Chapter 161 Let our planes no longer fear frost and snow (2-in-1) (page 12)

Half a month later.

Nanzheng, at the No. 182 Liulin Airport under the clear sky.

Two propeller planes, one large and one small, were parked at the end of the takeoff runway, waiting for weather conditions that met the test requirements to arrive.

They are naturally the Y-8F that has been modified and the MA-60 prototype that transferred from Haojing a week ago.

On their wings and tails, red, black and yellow ice thickness scales have been drawn——

In the case of insufficient accuracy of ice accumulation detectors, data can currently only be obtained through video and high-speed camera capture.

Under the leadership of Chang Haonan and Lin Guofan, Factory 182 and the School of Atmospheric Science of Jincheng University have achieved amazing work efficiency.

The former took only more than ten days to move the key area deicing system calculated by Chang Haonan from drawings to reality, while the latter has established special meteorological monitoring and control stations in Jincheng, Qinling and northern Xinjiang regions - based on the past Based on decades of experience, the above places are statistically the places with the highest ice accumulation frequency in the entire China.

However, after everyone waited for a few days, the weather was cloudless and beautiful throughout the northwest.

Under normal circumstances, this is the most suitable climatic condition for flying, but the natural icing test flight is to "face the difficulties" and create difficulties even if there are no difficulties. The current environment seems a bit embarrassing.

"Everyone, check the functionality of all anti-icing systems on the aircraft again!"

Liang Shaoxiu held a big loudspeaker in his hand and shouted to the staff on the other side of the plane.

"Mr. Liang, we have checked it three times today, especially the hot gas de-icing system. Frequent starting of the engine will also affect the life..."

The deputy next to him warned in a low voice with black lines all over his forehead.

Before conducting real natural icing tests, in accordance with the certification standards established by Chang Haonan, Lin Guofan and others, the aircraft first needs to verify the function, safety and performance characteristics of each anti-icing system in dry air.

But since it’s been sunny lately, this process has been done too many times.

"It's okay, I guarantee it's perfect. Just check it a few times and you'll be right."

In fact, Liang Shaoxiu himself knew that doing this would not have any practical effect, but if everyone was kept idle, it would lead to anxiety or laziness. It was better to find something to do and exercise instead.

"Chang Gong, in fact, based on our previous experience in icing test flights in North America, it is difficult to accurately analyze the characteristics of clouds in the airspace above 1000 meters by relying on ground weather stations alone. It is best to have a weather detection aircraft to search for Suitable airspace for testing.”

An engineer seconded from Institute 602 said next to Chang Haonan.

The latter rolled his eyes:

"The truth is this, but if you want to modify a weather detection aircraft, you need to pass the natural icing test first, and if you want to pass the natural icing test, you need a weather detection aircraft..."

The engineer scratched his head and said nothing more.

"Everything is difficult at the beginning..."

Chang Haonan changed his posture, put his hands in his sleeves, looked up at the sky at an angle of 45° and sighed.

At this time, a piece of English with a strong Italian accent came from the side:

"My friends, are you really kidding me when you conduct natural freezing experiments in a place that is 1500 kilometers away from the coastline and has no large water system?"

The speaker was a tall, thin Italian named Rossi Colombo, the head of the delegation sent by AgustaWestland to follow up on the airworthiness certification.

It's not surprising that he thinks so. The natural environment in southern Shaanxi and northwest China is indeed slightly different from the Great Lakes region in North America.

Seeing that someone was questioning his professional abilities, Lin Guofan, who was originally a soft-spoken person, immediately became furious:

"Of course, according to my research over the past ten years, from November to December every year, the frequency of ice accumulation in the airspace of the Qinling Mountains and northern Xinjiang is above 11%. Mr. Colombo, you must learn to be patient, be patient!"

Obviously, everyone was very anxious because they were unable to conduct experiments for many days in a row.

Seeing the two people who had become somewhat angry, Chang Haonan quickly reconciled in the middle:

"Professor Lin, don't be anxious. Everything will be clear when we find the freezing weather. Mr. Colombo is not a stubborn person. Look, he has already changed his clothes."

This sentence is said in English, so Colombo next to him can also understand it——

When he arrived in Nanzheng a few days ago, this guy wore a serious velvet suit and insisted that it was part of his professional image.

But within two days he was wearing a cotton-padded jacket with the aviation industry logo on it.

Now he is very skillful in imitating Chang Haonan and others in putting their hands together to keep warm.

Colombo looked down at the cotton clothes, pants and shoes he was wearing, opened his mouth and did not continue to say anything.

As the bickering between several people came to an end, the atmosphere around the runway became dull and boring again.

At this moment, a rustling sound suddenly came from the walkie-talkie placed on a table next to it, which immediately attracted the attention of almost everyone.

The signal transmission stability of this old-fashioned analog walkie-talkie is very poor. After being connected, you have to wait for a while before you can hear clearly what is being said on the other side.

“……秦岭气象站报告，在1200-1500m高度发现有可能满足条件的结冰云层正在形成，空域范围由如下五个坐标点构成：106.108E，32.473N、105.906E、32.459N……”

Lin Guofan grabbed the pen and paper on the table next to him, wrote down the most important data on it, and then quickly gave his judgment:

"The designated airspace range is about 1.2 square kilometers, but judging from the speed of cloud formation, the time window left for us is not very long, and it may only be enough for one test flight."

The best meteorological conditions for natural icing tests are "snowy". Therefore, if the clouds are too thick or the temperature is too low and it starts to snow, there will be no test flight conditions.

Everyone looked at each other, and finally turned their attention to Chang Haonan:

"Comrade Xiao Chang, you decide, should the Yun 8 go up first or the Xinzhou 60 go up first?"

"Since the airspace is large enough and the time is short, there is no need to prioritize. I think it is better to let the two aircraft fly together. This way, the possibility of successfully collecting data is greater."

The responsible comrade from the 603 Institute and Liang Shaoxiu from the 182 Factory looked at each other, and then nodded at the same time:

"Okay, let's take a test flight together!"

Lin Guofan next to him also raised his head at this time:

"I have heard from comrades who have been to the United States before that they will have random meteorological engineers there to make specific decisions based on the actual situation after the plane arrives in the predetermined airspace?"

The engineer from Institute 602 was stunned for a moment, then nodded:

"Yes, the flexibility and judgment accuracy of the ground monitoring mode are not enough. It would be much more efficient for meteorological engineers to follow the aircraft."

Having said this, he hesitated again:

"But to be honest, the FAA made this configuration based on their in-depth understanding of the meteorological conditions in the Great Lakes region and more than ten years of experience. Our natural icing test has just begun. In terms of safety..."