: Practicing flying a plane?

Chapter 85: Practicing flying a plane?

He Xiying's consideration was certainly correct.

As the head of the largest steel plant in New China, he bore a heavy responsibility, and cost control was something he had to worry about.

However, he overlooked a core issue.

Faced with the factory manager's concerns, Jiang Fan smiled politely and said, "Factory manager, I was just about to tell you about this."

"Do we have cameras in our factory?"

He Xiying was taken aback: I said city gate tower, you asked about hip joint?

However, after the previous "industrial miracles," he now has unconditional trust in Wu Jiangfan.

Since this kid asked that question, he must have his reasons.

Without waiting for Jiang Fan's reply, he immediately ordered someone to go to the small white building to retrieve it, and then turned around to ask, "Yes, the propaganda department has some confiscated Zeiss cameras, which they usually use to take photos of factory activities."

"Do you want to take a picture or what?"

It's still Zeiss?

Jiang Fan thought that at most, a Kodak or something like that would be good enough, or one of those wooden outdoor tripod cameras.

With a Zeiss lens from Germany, the image quality is absolutely guaranteed.

"Factory manager, this is what I'm thinking: now that we've built this tractor, it's not enough to just leave it in the factory for fun."

"I want to take pictures of this thing, add technical specifications and instructions, and make a product catalog so I can show it to Mr. Guilliman's people when I ship it out."

"Think about it, Mr. Guilliman is in international business, so he must have a lot of channels. As long as he takes a liking to our products, he can show these photos to the other partners, and then we'll have a place to sell our tractors."

"As for the cost issue you mentioned, that's even less of a problem."

Hearing this, He Xiying's confusion deepened.

At this moment, Jiang Fan nodded to Zhou Chunsheng, who was wiping the child's hands, signaling him to come and give the factory director a lesson.

Zhou Chunsheng immediately understood and explained, "Factory manager, what Engineer Jiang said is true."

"Both of these things were modified from captured and scrapped Japanese tanks, so the cost of steel was basically zero."

"The only expense was the steel plates and engine that we welded ourselves."

"To put it bluntly, apart from labor and necessary losses, the cost of this thing is frighteningly low so far."

With the endorsement of Zhou Chunsheng, a professional, He Xiying finally understood the crux of the cost issue.

But then, the old cadre's bewilderment about the capitalist market resurfaced: "So how do you plan to sell this? Will foreigners really like it?"

"What if they don't like it? Then we're completely doomed!"

These are completely unnecessary worries!

As long as this "agricultural machinery" enters the international black market with its bulletproof armor, the real buyers will not be those honest farmers who toil in the fields.

This thing must be a favorite of warlords, desert tycoons, and local armed forces.

With just a few weapons, like mounting a heavy machine gun on the "observation platform flange" on top, or welding a recoilless rifle onto it, it would easily become an armored personnel carrier and a man-portable assault gun capable of withstanding direct fire from small arms.

Aside from being a bit useless, it's practically a miracle product.

Moreover, with Guilliman's keen eye as a top-tier arms dealer, he could definitely sense the war potential of this thing with just one glance at a photo.

Of course, relying solely on such speculation about the international arms market would certainly not be enough to completely convince the relatively conservative old factory director in front of him.

Therefore, Jiang Fan put it in a simpler way: "Factory director, if you're going to calculate the cost based on the price of a brand new military armored vehicle, then of course it's ridiculously expensive."

"But we're making use of waste; it's a completely different concept."

"As far as I know, the ex-factory price of a small tracked tractor on the international market is about seven or eight hundred US dollars, which is about two hundred pounds."

"We only need to be 10% or 20% cheaper than their products to be competitive."

"As the saying goes, good wine needs no bush, and the same principle applies to tractors."

"It's easy to use, durable, and cheap. Only a fool wouldn't want to buy it."

"As for whether you like it or not, that goes without saying."

"Let me give you an example. If you, factory manager, had money right now, and you had a scrapped Sherman truck that you could convert into a tractor, what would you think?"

"If it were me, I would definitely buy it and see how it was modified. It would be a fool not to take advantage of such a bargain."

"Hahaha~~"

He Xiying was completely persuaded by Jiang Fan's simple and unadorned analogy. She put herself in the shoes of Sherman and laughed along, pointing at Jiang Fan and saying, "You little rascal, your head is full of twisted logic, but it actually makes a lot of sense."

"Okay, we'll do it your way."

"When the camera arrives, you and Engineer Zhou can take the photos yourself and make sure they look beautiful. Also, make sure your instruction manual is written out clearly."

"As for our personal version, you should first bring out a few apprentices and teach them how to drive it and how to maintain it."

"While you're at it, find a test field, run around it a few times, plant some seasonal crops, record the data, and then you can get away from it."

After explaining these things, He Xiying reported on the progress: "In addition, the large order of one thousand pieces is almost completed, and at the latest, they will all be loaded onto trucks and sent to Lushun Port the day after tomorrow."

"Once your photos are developed, prepare the product manual as well, and then hand it over to the contact person over there."

""

Jiang Fan's eyes lit up: "So fast?"

"What's the rush! So many days have passed, everyone's been working in three shifts, it's unacceptable to be slower than this."

After hearing what He Xiying said, Jiang Fan agreed.

After all, the tractors have already been built, so the progress on simply welding sheet metal pipes must be about the same.

It seems I need to hurry up with writing this instruction manual.

While pondering, He Xiying prepared to leave, but after taking only two steps, he stopped.

His face showed a rare look of hesitation, as if he was considering whether or not to speak.

Finally, he turned around, looked at Jiang Fan, and said earnestly, "Comrade Jiang, you've made our factory's machinery manufacturing a great success these past few days. This should be a good thing."

"However... this is Anshan Iron and Steel after all, and the orders from above are still to produce steel."

At this point, seemingly afraid of dampening Jiang Fan's enthusiasm, he immediately put on a gentle smile: "I still hope that, as the first mega-scale heavy industrial base in New China to recover its vitality, we can play a leading role as the 'eldest son' during this special period."

"Currently, in Shenyang and Harbin, the machinery factories and arsenals that were taken over from the Japanese are gradually resuming production."

"But they lack mature design drawings and feasible projects."

"I hope that if you have any other good ideas that are simpler in structure and easier to mass-produce, you can also involve them in them."

"We provide sample drawings and let them do the contract manufacturing, so that we can work together with our brother factories to develop well and revitalize the heavy industry base of the entire Northeast as soon as possible."

Seeing He Xiying's hesitant expression, Jiang Fan was immediately overjoyed!

He was just worried about not having a good opportunity to speak up, and now the opportunity has come!

"Factory manager, I completely understand what you mean."

"Since we've come this far, I do have a simple idea: we could do OEM manufacturing for our brother factories."

Ok?

Zhou Chunsheng, who was stroking the tractor armor like he was stroking his wife, immediately perked up his ears and turned to stare at Jiang Fan.

He Xiying, who had just finished giving her instructions and was about to leave, paused again upon hearing this.

His original intention was to take this opportunity to let Jiang Fan research new steel grades so that he could supply raw materials to various factories.

Why is it that, following the trend, a new product suddenly appears?!

You should know that the previous times he said "I have something", he either produced a powerful gas cylinder mortar, or a shovel that could kill and rob, and in the end he even directly made a heavy tank tractor by hand!

Who knows what kind of junk it will be this time?

At this moment, He Xiying and He Zhouchunsheng were in a surprisingly similar state of mind: both nervous and expectant.

He Xiying then gave a wry smile and said half-jokingly, "Comrade Xiao Jiang, you always give us a surprise every time you open your mouth."

"So, tell me, what good stuff is it this time?"

Jiang Fan cleared his throat: "Factory manager, I just feel that since we already have these ground-based vehicles, in order to achieve air-ground synergy..."

"I think we should also study things that fly in the sky in advance."

95

"I happen to know the design principles of an extremely simple low-altitude aircraft."

"I call it a rotorcraft."

"This thing is extremely simple in construction, which perfectly matches what you said, factory manager. Give it to all the brothers in the factory to practice on."

silence...

In such a large venue, why does He Xiying feel like she can't hear anything?

He stared blankly, a look of disbelief on his face. Like a wooden figure, he turned his neck and exchanged a glance with Zhou Chunsheng, who was equally dumbfounded.

He paused for several seconds before asking, "...You mean...we're having our brother factory make airplanes for practice?"

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