Chapter One Hundred: The Engine Is the Real Protagonist

The first chapter has finally reached one hundred chapters. It has not been easy, and now that this is a moment for celebration, please allow me to ask for your support.

After lunch, everyone was preparing to continue the discussion when those who had gone out to lobby the ministries returned to the guesthouse, including Director Bai, who had gone to the Aviation Industry Ministry.

After taking a sip of water, Director Bai began, on his own initiative, to describe how the lobbying had gone. From the richness of his expressions, everyone could naturally tell that this time there should be no great problem.

“If I had to say, this trip to report the project to the ministry was probably the fastest I have ever gotten a result. As soon as I brought it up, the minister was completely stunned. It took him quite a while to recover. But once he did, he began speaking in officialese, and I’m sure you all can guess what he was really thinking.”

He paused halfway through, dangling the words just enough to make people impatient. Chief Designer Yu had the least tolerance for that sort of thing and bluntly cut off Director Bai’s attempt to build suspense.

“Stop dragging it out and say it quickly. We don’t have much time; we still have to discuss the new aircraft’s engine selection later.”

With Chief Designer Yu speaking first, everyone else naturally nodded vigorously, showing full agreement. Seeing how uncooperative they were, Director Bai could only continue with what happened next.

“The thing is, after the minister heard we had secured such a large project, he started talking in bureaucratic circles. He was clearly thinking of doing something else. But less than two minutes later the phone rang, and it was the top chief designer himself calling. He said nothing at first, just immediately asked about our project. At that moment, the minister was completely dumbfounded.”

As he said this, everyone could picture the scene and burst into laughter. After laughing, they went on listening.

“At that point the minister looked at me. Since he didn’t know the details, he had no choice but to hand me the phone and let me report on the project. You should have seen it—the minister’s face darkened when he passed me the phone. It gave me quite a fright. But after the chief designer upstairs asked me about the specific circumstances and then spoke with the minister, the minister’s expression changed. He told us to do the project properly, prepare for the future report, and get ready to present the scheme jointly with the people from Shenyang.”

Sure enough, this matter had unfolded exactly as Director Yang had predicted. In the end, being snatched away by others was still unavoidable, but this kind of open snatching was no longer frightening. As Director Yang had said, the base side held a great advantage in this project.

“All right, this is indeed going exactly as Director Yang anticipated. It feels as if we’re a troupe of actors. But if in the end everything still follows Director Yang’s expectations, then I’m willing to be an actor.”

After hearing this bit of wit from the factory director of Longyan Works, everyone laughed, yet afterward they sincerely agreed with his words. As long as the project could be won in the end, being an actor would still be worthwhile.

At that moment, however, the factory director of Liyang Works was quite worried. It seemed that this project would leave some rift between them and the Aviation Ministry. In the future, he had better find a way to leave Liyang Works as soon as possible. Once there was friction with the ministry, it would be strange if they did not make life difficult for him. Of course, Director Liu of Liyang would not say this aloud now; he would simply make quiet plans to move elsewhere.

After the reports on the Aviation Industry Ministry were finished, the others who had gone lobbying ministries also gave brief accounts of their experiences. These were all rather ordinary; apart from expressing surprise, there was nothing else to say. For matters like this, ministries that were merely there to cooperate generally waited for the lead ministry’s decision. Before the lead ministry settled on something, the others would not usually give a clear answer.

Once the business of lobbying the ministries was over, those who had stayed at noon to work on the project design naturally had to hear about the progress made then. Again, it was Director Bai who asked.

“Old Yu, you’re the chief designer. Tell us what you all worked out at noon.”

Chief Designer Yu briefly explained the preliminary aerodynamic scheme and the cockpit design scheme they had discussed at noon, then shifted the topic to the engine selection they now needed to debate.

“...That’s the basic design of the new aircraft. Right now our biggest problem is the choice of engine. We still can’t determine exactly which model to use.”

After hearing the general design of the new aircraft, Director Bai felt that the changes were indeed substantial. But after thinking it through carefully, the technical risks of the actual modifications still seemed within an acceptable range.

“In that case, the airframe design shouldn’t pose too many problems. As for the engine, we still need to discuss it carefully. But first, we need to calculate how much money the new aircraft can be allocated for the engine.”

Director Bai had actually begun calculating this project while in Paris, and the aspect he cared most about was the new aircraft’s engine. Knowing full well the performance of the Turbojet Seven, he had from the start no intention of using it. What he had set his sights on was the Turbojet Thirteen, which was still under development.

“The Turbojet Seven is definitely not enough for the new aircraft’s engine. At first I was planning to use the Turbojet Thirteen, but now that I’ve heard the new aircraft is being changed so extensively—adding a new large radar nose, using either chin or side intakes, and fitting a new high-power radar—I’m afraid the current output of the Turbojet Thirteen still won’t be enough.”

Chief Designer Yu was responsible for the overall aircraft design, so once the full airframe scheme was out, he already had a clear understanding of the new engine’s thrust requirements. If the new aircraft did not reach at least seven tons of thrust, it would absolutely not meet the requirements. That was why engine development had become the greatest obstacle in the path of the new aircraft.

Chief Designer Yu laid out his rough calculations: “The new aircraft’s thrust must reach seven tons. That is indeed beyond what the under-development Turbojet Thirteen can provide. We need to think of another way.”

He said it lightly enough, but achieving it would be anything but easy. To give the new aircraft such thrust would inevitably require extensive modifications to the Turbojet Thirteen, and since that engine was currently Liyang Works’ project, there was no way they could modify it to reach a seven-ton thrust. For Director Bai, however, the seven-ton requirement was the most agreeable point of all, because it matched exactly with his own calculations. As an engine man, he naturally had his own ideas.

“That seven-ton thrust is only the minimum. I believe this new aircraft will ultimately require far more than that. Right now we have to find a solution. At present, the only engine we can find domestically that exceeds seven tons is the Turbojet Eight, but that clearly cannot be used on the new aircraft. There is also the Turbofan Nine, for which design data exists, but which has now been canceled.”

The Turbofan Nine came up again. Chief Designer Yu knew some of its data, and after carefully recalling and comparing it, he could only reluctantly abandon this excellent engine.

“The Turbofan Nine does have enough thrust, but its thrust of nine tons is obviously excessive. On top of that, its thrust-to-weight ratio is only five, which makes it far too heavy. Mounting a 1.5-ton engine on the new aircraft would shift the center of gravity and force major structural changes. That would mean redesigning the fuselage center section. And because the Turbofan Nine is so large, it cannot be installed in the new aircraft as it is, which would require redesigning the rear fuselage as well.”

There was no need to say more; everyone understood that this engine could not be fitted to the new aircraft. Then what was to be done?

Just as everyone was at a loss, Yang Hui finally had the chance to bring up his own new-engine plan.

“Actually, I think the Turbojet Thirteen is, comparatively speaking, the most suitable choice for us right now. Its designed thrust is nearly seven-tenths of a ton below what we need, but that can still be solved.”

Hearing that the Turbojet Thirteen still had a chance gave everyone a spark of hope. If the Turbojet Thirteen could indeed be made to reach the minimum seven-ton requirement, that would be excellent news.

The Turbojet Thirteen was still over at the Dawn Works, but that was not a problem. When the time came and foreign-trade orders required it, they could request it through the higher authorities. Even in later years, the Turbojet Thirteen was still produced by Liyang.

The biggest advantage of using the Turbojet Thirteen was that it had a good technical lineage with the base’s Turbojet Seven. That would allow a qualified engine to be produced at the base in a relatively short time.

Director Bai knew Yang Hui best of all. This fellow must surely have some new idea, and he hoped it would work and solve the engine trouble.

“Then hurry up and say how the new aircraft is actually supposed to be done. If it’s possible, I’ll submit a report right away and request the new aircraft’s data from above. The Dawn Works hasn’t finalized it yet, but that doesn’t matter. We’re definitely going to modify this engine further, so the fact that it hasn’t been finalized yet is no problem.”