The History of the Air Force

Chapter 86 The History of the Air Force

The concept of airplanes or air force.

In fact, He Xiying and Zhou Chunsheng do not have much concrete understanding of this at present.

Because at that time in China, it was almost a blank slate.

It was in January 1949 that the Central Committee first proposed to "strive to form a usable air force".

Please note that it is the phrase "strive to form".

This means that with the current industrial base and material conditions of the new China, establishing a regular air force would be more difficult than climbing to the sky, or even completely impossible.

Fortunately, our Party's senior cadres are very clear about the strategic importance of air superiority in modern warfare.

On March 30, the Central Military Commission officially established the Aviation Bureau of the Central Military Commission.

That was after the surrender of Fu Zuoyi's group, when it served as a transitional institution to oversee all national aviation affairs.

But the key question is, how many planes does China have at this time?

More than five months later, in mid-August, the first flight squadron in the new China to truly undertake combat missions was established at Nanyuan Airport.

It wasn't until two months later that the Air Force Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was officially established.

On the very day of the founding ceremony, only four of the aircraft participating in the parade were actually able to take off with live ammunition to defend the country's airspace.

The rest were nine captured P-51 Mustang fighters used to make a show of force, serving as the lead aircraft.

Looking around, all you see are American, British, and Japanese products.

There wasn't a single aircraft of its own independent brand belonging to the new China; in fact, it was ridiculed by arrogant foreign media as a beggar's "hodgepodge of brands from all over the world."

It can also be said that the Air Force is the latest branch of the military to be established after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

So when Jiang Fan said he wanted to make flying things and could also do OEM manufacturing for his brother's factory...

He Xiying could not believe it at all.

In his view, airplanes can only be made with highly specialized skills and advanced equipment.

"Comrade Xiao Jiang, you can't joke like that!"

However, Jiang Fan shook his head, his face showing no sign of frivolity.

"Factory director, military matters are not to be taken lightly. I would never joke like that."

"The structure of a rotorcraft is even simpler than that of a tractor."

He Xiying frowned even more after hearing this: "If it's so simple, how come I've never heard of it before?"

"Because this thing really doesn't exist in our country," Jiang Fan explained.

"It was invented by foreigners. Later, the Germans and Japanese made experimental models, but it was not deployed to the main force on a large scale, so it was never seen on the domestic battlefield."

"They thought this thing was neither here nor there, with slow speed, small payload, and poor protection, and it wouldn't even rank in regular air combat."

"However, for us, who currently have almost no aviation industry foundation, it is the best choice to start from scratch."

"The requirements for building airplanes are not that high, and even the training period for pilots is extremely short."

"It only needs three things: a powerful enough engine, a rotor, and a frame welded from steel pipes."

Hearing this, Zhou Chunsheng finally couldn't help but interject, pointing out a fatal technical blind spot: "Engineer Jiang, this isn't right!"

"Without a complex reduction gear and drive shaft to transmit the engine's power to the rotor at the top, how would the rotor even turn?"

"How can lift be generated if it doesn't rotate? This doesn't seem to make sense from a mechanical principle standpoint!"

Jiang Fan smiled: "Engineer Zhou has hit the nail on the head; that's precisely the most ingenious aspect of a gyroplane."

"Gyroplanes rely on the airflow blowing in their direction as they move forward, which causes the rotor to rotate, thus generating lift."

"In other words, as long as the plane moves forward, the rotor will start spinning on its own."

"And what about the motivation to move forward?"

He Xiying pressed him for details, revealing that he was deeply fascinated by the ingenious mechanical principles and had begun to seriously consider its feasibility.

"It is driven directly by the engine via a propeller mounted at the rear of the fuselage."

"What about a decline?" Zhou Chunsheng pressed on relentlessly.

"It's even simpler now," Jiang Fan said, shrugging.

"By reducing the throttle, the aircraft slows down, the oncoming airflow to the rotor decreases, the lift naturally decreases, and the aircraft lands smoothly."

"Even if the engine suddenly shuts off in the air, the rotor will continue to rotate due to the relative airflow during descent, providing enough lift for the aircraft to glide and land."

"In the aviation industry, this is called autorotation glide, which is the safest position for a rotorcraft."

He Xiying and Zhou Chunsheng exchanged a glance.

One was a survivor of war, and the other was a professional mechanical expert; they understood all too well what this meant.

Yes, in a regular air battle for air superiority, this thing would definitely be a sitting duck for the enemy.

But what if it's in mountainous, jungle, or hilly areas where there's no air superiority?

It can do so many things.

Low-altitude reconnaissance of enemy positions, artillery fire correction, communication liaison, breaching blockade lines for casualty evacuation, and targeted supply delivery —

If you were to attach a few small-caliber aerial bombs to either side of this thing, or even just strap on a few of those "Dongfeng-01 gas cylinder mortars" made by Jiang Fan, and fire a shot at the enemy from a low altitude of a few hundred meters—

That makes it an outrageously low-cost ground attack aircraft.

He Xiying was completely intrigued and began to consider the feasibility: "Comrade Xiao Jiang, you said this thing has a simple structure, but how exactly is it simple?"

"If you were to subcontract the manufacturing to other factories, would you be confident in your decision?"

Jiang Fan immediately replied, "The fuselage: just weld a frame onto ordinary steel pipes."

"Rotor: Just cut two long strips of thin steel plate, add a main shaft in the middle, and install it on the rotor head at the top."

"The rotor head is a slightly more technically demanding part. It requires a freely tilting gimbal structure, which allows the pilot to control the rotor's tilt angle (forward, backward, left, and right) via the control stick, thereby achieving takeoff and landing."

"But this thing doesn't require precision machining; it can be made using bearings, steel plates, and steel cables."

"With Engineer Zhou here, it should be done in three days at most."

"As for the other subcontracting and outsourcing issues, it's even simpler —" Jiang Fan smiled confidently.

"I've done some research on which factories in China can currently undertake this kind of primary processing tasks."

"Factory 111 in Shenyang has just taken over some machine tools and a group of veteran fitters left behind by the Japanese. They are fully capable of mass-producing metal parts for rotor heads."

"The No. 120 Factory in Harbin repaired military aircraft for the Japanese army back then. Although they can't manufacture complete aircraft, their riveting and skinning techniques are absolutely top-notch in China. They are the most suitable to make the tail and rudder of the aircraft."

"And there are shipyards in Dalian, where the hull steel plates and pipes and the skilled welders are readily available. Making the fuselage steel frame is a piece of cake for them, a complete breeze."