Chapter 143: The Battle for Talent

Professor Zhu departed. After completing the low-speed wind tunnel tests, he boarded a plane to attend an academic exchange abroad. The clever Professor Zhu had wisely chosen to leave early.

Naturally, Yang Hui had also profited handsomely. Out of the twenty-plus graduate students Professor Zhu had trained, Yang Hui successfully recruited fifteen. In one fell swoop, the entire base’s aerodynamic design team underwent a major transfusion and upgrade.

The fifteen new recruits were, without exception, genuine researchers with a passion for their work. After Yang Hui promised them full participation and follow-through on projects, they decided to join the base. The remaining nine students were either true northerners who did not want to move south, or they were dissatisfied with the social conditions of the deep southwest where the base was located.

Yang Hui did not intend to press the others. He had already recruited more than half the group, and he needed to leave some for other factories and institutes. He couldn't be too greedy; he still had to work within the national aviation system and needed to maintain his reputation. It was best to leave a bridge intact for the future.

Yang Hui informed Chief Designer Yu about the fifteen graduate students he had secured. Chief Designer Yu was thrilled on the spot and asked Yang Hui to lead the way to the guesthouse. There, Chief Designer Yu reassured the students and reiterated that the benefits Yang Hui had promised were absolutely guaranteed.

The next day, in an unprecedented move, Chief Designer Yu skipped the negotiations with the British delegation. Instead, following Yang Hui’s instructions, he went to arrange the formal personnel transfers for these graduate students.

Following Director Bai’s previous recruitment efforts, Chief Designer Yu once again approached Director Yang to secure these graduate students.

At the time, Chief Designer Yu’s performance was quite emotional: "Director Yang, my dear elder, I have good news! Our institute has recruited fifteen graduate students. They are willing to come to my First Institute. It has been so difficult for us in that remote mountain valley to attract such a group of phoenixes; you must support us this time."

Director Yang, unaware of the full story, was surprised. Hearing that Chief Designer Yu had found talent willing to go to the deep southwest, and considering the base had just landed a major foreign project and needed manpower, he was supportive and agreed to help with the arrangements.

However, before Director Yang could finish processing the transfers, the Fengtian Institute got wind of the situation and erupted in outrage. This batch of students was the first group of graduates since the resumption of the college entrance examinations, and the Fengtian Institute had been drooling over them for a long time. They had waited and waited, right up until the point of fruition, only to find that the "bandits" from the southwestern mountain valley had swooped in to snatch the prize.

They could not let this stand. As it happened, a JJ-6 trainer jet was scheduled for delivery to the capital. The Fengtian Institute dispatched their Vice Director in charge of personnel, who boarded the dual-seat JJ-6 straight from the assembly line in a fit of rage and flew directly to the capital.

Being able to fly into the capital on a fighter jet showed just how powerful the Fengtian Institute was. When the Vice Director climbed out of the plane, he was still a bit disoriented. After all, a dual-seat fighter-trainer is still a fighter. Although the pilot had been considerate of the non-military passenger in the back and avoided extreme maneuvers, everyone knew the nature of fighter pilots.

Vice Director Wang headed straight for the office of an old leader at the Aviation Ministry. He felt he had to seek justice from the old leader; the Fengtian Institute had been bullied to this extent, and surely the old leader would feel his own reputation was at stake.

Before even entering the office, he had already prepared his emotions. As soon as he opened the door, he began to recount the misfortunes of the Fengtian Institute through tears and snot.

"Old Director, our Fengtian Institute is being bullied by those uncivilized people from the southern mountain valleys! Our Project 10 was snatched away by Jincuang City in the south, the new trainer project was stolen by the wild, uncivilized people in Guizhou, and now the twenty-plus graduate students we worked so hard to cultivate are being picked off like fruit. They... they are acting like bandits!"

He sobbed uncontrollably at the saddest parts. Had there been any uninformed observers, they might have been truly deceived. His art of rhetoric and ability to invert black and white were nothing short of breathtaking.

The new trainer project had been a failed attempt by the Fengtian Institute to poach the work, yet he framed it as the base stealing their project. The twenty-plus graduate students were clearly trained by Beihang University; when those students lacked wind tunnel testing opportunities, the Fengtian Institute was nowhere to be found.

Now, he claimed them as students cultivated by the Fengtian Institute. Could the Fengtian Institute even train students? Was the institute planning to turn into a university?

Although the old leader, who had once worked at the Fengtian Institute, knew there was some exaggeration, he was still very angry. How could Beihang let this happen? This was a small matter, and he had personally put in a good word. Was his influence really so weak?

"Oh, there's such a thing? I helped you put in a word with Beihang last time, and they agreed quite readily. Why have they gone back on their word now? I’ll go ask what’s going on."

He reached for the phone to inquire. Seeing his old subordinate still standing by, he hurriedly said with concern, "Quick, quick, Xiao Zhang, you’re a Vice Director now, why are you still so formal with me after all these years? Sit down, don't worry, this will be resolved soon."

He dialed the phone: "Ah, is this the old man at Beihang..."

While the Fengtian Institute had already arrived in the capital to demand their people, Yang Hui was completely unaware. He was currently leading the fifteen graduate students, along with a few remaining aerodynamic designers from the base, to a research institute under the aerospace system. Here, they had the supersonic wind tunnel that Yang Hui and his team currently needed.

A supersonic wind tunnel is vastly different from a subsonic one. This is not only reflected in the speed of the airflow they generate, but also in their construction. Subsonic wind tunnels use fan-driven airflow, but that method does not work for supersonic wind tunnels.

In front of Yang Hui was a supersonic wind tunnel capable of reaching Mach 3.5, which was sufficient for aerodynamic testing of the new aircraft.

The design of supersonic wind tunnels relies heavily on gas compression, so most cannot be used continuously for long periods. However, some can be designed for continuous use through special methods, though the cost is astronomical.

Having already contacted the wind tunnel test center, the timing had been coordinated. Yang Hui brought the technical data and met with the personnel in charge of the test center to settle the testing procedures and methods.

"You have been studying this double-delta wing for a long time in the country. We’ve blown air over it several times in our institute alone, but none of those tests were as serious and meticulous as yours. It looks like you are already in the engineering design stage. Is there a new model?"

Since the question was raised, there was no need for Yang Hui to hide it. They were all insiders; once the shape of the new aircraft was revealed, anyone could figure out eight or nine-tenths of what it was.

"That’s right, it is a new project, the JJ-7 scheme. We are in a rush to finalize the aerodynamic design, so we are in a bit of a hurry."

The fact that Yang Hui said they were in a rush was evident. This time, Yang Hui had brought the very model used in the low-speed wind tunnel. As long as the speed did not exceed Mach 2.5, the model could withstand it, which saved time in manufacturing a new one.

"Come on, let’s just start the tests. I assume you’ve already done the preliminary theoretical analysis for the high-speed tests. I see you don't have many items on the list; we should be able to finish all the tests in about half a month."

Half a month—that was very fast. Following this timeline, and finally completing the transonic tests, it would only take about three months in total. After the final comprehensive data processing, the entire process would take only about one hundred days.

The impatient Liu Jun called the other students over to drop off the stacks of analysis conclusions and then went to help carry in the model from outside.

"The model is here, heavy as lead. We can start the test right now."

Yang Hui and his team of graduate students began the tests with great fervor. Meanwhile, over at the capital, the Fengtian Institute had figured out what was happening and had tracked down Chief Designer Yu, swearing that he would cough up those dozen-plus graduate students.