I Found A Planet - Chapter 241

Chapter 241

At the grand staff mobilization meeting in the morning, faced with the brightly colored national flag, the blood-thirstiness and fighting spirit of the tens of thousands of staff from Shangfei Corporation were awakened . Everyone held their breaths and silently vowed to produce the large-scale domestic passenger aircraft!

However, after their passions had cooled down, they found that they still faced a cruel reality . Swearing an oath collectively and shouting some slogans merely served to stabilize the heart of the army and unite their minds . But, there were always plenty of ways to approach a problem .

In the call to the second-in-command, the elderly president of Shang Fei Corporation, He Jin Long, proposed his alternative solution . “We will buy the PS90 engine made by the Russian Aircraft Parts Manufacturing Group . This engine model made by the Russians is pretty good . It uses less fuel too, and its standard is similar to that of the CFM56-5 . It has a lifespan of 10,000 hours and above . The time between major repairs are longer and the purchase price is a third cheaper . It is expected that the engines from the PS90 series will be used in the long haul widebody passenger plane C929 that is jointly developed by us and UAC Corporation of Russia . ” Although the Russians’ PS90 engine was good, their price was still much cheaper . However, the fuel consumption was 16% higher than the Leap X engine . Moreover, the working lifespan was about half of the Leap X engine too . As for the rate of breakdowns… The engines made by the Russians always gave one a somewhat unreliable impression . Purchasing the Russian PS90 engine was the only way to alleviate the problem before the 100% domestic replacement engine was successfully developed… but this would significantly reduce the market competitiveness of the C919 .

Hence, one could see that there were some similarities between the field of civil aviation engine manufacturing and chip manufacturing . The winners would have a veritable feast, while the losers would be hard-pressed to get even a little bit of leftover business on the fringes .

Even so, He Jin Long made a strong guarantee . “We will hurry and continue to optimize our airplane! Even though our engine consumes more fuel, the body of our passenger aircraft C919 is about 15% lighter than similar aircrafts from Boeing and Airbus . We can achieve a weight that is 18% lighter than them if we get rid of some redundant weight . When the aircraft is lighter, its speed will increase and it’ll use less fuel . In addition, our production costs are about 20% lower, so we can set a relatively affordable selling price . We would have a definite edge after its launch in the market . ”

The reason for the lighter weight of the C919 and its lower production costs was because the Z country manufacturers had mastered an amazing technology; the 3D printing technology for large-scale structural components . This level of technology had not yet been achieved overseas . Foreign manufacturers did not have the ability to print large structural parts with diameters of a few meters, much less parts with diameters of more than 10 meters . But the 3D printers from Z country could do it .

The 3D printer could print the main beam of the aircraft wing, the fuselage skeleton, and other key components by employing this type of technology . The strength of the components was up to standard and the material utilization rate was more than 90% .

The components used in the aircrafts of Boeing and Airbus, such as the main beam of the wing, were still processed by traditional industrial lathes . The scrap rate was high and the material utilization rate was low . They were put at a great disadvantage in terms of production costs and efficiency .

It was due to the blessings in the form of the 3D printing technology that Shang Fei’s C919 was able to achieve a great competitive advantage in the market . It could even be said that it became the champion of value for money in the passenger jet market of the 200 seaters doing long haul flights of 5,000 kilometers . It had completely dominated the civil aviation market .

The Boeing company and even the European Airbus company were motivated to hinder the progress of the C919, as they had a great fear of the C919 dominating their own markets . They did not want a competitor like the C919 to appear in the market before they had mastered 3D printing technology . The advantages brought about by 3D printing technology would be immediately offset by using the Russian PS90 engine in the C919 . It would instantly become a mediocre aircraft with an average value for money .

Moreover, based on the character of the Russians, they would not hesitate in asking for a steep price even if their product performance was mediocre . It may be cheap to buy their engines for now, but it would not always be the case .

From the other end of the phone, the second elder in command lamented, “It’s still best to have our own advanced engine . We have to fight for our dignity!”

He Jinling sank into silence .

At that moment, his secretary walked into the office . “President He, the Deputy Chief Designer of the landing gear project team, Chen Gang, wants to see you . He said that he has to report an important matter to you . ”

Chen Gang? Chen Gang, who was missing from the mass mobilization gathering in the morning . He was somewhat annoyed when someone had reported this incident to him . But he did not hold it against him . Anyway, there was nothing he could do since Chen Gang had a powerful son . But a grand gathering to motivate and mobilize the staff was a very serious activity . It was a critical time that called for a united front and battle spirit . How could he be missing? What did that mean?

He Jin Long still did not feel too good about his absence .  He did not really want to see him . However, he heard his secretary add, “President He, Designer Chen has brought his son along with him, Chen Jin, the founder of Xing Hai Technologies . ”

“Yes, yes, yes, let them into my office . ”

…

As they entered the office, He Jin Long extended his hand enthusiastically . “President Chen, welcome . The young are promising indeed!” He turned and shook hands with Chen Gang before patting his shoulders . “Old Chen, you have a pretty amazing son!”

However, He Jin Long was at a loss as to why father and son had come to see him . What was the purpose of their visit? Perhaps they thought that the mass production of the domestic large-scale passenger plane was a hopeless dream and they felt disheartened . So, they wanted to retire early from the project and were asking for his approval? He Jin Long gave a silent groan in his mind . He invited them to sit down and got the secretary to pour two cups of tea .

After exchanging some meaningless pleasantries, he asked, “May I ask what’s the purpose of your visit?”

Chen Gang said in a hurry, “Of course it’s because of the aircraft engine . We have a solu–”

“Ahem,” Chen Jin coughed heavily, “Our main purpose is to discuss the progress of the domestic aircraft engine . This topic is classified . I was wondering if the secretary can lock the door?” He looked at the male secretary .

He Jin Long picked up on the hidden request immediately and ordered the secretary to exit the room . “Little Lin, go out for a while and lock the door . ” Only the three of them were left in the room .

Chen Gang could not control his impatience again and said in a hurry, “President He, my son’s company has a solution to the problem of the poor performance of the domestic engine!”

“Dad, why are you so anxious?” Chen Jin looked at him impatiently . He threw him a gaze that seemed to say, Stay out of it and keep quiet . Let me talk to President He .

He Jin Long gave him an astonished look . His expression was filled with doubt .

Chen Gang shut his mouth in embarrassment .

“President He, can you let me have some of your time so we can talk about the progress of the development of the domestic engine?”

He Jin Long nodded . “Yes, of course . ”

They two began to discuss the matter . However, Chen Jin was the one doing most of the asking and He Jin Long was the one doing most of the answering .

“President He, tell me honestly . How big do you think the gap is between our engines and the most advanced engines from overseas?”

“Erm, there’s at least a thirty-year gap . Honestly, the gap could be as much as fifty years . ”

“Why is the gap so big?”

“The aircraft engine is the product that can best reflect the standard of a country’s industrial foundations . Our foundation is still seriously lacking . The industrialization of the West took more than 300 years . We are not even 60 years into it . Many basic sectors are still too lacking . I’ll use a simple example . The Mericans went to the moon 52 years ago, but we still can’t do that . ”

“But, I saw on many articles that you’ve conquered most of the material technologies needed to construct an advanced engine . Materials are no longer a problem . The main problem lies in engine design . We are still weaker than others in that area… Is that the reason?”

“Yes, you are right!” He Jin Long nodded . “We’ve fixed the flaws in the materials used . The main problem lies in the design . Our country is still lacking in design masters who can come up with a top quality engine . ” Of course, the mediocrity of their current engines was not entirely due to the lack of good designers . The insufficient investment by the government in this field was another significant reason . A good engine was not entirely born from a good design, it was also born from loads of money! It went without mentioning that equipment like the specialized wind tunnels and test versions cost a lot . For every engine test bench, a few tons of aviation fuel would be consumed . Sometimes, more than ten tons… The money for fuel had to be spent day after day, year after year . For example, the test for a foreign matter caught in the engine included throwing a rock as large as a fist into the engine . And just like that, an engine that was worth tens of millions of dollars became nothing more than scrap .

It was difficult to carry out such expensive activities when the economy of Z country was doing poorly . But even now, when Z country had become richer and more powerful, an annual investment of tens of billions was still insufficient . In simple words, one could only successfully develop the advanced aviation engine by footing the exorbitant costs day after day and year after year . Past efforts would be wasted if the work was stopped halfway, Only countries who could afford those continuous expenses could become a powerful manufacturer of engines .

But… Chen Jin had a “cheat sheet” that would not only save them large amounts of on-going development costs, it could also drastically reduce the R&D period . He explained this special software to He Jin Long . This software would allow “tons of fuel to be saved daily,””coordinate the simultaneous testing of hundreds of engines,” and “reduce the R&D period by 90% . ”

He Jin Long immediately jumped up from his seat . He yelled in shock, “How is this possible?!”