The Military-industrial Scientific Research System of the Academic Master Chapter 514

Chapter 514 A helicopter that's too quiet?

While Chang Haonan was intensively conducting technical tests on the turbofan 9A, other units within the aviation industry system were naturally not idle either.

Especially Bingcheng Aircraft Industry Group.

Since the core power and transmission mechanisms of the helicopter have been improved before, the development of the Z-9 assault transport type was much smoother than initially expected.

Liu Hongbo, who traveled between the two places to "supervise the war" in person, first determined the noise calculation method of flow field-sound field with Chang Haonan. He seemed to have an idea in this aspect, and soon began to take charge of his own business.

It took less than three months of work to renovate the semi-finished aircraft, which was about 60% completed, and became the first prototype of the Zhi-9WY (armed-transport) aircraft.

The only problem is the test flight.

Originally, China's helicopter test flight process was relatively chaotic.

Due to the huge differences in engineering principles and research and development methods between fixed-wing and helicopters, generally speaking, the proportion of tasks undertaken by test flight bases during helicopter test flights is relatively low.

Most of the test flight work will be done locally at the manufacturer.

Even the specific subjects of each OEM are not exactly the same.

It can be seen from almost the whole city.

In short, generally speaking, helicopters only choose some extreme climates according to actual needs in the middle and later stages of test flights to complete tests in special environments such as alpine/plateau/salt spray.

When they chose to pack an An-124, they considered that this way of appearance would be very eye-catching.

The goods shipped back from China are regarded as flight time subsidies for the crew.

As Chang Haonan becomes more and more deeply involved in the research and development of aviation industry projects, the industry's understanding of "work efficiency" has also undergone earth-shaking changes.

Talk about and laugh at other small planes.jpg

Hence, during the process of unloading the prototype from the warehouse, it was already watched intensively by curious colleagues and wall-crawlers.

If the pilot's proficiency is low, it will be difficult to save the situation once some emergencies occur.

The first flight took place the next morning.

Especially compared with several Y-5, Boeing 737, Y-7, M60 and JH-7A prototypes parked near the runway, this is especially obvious.

However, the situation of Zhi 9WY is rather special.

Among other things, the low-noise propeller designed by Liu Hongbo was calculated based on the sound field coupling with the front fuselage and the shape of the short wing. Copying a single blade may even have the opposite effect...

But now, this can only be regarded as minor repairs based on the existing mature design. Everyone subconsciously feels that it should have been completed in two or three years.

Although the trend of restructuring the national military standards set off by Chang Haonan has had little impact on the helicopter industry, even if there are no relevant standards, the first flight in the extremely cold climate of minus 30 degrees Celsius is obviously dancing on the coffin board of aviation safety regulations.

Furthermore, the operational feedback presented by the helicopter at low temperatures is also very different from normal conditions.

The prototype is a dolphin sold almost all over the world by the French. You can get up close and personal with it for hundreds or thousands of francs in Europe.

This temperature is a test for the mechanical parameters of the engine, especially the turboshaft engine, the stability of fuel and oil delivery, and even the pilot himself—

However, Bingcheng Industrial Group is obviously not willing to postpone the first flight to April or May.

In the end, Bingcheng Industrial Group worked hard and chartered an An-124 from the VolgDnepr Company, including the prototype with the main rotor removed, all related auxiliary equipment that needed to be tested, and the personnel involved in the test flight mission. Pulled in Ho Kyung.

Although some key improvements such as the transmission system, engine, and rotor are independent intellectual property rights, you can't just take a look at them. Even if you are given a measuring tape to measure, you cannot simply copy them away.

Especially during take-off and landing where the risk factor is the highest.

Most people, even those who are involved in aviation, have never seen such a big thing with a take-off weight of 400 tons.

That is equivalent to wasting three or four months.

An extremely large An-124 landed in Haojing, and the noise was naturally not small.

After all, as the basic type of Zhi 9WY for export, there is not much need for confidentiality.

Such a big plane has come and gone, so we can't go back empty.

The cabin of a helicopter is only as airtight as a car, not as good as a fixed wing.

It just requires that onlookers be excluded from the airport area to avoid causing any security problems.

Guo Jingshan and Liu Hongbo don't care.

Due to the limitations of objective conditions, it is normal to wait for several months.

In this case, delaying for several months would be a heinous crime.

Fortunately, the flying environment of helicopters is relatively simple after all, so it has not been a big problem over the years.

Besides, these days, wall-crawlers fall into a gray category, and even if they catch the current situation, it's not easy to deal with them.

Not to mention internal units such as the Flight Test Institute or the Haofei Group.

At that time, the temperature in Ice City was almost minus 30℃.

Mainly, it only took half an afternoon to assemble and inspect the helicopter, but it took nearly ten hours to refill and secure the An-124 pallet.

It came off the production line in mid-January.

As a result, the entire test flight process of this aircraft born in Ice City will be completed in a foreign land 2,000 kilometers away.

In the past, the development cycle for a “major revision” model like the Zhi 9WY was basically calculated in units of 10 years.

After completing the unloading, Guo Jingshan directed half of the people accompanying him to quickly install the rotors on the aircraft in preparation for a test flight, while the other half began to carry various daily necessities into the An-124 cabin.

By the time the latter refilled the fuel tank and took off, it was already early the next morning...

“This plane is really big...”

Although Guo Jingshan is not engaged in fixed-wing, he still knows the size of the aircraft.

He has seen a Boeing 747 with a takeoff weight of about 370 tons before, but the shock it brought was far less obvious than this An-124. “What a pity, we can't make new ones now…”

Yi Yuanhe, chief engineer of Institute 603, also stood nearby and said as he watched An 124 gradually climb up and disappear into the horizon.

There was a little regret in his tone.

Liu Hongbo has been involved in the research and development of MA60 for a long time, and he and Yi Yuanhe have met frequently.

Of course, the former could not even be counted as a formal member of the project team, but could only be counted as the person in charge of Party B of the outsourcing team.

It's just that now Liu Hongbo, as the representative of the Torch Group or Chang Haonan, has some differences in status.

So Yi Yuanhe came specially to meet him.

Also find a reasonable reason to take a close look at the An-124.

After the airport returned to its former cleanliness, members of the Ice City team acted quickly to make various technical preparations before the first flight.

Following Guo Jingshan's command over the intercom, Zhi 9WY's main rotor finally started to rotate slowly.

Hand test, they have already done it in Ice City.

So this time, after confirming that there are no problems with the engine and transmission system, we took off directly!

Meanwhile, outside the airport fence.

Rosie Colombo was wearing a military cotton hat and a coat printed with the aviation industry logo. He put his hands in his sleeves and looked at the helicopter rising not far away.

As the manager of the International Business Cooperation Department of Finmeccanica Group, he basically flies to Haojing every month.

On the one hand, it is to confirm the progress of the M60 project, and on the other hand, it is also to see if there are any other opportunities.

Colombo was able to jump several levels from the subsidiary Agusta to become the second-level department manager of the head office. Firstly, the cooperation with MA60 was relatively successful. Secondly, he acted as a middleman in the cooperation between China and Europe at the beginning of last year.

Of course, what played a decisive role was that in the process of the latter incident, by chance, he found a wife who held a key position in the European Aviation Safety Agency (JAA)...

If there is someone in the court who is easy to do things, his status will naturally rise with the tide.

However, his qualifications and connections are very shallow after all, and he urgently needs some close friends to gain a foothold among the company's senior management.

Standing next to Colombo was his deputy Daniel Lezzo, who was visiting China for the first time.

Just like Colombo back then, he was wearing a suit jacket and shivering in the wind.

Although Haojing is not as good as the Ice City, it is still unbearable for Italians on the Mediterranean coast.

In order to divert attention, he had no choice but to ask the leader next to him:

“This helicopter is like the French Dolphin?”

“Judging from the layout of the power cabin and the tail rotor, it should be an improved version of the Dolphin.”

Colombo was once in charge of helicopters, so he naturally had much better judgment than the deputy next to him.

What's more, Eurocopter is still the main competitor of his old club:

“I was thinking maybe they need a better helicopter?”

“An armed helicopter?”

Lezzo was promoted from the shipbuilding business department. Only short wings can be seen on both sides of the aircraft.

“I haven't thought about this yet…”

AgustaWestland's main products are the 3-ton A109 and the 15-ton EH101, as well as the A129 armed helicopter.

But what Colombo needs is not as simple as simply selling a few planes.

While the two of them were talking, the helicopter had been hovering steadily in mid-air for a while, and then began to fly levelly.

The helicopter's first flight is destined not to be too high.

At a height of tens of meters, it is enough to fly around the airport.

Hence, they quickly passed over the heads of Colombo and the others.

“Manager, the plane just flew over.”

Lezzo patted the leader who was still bowing his head in thought, and pointed to the sky.

"oh…"

Colombo was still immersed in thinking, but nodded subconsciously.

But it soon became apparent that something was not quite right.

"ah?"

He looked up at the sky.

As expected, the small helicopter could only see a shadow.

“Did it just fly over our heads?”

He turned his head and looked at Leizzo beside him.

“Yeah, it should be flying around the field, right?”

The latter just thought that the other party was in a daze and answered casually.

Colombo's eyes suddenly opened wide.

As a 4-ton helicopter, the improved model of the Dolphin just now seems to be too quiet...

(End of this chapter)

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