Chapter 1259
allows our aviation industry to see the future on tiptoe.
"The newspaper at Xiaomei's house published news of President Kenneth and Marilyn Monroe's secret date, and it was even a nighttime meeting!"
And the details, the way it's done, President Kenneth went overboard.
"This news is so exciting and amazing! Patriotic brother, I'll send the newspaper to the mainland for you in a bit."
The next morning, Li Aiguo arrived at his studio early and received a call from Yang Jizong.
Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo felt that the day when President Ken would have a wildly imaginative idea was not far off.
Xiao Mei's family is very wealthy and powerful, which is common knowledge in high society, but it has never been exposed.
Even if reporters manage to capture evidence, the newspapers won't dare publish it and will issue a gag order.
The fact that this news is being published in the newspapers clearly indicates that someone has already started taking action.
Once violence begins, there's no reason for it to end easily; bloodshed is inevitable.
Just like the Aibo Island incident in later years, it implicated a large number of big shots in Xiaomei's family, all of whom usually pretended to be righteous and gentlemanly. Tsk tsk.
"Our Red Star Supercar Club has doubled in size again, and some members have suggested organizing a large gathering. I plan to go to John Bull's place next month to make some preparations." This was Yang Jizong's real purpose for making the call; he was seeking Li Aiguo's opinion.
“Of course, the stronger the club becomes, the more beneficial it will be for Hextech,” Li Aiguo replied without hesitation.
After hanging up the phone, Li Aiguo took out the documents he had prepared the night before from his canvas bag.
Not long after, Chief Engineer Liu and several aviation experts knocked on the door and came in.
"Continuous recirculation transonic wind tunnel?" Chief Engineer Liu was instantly stunned when he saw the words on the cover of the material.
"This is just an idea of mine. Whether it will succeed or not is still uncertain, and it's just a guess," Li Aiguo said to Chief Engineer Liu.
As a core piece of equipment for testing spacecraft, wind tunnels have always been a goal pursued by aerospace engineers, and have been continuously iterated and updated since their inception.
Low-speed wind tunnel, subsonic and transonic wind tunnel, supersonic wind tunnel, hypersonic wind tunnel, and ultra-high-speed replica wind tunnel. With each iteration, the performance has increased significantly.
Continuous recirculation transonic wind tunnels are a subtype of hypersonic wind tunnels.
Its performance parameters are comparable to the AEDC 16-foot transonic wind tunnel of the United States in later generations, and are similar to our own FL-2 transonic wind tunnel.
Currently in China, the FL-1 wind tunnel, which will be used to test the J-7 and J-8 wind tunnels, is a low-speed wind tunnel.
The JF-8 shock tunnel, which is still in the planning stage, is a supersonic wind tunnel.
The most advanced supersonic wind tunnel currently used by Xiaomei's family, which is also NASA's core ultrasonic experimental platform, is the Lewis 10×10-foot supersonic wind tunnel, but it is only a subsonic and transonic wind tunnel.
The Russians have a similar full-size low-speed wind tunnel for the T-101.
Li Aiguo's wind tunnel project skipped several levels.
You can imagine how shocked Chief Engineer Liu must be right now.
"Patriotism, you're not kidding me, are you?" If it were anyone else who presented such information, Chief Engineer Liu would probably have already gotten up and left.
"Take a look first." Li Aiguo pointed to the materials on the table, then lit a cigarette and slowly smoked it.
Chief Engineer Liu quickly grabbed the documents and eagerly began to peruse them. "A continuous recirculation transonic wind tunnel, comprising a high-curvature recirculation section, four corner guide vanes, an energy recovery and diffusion section..."
As an aviation expert who had worked extensively on the development of the FL-1 wind tunnel, Chief Engineer Liu immediately recognized the foresight and feasibility of this plan.
"Continuous runtime?"
"As long as the power supply can handle it, you can run it for as long as you want. However, considering the heat exchange efficiency of the cooling system, it is recommended that each run not exceed 4 hours."
"Yes, that means we can do a full flight envelope test now, which is more than enough."
The performance of this type of continuous wind tunnel is usually determined by two main aspects.
One is flow field stability, which is the key to the accuracy of actual measurement data.
Another factor is the runtime, which determines whether or not transient aerodynamic phenomena can be captured.
Therefore, many wind tunnels will have two values when labeling their capabilities, such as 30 seconds or continuous.
The stronger the wind tunnel's continuous operation capability, the more accurate the data obtained from the test.
This is one of the reasons why Li Aiguo went to great lengths to build a continuous recirculation transonic wind tunnel.
Chief Engineer Liu had already finished reviewing the entire document and said with a smile, "When it comes to running time, flow field quality, and Mach number coverage, there really isn't a better solution than this."
Furthermore, considering the temperature control requirements, this wind tunnel does not require a large liquid nitrogen system.
Li Aiguo nodded. "Definitely. You wouldn't find one even decades from now, let alone now. This is a behemoth that directly rivals the later FL-2."
However, it's not without its drawbacks. First, it's expensive, and then...
"However, the requirements for site selection are quite stringent, and the energy consumption is much higher than that of conventional wind tunnels."
"It's okay, it's okay if this thing is a bit big. As for the electricity consumption problem, we can overcome it with a little effort."
Chief Engineer Liu nodded, beaming with joy. Judging from Aiguo's expression, this thing was theoretically sound, and it seemed that a major weakness in our aviation industry could be addressed.
"So what's next?"
Li Aiguo thought for a moment and then instructed, "You write a briefing immediately and submit one copy to the Aviation Industry Bureau. I will also write an application and submit it to the Ministry of Railways."
Chief Engineer Liu agreed and immediately called to the senior experts behind him to pack up the materials and go to implement Li Aiguo's arrangements.
This is one of the reasons why Li Aiguo kept Chief Engineer Liu and other aviation experts in the studio.
These people represent not only themselves, but also the power of the aviation industry behind them.
After Chief Engineer Liu left, Li Aiguo put the materials into a file folder and knocked on the door of Section Chief Xing's office.
Section Chief Xing glanced at the label on the bag: "Continuous Flow Transonic Wind Tunnel".
"This is just one of my ideas; the specifics will depend on the support from above," Li Aiguo said without holding anything back.
Section Chief Xing wanted to open it and take a look, but after thinking about it, he decided against it, since he couldn't understand it anyway.
"I'll deliver it to the ministry right away." Section Chief Xing left with the file folder.
Section Chief Xing drove to the department. Leader Teng had just returned from an inspection tour and, seeing Section Chief Xing's hurried appearance, asked, "Why are you here at this hour?"
"Just now, Comrade Aiguo," Section Chief Xing said briefly, then handed the file folder to Leader Teng.
After listening, Leader Teng showed some surprise on his face. His gaze fell on the file folder on the table, and he said, "I didn't expect Comrade Aiguo to be researching this kind of thing?"
"Didn't our section start producing small airplanes? You know Comrade Aiguo's personality; whatever he does, he always wants to do it to the best of his ability."
Of course, Comrade Aiguo said these are just some of his ideas; whether they can actually be built is another matter.
Section Chief Xing spoke first, because he would definitely protect his own people.
Leader Teng opened the file folder, flipped through the materials, and looked around, but he was somewhat perplexed.
Even a leader in charge of trains like him couldn't understand these airplane-making gadgets.
However, Leader Teng also remembered that during previous meetings, colleagues in the aviation field had repeatedly mentioned the importance of wind tunnel laboratories, and he vaguely knew that this was a good thing that could make up for the shortcomings of the country's aviation industry.
How to do?
Report back.
The higher-level leaders recently received a report from Nanjing that the inspection itinerary has been arranged.
I also received a letter that described my experiences traveling along the Yangtze River, including which fish were the best, and ended with the comment that the Yangtze River Bridge was a bit too short.
At this moment, news of Li Aiguo arrived, and looking at Leader Teng in surprise, he asked, "Comrade Aiguo, it seems you haven't been in contact with a wind tunnel laboratory before?"
“Comrade Aiguo had indeed not been in contact with this before. According to Section Chief Xing’s report, these materials were made by Comrade Aiguo when he was tinkering with small airplanes. My personal guess is that Comrade Aiguo originally wanted to build a wind tunnel laboratory, but the objective conditions did not allow it.” Leader Teng began to report.
The superior nodded: "Comrade Aiguo is indeed a very practical comrade. Most of his research is geared towards practicality, and he can produce and utilize these products effectively."
Upon hearing this, Leader Teng perked up: "It's more than just practical. Comrade Aiguo's research not only aligns with our development direction, but it can also bring us a huge amount of foreign exchange."
"Currently, our Ministry of Railways exports thousands of sets of train equipment, and its subordinate Second Automobile Works exports more than 100,000 cars and more than 1 million motorcycles."
“I remember when we held the Guangzhou Canton Fair, we exported agricultural products, and others even tried to drive down the prices. Now, these cars and motorcycles are in short supply, and you have to pay extra to buy them.”
The superior nodded with emotion: "We've only been developing for a few years, going from a country that needed to import cars to one that exports them."
After liberation, the country was extremely poor, with a weak industrial base and a poor agricultural base. National defense required money, development required money, and importing equipment also required money.
Back then, we could only buy things from the older brother, and even then, we had to be mindful of his mood and pay a high price.
The situation has been completely different in recent years.
China's economy is developing rapidly, while it has won over its Eastern European allies and Iran, and has also given India a good thrashing.
More importantly, Red Star Pioneer has established a foothold in Africa, which is equivalent to having another large mining base.
With a steady stream of minerals being supplied, we can develop military and industrial industries, and the prices are much lower than those from domestic mining.
"Comrade Patriot has made great contributions, that's common knowledge," Leader Teng continued.
The superior nodded: "Yes, there are many excellent researchers in the country, but there are few like Comrade Aiguo who understand both research and technology, and who can manufacture and export foreign exchange. Comrade Aiguo is the only one."
At this point, the superior thought for a moment and said, "Since this wind tunnel laboratory has surpassed the world's leading level, we must ensure its confidentiality. I will then invite experts from the aviation industry to conduct a review."
The voice just fell.
The assistant appeared at the study door.
Generally speaking, superiors rarely interrupt when they are talking to someone, so it must be something urgent now.
"Report, it's a colleague from the Aviation Industry Bureau. They said it's urgent," the assistant whispered.
"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. We were just looking for them. Please come in." The superior was clearly in a good mood today, and laughed heartily twice.
He even stood up and poured two cups of tea.
At this moment, the leaders of the Aviation Industry Bureau, led by their assistants, entered the study.
Seeing that Leader Teng was also there, the aviation leader exclaimed excitedly, "Old Teng, Comrade Aiguo has shipped another shipment!"
Upon hearing this, Leader Teng immediately understood. He had heard that there were aviation experts in the Qianmen Locomotive Depot's workshop.
"You're here for the wind tunnel lab too?"
"Of course."
Seeing how excited the aviation leaders were, Teng felt that all his previous preparations had been in vain.
When has Patriotic Comrade ever produced anything that wasn't good?
"Leader, I suggest we start building the wind tunnel laboratory immediately, just like Comrade Aiguo's design," the aviation leader said directly.
The higher-ups understood what was going on and laughed, "Tell me, what's so special about this wind tunnel laboratory?"
"Before an aircraft takes to the skies, it cannot be directly test-flown for trial and error. A wind tunnel simulates the airflow in the sky. The wind tunnel laboratory designed by Comrade Patriot is essentially allowing our aircraft to 'fly' on the ground."
The aviation leaders were truly knowledgeable; they explained the situation clearly in just one sentence. "It seems Comrade Patriot is about to make another contribution!" the superior laughed after hearing this.
“Given the great difficulty of the wind tunnel laboratory project, I suggest that we collaborate with Lao Teng to complete it together,” the aviation leader proactively stated.
"That's the decision! Provide manpower and supplies as needed. We must build the wind tunnel laboratory as soon as possible so that our aviation industry can stand on its tiptoes and see the future!" The superior finally gave the final approval.
"We'll make arrangements as soon as we get back." Leader Teng and the aviation leader stood up and left.
After they left, the superior picked up the letter and read it again.
"The Yangtze River Bridge should be raised a bit."
*****
Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC), the design office of the Type 62 fighter jet.
Chief Engineer Zhang was discussing something with several pneumatics experts.
"No, there isn't enough data. Once it reaches Mach 0.9 or higher, the aerodynamic characteristics become unpredictable. It's difficult to pinpoint the shock wave location using interpolation or empirical formulas, making it impossible to make timely aerodynamic adjustments."
"Old Zhang, could you improve the existing FL-1 wind tunnel? We're just missing this piece of transonic data."
Chief Engineer Zhang shook his head: "As long as it's a low-speed wind tunnel, this is a hurdle that can't be overcome. Once the shock wave comes out, the interference from the tunnel walls can't be dealt with."
"Going to Big Brother's place for some fresh air?"
"The queue is so long it'll be next year already, and they won't even give us all the core data. We're developing our own 'Type 62,' but some of the details are top secret, so we can't just brag about them."
This concern is not unfounded, because the Type 62 was the predecessor of the MiG-7. It was originally intended to be a copy of the MiG-21, but later underwent extensive modifications.
Our relationship with Big Brother has deteriorated. Even if Big Brother agreed to let us use the wind tunnel, we wouldn't dare.
Just then, they heard someone looking for Chief Engineer Zhang.
The assistant pushed open the door, holding an urgent document: "Chief Engineer Zhang, good news! Comrade Li Aiguo from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, together with Chief Engineer Liu and others, has come up with a plan for the transonic wind tunnel. The Aviation Industry Bureau plans to build it in conjunction with the Ministry of Railways and is preparing to send a group of experts to provide support."
After saying that, he reached out and handed over a confidential document.
Old Zhang and the other experts present were overjoyed upon hearing this. Old Zhang reached out and took the document, unfolding it, and the other experts craned their necks to look at it together.
Mach number 0.4-1.4, continuous, 2.4-meter diameter...
These indicators brought them a big smile to their faces!
"Chief Engineer Zhang, I'll immediately have the planning department handle the relevant procedures. Li Aiguo is truly amazing; he came up with a solution to such a world-class problem so quickly. I refuse to believe we can't solve it this time!"
"I want to sign up too."
"Me too!"
Seeing the light of success at a glance, they were thrilled. Comrade Li Aiguo was truly extraordinary, and they couldn't wait to join him.
Just as Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and its team were fully mobilized, Chief Engineer Su of Nanjing Aircraft Industry Corporation was also overjoyed.
When he received the document from the confidential office saying that the Qianmen Locomotive Depot had come up with a new wind tunnel design, he realized that Li Aiguo must be up to something again.
When he opened the materials, he was taken aback by the sheer scale of the wind tunnel project.
"This thing is expensive!"
What kind of outrageous contraption is this? A flexible-wall nozzle, a compressor unit with tens of thousands of kilowatts, and it still needs water cooling? Is this some kind of crazy idea?
Before he could even recover from the shock of the wind tunnel's construction cost, he had already seen the performance specifications listed later.
This made him immediately throw all the money and stuff aside. What were those things? Could they be eaten?
The most important thing is that they can produce good products.
He recited all the parameters, his voice growing louder and his emotions rising.
Finally, he slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "Good! Li Aiguo did a great job!"
A dramatic increase in transonic testing capabilities, very high flow field quality, continuous operation...
The continuous capability is already quite high. For example, leaving aside top-tier laboratories like NASA, most major aerospace nations will likely be at this level in a few decades.
His eyes were fixed on a line of text in the briefing.
"It can simulate the real Reynolds number."
Chief Engineer Su was all too aware of the significance behind this.
Shenyang Aircraft Corporation has an urgent need for transonic data, not to mention this wind tunnel.
As for whether there's anything fishy going on here, what a joke! If it were someone else, they might want to verify it.
But since Li Aiguo produced this document, once it's in writing, it's definitely a done deal.
Chief Engineer Su hesitated for a moment, then picked up the phone and contacted the factory leaders: "Leaders, I plan to go to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot."
When the leaders of Nanfei heard this, they were stunned for a moment.
Mass production of the first six batches has already begun, with Chief Engineer Su in charge, and he should be overseeing the work at Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.
“Boss, mass production on the 6th is now on track. As long as we follow the established plan and do a good job in quality inspection, there won’t be any problems. Also, I plan to hand over the work to Engineer Chen. He’s a veteran colleague.” Chief Engineer Su understood the concerns of the leaders of Nanfei and said directly.
Seeing that Chief Engineer Su was adamant, the leaders of Nanfei had no choice but to agree.
The same scene unfolded at Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAC), Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group (the one that builds bombers), Factory 511, and Tianjin Factory 115. This time, the Aviation Industry Bureau went all out, investigating all factories and research institutes in China related to wind tunnels.
Moreover, the experts and pillars transferred were all top-notch from various factories and institutes.
The name Li Aiguo caused trouble for many leaders of aircraft factories for a time.
When Section Chief Xing received the call from the Aviation Industry Bureau, he was also stunned by the impressive lineup.
"It seems we underestimated what Li Aiguo had put together."
After hanging up the phone, Section Chief Xing went to the studio, wanting to tell Li Aiguo the good news, but he didn't find him there.
"Section Chief, come home with your patriotism." The wild repair expert replied.
Section Chief Xing raised his wrist to check the time. It was only 5:30 PM, which was indeed the end of the workday. But wasn't Li Aiguo working overtime?
Li Aiguo wanted to work overtime, but Chen Xueru was sick.
Perhaps it's because I've been attending night school and working lately that I've gotten sick.
Perhaps the fashion show was too revealing.
In short, she had a fever, and a high fever at that.
Li Aiguo received a call from He Yushui from the supply and marketing cooperative. He originally wanted to take Chen Xueru to the hospital.
The girl, however, was unwilling and wanted to insist a little longer, only asking Li Aiguo to pour her some boiled water.
That's how people are these days; when they get sick, they always think about just toughing it out.
Boiled water is a panacea; if one bowl isn't enough, have another.
Li Aiguo had seen how terrible a fever could be, so he went to the railway hospital and bought some aminopyrine.
This stuff was manufactured by Wuzhou Pharmaceutical Factory. Although it had significant side effects, it was considered a miracle drug in those days.
If I had the chance, I could make ibuprofen.
This thing seems to have been noticed last year, and a company owned by John Bull is about to apply for a patent.
Cough cough, you can snatch it.
The tablets for Analgin were really big, and Chen Xueru managed to swallow them with great difficulty before drifting off to sleep.
The three children, Xiao Dongfang, Xiao Mingwei, and Xiao Hongsheng, knew that their mother was sick, so they didn't cause any trouble and obediently lay on the table doing their homework.
Li Aiguo started cooking.
I still have some fish that I brought back from Nanjing. These things can't be kept for long, so I washed the fish, removed the salt, and put them in a pot to stew.
Once the soup turns white, remove the fish bones, then add some noodles, lard, chopped green onions, and vinegar, along with some green vegetables.
A pot of fragrant fish soup noodles is ready.
This type of noodle is very appetizing and nutritious.
Chen Xueru was sweating and felt a little better. She opened her eyes and asked for water.
"Have some water first, I'll serve the rice." Li Aiguo handed the water to Chen Xueru.
"I'll do it, you're too clumsy." Although Chen Xueru knew that Li Aiguo's cooking skills were better than hers, she still couldn't bear to see Li Aiguo cook.
She pushed open the kitchen door, brought out the rice, and stir-fried a small green vegetable dish.
"This smells so good!" Chen Xueru smelled the fresh aroma of the fish soup and, looking at the thick, white broth, couldn't resist taking a sip.
People are iron rice is steel.
After Chen Xueru finished eating, she had recovered her spirits.
"I don't know why I got a fever." After finishing her meal, Chen Xueru washed her face and began taking care of the children.
"He's probably just tired," Li Aiguo said.
"Can I have fish soup tomorrow?" Chen Xueru asked Li Aiguo in a slightly coquettish tone.
"I'll go buy some pork ribs tomorrow, and we'll have pork rib noodles when I get back," Li Aiguo said with a smile.
The fish brought back from Jinling are all gone. The local fish in the capital have too strong a muddy taste and are not suitable for making soup.
"Will it be hard to buy pork ribs?" Chen Xueru asked with some concern.
"It's alright, I'll go find the steel pillar."
Li Aiguo helped wash the dishes and chopsticks, then went to Zhang Gangzhu's house, where Zhang Gangzhu was sucking on a plate of pork intestine sashimi.
"Ahem, you eat first, I'll wait outside."
Li Aiguo had seen it many times, but he still found it unbearable.
Zhang Gangzhu, however, felt that Li Aiguo didn't understand what delicious food was.
Upon learning that Li Aiguo needed pork ribs, Zhang Gangzhu was very enthusiastic and said he would prepare something fresh for work today and bring it back after get off work.
Li Aiguo stuffed the meat warrant and money into Zhang Gangzhu's hands, and Yan Jiecheng rushed in from outside.
"Brother Aiguo, Section Chief Xing is looking for you."
(End of this chapter)