Chapter 1019 Are there any masters?

After seeing Norris off, Professor Eleanor picked up the book on the table again.

However, before he could open it, he heard a dripping sound coming from his trouser pocket.

The cell phone alarm rang.

It was not until this moment that Eleanor remembered that she had a conference call to attend that afternoon.

It's about a grant from the Ministry of Defense.

It takes about three hours to drive from Derbyshire to Bedfordshire where the school is located. If I want to go back to attend the meeting, I have to set off now anyway.

Eleanor sighed softly, put down the things in his hands again, stood up and prepared to put on his coat.

But after taking two steps out, a conflicted look appeared on his face.

The pace also slowed down...

Eleanor's hesitation did not last long.

About two seconds later, he took a deep breath, walked back to his desk in two steps, picked up the phone, and dialed the number of his laboratory.

"Jane, please tell the college that I can't attend the conference call this afternoon in person..."

"Just say I'm here at Rolls-Royce... uh, solving a problem with the EJ200 engine."

"Content of the meeting...just help me record the key points..."

"..."

After hanging up the phone, the professor couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Then he took out a notebook from the drawer next to him and quickly wrote down the following:

1. The 6500kgF thrust-class engine has a power generation capacity of up to 25kW, which is unnecessary and the value is too high.

2. The total pressure ratio of the engine is different from that of the M88-2, and it is suspected that the compressor parameters have been adjusted.

3.…

In fact, after reading the information just now, Professor Elino’s doubts about the SeA650 model not only did not decrease, but increased.

If it was an ordinary promotional material, he would most likely think that the content was made up by a publicity staff who had no knowledge of technology at all.

This situation is not uncommon at air shows.

But the content of that thing is completely in the style and format of a technical manual, and it is definitely not something that an outsider can write.

There is also little chance of false advertising.

It is highly likely that Snecma really used some special new technology on it, which caused some of the engine's performance to look very strange from a traditional perspective.

This is why he was in a hurry to ask Norris to book the tickets and turned down the conference call this afternoon.

Excluding the time spent on the road, there are only two days left until the opening of the European Business Aviation Show.

He needed to organize his thoughts quickly so that he could quickly obtain useful information through indirect methods after arriving at the air show.

……

It must be said that Norris is very efficient.

Not only did they arrange the entire trip to Geneva in just one afternoon, they even expanded the originally planned duo into a delegation.

Including Dr. Leah Lapworth mentioned earlier, and Tim Bodie, deputy project manager of the Trent series engine design team, there are more than 20 people in total.

This scale is a bit outrageous.

You know, Rolls-Royce's UK headquarters doesn't even have business jet-related businesses.

Professor Eleanor quickly realized that something was wrong and immediately refused to enter the exhibition site with the rest of the group.

Sure enough, it was just as he worried.

When such a group of people arrived at the Geneva Air Show as "visitors", most people's first thought was -

I’m afraid something happened at Rolls-Royce Germany, which was originally responsible for the business jet business?

But looking at the BR series engine booth, everything was normal, and it didn't look like there was any problem...

However, the purpose of Luo Luo and his group's trip was quite clear.

They didn't even take a look at their own German branch, but rushed straight into Dassault's exhibition area.

Snecma's business in the business jet field has just started. Apart from the SeA650 this time, only its Arriel series turboshaft engines will be installed on certain helicopters for business purposes. Naturally, there is no chance of a special area being set aside.

Moreover, even after the cooperation with Dassault, the entire area is still a little empty compared with several neighboring friendly companies.

The main products are only a real Falcon 900EX and a large-scale Falcon 8Z model.

Fortunately, thanks to Dassault's strong promotion in the past six months, the Falcon 8Z is quite famous, and some interested visitors gathered around it, so it was not completely deserted.

But this is not a bad thing for the Rolls-Royce team.

With almost no effort, they squeezed through the crowd and arrived in front of the destination of this trip, the full-size model of the SeA650 engine.

There were more than twenty people, which was very eye-catching in this exhibition area.

Therefore, two Snecma staff members came over to take a look soon.

The original intention was just to see if there were any business opportunities and to distribute some promotional materials.

In the end, it doesn't matter.

There is no such thing as a public open day at a business aviation show.

So everyone will wear a badge after entering the door.

Please indicate the work unit, nature of the personnel, photo and name.

However, the information on the badges of the group of people in front of me clearly showed that...

Are they from England?

Or Rolls-Royce?

Isn't this a weasel paying New Year's greetings to the chicken?

Markets are like battlefields.

Who says that destroying your opponent’s engine model isn’t a business war?

Don’t worry about whether to do business or not, just tell me whether to fight or not?

As a result, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense.

One of them quickly told his companion to go back to find the on-site supervisor, while he stayed behind to deal with the "enemy".

There was even a hint of farewell in his tone.

At this time, the people on Luo Luo's side had not yet realized how much their aggressive appearance looked like they were here to cause trouble.

Therefore, after seeing a person who looked like a staff member coming over here, the leader Tim Bodi immediately greeted him with what he thought was a friendly gesture, and then prepared to shake hands with the other person.

"Hello, sir, I am..."

As a result, before he even gave his name, he found that the Frenchman opposite him had already taken a defensive stance.

I had to put my hand down somewhat awkwardly.

For a moment, the world seemed to become quiet...

In short, although the misunderstanding was finally resolved, Bodi and his team did not learn any useful information.

Instead, it was Professor Elino who came to the Dassault exhibition area in a low-key manner later.

And they just happened to meet Liu Yongquan and Ian Vista, who had already calmed down the situation and were about to go backstage to enjoy the air conditioning.

"Hello, my name is Roger Eleanor, a professor at Cranfield University and a technical consultant for BAE Systems..."

Eleanor said as he took out the promotional material from his backpack, along with the notebook of course.

Liu Yongquan and Vesta looked at each other.

The name Roger Eleanor is well-known in Europe and even in the world aviation industry.

At least Liu Yongquan had read the papers published by the other party.

However, the beauty of Eleanor's self-introduction lies in the fact that both of his identities are real and full of suggestive meanings.

The commercial aircraft division of BAE Systems' main product is the famous Hawker Beechcraft series of business jets. Although it was sold to Raytheon due to operational difficulties in recent years, there is no guarantee that it has no idea of ​​making a comeback.

Moreover, even without considering this aspect, BAE, as a well-known defense equipment supplier in the NATO system, also sells a large number of special aircraft modification solutions for business jet platforms.

Anyway, he looked like a serious visitor.

In fact, the questions that Vesta wanted to know did not involve any business secrets, let alone technical details.

The reason why Luo Luo and his group failed just now was simply because the atmosphere was too awkward.

Now he is wearing a Cranfield University badge and throwing out bait as a potential client.

Then what happens next will be a natural progression.

After a brief greeting, Eleanor no longer concealed his purpose:

"Dr. Vesta, Dr. Liu, I accidentally saw the promotional materials for the SeA650 engine you put out before, and I am very interested in the performance of this model..."

As he spoke, he shook the thick book in his hand.

The two people on the opposite side also showed an attitude of "just ask casually".

"I noticed that you rated the SeA650 engine at 25kW, which is obviously a very large number for a 6.5-ton thrust model."

Eleanor started by asking what he thought was a relatively mundane question:

"So I want to know, did your company consider other uses when it first formulated the plan? After all, generally speaking, business jets don't need two units with a total of 50kW of electricity..."

Liu Yongquan knows English, but he rarely uses it, so Vesta, who was the first to react, got there first:

"That's not true."

The latter replied with a smile:

"During the design process, we discovered that the available effective power of the core engine exceeded our initial estimates, and this effective power can be converted into additional thrust or additional electricity."

"Later, we considered that the thrust of 6.5 tons fully met the design calibration and did not need to be higher. Although the power generation capacity may not be used at the moment, with the deepening of electrification, there is still great potential in the future..."

"Moreover, if there are additional requirements such as special aircraft modification, the platform using the SeA650 engine will no longer need to install additional power supply equipment, saving modification costs...so we chose the latter."

The last sentence was obviously directed at the identity of consultant to BAE Systems.

In fact, logically speaking, this issue ends here.

Professor Elino had even made the assessment in his mind that "the improvement in core engine performance led to deviations in performance calibration."

However, at this moment, Liu Yongquan next to him suddenly said:

"As for the source of this useful work, we applied the latest non-contact magnetic bearing technology, which reduced the waste work generated by the friction of the original rotor bearings. At the same time, it also greatly extended the maintenance period of the compressor rotor support point No. 1..."

"..."

"???"

Elinor paused with the pen in his hand:

"Magnetic bearings?"