Chapter 12: 12 Specialty Flights
Karman didn't know what Joe Ga realized, but he waved goodbye to the departing Sayram and quickly changed into the clothes and shoes provided by Joe Ga.
After hopping on the spot a couple of times, he pocketed the money Joe Ga gave him and ran to his son.
Having just dealt with a corpse, Muto took the US Dollars his father handed to him, then suddenly burst into tears and embraced his father. Eventually, with Karman's comforting, he left the airport.
Karman watched his son disappear and then walked slowly to the side of the plane. Before boarding, the old man glanced at Zhabu with his missing teeth, scaring the youngster into stepping back.
Under the intimidation of Karman's inhuman gaze, the guy cleverly acted out a zipping motion over his mouth, signaling that he would never speak of today's events, especially not about the $20,000 on Muto.
Sayram was getting anxious at this point; he pulled open the cockpit window, banged on the door forcefully, and shouted, "Hurry up, you old dog, we're about to take off."
Karman was clearly very familiar with Sayram and wasn't at all bothered by his attitude.
The old timer showed even better professionalism than Joe Ga had expected, first checking the boxes strapped to the luggage rack to make sure they were secured properly before finally boarding the plane.
Once Sayram had taken off and the plane was flying smoothly, Joe Ga, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, took out a holster and a Glock 17, turned around, and handed it to Karman, saying, "You should know how to use it. The AK74 is a job necessity; consider this a welcome gift."
Karman eagerly strapped the holster to his thigh and then played with the Glock 17 for a while, becoming somewhat enamored with the sleek and simple gun, yet also a bit puzzled.
Joe Ga quickly noticed Karman's confusion and explained with a smile, "It's a good gun. Its safety is connected to the trigger – pull the trigger, and it shoots by disengaging the safety.
So, unless it's necessary, never stick your finger through the trigger guard, and definitely don't try spinning the gun like they do in the movies; it really can go off and kill someone."
Karman nodded as if he finally understood, then, to Joe Ga's surprise, he opened the plane window and stuck the gun out, continuously pulling the trigger towards the ground.
After trying out the Glock 17's burst and single-fire modes, Karman withdrew the gun, pleased, amidst Sayram's roaring, replaced it with a spare magazine, and slipped the gun into the holster.
"Thank you, I've never used such a light handgun before. I once had a M1911—a good gun, but its spring broke,"
Joe Ga misunderstood Karman and said with a laugh, "You know, the one thing you probably don't need to worry about when working with me is the guns.
If you like the M1911, when I make my delivery, I can ask my clients to swap one; they bought three M1911s, and I reckon they'd be willing to trade."
Karman waved it off graciously and said, "No, no need, I like this gun a lot.
I just wanted to say if we're only going into the grasslands, then this gun's power isn't enough, and the report is too quiet.
But if it's just against people, then it's a very good weapon."
Joe Ga had only wandered around the edge of the grasslands and never had the chance to delve deeper. Out of curiosity, he asked, "Why?"
Karman shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Because the sound isn't loud enough to scare away the pursuing wild dogs and hyenas. The bullets are too small with limited range and so-so power; it would be very dangerous to come across a wild bull or a lion with only such a gun."
"But if it's for people, it's certainly enough, although there aren't many opportunities to use a handgun in Africa."
Joe Ga was about to ask for more details when Sayram, who was piloting the plane, yawned and said, "Stop the chatter and help me fly for a while. The GPS is set; just fly in this direction.
"I need to sleep for a bit; last night's booze was really strong..."
The moment Joe Ga heard this, he instantly grabbed the control stick in front of him and felt its feedback. He cursed at Sayram, who had already tilted his head and closed his eyes: "I paid you, damn it, and now I have to be the pilot too? Aren't you afraid I'll crash and kill us both?"
Sayram adjusted his seat to a comfortable position and said, "You fixed this plane, so you can definitely fly it well. Haven't you always wanted to learn to fly? Here's your chance, you can do it!"
Joe Ga was amused by Sayram's carelessness and hurled a few swear words at the irresponsible pilot. Then he firmly grasped the control stick and tentatively used the two pedals at his feet to adjust the plane's direction, trying out a left turn and a right turn...
The aircraft's components responded sensitively, which somewhat eased the mind of Joe Ga, who was flying a plane for the first time.
The C-172, which had been through who knows how many hands, was nearly scrapped. It was Joe Ga who used the Omnipotent Toolbox's detection system and parts printing function to painstakingly fix it.
In fact, he was very familiar with this aircraft, and honestly, he thought that flying a small aircraft like this wasn't more complex than driving a car.
The pull-type throttle, just push it fully in to increase the engine's RPM. With enough taxiing, pulling the control stick would make the plane take off.
The two pedals under the feet control the tailfin, like a ship's rudder, responsible for adjusting the plane's direction while in level flight.
Pushing the control stick forward would tilt the nose down, pulling it back would raise the nose, pushing it to the left and to the right would make the plane turn accordingly.
Unless you're trying to perform high-speed maneuvers or stall recoveries like a fighter jet, flying is really simple, especially since it won't result in a 'car accident' besides needing extra caution during takeoff and landing.
Since there were no air traffic control authorities like in Africa to manage his flight, Joe Ga, after trying for a while, found some enjoyment and began to confidently follow the GPS position, lowering the altitude while admiring the beautiful scenery of the grasslands, flying towards the destination.
Joe Ga's destination was Waw in South Sudan, selected because it had better security due to the peacekeeping troops. Lu Jun had set the trade location there.
Moreover, Sayram had friends there who could allow them to land on the farm and refuel the plane.
Most importantly, Waw was a transportation hub. He could buy a second-hand pickup truck there, drive 100 kilometers north to a place called Alwi for the delivery, and take a return flight directly back to Ad-Damazin after the return.