Chapter 35

In the 1980s, it wasn't easy to go abroad, especially for those without connections. However, if you had the ability or the right relationships, it was as simple as a word.

Ercan Company sent an invitation from the United States, and Hu Wenhai found it very easy to obtain a business passport. He stayed in the capital for less than a week and completed all his preparations for the trip to the U.S.

In mid-September, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on the East Coast of the United States.

New Jersey, where Atlantic City is located, is very close to New York, so much so that the games between the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets are often referred to as derby matches. It takes only about two hours to drive from New York City to Atlantic City. The drive from Atlantic City to the U.S. capital, Washington D.C., is also about the same duration.

This area can be considered the most vibrant urban cluster in the United States. Atlantic City, due to its unique geographical location and its advantage of connecting New York and Washington, stands out as a shining pearl in this urban cluster.

Every September, a flight exhibition called Thunder Road is held in this city.

Unlike the professional-level airshows in Europe, there are very few serious and formal airshows in the United States. Instead, most are more like carnival entertainment events.

Americans prefer to bring their families and come to the airshow in large numbers, enjoying the rare excitement. Larger airshows feature aerobatic performances and even the latest bombers. Smaller airshows are more like open-air aviation museums where visitors can learn about the history of military and civilian aviation.

The Thunder Road airshow in Atlantic City in September falls somewhere in between. It is not the most advanced, nor is it a purely entertainment-oriented carnival, but rather a gathering for aviation enthusiasts.

Major airlines use this airshow to promote their products, from propeller planes to jets, and even rotary-wing aircraft, including various rescue, industrial, and agricultural aircraft.

In terms of the variety of exhibits, Thunder Road is one of the largest in the United States.

"Hey, Scott!" Badara, wearing wide sunglasses and holding a paper cup of Irish coffee, raised it high to greet a middle-aged white man nearby.

Scott took off his sunglasses; the September sun was not easy to handle. He eagerly took a big sip of the coffee.

"Phew, with the whiskey, this boring airshow has become a bit more interesting," Scott said with a sigh.

"What, still thinking about your TOPGUN?" Badara leaned against the railing in front of the crowd and shook his head. "Unless you get full sponsorship from the Navy, your shooting plan won't work."

"I thought convincing the Pentagon was your job as a producer," Scott shrugged. "But I will never agree to your proposal to use models for shooting. Of course, it's not about vanity, Badara. You should know that current aviation models can't capture the grandeur of real aircraft!"

Badara nodded helplessly and sighed. As one of the producers of the TOPGUN project, he had been busy in Washington recently. However, things were not going smoothly, so he took a break to come to Atlantic City to relax with Scott.

The two of them sipped Irish coffee and exchanged opinions on the project, paying little attention to the airshow.

An airshow like Thunder Road is not a novelty; there are over 200 such events in the United States each year. Their presence here was more for relaxation than for gathering material.

As they drank and chatted, the sound of planes taking off filled their ears. Time quickly passed from morning to noon. After the crowd dispersed for lunch, a small, unremarkable plane was pushed onto the runway.

The airshow's broadcast was intermittent, and Scott didn't catch the details, but he heard one word: "F-14."

"Hmm? Is the Grumman F-14 participating in this airshow?" Scott was slightly surprised and began searching for the F-14's large silhouette.

"It's impossible. What's the point of the F-14 participating in this enthusiast airshow? The U.S. Navy isn't interested in this kind of event," Badara laughed. "Scott, are you too obsessed? You hear F-14 in everything."

Airshows like Thunder Road rarely feature fighter jets. These events are mainly for aviation enthusiasts in the United States, who are unlikely to have the desire or ability to purchase heavy carrier-based fighters. Even if fighter jets do appear, they are usually models like the Northrop F-20, aimed at increasing product awareness and finding export opportunities.

"That's not right, I clearly heard that the F-14 was going to appear..."

At that moment, a sudden cheer erupted from the sparse crowd. The familiar sound of a jet engine startled Scott.

In his eyes, there was no plane on the runway preparing to take off. Where did the engine noise come from?

Suddenly, a fast-moving shadow appeared in Scott's field of vision. The object, emitting the distinctive roar of a jet engine, zipped past him and then, with a flutter of its wings, took to the sky!

Pfft—

Scott's Irish coffee sprayed all over Badara's face. In the other's stunned silence, Scott climbed onto the railing, determined to get a closer look at the object in the sky.

"It's an F-14, oh my God, no, what is that thing!"

Indeed, the object flying in the sky looked like an F-14. Against the sky, it was easy to overlook its actual size.

But Scott had seen it take off from the runway, and he had a very accurate sense of its size—it was no more than two meters long!

However, from its flight speed and engine sound, the object, with its orange flame exhaust, was definitely a jet aircraft.

But a jet aircraft less than two meters long? Scott couldn't help but wonder if he hadn't woken up properly today.

It wasn't just Scott who reacted this way. Almost all the remaining spectators stood up, looking up at the agile, almost elf-like plane in the sky.

"It's not an F-14; the F-14 can't do that!" Badara, having wiped the Irish coffee off his face, didn't blame Scott but instead stood beside him, excitedly shouting, "Look at its 90-degree vertical climb! The F-14 can't do that!"

"Hey, but it looks like an F-14!" Scott laughed. "When it's in the sky with no reference points, who can say it's not an F-14? It's so realistic; the person who made this is a genius!"

"Right, how did they fit a jet engine into a body less than two meters long!" Badara was surprised and then seemed to realize something. "Scott, if we could use this in our movie, what do you think?"

Scott thought for a moment and hesitated. "Well, some shots could work, but many still need to be filmed with real aircraft."

"That's fine. Let's find out more about this thing. If it can reduce the Navy's F-14 usage, the Pentagon might be more willing to approve it."

"Alright, let's go check it out." Scott followed Badara indifferently towards the end of the runway.

At the end of the runway, a well-dressed white man was sweating profusely as he dealt with a crowd of spectators. Amid their shouts, an Asian man calmly operated a remote control.

"Kid, are you the one controlling the F-14?"

"What kind of power does your plane use? Is it a jet engine?"

"How did you do that? Is it a remote-controlled model? Can it break the sound barrier?"

"Move, move, kid, I'll buy what you have, name your price!"

"Hey, Iverson!" Hu Wenhai, seeing his only human barrier about to break, quickly reminded him, "If anyone disturbs me while I'm controlling the plane, you won't get your commission today!"

"I know, boss!" The white man named Iverson pushed the crowd back a few steps in the opposite direction of Hu Wenhai.

"You can't do that!"

"Hey, take your hands off me!"

The crowd, pushed around by Iverson, protested but no one left. They all watched with eager eyes as Hu Wenhai controlled the model in the sky.

After more than ten minutes, the two-meter-long F-14 model fighter jet landed back on the runway, and Iverson finally released the crowd.

"Hello, I'm a reporter from the Ocean Express. Is your model powered by a jet engine?" A reporter who clearly wasn't well-prepared for the interview managed to get close to Hu Wenhai first and fired off a question like a machine gun.

Hu Wenhai was a bit surprised, not expecting the first person to ask him to be a reporter. He smiled and nodded. "Yes, it's a small jet engine I invented. It provides unparalleled power to the model!"

"Hello, I'm Scott, a film director. Here's my card..."

The page turns, and the ad begins.

The page turns, and the ad ends.