Chapter 1502: Interlude before departure

In a blink of an eye, it was already three months later.

The assembly workshop of Chengdu Factory No. 132 is brightly lit.

Although it was early morning, no one felt tired - the first prototype No. 8 of the Wuzhen 01B plan was about to complete the final engine installation.

Cheng Junhong stood on the work platform and watched the technicians carefully lift the second improved Yachong-2M engine into place.

This engine integrates the magnetohydrodynamic power generation technology of Chang Haonan's team. It looks more slender than the original version, and the leading edge of the air intake duct flashes with the unique cold light of metal.

As for the Detective Descendants 8 itself, it is much thicker and more solid than before.

If it is an aircraft with a normal aerodynamic layout, such a change will inevitably have an irreversible negative impact on high-speed performance.

However, the principle by which waveriders generate lift is relatively special. As long as they are properly designed, they are not particularly sensitive to these parameters.

"Mr. Cheng, the final calibration of the magnetohydrodynamic power generation system has been completed." Zhang Jianjun, the leader of the quality supervision team, walked quickly onto the platform and handed over a test report. "All parameters are within the design range, and are even better than the design data."

Cheng Junhong took the report and quickly browsed through the densely packed data tables.

His eyes lingered on the two items of "plasma stability" and "power generation efficiency" for a moment, and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously: "After all, it's Academician Chang... He is really capable."

At this time, the door of the workshop opened, and Chang Haonan and his team walked in. Compared with four months ago, the young academician looked much more haggard, with obvious dark circles under his eyes, but his spirit was unusually high.

"Mr. Cheng!" At this time a familiar voice came from behind.

Cheng Junhong turned around and saw Chang Haonan and his team walking into the observation platform.

Compared with four months ago, most people looked much more haggard, but the young academician seemed to be unaffected and remained in high spirits.

Seeing this scene, the former suddenly remembered a sentence his teacher once said.

The vast majority of geniuses are different from ordinary people in terms of energy.

"Academician Chang, why are you here so early?"

Chang Haonan waved his hand: "I couldn't sleep in the guesthouse, so I just came here." He walked to the railing and looked down at Unit 01 below. "The progress is faster than I thought."

"Factory 132 has always been very efficient." Cheng Junhong pointed to the engine compartment, "Especially the installation interface of your magnetic fluid enhancer is very cleverly designed, and there is almost no difficulty in assembly."

During these months, the most difficult stage was actually the wind tunnel verification of the parallel waverider design.

The two wind tunnels worked almost non-stop, testing dozens of different detailed configurations before finally determining the optimal solution.

Then comes the integration of the magnetohydrodynamic power generation system with the ramjet engine - this requires redesigning the combustion chamber structure and solving the problem of the interaction between high-temperature plasma and fuel injection.

Fortunately, with the experience of Lingxiao-1, we did not encounter any unsolvable obstacles.

"Thanks to your work," Chang Haonan said with a smile, "the effect of the combination of flying and hair is better than expected."

Indeed, the improved Yachong-2M not only solves the power supply problem, but also increases the engine thrust by about 8% and reduces fuel consumption by 12% due to the magnetohydrodynamic enhancement effect. Combined with the larger internal volume, the drone's range has exceeded an astonishing kilometers.

Of course, this requires reaching an altitude of more than 40km in the middle of the flight, and then descending slightly after reaching the mission area to ensure the reconnaissance effect.

But no matter what, this unexpected gain made the entire project team excited.

"Prepare for power-on testing!" The workshop director's shout interrupted their conversation.

Technicians began connecting the engine to an external power source.

A ramjet engine requires a certain initial velocity to work. It is impossible to perform a ground start after final assembly like the J-10 and J-20. It can only verify the functions of each subsystem and then take off for its first flight.

"The voltage in the magnetic fluid channel is stable..."

"Plasma generator is normal..."

"Power generation system self-test completed..."

"..."

The reports from each subsystem echoed in the workshop. Cheng Junhong and Chang Haonan stared at the monitoring screen, which displayed real-time data of key parts inside the engine.

"Power on all systems!" As the command was given, the numbers on the monitoring screen began to jump.

"Electromagnetic field generation was successful, mission payload awakening was successful..."

The technician reported excitedly.

There was warm applause in the workshop.

Cheng Junhong breathed a sigh of relief, and the pressure of the past four months was released at this moment.

"It will be shipped to Yanliang tomorrow." He stretched his stiff body and said, "The improved H-6 verification aircraft is ready. As long as the final ground inspection is completed, the flight test can begin."

The WZ-8 cannot fit into any bomber, not even the bomb bay of the Tu-160, so a specially modified H-6 capable of carrying an extra-large payload is needed to launch it.

Fortunately, this improvement does not affect the aircraft's ability to normally carry 4-6 cruise missiles under its wings, so the Gaofei Group simply came up with a new model, the H-6S, which eliminates the internal bomb bay, adds an aerial refueling pipe and a large belly hanger.

Chang Haonan nodded: "I just signed the test flight application. If nothing goes wrong, I should be able to be ranked first..."

……

The next morning, prototype No. 01, which had completed preliminary ground monitoring, was carefully disassembled into three parts, ready to be loaded onto two Y-9 transport aircraft that had been waiting for a long time.

"It's a bit difficult to load such a big item in a cargo hold that's just over 3.3 meters wide..." The Air Force officer in charge of the transport mission looked at the mechanic operating the internal crane and smacked his lips and said, "It would be great if we could have a 17-meter-wide cargo hold like the C-5.5."

Chang Haonan held his forehead helplessly, remembering that when he first saw the Y-9 a few years ago, several air force leaders who had only seen the Y-8 and C130 before wanted to stuff their eyeballs into the cargo hold of the aircraft.

Now even the deputy commander of the aviation corps is looked down upon.

Oh man.

Pooh!

Of course, the size of the Y-9 medium-sized transport aircraft is indeed not impressive enough.

As a 76-ton transport aircraft, the Il-200MF has a cargo hold width of less than 3.5 meters.

This would not have mattered 10 years ago, but the transport aviation force has experienced its share of hardship and is no longer satisfied with it. Therefore, after the orders for the two regiments at the beginning of the century, there were no further procurement plans.

"Don't worry, Gaofei's new transport aircraft has entered the final design stage." Chang Haonan shrugged: "Four AE1500-RR-168 engines, maximum take-off weight of 260 tons... The maximum load may be slightly lower than the C17, but the range is more than 20% longer."

At the strong request of Rolls-Royce, the AE1500 finally added an RR logo to the prefix of the sub-model (representing the specific thrust).

In exchange, the Trent NGx will also have the logos of Rolls-Royce and China Aero Engine Corporation printed on the sides of the engine.

"Really?" Xing Muchun, who had been silent the whole time, brightened his eyes. "When will the first flight be possible?"

"Lao Liang and Lao Tang are still reviewing the details," Chang Haonan explained. "After all, it is about 1.5 times larger than our previous largest aircraft, and it uses new technologies such as power increase... We must be cautious."

Now is the most critical stage for China's aviation industry to break through the blockade and cannot withstand too many twists and turns.

While everyone was busy installing the machine, an unexpected figure suddenly appeared on the tarmac -

"Boss Yang? Why are you here?"

Cheng Junhong walked forward in surprise.

Yang Wei's face was a little solemn: "I just came back from BJ, and I have some news to inform you."

He looked around and said, "The test flight plan was rejected by our superiors."

"what?"

Chang Haonan showed an expression of disbelief.

The test flight applications he signed were always just a formality. Not to mention being rejected, he never even gave any suggestions for revisions.

"It has nothing to do with the plane." Yang Wei explained: "It just so happens that the East Asian Free Trade Area negotiations are being held in Gaojing. Our superiors are taking confidentiality into consideration... and they also don't want the other two parties to think we are demonstrating, so they hope to postpone the test flight for a week."

Chang Haonan was puzzled: "Why did they choose Gaojing for the East Asian Free Trade Area negotiations?"

He was pessimistic about the prospects of this matter, but it would be good if it could consume the United States' energy and foreign resources.

But according to common sense, such negotiations should be held in coastal cities.

"How should I put it..." Yang Wei hesitated for a moment, "The most widely circulated saying is that ever since you negotiated that round of aviation industry cooperation with the EU in Gaojing, this place has had some special...meaning."

Cheng Junhong and Chang Haonan looked at each other and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.

"Only a week." Chang Haonan finally said, "It's a good time to make more thorough preparations..."