Chapter 1017 Shocked by Ying for a Whole Year

As the first model of the SeA series of engines and the core power of the entire Falcon Z project, the delivery ceremony of SeA650 was grand.

In addition to the four major project participants, as well as Paris Aviation Services Administration and China Silver Deer Airlines, which have been confirmed as the first users of Falcon Z, even the French government sent representatives to attend.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

A conservative senator from the Vienne department, he was appointed as the new head of government by Jacques Chirac only last month.

The reason why such a big shot came in person was that his constituency included many aviation manufacturing suppliers, involving a total of about 20,000 voters, so he has always been a staunch supporter of the French aviation industry.

He also owns a Falcon 900 private jet.

But in fact, there is at least one equally important reason: Raffarin has always been known in the political arena as a so-called "pro-China" figure.

This certainly doesn't mean that he really likes China.

This is because behind the People's Movement Alliance, to which he belongs, there are a large number of financial backers who have reaped the benefits of cooperation with China in the past few years.

Some even started their careers simply because of this.

Alliances formed out of common interests are often stronger than those based on emotions.

Therefore, the first thing Raffarin did when he arrived at the scene was to take Liu Yongquan and several other company representatives to take a photo with the SeA650 as the background.

The craftsmanship of French journalists is indeed commendable.

The angle was chosen very well.

The diamond-shaped receiver sparkles in the sunlight.

On the engine bracket below, there are two national flags of China and France.

In front of the engine, a dozen people crossed their arms and held hands, a happy scene.

The publicity effect is maximized.

Although during the development of this model, Snecma and Dassault were "forced" to give China a lot of concessions.

But as far as the entire Falcon Z project is concerned, the French still made a lot of money.

As Dassault's civil department estimated a few years ago, China's business aviation industry has developed extremely rapidly since 2000.

The top wealthy people have begun to purchase their own private jets, while those at a lower level have also driven the development of the business aviation industry through leasing.

In the past, this part of the business belonged almost entirely to Bombardier and Gulfstream, but with the emergence of the Falcon Z project with Chinese roots, the monopoly of North American companies on fixed-wing business jets is gradually being broken.

Add to that the demand for special-purpose aircraft platforms such as aviation medical care, telemetry surveillance, etc.

In short, although it is not as good as civil aviation, it is definitely a market with more potential than simple military sales.

Of course, it’s not easy for Raffarin to come here, and he certainly can’t just take a look at the engine and be done with it.

Therefore, after the entire ceremony was over, I also asked about the status of the Falcon Z project itself.

"The original schedule is on track. We plan to have the first flight by early next year, and start mass production and delivery by the end of next year, or at the latest in the first half of the following year."

When talking about the progress of Falcon Z, Ed Steiner also looked pleased.

Although there were many obstacles during the research and development process, and even many tasks that were originally scheduled to be completed by themselves were forced to be handed over to China, no matter what, the initiative was still in the hands of Dassault.

On this basis, the entire project was neither overbudget nor overdue.

It may even be earlier.

Against the backdrop of declining engineering efficiency in recent years, it is truly a source of pride for France.

"very good."

Sure enough, upon hearing this answer, Raffarin nodded with satisfaction:

"The current government official aircraft are a few Airbus A319CJs, which are too old and have too short a range. They can't even fly directly to Washington or Beijing. Moreover, we often don't have that many accompanying personnel..."

Although these words may sound a bit irrelevant at first, considering the context of the conversation, they are obviously a clear hint.

I'm afraid the business jet fleet needs to be updated.

Although the majority of them definitely belong to Airbus, they are most likely the Airbus A340 with a long enough range.

But as long as you spend money on lobbying, it shouldn't be difficult to get some of the cake.

Ed Steiner quickly took over the burden:

"The largest model in the Falcon Z series can accommodate 14 passengers and fly up to 12000 kilometers..."

There are many ways to transfer benefits privately, and it is impossible to discuss the secret transactions in such a public place.

Therefore, Edsteiner simply calmly reported the range and passenger capacity of the Falcon 8Z, which was the focus of publicity, to show that he had the ability and willingness to serve as a new supplier.

Of course, what he is interested in is not the few orders, but the advertising effect of the business jet industry.

Raffarin is also a thousand-year-old fox, and he immediately praised:

“Compared to previous business jets, the performance is really good.”

Then he changed the subject:

“I wonder when you plan to release the specific performance data of this model?”

Today's delivery ceremony is actually a semi-public occasion, after all, many media and industry colleagues were invited.

But as a product, it definitely needs a more suitable promotional platform.

"Soon, sir. It should be in a few days..."

Ed Steiner replied with a smile:

"In a few days?"

In fact, what Raffarin was thinking about just now was the Farnborough Air Show to be held next month.

The answer turned out to be even earlier than that.

"Well, next week, the European Business Aviation Show will be held in Geneva, Switzerland."

Ed Steiner explains:

"The content of the Farnborough Air Show is too complex. Whether it is the professional day or the public day, most people's attention will be on military aircraft and large passenger aircraft such as Boeing and Airbus. On the contrary, this kind of small and exquisite exhibition has fewer people joining in the fun, and the visitors are more purposeful, which is more suitable for the promotion of Falcon Z."

"We have specially prepared a cross-section model of the Falcon 8Z and a full-size model of the SeA650 engine. They have now been packed and are ready to be sent to Geneva for the exhibition..."

"..."

……

Air shows are actually mainly for users.

After all, the customer base of business jets is very busy and does not have much time to pay attention to scattered aviation industry news.

Even for a business aviation company that specializes in business jets, it is impossible to keep an eye on so many suppliers around the world every day.

So a special occasion is needed to provide them with news.

But for those who are truly in the industry, the content revealed at this delivery ceremony is enough to judge a lot of things...

the next day.

Birmingham, UK.

Rolls-Royce headquarters.

Luke Norris hurriedly found Professor Roger Eleanor, who had just assigned the next stage of tasks to the technical team.

The latter, as a professor at Cranfield University, has not actually joined Rolls-Royce, but he comes to Birmingham in person every 3-4 weeks to confirm the development progress.

"Hello, Professor Eleanor."

After stopping the other person, he first greeted him in a casual manner.

But Elinor didn't buy it at all, and just waved his hand impatiently:

"If anything happens, just tell me directly..."

When he took over the EJ200 project a few years ago, he thought it was just an ordinary job to fill a gap for increasingly unreliable young engineers.

When we actually started doing it, we found that although there was only one obvious pit, there were a lot of invisible traps around it.

You never know if you might miss a step and fall right in.

After four or five years, the EJ200 has been adjusted to a usable state, but it is still quite far from the paper performance advertised that year.

For this reason, Eleanor even had to postpone his retirement plan.

Therefore, a little irritation is inevitable.

"Professor, here is a piece of promotional material provided by Snecma. The content is quite detailed, so I would like you to analyze it..."

As he spoke, Norris took out a document from the briefcase under his arm... Strictly speaking, it was a document.

Seeing the other party's sincere attitude, the latter couldn't refuse and had to take it:

"Snecma... Is it the M88 engine again?"

But just as he finished speaking, before Norris could answer, he had already noticed the contents on the cover.

SeA650 engine.

Strictly speaking, this is not exactly a promotional document.

It also has the nature of a technical manual.

Of course, it is impossible to get into any specific technical details——

The French themselves haven't quite figured it out yet.

Instead, it is similar to that for users, mainly maintenance personnel.

Since this kind of thing is to be distributed in large quantities, it is impossible to keep it secret.

Technical manuals for almost all civilian engines can be found on the second-hand market.

Therefore, Snecma made some modifications based on it, and planned to see if it could be sold to users other than Dassault.

It was natural that it was taken over by the British.

Eleanor flipped through it briefly and found the thickness a bit surprising, so he frowned:

"I am just a technical consultant for EJ200. This is considered extra work..."

"We can add money."

With just six words, he directly pushed back all the professor's dissatisfaction.

In fact, the main reason why he has not quit his job despite high blood pressure is that no matter how other places treat him, the salary given by Luo Luo is indeed very good.

"Let's go to the office and sit for a while..."

As Eleanor walked towards his office, he flipped through the documents in his hand:

"To be honest, although it is much more detailed than general promotional materials, I don't think this thing is that big..."

At this point, his voice stopped abruptly.

Even the footsteps stopped.

Norris, who was walking next to him, was caught off guard and almost tripped to the ground when he braked suddenly.

He turned to look at Eleanor.

But he found that the latter was staring at a certain page in the booklet.

Even the blue irises vibrated slightly.

"professor?"

Norris tried to shout.

It was a while later that he heard a response.