Starting right engine."
They repeated the process for the right engine.
"Right engine confirmed online, gauges are in the green," Vadym said.
"Switching APU bleed air off. Shutting down APU... APU is offline."
"Everything is still in the green."
"Switching avionics bus online. Navigation bus online. Communications bus online. Flight computer online. Transponder on."
"Inputting flight data now," Vadym said. As he was working on programming their flight data into the computer, Kateryna began checking the flight controls and flight surfaces. Both she and the ground crew monitored the movement of the ailerons, horizontal stabilizers, rudders, and flaps. They gave her a thumbs-up, and she switched the radio to the airbase's ATIS.
Novachersk Air Force Base
Information Foxtrot
Weather at 2300 zulu
Wind 050 at 5 knots
Visibility unlimited
Skies clear
Temperature 24
Dewpoint 11
Altimeter 3028
ILS-DME Runway 04 in use
Inform on contact you have Information Foxtrot
T-minus 5 minutes to flight:
As she finished gathering the weather data and setting the altimeter, Vadym completed programming the flight computer.
"Flight data set. We are good to go."
"Roger, contacting clearance delivery." She switched the radio frequency. "Clearance, MYSTIC One with information Foxtrot, ready to copy."
"MYSTIC One, cleared to Kolya AFB as filed. Expect runway 04. Fly runway heading until NCH 1.5 DME, then turn right heading 050. Climb and maintain Angels 30, expect unrestricted climb to Angels 120 05 minutes after departure. Squawk 2735."
"MYSTIC One cleared to Kolya AFB as filed, expect runway 04, fly runway heading until 1.5 DME, turn right heading 050, climb and maintain Angels 30, expect unrestricted to Angels 120, squawk 2735," came her reply as she read her handwritten note.
"MYSTIC One, read back correct, contact ground control for taxi."
She switched the frequencies for ground control.
"Ground Control, MYSTIC One, ready to taxi."
"MYSTIC One, Ground Control, you are cleared to taxi to and hold short of runway 04 using taxiway Bravo."
"MYSTIC One cleared to taxi to and hold short of runway 04 using taxiway Bravo."
Kat disengaged the parking brake and advanced the throttles. The plane began to roll. The ground crew saluted, and the pair saluted back. After a couple minutes, the plane stopped short of the runway.
"MYSTIC One, contact tower."
"Contacting tower, MYSTIC one." Kat punched in the frequency. "Tower, MYSTIC One holding short of runway 04."
"MYSTIC One, Tower, you are cleared for takeoff."
"Roger, cleared for takeoff."
She eased the throttles forward again and lined up on the runway.
"We have good ends, good highs, good lows, no out lights. Ready in the back?"
"Ready," Vadym replied.
"Here we go." This was her favorite part. She advanced the throttles to full. They were both pushed back into their seats as the engines roared to life.
"Takeoff power set," she said. "Airspeed rising. Igniting afterburners. 50 knots. 100 knots. 150 knots. 200 knots, rotating." The plane shot into the air. "Positive rate, gear up... gear up and locked."
"MYSTIC One, contact departure."
"Contacting departure." As she had her hands full with flying the plane, Vadym switched the frequency for her. They reached the 1.5 mile marker, and she gently turned the plane towards their planned flight path.
"Depature, MYSTIC One with you at 2500 climbing to Angels 30."
"MYSTIC One, Departure, continue with flight plan."
"Roger, continuing flight plan."
Kat switched the autopilot on. They had set it to control the plane's flight path and altitude, while she manually controlled the speed.
As they neared 15,000 feet, departure contacted them again.
"MYSTIC One, cleared for unrestricted climb to Angels 120, contact Dunašová Center."
"Cleared for unrestricted climb to Angels 120, contacting Dunašová Center."
Vadym handled the frequency change, and Center informed them to continue along their planned flight path.
They hit Mach 1 as they climbed through 30,000 feet.
As the plane reached 80,000 feet, Kat leveled off and let the plane accelerate to Mach 3.
"Activating ramjet engines now," she said. She flipped the igniters on and activated the air bypasses. "Ramjets are online. Shutting down the turbines."
They continued to accelerate, this time reaching Mach 5.
"Activating scramjets now." Kat activated the hydrogen fuel cells, then flipped on the scramjet igniters and activated the air bypasses. Once the scramjets were online, she shut off the ramjets.
"Climbing to 120,000 now."
She pitched twenty degrees upwards, and the plane continued to accelerate rapidly. They reached 120,000 feet at Mach 7.5 with no issue.
"Continuing acceleration. Passing Mach 8. Mach 8.5. Mach 9. Mach 9.5." Kat eased the throttles back. "9.7, 9.8, 9.9. Mach 10."
Both the flight team and ground team cheered.
"External temperature averaging 3,600 degrees. Leading edges reading at 4,000 degrees," Kat radioed the ground team.
"Roger, we've got the same readout," they confirmed. The aircraft had two separate temperature monitoring systems for this test flight.
They continued flying straight for several minutes.
"Okay Vadym, we're approaching the target area now, T-minus 3 minutes."
"Roger, T-minus 3 minutes," came his reply.
They continued in silence.
"T-minus 1 minute."
"Roger, 1 minute."
"T-minus 30 seconds."
"Cameras online."
"T-minus 10 seconds."
"Recording."
"Passing over target area, time on target now. TOT +5. TOT +10."
"Recording stopped, cameras offline."
They had accomplished their secondary task. The plane had multiple high-powered cameras installed, each with a different magnification level. Their goal was to determine the feasibility of recording intel at such incredible speeds.
Twenty minutes later, they began their descent. Kat chopped the throttles to idle, nosed down ten degrees, and descended to 100,000 feet. She then pulled the stick all the way to aft, the drag rapidly slowing them down.
"Mach 9. Mach 8. Mach 7. Approaching 80,000 feet. Mach 6. Mach 5. Leveling off at 80,000."
Kat restarted the ramjets and shut down the scramjet engines. They descended to 50,000 feet, where she slowed down to Mach 3, this time restarting the turbine engines and shutting off the ramjets.
They continued to descend until 10,000 feet, where she maintained 400 knots.
"MYSTIC One, you are two-zero miles out, cleared for ILS approach runway 07," Kolya Approach informed them.
"Cleared ILS runway 07, MYSTIC One."
They began the approach, slowing to 250 knots. Five miles out she lowered the gear and flaps, and slowed to 200 knots before executing a textbook perfect landing. She taxied the plane to the hangar, where another ground crew waited for them.
She checked her watch. The flight had taken only 39 minutes to reach the opposite side of Korvalis, 3,271 miles away.
Credentials:
—Age 45, 22 years of service
—Test Pilot School (Ph.D. in Flight Test Engineering)
—Air Force Aerospace Science and Engineering University (Master's in Aerospace Engineering)
—Ziezów National Aviation University (Bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering)
—Command Pilot rating (4,558 total hours flight time)
—Military Instructor Pilot rating (1,422 hours as an instructor)
—Graduate of Fighter Weapons and Tactics Instructor School (TOP GUN)
Lt. Col. Vadym Pavlenko, Reconnaissance Systems Officer
Credentials:
—Age 41, 19 years of service
—Test Pilot School (Ph.D. in Flight Test Engineering)
—Air Force Aerospace Science and Engineering University (Master's in Mechanical Engineering)
—Lyuchersk University (Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering)
—Master Combat Systems Officer rating (3,982 total hours flight time)
—Combat Systems Officer Instructor rating (1,027 hours as an instructor)
T-minus 2 hours to flight:
Colonel Kateryna Nykolaichuk and Lieutenant Colonel Vadym Pavlenko sat in silence the chow hall. Their meal was a high-protein diet, a simple buffet of steak and eggs with Gatorade or water. Meanwhile, their ground team was busy assembling the pressurized flight suits the pair would soon wear.
T-minus 1 hour to flight:
Their vitals were taken by an experienced flight surgeon. He signed off that they are physically fit for the flight. The ground crew assisted the pair into their pressurized suits.
"Alright ma'am, take a deep breath and hold it," said one of the ground crew. She complied and held her breath as the mask was slipped off. The crew then placed the helmet on and locked it into the collar. They switched the external oxygen pump on, and the suit began to pressurize. They then bled the air for several seconds so only pure oxygen remained within the suit.
"Okay ma'am, you can breathe normally again." She exhaled and leaned back while the crew continued to adjust the straps and ran through their checklists.
When they finished with the task, the crew stepped back as the supervisor inspected their work. He gave his approval. The pair remain seated for now.
T-minus 30 minutes to flight:
The duo are escorted to a waiting SUV, which drove them across the base to the plane sitting outside the hangar. It was a sleek prototype, the Myasishchev M-333 Hypersonic Reconnaissance Aircraft. It was constructed from a highly-classified mixture of advanced carbons, ceramics, and alloys.
They climbed the ladder and took their seats. Two members of the ground crew helped to strap them into their seats and hooked up their oxygen pumps to the plane's own oxygen generators. Other ground crew went over their final external checklists.
After the ground crew finished, the supervisor climbed up and double-checked their work. Satisfied everything was in order, he gave the pair a thumbs-up and climbed down. The ground crew removed the boarding ladder and moved to their positions.
T-minus 15 minutes to flight:
They began their pre-flight checklists.
"Batteries online," Kat began.
"Positive voltage," Vadym replied.
"Roger, oxygen generator online. Ejection system armed. Master Arm set to SAFE. Closing canopy now... canopy closed and locked."
"Confirmed closed and locked."
"Switching left and right fuel pumps on."
"Positive fuel pressure on both sides."
"Roger, bringing APU online now."
She flipped the appropriate switches and waited as the APU spooled up.
"APU is online," she said. "Switching generators on."
"Generators online, we have positive power," Vadym responded.
"Roger, switching batteries off."
"Power still in the green."
"Confirmed," Kat said. "APU bleed air on. Starting left engine."
She pushed the left throttle forward from the OFF position to IDLE.
"Left engine spooling up. Exhaust gas temperature climbing. Oil pressure in the green. Idle RPM reached. Left engine is online."
"Left engine confirmed online, gauges are in the green."
"Switching hydraulic pumps online."
"Hydraulic pressure in the green."
"Starting right engine."
They repeated the process for the right engine.
"Right engine confirmed online, gauges are in the green," Vadym said.
"Switching APU bleed air off. Shutting down APU... APU is offline."
"Everything is still in the green."
"Switching avionics bus online. Navigation bus online. Communications bus online. Flight computer online. Transponder on."
"Inputting flight data now," Vadym said. As he was working on programming their flight data into the computer, Kateryna began checking the flight controls and flight surfaces. Both she and the ground crew monitored the movement of the ailerons, horizontal stabilizers, rudders, and flaps. They gave her a thumbs-up, and she switched the radio to the airbase's ATIS.
Novachersk Air Force Base
Information Foxtrot
Weather at 2300 zulu
Wind 050 at 5 knots
Visibility unlimited
Skies clear
Temperature 24
Dewpoint 11
Altimeter 3028
ILS-DME Runway 04 in use
Inform on contact you have Information Foxtrot
T-minus 5 minutes to flight:
As she finished gathering the weather data and setting the altimeter, Vadym completed programming the flight computer.
"Flight data set. We are good to go."
"Roger, contacting clearance delivery." She switched the radio frequency. "Clearance, MYSTIC One with information Foxtrot, ready to copy."
"MYSTIC One, cleared to Kolya AFB as filed. Expect runway 04. Fly runway heading until NCH 1.5 DME, then turn right heading 050. Climb and maintain Angels 30, expect unrestricted climb to Angels 120 05 minutes after departure. Squawk 2735."
"MYSTIC One cleared to Kolya AFB as filed, expect runway 04, fly runway heading until 1.5 DME, turn right heading 050, climb and maintain Angels 30, expect unrestricted to Angels 120, squawk 2735," came her reply as she read her handwritten note.
"MYSTIC One, read back correct, contact ground control for taxi."
She switched the frequencies for ground control.
"Ground Control, MYSTIC One, ready to taxi."
"MYSTIC One, Ground Control, you are cleared to taxi to and hold short of runway 04 using taxiway Bravo."
"MYSTIC One cleared to taxi to and hold short of runway 04 using taxiway Bravo."
Kat disengaged the parking brake and advanced the throttles. The plane began to roll. The ground crew saluted, and the pair saluted back. After a couple minutes, the plane stopped short of the runway.
"MYSTIC One, contact tower."
"Contacting tower, MYSTIC one." Kat punched in the frequency. "Tower, MYSTIC One holding short of runway 04."
"MYSTIC One, Tower, you are cleared for takeoff."
"Roger, cleared for takeoff."
She eased the throttles forward again and lined up on the runway.
"We have good ends, good highs, good lows, no out lights. Ready in the back?"
"Ready," Vadym replied.
"Here we go." This was her favorite part. She advanced the throttles to full. They were both pushed back into their seats as the engines roared to life.
"Takeoff power set," she said. "Airspeed rising. Igniting afterburners. 50 knots. 100 knots. 150 knots. 200 knots, rotating." The plane shot into the air. "Positive rate, gear up... gear up and locked."
"MYSTIC One, contact departure."
"Contacting departure." As she had her hands full with flying the plane, Vadym switched the frequency for her. They reached the 1.5 mile marker, and she gently turned the plane towards their planned flight path.
"Depature, MYSTIC One with you at 2500 climbing to Angels 30."
"MYSTIC One, Departure, continue with flight plan."
"Roger, continuing flight plan."
Kat switched the autopilot on. They had set it to control the plane's flight path and altitude, while she manually controlled the speed.
As they neared 15,000 feet, departure contacted them again.
"MYSTIC One, cleared for unrestricted climb to Angels 120, contact Dunašová Center."
"Cleared for unrestricted climb to Angels 120, contacting Dunašová Center."
Vadym handled the frequency change, and Center informed them to continue along their planned flight path.
They hit Mach 1 as they climbed through 30,000 feet.
As the plane reached 80,000 feet, Kat leveled off and let the plane accelerate to Mach 3.
"Activating ramjet engines now," she said. She flipped the igniters on and activated the air bypasses. "Ramjets are online. Shutting down the turbines."
They continued to accelerate, this time reaching Mach 5.
"Activating scramjets now." Kat activated the hydrogen fuel cells, then flipped on the scramjet igniters and activated the air bypasses. Once the scramjets were online, she shut off the ramjets.
"Climbing to 120,000 now."
She pitched twenty degrees upwards, and the plane continued to accelerate rapidly. They reached 120,000 feet at Mach 7.5 with no issue.
"Continuing acceleration. Passing Mach 8. Mach 8.5. Mach 9. Mach 9.5." Kat eased the throttles back. "9.7, 9.8, 9.9. Mach 10."
Both the flight team and ground team cheered.
"External temperature averaging 3,600 degrees. Leading edges reading at 4,000 degrees," Kat radioed the ground team.
"Roger, we've got the same readout," they confirmed. The aircraft had two separate temperature monitoring systems for this test flight.
They continued flying straight for several minutes.
"Okay Vadym, we're approaching the target area now, T-minus 3 minutes."
"Roger, T-minus 3 minutes," came his reply.
They continued in silence.
"T-minus 1 minute."
"Roger, 1 minute."
"T-minus 30 seconds."
"Cameras online."
"T-minus 10 seconds."
"Recording."
"Passing over target area, time on target now. TOT +5. TOT +10."
"Recording stopped, cameras offline."
They had accomplished their secondary task. The plane had multiple high-powered cameras installed, each with a different magnification level. Their goal was to determine the feasibility of recording intel at such incredible speeds.
Twenty minutes later, they began their descent. Kat chopped the throttles to idle, nosed down ten degrees, and descended to 100,000 feet. She then pulled the stick all the way to aft, the drag rapidly slowing them down.
"Mach 9. Mach 8. Mach 7. Approaching 80,000 feet. Mach 6. Mach 5. Leveling off at 80,000."
Kat restarted the ramjets and shut down the scramjet engines. They descended to 50,000 feet, where she slowed down to Mach 3, this time restarting the turbine engines and shutting off the ramjets.
They continued to descend until 10,000 feet, where she maintained 400 knots.
"MYSTIC One, you are two-zero miles out, cleared for ILS approach runway 07," Kolya Approach informed them.
"Cleared ILS runway 07, MYSTIC One."
They began the approach, slowing to 250 knots. Five miles out she lowered the gear and flaps, and slowed to 200 knots before executing a textbook perfect landing. She taxied the plane to the hangar, where another ground crew waited for them.
She checked her watch. The flight had taken only 39 minutes to reach the opposite side of Korvalis, 3,271 miles away.