印象佳寶

我的飛行夢第一次夢想成真，是在2012年5月6日的河北州機場，簡易跑道邊上還真就有麥田，而緊挨著機場西邊的就是波光云影的白洋淀。那天也是河北金雁通用航空公司的開航典禮。

和我一起來的還有飛行燒友冬子，這家伙為了實現飛行夢想，自費學飛初教6，一路下來花的錢，買輛馬自達3肯定是夠了。

初見佳寶

大清早，我和冬子來到機場。機務人員正在把飛機推到機庫前邊的簡易停機坪上。5架小佳寶看上去確實非常Q。飛機雖然小，卻頗有點來頭。

提起超輕型飛機，熟悉航空的人們一般會想到賽斯納，可能還有西銳、鉆石等知名公司，其實這里還應該包括澳大利亞的佳寶（Jabiru）。英文Jabiru指的是美洲熱帶地區的一種鸛，佳寶為國內音譯，聽上去感覺像一款女士小跑車。國內現在常見的是雙座的佳寶160。該款飛機由佳寶公司按照歐洲超輕型飛機JAR-VLA適航標準進行設計，2006年獲得了澳大利亞民航安全管理局頒發的超輕型飛機型號合格證（TC證），是一款超輕型上單翼飛機，采用玻璃纖維復合材料機身，單排并列雙座布局，前三點起落架設計，適用于航空運動飛行、培訓、巡邏、觀光等領域。目前，僅在澳大利亞就有43所飛行學校使用這種飛機。

佳寶雖小，其實外形還是比較爺們兒的。從正前方看佳寶，多少有點碰見“牛魔王”的感覺。機頭，也是裝發動機的位置，能看見一副雙葉硬木質的螺旋槳。如果打開發動機罩，會發現一臺水平對置的四缸氣冷佳寶2200B發動機，功率80馬力，排量2.2升，最重要的是它可以使用98號以上的汽油，獲取燃油很方便。座艙的玻璃顯得又平又寬，飛行員視野應該不錯。機翼仿佛就安在座艙的頭頂上。左右機翼各有一根撐桿，分列機身兩側，從正面看呈V字形。機身從座艙中部開始往后收，逐漸形成了一個“蜂腰”，到尾部變細。和收細的腰身相比，垂尾面積比較大，有明顯的向后傾角。在飛行中，飛機的對稱面和迎面氣流會產生一個力矩，導致飛機可能產生偏離航向的側滑，佳寶是螺旋槳飛機，最大起飛重量為540千克，個頭是比較小，因此偏離角度可能會更大。采用面積比較大的垂尾，就能抵銷這種偏離，保持飛機航向上的穩定性。比較大的垂尾后傾角，則反映出佳寶的最大速度應該不低，作為運動型飛機，它能飛特技。

金雁通航總經理兼總飛行師丁邦昕先生是空軍飛行員出身，我們早先就認識。丁先生原來飛過殲-6、殲-7等型號的戰斗機，也是國內唯一一本飛行學專著《飛機駕駛學》的作者。在他的牽頭下，機務人員開始檢查飛機的基本情況。我看到丁先生用一根類似試管的有機玻璃管，從油箱底部引出了一些燃油，然后對著陽光看管里的油。旁邊的冬子告訴我，這在專業上叫放“燃油沉淀”。飛機停在機庫里過夜，氣溫較低，燃油里可能會有部分水分析出，發生冷凝后沉淀在油箱底部。水如果太多，當然就影響發動機的工作狀態，嚴重的甚至危及飛行安全。

一切OK，丁先生和飛行員們開始把飛機滑向土質跑道的起點，開幕式彩排開始了！

丁先生的飛機是頭一架。我遠遠地在跑道外邊看著。開動了，螺旋槳的旋轉由緩到急，卷起機身下的陣陣塵土，伴隨著發動機的噪音，真的有了一種“大風起兮云飛揚”的感覺。

頃刻工夫，丁先生的飛機已經從塵土中沖了出來，只用了很短的距離就開始大仰角拉升，箭一般沖入高空！我心底暗叫了一聲好，果然是老手！這么小的飛機，居然能飛出戰斗機的感覺。一架架飛機起飛，降落，單機，編隊……沒等儀式開始，小小的機場已經熱鬧起來了。

飛行初體驗

開航儀式結束，下午兩點多，丁先生滿面笑容地朝我們走來。稍坐片刻，他突然開口：“冬子，跟我飛一把！”冬子一聽，像在大馬路上撿了塊狗頭金，一下從凳子上躥起來，和丁先生奔向小佳寶。頃刻這架小飛機直沖云霄，一會兒大坡度，一會兒低空通場，一會兒觸地復飛。

飛機穩穩降落，冬子滿面紅光鉆出駕駛艙，居然還是正駕駛位，看來是飛爽了。我正一個人在那郁悶，丁先生來了一句，“小吳，試試？”老飛行員的眼睛到底是毒辣的，丁先生判定我肯定沒親自體驗過這類飛機，加了一句“成嗎？”

“成！”我嘴硬，心里卻沒底，這要是吐在人家飛機上，該多丟人！心里想著，已經到了飛機跟前。佳寶160飛機的座艙門不是很大，跟汽車的差不多，人進去，先要屁股坐到座椅上，再把腿挪進來。我只知其一不知其二，差一點讓腦袋磕到門框上。坐上副駕駛位，我發現好像和坐汽車差不多，連安全帶都是三點式斜挎的，和汽車也很像。我仔細觀察面前的儀表板，應該是有關發動機的儀表，儀表的刻度是英制單位。大概是（滑）油壓表、油溫表，還有一個，后來我從冬子給我的資料里得知，那是汽缸頭溫度表。為了保證飛行員能清晰判讀各種儀表參數，儀表板主色調是黑色的，每塊儀表上，都有綠、黃、紅三色刻度范圍，指針在綠色區域，一切正常；進入黃色區域，那就是提醒飛行員該注意了；進入紅色區，則表明此時處于高度危險狀態。我瞟了一眼丁先生那邊的儀表，是空速、高度、轉彎之類的各類儀表。和很多超輕型飛機一樣，佳寶飛機采用的是往外拉的油門桿，左右對稱各有一個。正駕駛飛行員右手摸駕駛桿，左手就可以拉油門桿。副駕駛與此相反，左手摸駕駛桿，右手拉油門桿。

佳寶飛機上左右兩套操作系統，可以隨時進行切換。做教練機使用時，教官可以把駕駛權直接切換給學員。很有意思的是佳寶飛機的駕駛桿，非常有特色，類似一個U形的大彈弓，位于機長和副駕駛中間。這樣無論機長還是副駕駛，在飛行時實際上都是側桿。這讓我想起了著名的F-16戰斗機。

準備停當，丁先生把飛機滑向起飛線。啟動，發動機的振動一點點加大，螺旋槳轉得也越來越快，終至看不見。滑跑了！窗外兩邊的樹木和景物飛速地跑向身后。我一直以為，既然腳下是土跑道，佳寶的分量又很輕，坐在上邊感覺會很顛，但是出乎意料，非常平穩。座艙內的噪音也沒有我想象的那么大。看來發動機的性能確實給力。

機頭抬起，飛起來了！剎那間我有點錯位的感覺，仿佛身處一架二戰老飛機的座艙中，和經驗豐富的機長去炸小鬼子。飛機上升到一定高度，進入平飛狀態，眼前的視野豁然開朗。我往駕駛艙外看了一眼，青青的一片翠綠，田野，麥子。

丁先生說：“我們去白洋淀上邊看看”，接著飛機就轉彎了。我發現我身邊的右側機翼開始下沉，身體產生了一個向左的離心力，但感受是非常輕微的，沒有任何不適感。這時的飛機姿態應該是一個右坡度，角度大概在30度左右。翼下是一個水晶玻璃般的夢幻世界，白洋淀水色青青，小漁舟三三兩兩地閃爍期間。水岸邊上的綠樹，溫溫潤潤，完美而抽象。

飛機再度恢復平飛，丁先生說：“想不想自己試試”？從來沒有飛行經驗的我很是忐忑。見到丁先生信任的目光，我心里有了底，左手放在那個造型奇特的駕駛桿上。我問丁先生，“我用蹬舵嗎？”丁先生說：“隨你。”為了保險起見，我沒有把腳放在舵板上，依舊由丁先生掌控方向。輕輕動了一下左手，飛機的響應并不明顯，看來我用的力太小了，是經驗的問題。丁先生看我有些猶豫，再度把他的右手放在操作桿上，幾乎是把著我的手，操縱著飛機。這下，我突然發現，飛機像注入了魔力，活了起來，平飛，加速，轉彎……哎呀！這是以前從未有過的一種特殊感受！人們所說的飛行給人類插上了一對翅膀，就是這種感覺，你在駕馭你的方向，你就是這對翅膀的靈魂和主宰！

在白洋淀上空轉了一大圈，該回去了。丁先生把著我的手，進入四轉彎，形成一條降落航線。飛機沿著五邊，進入下滑狀態。能清晰地感覺到飛機的速度在降低，應該是丁先生放下了襟翼。佳寶的座艙視野確實不錯，目測感覺十分清楚。跑道就在身下那片樹林的正前方。

樹梢在身下一閃而過，土色出現在眼前，下滑角度恰到好處。如果下滑角太大，超過5度，飛機可能會戳在跑道上。丁先生把這一切控制得非常完美，我明顯感覺到他收駕駛桿的力度，除了減速，也在控制螺旋槳旋轉產生的側偏。隨著身下傳來很輕微的一次振動，應該是起落架主輪觸地了，接著是前輪。沒有產生任何不適感，一次完美的輕三點降落！

佳寶流暢靈活的駕駛桿，第一次給我操縱飛行的深刻體驗。這是你靠做夢靠猜測靠讀書上網永遠體會不到的快樂。

My flying dream first came true on May 6th， 2012 at Maozhou Airport， Hebei. Located east of the scenic Baiyangdian Lake， the airport is an air strip surrounded by wheat fields. On that same day， Hebei Jinyan Airline celebrated its inaugural flight.

I came here with Dongzi， a flying zealot. He had invested a fortune to learn piloting on CJ-6.

First impression

When we arrived， the aircraft were still being towed to the apron. There were five Jabiru， small aircraft， with a big name.

Speak of microlight aircraft， familiar names like Cessna， Cirrus， and Diamond may cross your mind. Taken its name from a large stork found in tropical Americas， Jabiru is also a renowned name， although lesser known. A popular model from the Australian manufacturer found in China is the two seat Jabiru J160. Designed to JAR –VLA European Airworthiness Standard and type certified in 2006 by Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia， the Jabiru J160 is a high wing， fixed tricycle undercarriage， single engine aircraft designed primarily for sport， training， patrol and recreational activities. In Australia， the aircraft has been used by 43 flight academies.

The Jabiru in front us is small， yet formidable. Above the cockpit are a pair of two-blade wooden propellers powered by a 80hp four-stroke horizontally-opposed air cooled Jabiru 2200B engine， which burns widely available 98 RON or better gas. Its windshield glass is wide and flat， offering a broad view for its pilots. The wings are fixed to the fuselage by a mount on either side， in the shape of a big V. Further down， the fuselage narrows to a “wasp wrist” and a pointed tail. Its vertical stabilizer is big in proportion to the lean tail， designed to reduce side slip and maintain direction stability for the maximum 540 kg microlight. The high angle of the stabilizer shows that Jabiru could fly at a very high speed， capable of acrobatic flying.

Mr. Ding Bangxi， General Manager and Chief Pilot of Jinyan Airline is an old friend of mine. He was an air force pilot of J5 and J6 fighter， and author of Science of Aircraft Piloting， the only book on piloting in China. As we watched， he led the engineers to do preflight check. He drew fuel from the bottom of the fuel tank with a glass tube and checked it against the sun. He was checking for “fuel sediment”， explained Dongzi， because at low temperature during overnight parking， water may separate from fuel， and settle at the bottom of the tank with other sediments. Too much water in the fuel would of course affect engine performance， or even worse， endanger flying.

When the check is done， Ding and the other pilots taxied the aircraft to the runway， and off they started rehearsal flights.

Ding was in the leading aircraft. I watched as the propellers slowly moved into motion until it spined so fast that dust was spiraling off the ground. Even at a safe distance， I could feel the sensations.

In a few seconds， the aircraft soared out of the dust and shot into the sky at a steep angle. I was amazed at his veteran skills， flying the microlight like a fighter. One after another， the aircraft took off， flew alone or in formation， and landed ...making the small airport all bustling before the ceremony begins.

First flying

Ding came to us all smiling at round 2 p.m when the ceremony concluded. We had a small talk， then he brought it up， “Dongzi， come with me for a flight.” Dongzi instantly jumped off the seat as if he had just found a nugget， and dashed for the Jabiru. In a moment， the microlight soared in the sky. A nose dive now， a low pass then， and the next minute， it touched down for a go-around.

Dongzi got out of the smoothly landed aircraft with a radiance so bright that makes me envy. And he was seated at the captain seat！ As if read my thoughts， Ding turned to me， “Little Wu， wanna try”. Perhaps he saw that I had never fly microlight before through his sharp veteran eyes， so he added， “Can you？”

“Yes， I can”， I immediately replied， though without much confidence. What if I threw up on board？ I worried as I moved to the aircraft. The cockpit door of J160 is no bigger than a car’s， I had to get seated first before lifting my legs inside， and I barely missed crushing my head to the door frame. I was on the co-pilot seat， buckled up with a safety belt the same as in a car. In front me is the instrument panel for the engine， on which I recognized the oil pressure gauge， temperature gauge， and cylinder head temperature indicator， measured in English units. The panel is black， and each indicator is divided into distinctive bands of red， yellow and green--- green for normal， yellow for caution， and red for danger alert. On the captain side are the displays for airspeed， altitude， and turn coordinator， etc. Like many microlight， Jabiru is equipped with dual throttle controls on either side of the instrument panel.

When used as training aircraft， Jabiru’s dual operating systems enable trainers to switch command to flight cadets on the co-pilot seat. There is a ‘U’ shaped control stick positioned centrally， allowing operation from either side of the cockpit， like the control on F-16.

Once seated， Ding taxied to the runway and accelerated for take off. Along with a growing engine vibration， the propellers started to spin until it become a blur. Trees and scenes flashed behind. Although we were flying a microlight on a dirt runway， the acceleration was unexpectedly smooth and the interior was not as noisy as I had thought.

The aircraft lifted up， and we were flying. At that moment， I felt as if I was flying a WWII fighter with an experienced captain on my way to bombard the invading Japanese. When we leveled out， a vast expanse of green opened up in front of me， including wheat fields and paddies， it was beautiful.

“Let’t take a look at Baiyangdian”， Ding turned for the lake. I felt a descend on the right side and a G force to the left， but it was making me uncomfortable. The aircraft must be flying at a 30 degree slope. Below us is the vast waters of Baiyangdian， dotted by fishing boats， and enclosed by a rim of trees， like a scrol of landscape painting.

When we returned to cruise again， Ding asked， “Wanna try？” Totally a fresh hand， I was hesitant， but the trust in his eyes gave me confidence. I placed my left hand on the oddly designed control stick and asked “Do I need to press the rudder brake？”. “Up to you.” Ding replied. To make it safe， I left control to Ding. I moved my left hand， nothing happens， probably I pushed it too light. Seeing my hesitance， Ding put his right hand on the level， and guided me on the maneuvering. The aircraft immediately went alive， it sped up， turned and cruised， giving me a thrilling I never felt before. I became to understand why people say flying gives man a pair of wings. It was this feeling， the feeling of maneuvering， of being the soul and commander of your wings.

Then it was time to fly back. Hands on mine， Ding guided me to landing approach. I sensed the slowing speed， probably Ding released the flip. Vision was good， I could clearly see the runway over the woods below.

We glided over the tip of the trees to a perfect approach angle， 5 degrees more， the aircraft would crash onto the runway. Ding maneuvered it with precision， I could feel the force he applied to the control. With a slight vibration， the landing gear touched ground， then the nose gear. No senses of nausea， it was a perfect tricycle landing.

The smooth control of Jabiru left me a deep impression， for my first flying experience. It was an experience that I could know get through reading or imagination.