Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1145 The situation is great

Agility is the biggest pain point of the MiG-21. As a frontline fighter or for interception, it actually has no problems and can be regarded as a bucket machine among fighters. However, when it comes to agility, it is indeed not enough.

"Really?" Agility is something that cannot be calculated too much in advance. Our comrades' current capabilities are not enough to support this task. We have to conduct a real test flight in the sky to know the result.

Even before the test pilot said this just now, the comrades in charge of modifying the wings did not have any ideas or hopes about the "agility". Comrade Zhendong did mention it, but they did not dare to hope for it at all.

I didn’t expect it to be true!

Commissioner Gao's seemingly casual fold at the leading edge of the wing could actually bring so many benefits. The comrades in charge of the imitation and improvement of the MiG-21 could not help but admire that there are really geniuses in the world.

Gao Zhendong: Others are, but I am not. I am just a cheater.

"What exactly is the situation?" The comrade who was modifying the wing hurriedly asked the test pilot Lao Li.

"To be specific, there is not much data yet. After all, this time we are mainly testing high-speed subjects. I just had a little feeling during the flight, but I am sure that there will be no problem with this feeling. It’s just that the specific data will require a few more flights to be confirmed." Lao Li has the judgment and pride of a test pilot. If I say yes, then it must be!

The comrades who were working on improving the aircraft were fully confident in his judgment. They all respected these men who worked hard to improve the performance of the aircraft, and they had full confidence in their professional qualities.

When a new aircraft is on the ground, the design comrades have the final say, but once it is in the sky, the test pilot has the final say.

Although they are extremely curious and looking forward to the specific agility and low- to medium-altitude maneuverability data, the comrades who modified the aircraft obviously cannot say nonsense like "Then you should fly up to the sky again and have a look."

"That's great. We will fly according to the plan and reach the full potential of this airfoil."

Maybe we can even improve on this basis... the comrades thought.

This is not rude to Gao Zhendong, but a pursuit of the limits of technology and a non-blind obedience to authority. Gao is definitely the leader in the technical route, and as for the details, they still need to be determined slowly in practice, and there is nothing wrong with this.

However, this idea may be difficult to realize. The double-delta wing parameters given by Gao Zhendong were determined by the hard work of the comrades in charge of related work in Gao Zhendong's previous life. There is probably not much room for change.

"Let's take a break this morning and continue the test flight as planned in the afternoon." The chief test flight commander gave the order with a smile.

Not only the wings, but also another major improvement of the MiG-21 - the air intake, or the improvement of the entire nose, is also proceeding in an orderly manner.

"Boss, the data from the wind tunnel has arrived." A comrade reported to the model boss holding a freshly printed draft.

"Really? Come here, let me take a look." The chief engineer raised his head from the computer and took the data.

This is a collective office, and the chief engineer only occupies one of the workbenches. On the computer in front of him, a machine head composed of multiple lines and grids is slowly turning as he moves the mouse in his hand.

Although it rotates very slowly, and even feels a bit like a stop-motion animation, as slow as the garbage man decades later using the garbage god UE5-2666V3 + slave mining card RX588 to play the Black Monkey with 2K resolution and full special effects, but the fact that it can rotate, and even that this picture can be seen on the computer, represents a qualitative difference. The principles involved will be understood by designers decades later.

The chief engineer and the comrade in charge of pneumatics looked at it for a while, took the information to another computer, opened a program, modified a few parameters and then ran it.

The comrades were all waiting quietly, waiting for the final news.

“Beep~~~~~~”

The computer beeped, reporting to my comrades - my work was done.

People put their heads forward.

"Good! Great!" This came from the chief designer.

"That's great! The impact on speed can be completely offset by the results of the first phase of the engine thrust increase plan!" exclaimed the comrade in charge of aerodynamics.

The first phase plan to increase engine thrust was to change nothing but the materials, to use great force to achieve miracles and to force an increase in thrust. The effect was much worse than the second phase plan discussed by Gao Zhendong and his colleagues at the Aerospace Engine Research Institute based on the LYP-13FI technology improvement, but it was still enough to offset the impact of the inlet duct improvement.

To put it bluntly, the first phase plan is to ensure that engines with greater thrust are available, and the second phase plan is to try to make better engines and even engine cores available.

You can take bigger steps, but you must have a backup plan.

The results of the second phase of the technical improvement plan are still unclear, so let’s just assume that there is none. As long as the first phase plan is completed with relatively optimistic intermediate success, the aircraft will be fine.

"Moreover, this air intake fully meets the engine's requirements for air flow and air intake conditions under various flight conditions. Combining the two, our fighter's 'big head' can be realized." A comrade said. "It's just that this big head is really a bit ugly..." another comrade muttered in a low voice.

What nonsense are you talking about! The comrades glared at him angrily.

"This is called smiling all the time, you know nothing!" another comrade corrected him. This comrade did not know how to appreciate it at all.

The chief designer and the comrade in charge of pneumatics don’t care about them so much. Don’t worry about whether it is ugly or not. Just tell me whether this thing works or not.

"There is also good news from the double-delta wing test flight. Preliminary results show that this airfoil has very obvious advantages and a lot of benefits." The improvement of the airfoil is also within the scope of aerodynamics. The person in charge of the aerodynamic subsystem was naturally the first to receive the good news.

"With the expanded use of the spine space, I believe we can create a good aircraft." The chief designer was overjoyed and the situation was very good.

In Beijing, the situation of another plane was also very good.

The meeting room of the Defense Work Committee was filled with relevant comrades, including Gao Zhendong.

They were there to determine the final overall plan for the legendary "target aircraft" - the air superiority fighter.

After initially adopting Gao Zhendong's planning proposal for "three levels and three types" of fighter jets, and after a lot of preliminary work and preliminary research, the overall plan for this last and most important type has finally officially come onto the stage.

The comrade in charge of reporting came from the far southwest.

This was the result of the Third Front construction. A group of comrades were sent from the most powerful Northeast to Chengdu, Sichuan Province. In terms of fighter design and manufacturing, they achieved the goal of not putting all their eggs in one basket.

At that time, Northeast China was busy with the production of the Z-7 and the imitation and improvement of the MiG-21. The matter of the new aircraft mainly fell on the Chengdu Aircraft Research Institute.

"In terms of engines, we are now designing new aircraft based on the second phase of the R-13 technology improvement plan of the Northeast Aerospace Development Institute. Before the second phase is achieved, we can use the first phase results of the engine thrust increase to temporarily carry out design and test flights..."

The first thing to be determined is the engine. After all, without the engine, no matter how good the design is, it cannot fly. These two types of engines are the best fighter engines we can see now.

No one had any objection to this point, including Gao Zhendong. He knew very well that this thing was based on LYP-13, but what was wrong with LYP-13? Didn't LYP-13 also help to create the Eighth Master?

You can laugh at the Eighth Master of the 80s all you want, but even in the 8s, no one could deny that if the Eighth Master really had a good set of avionics and missiles, he would have a "unique trick" in a fight and anyone who encountered him would have been equally uncomfortable.

Attacking from a high position, hitting and running, and seizing air superiority may not be very effective, but it is still effective in disrupting your plans, reducing your air combat efficiency, and destroying your ability to achieve your air combat goals.

Not to mention that it is the 60s now, and it is not unacceptable to produce an aircraft with only the performance of the 8th Master. But Gao Zhendong's idea is more than that.

"...Our first plan is to adopt a conventional layout, with air intakes on both sides, twin engines, and variable-sweep wings..."

Although the most famous variable-sweep wing fighter F-14 "Tomcat" was still nowhere to be seen at this time, the F-111 and MiG-23 had already taken shape. At the same time, the international discussion on variable-sweep wing fighters had become relatively clear. As a new type of fighter, this new configuration that seemed to kill two birds with one stone was naturally under consideration.

The comrades in the Air Force had a look of satisfaction on their faces. This thing was great. It had low speed, high speed, speed and maneuverability. It was a full gimmick. Moreover, intelligence showed that both the Russians and the Americans were developing this type of fighter as their main fighter.

The Americans are even planning to use this type of aircraft to unify various types of naval and air force fighters and tactical bombers, which shows its advanced performance and excellent concept.

However, the comrades in the Air Force did not know the final result of the variable sweep wing.

The air force nodded repeatedly, but other comrades started discussing, isn't this thing unreliable?

"Variable sweep wing? Isn't this a bit too complicated for us?"

"Yes, it sounds like you are proficient in everything, but the next sentence after proficient in everything is often that you are not proficient in anything."

"It sounds good, but it's so big and heavy, is it worth it? If you have that much time, you might as well bring more oil and bullets."

"Dead weight is fine, but the complexity of the machinery and the difficulty of controlling the variable-sweep wing are too risky."

"The only advantage of this solution is the variable-sweep wing, but is the benefit of the variable-sweep wing worth the cost?"

(End of this chapter)