Chapter 597 Test Flight F14

At the same time, Factory 112, also in Shengjing, overhauled and upgraded its workshop.

In fact, just a month and a half ago, this factory, which was recorded as 70# in the official archives, did not have an exclusive name——

Generally speaking, employees in the factory directly call it the assembly workshop.

42 years ago, China's first self-produced jet aircraft "Zhong 0101" rolled off the assembly line here.

After that, J-6, J-7, and J-8 series aircraft were also assembled here.

However, as the last two J-8Ds in the order two years ago were delivered to the troops, the 70# factory was still unable to keep up with the pace of the new era.

Because the supporting facilities are really old, and the 36-meter span that looked like a giant back then is no longer enough to handle the increasingly complex assembly process, the new J-8C and J-11 aircraft have been produced in three recent years. Final assembly was carried out in the newly built factory building.

Shengfei Group also planned to remove it from the final assembly workshop sequence at the beginning of the year.

However, the historical significance of factory building #70 is really special, and it cannot be demolished casually.

So its use after the production mission is over has always been unresolved.

The leaders of the group even planned to convert it into an aviation industry-themed museum, but in the end they gave up because it was located in the middle of the factory and could not be opened to the public.

It wasn't until a few days ago that He Ming finally made a plan when he looked at the F14s parked in the corner and had been torn into pieces.

He feels that with the gradual extension of the service life of future fighter jets and the continuous development of aviation technology, after flying like this for more than ten or twenty years, there will probably be more and more cases where new technologies will be used to extend the life of the aircraft.

Since the individual conditions of each aircraft are different after long-term use, this kind of work cannot use the pulse production model, so the man-hours alone are not necessarily much less than building a new aircraft.

It would be a bit wasteful to occupy the production and assembly workshop.

So, without rest, He Ming simply reported to the group's board of directors and designated factory #70 as a workshop for overhaul and upgrade of old models.

Today is a "good start" here.

As the door of the workshop was slowly raised, a huge fighter jet painted in blue camouflage paint was pulled by a trailer and slowly came to the apron area outside the workshop.

Naturally, it was one of the batch of F14s sent by the Persians.

It was pulled out at this time because it had completed overhaul, life extension and modernization upgrades, and was ready for test flight as a new model prototype.

Although the aircraft is not a Chinese aircraft, since it was modified in China, it must abide by the rules here.

Therefore, the big red flower tied to the nose is definitely indispensable.

In fact, the aircraft had been renovated a few days ago and had even undergone a round of basic functional inspections.

Now it's just a "make-up" ritual.

Compared with the batch of F4s upgraded in Persia, the upgrades of these F14s are more thorough. Except for some core structural parts, they are basically equivalent to being reborn into a new aircraft.

Therefore, the Persians simply gave this aircraft a brand new code name, F14IC.

In fact, it only took less than two months from the time these aircraft were delivered to the start of construction until they were fully completed.

For a brand new model that has never been touched before, under normal circumstances, it should not be possible to complete it and roll off the assembly line so quickly.

However, the current situation of this business is rather special.

Although Persia does not have the ability to modify the F14 alone, they have indeed put in a lot of effort in the past to ensure the combat effectiveness of these aces.

Even in the early 90s, an attempt was made with the Russians to let the F14 launch Russian-made weapons such as the R27.

Although these efforts were not implemented in batches in the end, the relevant information was relatively well prepared and provided to China earlier than the first batch of aircraft.

This allows Factory 112 to save most of the preparation work before modification, and can start work quickly after getting the aircraft.

In addition, the modification equipment is all mature models. As an aircraft from the 70s, the body materials are not too complicated, so it can achieve such high efficiency.

……

The brief celebration ceremony attended by representatives of both countries soon ended.

Immediately afterwards, the two test pilots Fu Guoxiang and Zhao Mengtian climbed into the front and rear cockpits of the aircraft respectively. Several electrical auxiliary vehicles also quickly came from different directions. The ground staff were slightly unfamiliar but still moved the cables coherently. and the inflatable tubes were connected to the aircraft respectively, and then various inspections before takeoff began.

For Fu Guoxiang, who is sitting in the front seat and responsible for the main flight mission, this is definitely a quite novel experience.

Although he has participated in test flight missions of more than a dozen different aircraft types in the past, he has never been exposed to an American aircraft with a variable sweep wing.

Strictly speaking, Zhao Mengtian in the back seat was not a test pilot, but a Blue Army brigade pilot who was temporarily seconded from the Dingxin training base in order to familiarize himself with the F14 in advance.

While the ground crew was busy, Fu Guoxiang lowered his head and checked the layout of the instruments and screens in front of him again.

Of course, as an experienced test pilot, he couldn't just improvise.

A week before that, Fu Guoxiang had printed out the appearance of the F14 cockpit in advance and posted it on the wall of his dormitory, practicing whenever he had time.

But for test flight missions, no matter how cautious you are, you can never be too cautious.

In particular, some instrument settings of American aircraft are opposite to those of Chinese/Soviet (Russian) aircraft. If you are not skilled enough, it is easy to make mistakes in the sky, causing big problems.

"Attention test pilots, performing maneuver checks."

The voice of the old ground crew monitor came over Fu Guoxiang's radio.

"Rudder, left, right, okay."

"Ailerons, counterclockwise, clockwise, okay."

"..."

The so-called movement check is to move the operating surfaces of the main wing horizontal tail and vertical tail, as well as the pylons and tail nozzles before taking off to see if they correspond to the operational feedback.

To avoid wrong wiring, the execution action will be opposite to the input signal.

This process is the first thing that aviation school students learn after getting on the plane. It can be said that every pilot is familiar with it.

But today is different than before.

"Uh...the wing sweep angle...is adjusted to the minimum."

Obviously, it was the first time for the ground crew to study this program and they were not very proficient.

The F14's swept wing changes are linked to the flight control computer, but the pilot can still control them independently if he wants.

Fu Guoxiang followed the instructions and pulled the sweep-wing control lever back hard.

This overhaul and upgrade process did not make any changes to the F14's wing action system and flight control system.

First, they are afraid that the construction period will be too long. Second, the Persian Air Force uses the F14 close to interceptors. In fact, it rarely adjusts the swept wing angle frequently, so the remaining life of this part is also relatively long.

Even so, after all, the aircraft was completely dismantled and reassembled, so it still had to be inspected.

Although he should focus all his energy on the front at this time, he really couldn't control his curiosity. He turned his head slightly and looked at the wings that were extending outward according to the movements of his hands.

"It's amazing..."

Fu Guoxiang thought so.

It is true that from an aviation technology perspective, variable-sweep wing technology would have lagged behind in 1998.

But technology is technology, and the complex and sophisticated mechanical beauty contained in this structure is another matter.

Even Fu Guoxiang was in a trance for a while.

The reaction from the ground crew outside was similar.

Although I had received training before, seeing this huge wing spread out like the wings of a bird of prey was still a scene with enough impact.

After a period of time that was obviously longer than before, Fu Guoxiang heard the following operation instruction:

"Add the wing sweep angle back to maximum."

With the hum of the hydraulic system working, the wings returned to the retracted state. At this time, the aircraft returned to a layout similar to a tailless delta wing.

"I have to say that it is indeed... awesome that Americans could create such a thing in the 70s."

In the tower command center in the distance, He Ming put down the telescope in his hand and uttered a not very elegant word.

Of course, the translator next to him polished it a little when paraphrasing it.

"That's why we have kept these Tomcats as our main models until today, and even spent a lot of money to upgrade them."

The Persian general next to him replied, but did not put down his telescope.

After all, this is their plane, so they must be more attentive.

While the two were talking, the F14 on the tarmac had already started its engine.

Turbofan 9A uses an ejection nozzle with a relatively simple structure, so there is no need to additionally check the adjustment status of the tail nozzle.

"Unit 1401, prepare to begin taxiing."

Fu Guoxiang's voice sounded on the tower radio.

At the same time, ground crews in the distance have begun to remove the pipes and cables connected to the aircraft.

"Roger, taxi cleared."

Following the commander's order, the huge fighter jet in the distance slightly raised its nose and began to move towards the takeoff runway.