The train driver in the courtyard

Chapter 1082 Joint Laboratory Workshop 116 Second Uncle Promoted to Level 7 Worker Li Aiguo Powerful Flying Bricks

"You mean we should establish a joint laboratory with Harbin Aircraft Industry Group to research helicopter engines?"

After hearing what Section Chief Xing said, Li Aiguo was greatly encouraged.

If we can develop turboshaft engines ahead of schedule and build domestically produced attack helicopters, it will be just around the corner.

"This is the opinion of our superiors. It's about patriotism. The aircraft factory seems to value this cooperation highly, so we should also take it seriously," Section Chief Xing instructed.

"Section Chief, don't worry."

Seeing that Section Chief Xing was about to leave, Li Aiguo stood up and stopped him, asking again, "How do we solve the fan problem? Can we continue production?"

"The higher-ups have decided to lift the lockdown, but the anti-turbine module inside the fan needs to be removed, and the turbine casing also needs to be cancelled."

Li Aiguo was somewhat impressed by the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group's (HAIG) expert's insight.

These two aspects are precisely where turbofans and turboshaft engines are similar.

Without these two components, the air pressure of the turbo fan drops sharply, but it's still usable in the workshop.

After the fans were transported back, Li Aiguo had a team of experts from the Wild Cars industry modify the fans and reinstall them in the motorcycle workshop.

The fan drawings were also revised, and the new fan was temporarily named Dali Industrial Fan.

We will produce a batch first to meet the needs of domestic factories, and will not export it for the time being.

After finishing all this, it was almost time to leave work.

Zong Xianfeng went to see a movie with Dasha tonight. He picked up his canvas bag and was about to leave when he was stopped.

The security officer, dressed in a gray Zhongshan suit, took out a sealed document bag from a canvas bag marked "Confidential".

"Comrade Zong Xianfeng, in accordance with Article 11 of the 'Regulations on Guarding State Secrets,' you are hereby notified to attend the meeting immediately."

Upon seeing the confidentiality officer and recalling what had happened in the office these past two days, Zong Xianfeng sensed something was wrong and asked, "Can I call my girlfriend?"

"Is this Comrade Dasha?"

Upon learning that the person on the call was Dasha, who was on the whitelist, the confidentiality specialist personally helped Zong Xianfeng connect the call and watched him make the call.

This made Zong Xianfeng even more puzzled, as the secrecy level was not this high even when developing the mineral exploration train last time.

What exactly happened to the studio?

When Zong Xianfeng arrived at the meeting with doubts, Zhou Gaofei, the wild car expert, Chief Engineer Tan, and seven or eight technicians were all there.

These people were also completely confused and couldn't figure out what was going on.

There are all sorts of opinions, with even some amateur car experts suggesting that the authorities are sending a large crew to study rockets.

Zong Xianfeng thought the self-proclaimed car expert was talking nonsense.

Given the level of expertise of these self-proclaimed automotive experts, they would probably choose anthracite as rocket fuel.

Just now.

Li Aiguo pushed open the door and entered, clapped his hands, and after the room quieted down, said loudly, "Everyone here is a key member of our studio. The reason I've gathered you all here for this meeting is because we're going to establish a joint laboratory with Harbin Aircraft Industry Group."

Although it's not about researching rockets, researching airplanes is still a remarkable thing, and a collective gasp filled the conference room.

At first, everyone was incredulous, but after confirming the news's authenticity, they all felt a sense of pride.

It is difficult for people of later generations to understand the excitement they felt when they were able to contribute to the country.

Chief Engineer Tan, despite his advanced age, had tears welling up in his eyes.

He thought he had reached the pinnacle of his life by studying cars and excavators, but now he's going to study airplanes.

If the veteran comrades were like this, then Zong Xianfeng, Zhou Gaoyuan, and the wild car expert and others were even more so; they immediately stood up and patted their chests to guarantee it.

"Comrade Patriot, don't worry, we will definitely develop the world's most advanced helicopter."

"Yes, yes, I heard the Mi 4 is pretty powerful, we need to surpass the Mi 4."

They all rolled up their sleeves, looking just like aircraft designers.

Li Aiguo sensed something was wrong; the encouragement meeting seemed to have gone too far.

“Building airplanes is not like building cars; Harbin Aircraft Industry Group’s experts are professionals. Our task is to cooperate with them.”

"Huh?! I'm just a support. Oh well, that's fine too." The wild car expert shrank his neck, stuck out his tongue, and quickly sat down.

The others chuckled awkwardly; it was an honor to be able to play support for this Hafei master.

Li Aiguo continued, "The joint laboratory has a very high level of confidentiality. Later, confidentiality personnel will explain the confidentiality regulations to everyone."

This is the real purpose of this meeting.

If two sheets of Harbin Aircraft Industry Group's data were lost, the Qianmen Locomotive Depot would be in an uproar.

These comrades were all from the organization and had a high level of ideological awareness. They all nodded and indicated that they would cooperate with the confidentiality specialist.

While Li Aiguo was holding a meeting with the researchers, the armed forces department of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot also sprang into action.

Minister Niu selected a group of team members and handed them over to Zhou Ke, who was in charge of the studio's security.

After Li Aiguo left the studio, two sentries stood outside the courtyard gate holding Type 56 semi-automatic rifles, their bayonets gleaming coldly in the twilight.

“Brother Aiguo, this military project is significant! The Armed Forces Department has specially approved double posts and double sentries, and the weapons and ammunition are already in place.” Zhou Ke was unaware of the specifics, but he knew that this was a major classified project. He took out a red-laminated “Workshop Confidentiality Rules” and handed it to Li Aiguo.

Li Aiguo flipped through it; this was a system specifically designed by the meteorological station for the studio, employing a secrecy method similar to that used in the Gobi Desert.

"By the way, send someone to the steel rolling mill later. We need to talk to those workers." Li Aiguo remembered that Liu Haizhong from the steel rolling mill and the workers in the forging workshop had also participated in the forging of the fan blades, which was considered confidential.

“This is easy, I’ll go right away.” Zhou Ke drove up in a large SUV, went to the confidential department of the steel rolling mill, and found the leader.

The group went to the forging workshop together, only to find it crowded with people.

After making some inquiries, I learned that today was the day of the steel rolling mill's skills promotion exam.

Liu Haizhong was operating the machine, while seven or eight master craftsmen from the workshop and the person in charge of the promotion exam stood beside him, scoring the workers.

Zhou Ke noticed that Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu were also nearby, and even Nan Yi had come to join in the fun.

Zhou Ke often visited the courtyard house and was very familiar with the residents.

Nan Yi saw Zhou Ke and quickly squeezed through the crowd.

"Liu Haizhong's promotion is probably a sure thing this time."

"How to say?"

"Liu Haizhong has already passed the first two tests. As long as he passes this forging test, he will be able to get the certificate."

As they were talking, Liu Haizhong had already finished the forging work. Zhou Ke didn't recognize the workpiece either; it looked quite complicated.

Several master craftsmen took the instruments and measured together.

"The curvature of the surface is acceptable, and the flatness is fine."

The master chefs got together and discussed it, and gave Liu Haizhong a score of eight. In the promotion exam, ten was the highest and one was the lowest.

The person in charge signed his name on the report card and extended his hand to Liu Haizhong: "Comrade Liu Haizhong, congratulations on your promotion to Level 7 Forging Worker."

"Thank you, thank you," Liu Haizhong said, his face flushed with excitement.

No wonder, a level seven blacksmith can earn more than ten yuan more and can be called a master craftsman.

"Great, great, Master Liu, you've reached Level 7 Master Chef!" Xu Damao jumped up and clapped, not forgetting to glance in Yi Zhonghai's direction.

"I think Master Liu's seventh-level worker certificate is much more valuable than some other people's seventh-level worker certificates."

The workers who were watching had all heard about what happened in the courtyard and knew that Xu Damao was referring to the time when Yi Zhonghai obtained the seventh-grade worker qualification.

At that time, China had just been liberated, and the Northeast began to implement an eight-level wage system.

Subsequently, based on the eight-level wage system, a new piece-rate wage and bonus system was introduced.

A year later, with the support of the Ministry of Labor and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, North China, East China, Central South China, Northwest China, and Southwest China also implemented their own suitable eight-level wage systems.

Each factory was allocated a large number of quotas. Yi Zhonghai used his connections with the deaf old lady to get the title of a seventh-level worker by taking advantage of the chaos.

Yi Zhonghai was already feeling depressed because of Liu Haizhong's promotion, and now that he heard this, he was so angry that he almost fainted.

He grunted, put his hands behind his back, and stormed off.

Liu Haizhong also stepped out from the crowd. Seeing Zhou Ke there, he asked in surprise, "Comrade Zhou Ke, what brings you here?"

"Comrade Liu Haizhong, first of all, congratulations on your promotion to level seven worker. I have some things to take care of here. Come on, let's talk as we walk." Zhou Ke led Liu Haizhong to a secluded place and told him about the secret of the fan blade.

The leader of the steel rolling mill's confidentiality department emphasized, "Comrade Liu Haizhong, the fan parameters are now classified as confidential. This is an important task concerning national defense; it must be handled flawlessly!"

"Rest assured! I guarantee the mission will be completed!" At this moment, a storm of emotions surged within Liu Haizhong.

Li Aiguo only built a fan, and it became a classified device?
Li Aiguo learned from his second aunt that Liu Haizhong had been promoted to a seventh-level worker.

"Aiguo, Haizhong went to the market to buy groceries. Come home for dinner tonight." Aunt Er came to the door as soon as Li Aiguo returned.

"A seventh-level worker, that's great news!" Li Aiguo readily agreed. After his second aunt left, he quickly washed up and went into his study.

The experts from Harbin Aircraft Industry Group are coming soon, so Li Aiguo should prepare some small gifts.

Open the system to search for the main technologies of armed helicopters.

Biu~
Lines of semi-transparent text appeared below the eyelids.

Turboshaft engine technology (100 credits)

Integrated bladed disk technology (100 points)

Dust separation system (100 points)

Gearbox vibration damping technology (100 points)

Aerodynamic optimization technology (100 points)

Multi-point hanging technology (100 points)

There are dozens of densely packed technologies. Clicking on them will show you detailed explanations of these technologies and the required skill levels.

For example, the integrated bladed disk technology, which uses a 5-stage axial compressor blade and disk integrated design, can reduce weight by 37%.
This thing is easy to manufacture and has great uses.

While helmet-mounted aiming systems are valuable, they're useless if we can't manufacture them, so we have to abandon them for now.

Li Aiguo also referenced some technologies from the Z-5 helicopter, using it as a blueprint to modify the attack helicopter, and finally selected several practical technologies.

The total cost was 700 points.

Press the buy button.

Li Aiguo felt countless unfamiliar and profound pieces of knowledge flood his mind, but with the help of the system, they became simple and easy to understand.

There was no discomfort throughout the entire process.

Li Aiguo closed his eyes and flipped through the information, clenching his fists in excitement. His understanding of aviation technology, especially helicopters, now surpassed that of most experts.

Indeed, people who succeed entirely through their own efforts can achieve great things no matter what field they enter.

While Li Aiguo was working hard, the courtyard house became lively.

Today is a very auspicious day for Liu Haizhong.

This time he really went all out, going to the market to buy two old hens, two live fish, half a pound of fat, and two pounds of eggs. He also asked Zhang Gangzhu to get some offal from the slaughterhouse.

Liu Haizhong specially invited Nan Yi to cook and also invited all the neighbors in the courtyard to his home for a feast.

In no time, the Liu family's house was packed with people, including Xu Damao's family, Uncle San's family, Zhang Gangzhu's family, Aunt Liu and the others.

When Li Aiguo arrived with Chen Xueru, the dishes were already on the table.

"Patriot is here, please take a seat."

Liu Haizhong asked Li Aiguo to sit down and then picked up a wine bottle to fill the bottles for each of the neighbors.

Then, raising his glass, he declared loudly, "I, Liu Haizhong, never imagined I could be promoted to a seventh-grade worker! I must thank Aiguo for his help!"

Li Aiguo took the wine glass: "Second Uncle, this is all the result of your hard work, it's something you won, it has nothing to do with me."

Let's all raise our glasses together to congratulate Uncle Er and hope he becomes an eighth-grade worker soon, shall we?

"Yes! We must wish Second Uncle a speedy victory over Yi Zhonghai!" Xu Damao was the first to stand up and raise his wine glass.

The residents raised their glasses to congratulate the second uncle, while only the third uncle seemed flustered.

Everyone turned around and saw that the old man was pouring wine into his sleeve!
There were people blocking the view, so no one saw it.

Everyone else stood up now. He was holding a wine glass in one hand and pulling at his sleeve with the other. Now everything was exposed, and it was all clear to everyone.

"Uncle Yan, why did you pour out this perfectly good wine?" He Yushui asked curiously.

"It's nothing, it's nothing..." The old man panicked and a plastic bottle rolled out of his sleeve and fell to the ground with a "crash".

Silence speaks louder than words.

Everyone immediately understood what was going on.

The third uncle was thinking that Liu Haizhong and Li Aiguo had been talking for so long, and he wanted to take advantage of this time to secretly save up some wine so that he could go back and mix his own "Imperial Jade Liquor".

Unexpectedly, Li Aiguo didn't take credit for it, but instead asked everyone to raise their glasses, which is when the Third Uncle revealed his true colors.

"Oh ho, Uncle San, so that's how you got your wine after all this time!" Xu Damao chimed in sarcastically.

"Cough cough cough... I was just afraid of wasting it... Can a scholar taking a little wine be called stealing wine?" The third uncle explained, his face flushed, speaking in the manner of a scholar, which drew laughter from inside the room.

The laughter drifted further and further away, eventually reaching Yi Zhonghai's home.

An older woman noticed Yi Zhonghai sitting alone at the table, drinking alone in silence, and wondered, "Old man, Haizhong invited you to a banquet today. Old Yan and the others went. Why didn't you go?"

"Invite me? He's so kind, isn't it just to embarrass me?!"

Yi Zhonghai slammed his wine glass on the table with a gloomy face: "Now Liu Haizhong is also a level seven worker. It looks like I won't be able to keep my old man's position anymore."

Upon hearing this, the older woman knew that Yi Zhonghai had gone mad again.

When Liu Haizhong's family had a happy occasion, Yi Zhonghai, as a neighbor, should have been happy for him, but instead, he felt that people were mocking him.

The older woman knew that Yi Zhonghai had gone mad, so she stopped trying to persuade him and went into the kitchen to get busy.

The banquet at Liu Haizhong's house lasted until 10 p.m.

Li Aiguo took Chen Xueru home. The two children were so tired that they fell asleep as soon as they arrived at the door.

After putting the child on the bed, Li Aiguo quickly washed up and went to sleep.

****
On Tuesday, Li Aiguo rode his motorcycle to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.
As soon as I entered the office, I saw Section Chief Xing with several comrades dressed in gray Zhongshan suits.

"Aiguo, you've arrived. This is Professor Qi from Harbin Aircraft Industry Group," Section Chief Xing introduced the two parties.

Li Aiguo quickly reached out and grasped Professor Qi's hand, his palm unconsciously becoming warm.

He didn't expect Harbin Aircraft Industry Group to send Professor Qi, who is the most famous aircraft designer in the country. He has presided over the development of the Z-5 helicopter and later developed the first light bomber.

"Professor Qi, hello! Hello!" Li Aiguo said twice. "I have seen your design for 'Songhua River No. 1' before. That model was really good. It's such a pity that it was never mass-produced."

Upon hearing this, Professor Qi's eyes lit up as he looked at Li Aiguo, a hint of surprise in them: "I didn't expect anyone to still remember 'Songhua River No. 1'."

The Songhua River No. 1 is a light transport aircraft designed by Professor Qi a couple of years ago. It achieved its maiden flight after only three months of research and development.

However, due to the special circumstances at the time, coupled with the domestic decision to have Factory 320 mass-produce Yun-5, there were no resources to continue the improvement and mass production of Songhua River No. 1, and the project was eventually terminated.

Several prototypes were sent to the Gobi Desert for short-distance transport missions. Li Aiguo rode in one of them twice, and the quality was actually quite good.

"It's all part of the unified arrangements from above. As researchers, it's our duty to obey the overall situation."

Professor Qi spoke calmly. Although he still regretted the premature end of the "Songhua River No. 1", he felt that the decision was correct after seeing that the overall performance of the Y-5 was indeed far superior to the former.

Li Aiguo admired Professor Qi's awareness even more.

Indeed, Professor Qi, an aircraft designer who worked in the aircraft design group of the Aviation Research Institute before liberation, was offered a high price to leave back then. If he hadn't been aware of this, how could he have stayed here?

Professor Qi brought five researchers with him this time, all of whom are involved in helicopter research.

Together with the seven researchers in the studio, they formed a joint laboratory to tackle key research tasks.

To facilitate management and the allocation of materials by relevant departments, the joint laboratory also adopted a code name internally: Workshop 116.

Professor Qi served as the workshop director and Li Aiguo served as the deputy director in Workshop 116.

The members in Workshop 116 were divided into two groups. Li Aiguo and Zhou Gaofei worked with Professor Qi to conduct core research and had access to all the key information.

Zong Xianfeng and several automotive technology experts continued to advance the manufacturing of the milling-turning composite machining center, while also providing auxiliary support for core research.

The other researchers had no objections; being able to participate in such an important project was itself a form of recognition. However, Zhou Gaofei had some reservations about Zong Xianfeng.

In his opinion, Zong Xianfeng had arrived earlier than him and had a more solid technical skill level, so it was really unreasonable that he hadn't made it into the core group.

During the break, Zhou Gaofei pulled Zong Xianfeng aside and whispered, "Xianfeng, how about I talk to Comrade Aiguo and try to get you a chance to join the core group?"

"No, please don't. Comrade Aiguo must have his reasons for making this arrangement." Zong Xianfeng was excited that Zhou Gaofei had thought of him.

To say he felt no resentment would be a lie, after all, this might be the only opportunity in his life he would ever have to get involved in military engine research.

However, Zong Xianfeng still refused Zhou Gaofei and instructed him, "Our studio is different from ordinary research institutes. Discipline must be the top priority. You must remember this."

"Understood." Zhou Gaofei nodded emphatically.

Workshop 116 is located in a small courtyard to the north of the studio, which is connected to the milling and turning machining center.

Under Li Aiguo's guidance, Professor Qi visited the lathe center.

With just one glance, he knew that establishing a joint laboratory with the Qianmen Locomotive Depot was a wise choice.

"Patriot, how's the precision of this lathe?" Professor Qi put on gloves and inspected the lathe, quite taken with it.

No one understands the importance of lathes to the aerospace industry better than him. We don't lack excellent designers, but we lack the tools to turn designs into reality.

"The three-axis repeatability is 0.006/0.006/0.015mm, and the B/C axis repeatability is about 12 arcseconds," Li Aiguo briefly introduced the design precision of the milling-turning machining center.

Professor Qi was stunned.

The three axes are planar axes, and the B/C axes are spatial axes. Together, they can achieve five-axis linkage. This level of precision is considered top-notch, even by international standards.

When he heard that Li Aiguo had specially brought in the most advanced three-axis lathe from overseas to manufacture the milling and turning machining center, and had also spent a lot of money to import a large number of controlled materials, he could understand why the Ministry of Railways did not transfer Li Aiguo there.

Doing research requires more than just enthusiasm; it also requires a substantial material foundation.

If Harbin Aircraft Industry Group had the vast resources of the Qianmen Maintenance Depot, the Songhuajiang-1 wouldn't have to be abandoned. With some modifications, it could be used as an agricultural spraying aircraft.

Although the milling and turning machining center has not yet been built, Professor Qi has already placed high hopes on it.

The five-axis linkage machining system can complete the cutting of fan blade profiles and the machining of free-form surfaces in space with carbide ball end mills, which requires control of curvature and thin-wall deformation.

It's fair to say that without this thing, turboshaft engines would be nothing but empty talk.

However, what Professor Qi cared about most was Li Aiguo's understanding of turbine shaft technology.

That afternoon, the core team held a technical symposium. Li Aiguo did not disappoint when he opened his mouth: "Currently, the alloy blades of the fan are not strong enough. To achieve a speed of 51000 rpm, I suggest replacing them with titanium alloy blades and then applying a directional solidification alloy spraying treatment."

Professor Qi had initially thought Li Aiguo was an amateur, but after hearing this, he realized that Li's understanding of engines, at least turbofans, far surpassed that of the average expert.

"Comrade Aiguo, what are your thoughts on the overall structure of the engine?" Professor Qi pressed.

"I'm considering using an axial-centrifugal compound compressor structure, with the combustion chamber designed as a centrifugal oil-throwing annular type, which can maximize combustion efficiency."

Li Aiguo continued, "Specifically, the engine mainly consists of the compressor, combustion chamber, gas generator, turbine, and reducer."

As he spoke, he took out a hand-drawn diagram of the engine structure.

The drawings weren't exactly standard, and the lines were a bit rough, but Professor Qi was increasingly surprised as he looked at them.

Take the compressor as an example. The double-row rectifier blades are precision cast into a single piece. This structure can reduce weight to the maximum extent while being sturdy and durable.

The combustion chamber features a 12-channel design, resulting in excellent fuel atomization quality due to the extremely high oil sling pressure.

As Professor Qi looked at the blueprints, his breathing gradually quickened.

If Li Aiguo's design is followed and the turboshaft engine is developed, how much power can this engine achieve?
"The takeoff power is expected to be 2200 horsepower, the continuous power is 1120 horsepower, and the emergency power is 1761 horsepower, which can last for one and a half minutes."

Professor Qi and the researchers were completely speechless.

"2200 horsepower is enough to carry missiles."

"A few aircraft cannons would be enough."

Professor Qi took a deep breath and looked at Li Aiguo again.

"Comrade Patriot, isn't it a waste to use this thing as a helicopter engine?"

“Professor, don’t you think we desperately need a helicopter that can provide close-range fire support on the battlefield and play a significant role in disaster relief?” Li Aiguo stood up.

The principle of "great strength can make bricks fly" also applies to the aviation field.

As long as the power is strong enough and the starting performance is good, a practical model can be built.

The development of domestically produced helicopters has never been easy, and armed helicopters have long relied on imports until the WZ-10 was introduced, breaking the deadlock.

Whenever a natural disaster occurs, helicopters are often insufficient in performance, so we have to borrow aircraft from abroad.

Li Aiguo knew that although his engine design was limited by technology and could not compare to the cutting-edge products of later generations, it could at least take a step forward in the current situation.

Professor Qi naturally understood these things as well. His emotions gradually rose, and he reached out to shake Li Aiguo's hand: "Comrade Aiguo, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you!"

"Happy cooperation!"

(End of this chapter)