Chapter 1688: Let’s Become the World’s No. 1

a few days later.

Several unremarkable black cars drove smoothly into the gate of the Turbine Research Institute of the Aviation Power Group.

The car door opened, and Lv Chunyan, chief engineer of Sheng Aircraft Group's Project No. 50, got out first, followed by R&D director Peng Weijun and a dozen other core aerodynamic and flight control engineers.

In the small square at the entrance, Liu Yongquan and his men had been waiting for a long time.

"Old Liu!"

Lu Chunyan stepped forward quickly and shook hands with Liu Yongquan with considerable force.

"Your call was incredibly timely...less than a week in advance, and you started by saying 'this matter is of great importance'..."

His tone was half joking and half complaining:

"My schedule for the next two weeks, from ground testing to structural strength review, has been completely disrupted. I finally managed to squeeze out these two full days."

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Lu!" Liu Yongquan put on an apologetic smile and shook hands vigorously. "This matter is really sudden and of great significance. You must come in person."

As he led everyone into the research institute, he naturally changed the subject. "By the way, I remember at the last joint R&D meeting, you said that the ground testing of Project 50 was progressing smoothly and that the milestones were under control... How come it's only been a short while, and you're already so busy?"

"What do you think?" Lu Chunyan glanced at Liu Yongquan and snorted. "It's because the promised new generation of power hasn't arrived yet, so we have to use two improved turbofan 10G engines to test the feasibility of the aerodynamic augmentation system and the ejector vector propulsion nozzle..."

Faced with this suggestive answer, Liu Yongquan chuckled twice and didn't continue talking.

Seeing this, Lü Chunyan continued, "If the WS-25 fails to complete all key bench tests and produce a stable, reliable state suitable for aircraft verification before the end of the year... then we at Shengfei are already making contingency plans."

The smile on Liu Yongquan's face froze slightly: "Contingency plan?"

"Let the No. 01 prototype use two 10G turbofan engines for its maiden flight," Lü Chunyan explained. "The basic thrust should meet the safety margin for the maiden flight. It's just that the high-speed capability will be compromised. It's better than further delays!"

After he finished speaking, he stared at Liu Yongquan's expression.

The corners of Liu Yongquan's mouth twitched imperceptibly twice, as if he was trying hard to control some emotion, and finally turned into a slightly strange expression.

In fact, he was trying to suppress his laughter.

But from the other side, Peng Weijun thought that Liu Yongquan was embarrassed or offended by Lu Chunyan's bluntness and potential "downgrading" plan.

So he immediately stepped forward to smooth things over, speaking sincerely:

"Academician Liu, the pressure from users, especially the naval aviation, is simply too great... You know how important it is now. The military representatives are hanging around our institute almost every day, almost like Xianglin Sao, constantly asking about progress..."

This is true.

The combat capability of the J-15B/BS is indeed not inferior to that of the 'Super Hornet', and it even has advantages in many aspects.

However, the navy now has only two aircraft carriers, one of which uses a ski-jump takeoff mechanism, which restricts the number and deployment of carrier-based aircraft.

Moreover, although the F-35C has not yet fully achieved final operational capability (FOC), it is still a tangible threat.

However, to Peng Weijun's surprise, Liu Yongquan was not unhappy at all. Instead, he burst into a hearty laugh with a strong sense of confidence in his laughter.

"What's so good about testing the WS-10G..." The latter shook his head, looking at Lu Chunyan and Peng Weijun with a sharp gaze. "Since we've put so much effort into developing the world's first sixth-generation fighter, we must equip it with the first truly practical variable cycle engine. That's the pinnacle of achievement!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chunyan and Peng Weijun's eyes lit up at the same time.

The other party's statement clearly shows that he has some confidence.

Peng Weijun even subconsciously spoke first: "Academician Liu, from what you said... is the WS-25 a major breakthrough?"

Lu Chunyan calmed down a bit, and added as if he was worried that his dream would be shattered:

"If the dual-cycle mode switch is too difficult, we can follow the transition plan we discussed earlier and first deliver a few batches of the single-cycle version of the WS-25... Regardless of whether it's single-cycle or dual-cycle, as long as the WS-25 can be produced, it will be the world's number one!"

At this time, everyone had arrived in front of Building No. 7 of the test center, which had been put into use not long ago.

Liu Yongquan didn't answer their questions directly. Instead, he extended his hand and gestured "please." "Boss Lu, Director Peng, and all the comrades from Shengfei, the reason I've invited you all here today is to invite you to witness a historic moment together..."

With mixed feelings, the group followed him into the testing center.

After going through strict access control and changing procedures, they once again entered the familiar SB503 high-altitude simulation test bench control room protected by heavy armor.

In the surveillance footage, the huge test bench glows with a cold, hard metallic luster under the light.

Multiple screens on the wall have lit up, clearly showing the three-dimensional cross-sectional structure diagram of the engine to be tested, the No. 25 prototype of the WS-03, with each key subsystem marked in a different color.

Lu Chunyan walked straight to the main control console, leaned forward slightly, and stuck his head out to carefully observe the complex structural diagram.

After more than half a minute, he turned around and looked at Liu Yongquan with a bit of confusion on his face:

"Old Liu, this structural diagram... doesn't seem to be fundamentally different from the initial design of Unit 03 that I saw earlier?"

"Doesn't the core mode conversion logic still rely on the mode selector valve driving the variable geometry diverter ring to achieve bypass ratio changes and mode switching?"

Then, without waiting for Liu Yongquan's answer, he posed a more crucial question: "Or... have you really completely solved the mode switching stability issue that has plagued us for months simply by optimizing the control logic?"

Lu Chunyan didn't quite believe this possibility.

Algorithms are important, but they are by no means omnipotent.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yongquan smiled and waved his hand, with an expression that said, "I knew you would ask this."

"Of course, software optimization alone cannot solve the fundamental hardware matching problem." He walked to the main screen and pointed to the annular, precisely structured component located between the fan outlet and the high-pressure compressor inlet - the variable geometry splitter ring.

"In fact, we have found the root cause of the previous mode conversion failure - the structural design of the diverter ring itself has inherent deficiencies under extreme flow state conversion, and cannot effectively suppress airflow separation and blockage at a specific opening."

He paused, his eyes sweeping over Lu Chunyan and all the Shengfei engineers who were listening intently:

"So, under the direct guidance and leadership of Academician Chang Haonan, we redesigned the variable geometry diverter ring. This is a structural and fundamental optimization!"

Lu Chunyan's eyes widened instantly, and he suddenly moved closer to the screen, almost touching his face to it.

Although what was shown above was only a highly simplified engineering view, and it was impossible to see the subtle changes in the internal structure from a static diagram, he still stared at the diversion ring structure diagram circled by the red dot for a long time.

After a long while, he took a deep breath. "Old Liu, it's not that I don't believe in Academician Chang's ability, but... just by modifying the design of this one component, can we completely solve the systemic problem of the entire mode conversion? This... this sounds a bit..."

Before this, Lu Chunyan had even thought of the worst possible scenario - to overturn the current plan for the WS-25 and start over.

This situation is not uncommon for an aerospace engineer his age early in his career.

Or even more frequently.

Things didn't get better until the WS-10 project was approved for the second time.

"Is it a bit too unbelievable?" Liu Yongquan finished the second half of his sentence for him, his smile deepening. "Old Lu, the proposal provided by Academician Chang this time is difficult to fully describe in words..."

After saying that, he raised his finger and pointed at the SB503 test bench standing quietly on the surveillance screen, and the No. 03 WS-25 prototype installed on it:

"So, whether it's a mule or a horse, we'll find out after we take it out for a walk..."