Just mont ago, it was a clear and sunny day, but in less than half an hour, leaden clouds had rolled in from the southeast, thick as a winter quilt, not letting any sunshine through.
[This weather is terrifying, is it going to snow?]
[It seems so. I rember that professor said yesterday there would be snow the day after tomorrow, but this is only the second day, right?]
[Isn’t there always so error in the weather forecast?]
[Master Fang, you better run now, or it’ll be too late!]
The online friends panicked at the sight of the clouds, rembering vividly the power of the last blizzard. If they got trapped, it wasn’t just a question of whether the gliders could fly; the geese might even freeze to death.
Etienne tugged at Bi Fang’s robe anxiously.
“Boss, it’s going to snow.”
“Don’t panic, panicking won’t help.”
Bi Fang had naturally noticed the slowly drifting clouds, but he did not rush, as rushing would only make it harder to calculate.
“There’s still so ti before the clouds roll in over us. The most important thing is to find our current position and establish the right direction before we fly off. Otherwise, we might veer off course even more, and if we accidentally end up in a human city, the geese will rember it, and the danger will be great.”
“Go pick a few pieces of charcoal, wrap them in soil to take with us, then pour water into the pit to extinguish the fire, and don’t forget to cover it with soil.” Hearing Bi Fang’s words, Etienne complied with his instructions, though his shaking legs betrayed his nervousness.
Even as Bi Fang calculated, he was explaining the thodology to the audience as if he wasn’t in the least bit flustered, but the keen-eyed could tell he was recalculating a value.
He had miscalculated just now.
“The angle of solar elevation is equal to arctanfstick height/shadow length), then calculate the latitude of the observation point = 90 – the angle of solar elevation the sun’s declination angle from the almanac, and we have the latitude.”
“On clear days in the future, we can make repeated observations and calculate the average multiple tis to improve accuracy. When done correctly, this thod can achieve an error rate lower than 1/3000, and the positioning error won’t exceed 4 kiloters.”
Bi Fang’s hands sped up noticeably, and his speech grew more urgent, the pencil scratching rapidly, with numbers almost rging into one another, the lines spreading like a fast-growing thicket.
The clouds drew closer and closer, making everyone break out in a cold sweat.
The world had gone mad, yet here was soone doing math problems! “There are two days in the year when using the sun to asure direction is most accurate: the equinoxes of spring and fall because on these days, the length of day and night is equal globally, and true solar ti aligns with an solar ti. Besides, you need to know the ridian of the East Eighth District, which is East Longitude 120°.”
“This ridian passes through Hangzhou, not the Capital, so the so-called Capital ti is actually the local ti in Hangzhou. When calculating longitude, the ti difference must be taken into account in relation to the geographic distance from Hangzhou-this detail cannot be overlooked, or the error may be substantial.”
The calr Bi Fang was, the more anxious Etienne beca. Almost hopping from foot to foot, he urged continuously, and eventually couldn’t help himself from untying the glider secured to a tree.
Etienne, by the lakeside, began to prompt, “Is it done yet?
“Almost.”
“Is it done?”
“Almost there! Go gather the clothes first!”
Bi Fang’s brows were tightly furrowed. He was acutely aware that though the clouds seed to move slowly, they were actually racing towards them at speeds of over forty, perhaps even over fifty kiloters per hour, almost comparable to the speed of cars in the city!
In just under fifteen minutes, they would overtake them!
Focus, focus!
Bi Fang had completed most of the calculations, with just the final result left!
“Is it done?” Etienne, clutching his windbreaker, looked up at the clouds nearly upon them, his heart threatening to leap out of his chest!
This ti Bi Fang didn’t speak. Springing up from the rock like shattering through a layer of dark mbrane back to reality, the wind flipping the pages, a set of coordinates appeared sharply defined.
(Latitude 69°1′, East Longitude 24°76′)!
[Holy shit, incredible! He actually figured it out!]
[That’s so aweso!]
[Spaceship and Kneepads, Up for Grabs!]
[Mastermind Doing Math at the Brink of Death! Who Else Can?]
[What? A snowstorm is coming? Please let finish this problem first]
Bi Fang pulled over a storm jacket and draped it on, the wind suddenly roaring and creating a sound like a flapping flag as it whisked his black jacket.
“Let’s go, on the plane!”
Etienne shouted excitedly, recalled the geese, and jumped on the glider. Bi Fang pulled out a map and pinpointed their current location using latitude and longitude.
As expected, they were off course!
The route that was originally to the southwest had shifted to the southeast!
Bi Fang folded up the map and headed to the lakefront, pausing in surprise when he saw Etienne sitting in the pilot’s seat. He waved him to move back, “What are you doing? Sit in the back!”
[Hahaha, which young lad doesn’t dream of piloting a glider?]
[Master Fang seems scared]
[He’s just too used to it]
Etienne also realized he was in the wrong seat and hurriedly crawled to the back.
Bi Fang took the pilot’s seat, cranked the engine, and the propeller blades began to spin rapidly, nudging the glider to move forward smoothly.
Etienne in the back row was incessantly honking the horn, and the slightly panicked geese due to the inclent weather started to gather, quickly forming a V formation. Having done this once before, they organized very quickly this ti.
Tiny, scattered snowflakes began to fall, lingering on the lake surface without lting. Etienne caught one and was surprised to see it was enormous, almost the size of a bean.
“This snowstorm is too late. An enormous amount of moisture has built up, which might cause serious sudden snowfall,” Bi Fang said seriously, wishing the propeller could spin faster.
At first, when they were far away, no one felt much, but now with the clouds overhead, it beca clear how frighteningly thick they were-so much so that the sun was completely obscured, leaving not a sliver of sunlight visible.
The chilling, ghastly sound of the wind echoed through the sky, disappearing into the vast snowy expanse, as if unleashing ferocious spirits.
“If I’m not mistaken, that’s a nimbostratus cloud, often covering the sky uniformly, with a thickness generally between four to five kiloters, which is akin to ten Shanghai World Financial Centers stacked together. Such thickness is enough to completely block out the light from both the sun and the moon!” Finally, as the snow thickened and the clouds almost enveloped them, the glider left the surface of the water at last.
The Shuiyou audience began to cheer, but just as the glider took off, a fierce gust of wind lifted the aircraft almost 70 degrees upward, frightening the viewers to nearly have a heart attack!
Fortunately, Bi Fang had pulled the control stick in advance, lowering the nose of the glider and barely keeping it under control, then using the wind to climb higher!
Facing the gale, the glider flew extrely fast. Sitting in the back, Etienne felt like he was on a roller coaster, with a strong sense of being pushed back. Soon, with violent shaking, they successfully burst through the snowfall with snowflakes in tow!
Behind them, the clouds were still in pursuit, but it was too late. The glider ascended into the sky, the howling wind roaring with relentless fury as snow swirled around in an angry roar.
So close to disaster, only to escape by a whisker!
As the flight smoothed out, Etienne looked back and saw that not a single one of the eighteen geese was missing; all were safe and sound!
He’d been so worried that the geese would fall behind, given how fast they had been flying.
Bi Fang looked back, saw Etienne’s concern, and explained, “Don’t worry, geese fly very fast, reaching speeds of 68 to 90 kiloters per hour. Even on a long journey of over five thousand kiloters, it only takes a little over a month. They’re even faster than the wind speed in a snowstorm. And with a tailwind, if we’re flying fast, they won’t slow down.”
[That was really dangerous just now, but we’re lucky we flew early, or it would’ve been over for us]
[Exactly, if the snowstorm had co unexpectedly, wouldn’t we have been dood? Good thing the glider is fast]
[By the way, didn’t Old Fang take asurents for latitude and longitude in Mohe last ti? If he did, couldn’t we just have coordinated rescue based on that?]
[Are you dumb? Taking latitude and longitude asures is essentially about observing celestial bodies. During the storm in Mohe, there was no sunlight for days. What celestial bodies are you going to look at? Think before you speak.] [Badass, soone actually understood that! So strong]
Bi Fang saw the Shuiyou joking around and chuckled. They were indeed lucky this ti to have escaped before the snowstorm hit, but there was no need to worry too much if it did catch up; it wasn’t their first encounter with one, just so long as it wasn’t a storm over the North Sea.
Storms at sea are far more dangerous than snowstorms on land.
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