Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1280 How about I send you an airplane? (4k)

This isn't a military product, so it's perfect for Mr. Sena to handle. Moreover, initiating it as a civilian product can minimize the many restrictions on military exchanges between the two sides.

However, they were overthinking it. Although this product is a civilian product, it still needs to be supplied to the National Defense Industry Commission on our end. We don't even have a civilian production line for passenger aircraft engines; everything has to be resolved through the National Defense Industry Commission.

Therefore, when this intention to cooperate was conveyed from Gaul to us, it was only natural for the National Defense Industry Committee to convene a meeting to discuss the matter.

Gao Zhendong was also among those summoned. He had experience in the field of aero engines, and the cooperation on this aircraft was initiated under his guidance.

Gao Zhendong arrived in his Beijing Erdan SUV. Although the car has an official name, Gao Zhendong stubbornly calls it that. He had asked for the car from the Beijing Automobile Factory during a meeting, saying that he wouldn't take it for free.

However, Beijing Automotive Factory naturally didn't consider whether he was asking for it for free; instead, they simply said, "If you want it, I'll give it to you."

To be honest, this car isn't exactly comfortable, but Gao Zhendong didn't buy it for comfort. First, it's about sentiment, and second, it's a genuine off-road vehicle.

It just snowed. The weather in Beijing this year is really strange. It snowed on Qingming Festival, and now it's the end of the snow. Gao Zhendong vaguely remembered seeing a record of snow in Beijing during Qingming Festival in some obscure corner of the internet in his previous life, but seeing the snow reminded him of it.

The car arrived at the National Defense Industry Committee with familiarity with the route and turned towards the meeting room, where there was a small slope.

Many vehicles were stopped at the bottom of this small slope. It wasn't that the comrades of the National Defense Committee were divided into different classes, but rather that other vehicles couldn't go up this slope! The snow hadn't completely melted, and the slope was wet and slippery. Not to mention sedans, even other comrades' off-road vehicles couldn't go up without chains. A simple front and rear rigid locking system couldn't solve the problem.

Around the Qingming Festival, no one would put snow chains on their off-road vehicles. Under normal circumstances, it's not necessary at all; it's just that this year is special because there was snow.

Gao Zhendong's car didn't have a chain on either. Erdan rushed uphill for a while at the bottom of the slope, then the wheels slipped and he stopped halfway up the slope.

The car stopped for a few seconds, then shifted gears again. Surprisingly, this time the car made a creaking sound and made its way up the hill, saving Gao Zhendong a few steps.

The leader of the National Defense Industry Committee, who witnessed this scene in his office, exclaimed in amazement: "Hey, this kid is amazing, and his driver is amazing too, managing to get him up here." He recognized Gao Zhendong's car.

Not long after, in the conference room, the leader joked about this with Gao Zhendong.

Gao Zhendong laughed after hearing this: "Sir, the driver's skills are indeed good, but there are other reasons why the car was able to get up here, with the car being the most important one."

"The reason is the car? Aren't they all Beijing Jeeps? How much difference could there be?" These days, all small off-road vehicles are called Jeeps.

Speaking of this, Gao Zhendong became quite proud: "I modified my car, hahaha." He laughed heartily, like a child showing off his toy.

"You've modified it? You brat, what are you doing, changing things like this! Don't you care about safety?! This is ridiculous!" The leader of the National Defense Industry Committee was furious; he couldn't let this habit continue. What if modifying the car reduced its safety?

Gao Zhendong, however, was confident: "Boss, it's alright. I know about cars."

"What do you know..." The leader stopped mid-sentence.

Hey, guess what? This kid really knows cars, and he knows a lot about them!
Seeing the leader's expression, Gao Zhendong felt smug. "I'm flawless!"
"Don't worry, boss. I dare say that I know the Beijing Automotive Plant's comrades better than anyone else about this Beijing SUV!" Gao Zhendong didn't say, "There's a driver, so don't worry," because that would be bad news for the driver. He couldn't be that unkind.

"What did you change?!"

Gao Zhendong said with a smile, "I saw a Citibank limited-slip differential that looked pretty good, so I installed it on the front and rear drive of this car."

A limited-slip differential is a type of differential lock.

The limited-slip differential that Gao Zhendong chose is a Torsen differential, a very ingenious and easy-to-use differential. The best thing about this is that it does not require a control system, it is a purely mechanical structure, the differential locks automatically, it does not have electronic components, and it has high impact resistance.

This device was widely used in Hans Quadricycles vehicles after the 80s. There's a saying in the automotive industry: "Just step on the gas, and leave the rest to the Quadricycle." The Quadricycle four-wheel drive system uses a Torsen limited-slip differential, and it works really well.

Of course, it's not without its flaws. It has a complex structure and high cost, and in extreme situations, it requires electronic assistance. To put it bluntly, it requires electronic systems to lock in advance in very extreme situations, but such situations are rare.

These problems were not issues for Gao Zhendong, or even for a military off-road vehicle. Gao Zhendong even added electronic assistance to improve its ability to cope with extreme situations.

The only drawback was that the original patent for this device was registered by Citibank in 58. However, this problem didn't stump Gao Zhendong; Lou Shouxing was handling the matter. This thing wasn't put into practical use until around the early 80s, because it was expensive and complex, and nobody was interested in it then. Buying the patent would likely be successful.

"Limited-slip differential? What's it used for?" the leader asked curiously.

"When the wheels slip and spin freely, lock the spinning wheels and transfer power to the wheels that are not slipping and have traction. This will greatly improve the vehicle's ability to get out of trouble."

At this time, the Beijing Erdan was already using large-particle tires, coupled with the part-time four-wheel drive's front and rear rigid connection, front and rear limited-slip differential locks, and electronically controlled active locking capability.
Gao Zhendong briefly explained the use of this thing, and the eyes of the comrade from the army who had been "eavesdropping" lit up first: "This thing is good! Can it be used on military vehicles?"

The leader glanced at him: "You guys are quick on the uptake, aren't you?"

This comrade, from the army, laughed heartily: "Hehe, we're all one family, no way, no way."

Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "No problem, no problem. Just have Beijing Automotive Factory come to me. When I asked Beijing Automotive Factory for this Beijing Jeep, I said I wouldn't take it for free. Consider this as payment for the car, hahaha."

An air force comrade nearby overheard this and chimed in, "How about... Comrade Zhendong, I'll give you an airplane?"

The leader of the National Defense Industry Committee glanced at him and said, "You haven't taken enough advantage of him yet, have you? The sound of your abacus beads can probably be heard all over the outskirts of Beijing."

"Hey, boss, who would complain about not getting enough cheap deals? Of course, the more the better."

The comrades all laughed. Given Comrade Zhendong's habit of asking for things, they were more than happy for him to ask for as much as possible.

After a few rounds of chatting and laughing, everyone had arrived. It was supposed to be a small-scale discussion, likely just a formality, and there probably wouldn't be many people opposing it. Sure enough, when the Defense Committee explained the Gauls' idea, everyone was eager to get started—this deal looked promising!

"A high-power civilian aircraft engine? Let's cooperate. Even if there's no place to install it, we can still make one as a technological reserve."

"How could there be no room to store it? Our cooperation with the French on civilian airliners is going very well."

"I meant 'even if'. Did your Chinese teacher teach you math?"

“Even if it doesn’t work, it won’t work. Even if the Gauls don’t cooperate with us on passenger planes, we will still do it ourselves.”

"Didn't you just 'let it go'?"

"I shouldn't have answered you."

"..."

It sounded like a heated debate, but there was actually no real argument involved. It was more of a lighthearted exchange and an expression of joy.

"Comrade Zhendong, what are your thoughts?" Seeing that everyone's opinions were very consistent, the leader of the Defense Work Committee felt a little uneasy. Too much consensus, could there be a trap? Just like Sima Yi in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" seeing Zhuge Liang's Empty City Stratagem.

Gao Zhendong put down his pen and smiled, "Of course I support it 120%. This cooperation is great. Even if there are no immediate benefits, even if there is no aircraft to be installed on in the passenger plane we are cooperating on, we will still cooperate with them."

He understood better than any of his comrades what a great opportunity the Gauls' proposed cooperation was, and he also knew what kind of company Snake was, and what kind of thing this company would eventually produce.

The M-53 was used in the military, and the M-56 was used in the civilian sector but was not a complete success. Finally, the CFM-56 was developed, a famous engine that combined the M-56 with the CF-6 from Citigroup.

Although the current timeline is much earlier than the development of the M-56, it is still worth looking forward to what fruitful results Snake can achieve with the existing domestic environment.

Gao Zhendong himself was really looking forward to this, and he was very curious about what would happen in the end.

"This level of engine can be used not only in civilian airliners—two can be used on regional jets, four on mainline jets—but also, with some modifications, in military bombers and large transport aircraft. Its requirement is not high speed, but high payload and low fuel consumption! It is very suitable for power matching of these equipment," Gao Zhendong explained.

It's settled! Since Comrade Zhendong is so strongly advocating for it, this matter is settled!

Those who were very interested in this matter can now relax completely and have some free time to chat about other things, since they're already here.

"Hey, Comrade Zhendong, these days bombers are all developing towards high altitude and high speed." This is almost a global consensus, otherwise the Americans wouldn't have come up with that freak called the XB-70.

Gao Zhendong smiled and shook his head: "In my opinion, high-altitude and high-speed breakthroughs are a dead end and will soon be completely eliminated, leaving no place for them."

"This..." The Air Force comrade wanted to say how could this be, but considering that the person in front of him was Gao Zhendong, he changed his approach: "Why is this?"

Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "Think about the bamboo poles you have now, and then think about the bamboo poles you are working on. Then evaluate whether it is easier for missiles to fly higher and faster or for airplanes to fly higher and faster."

Once missiles have reached a certain level of development, bombers are essentially doomed to fail in high-altitude, high-speed penetration. Missiles fly both fast and high; you can't possibly outrun a bomber, can you?
Moreover, for such a large bomber to fly fast is more difficult than with missiles and more difficult than with interceptors. It's like putting in a lot of effort to achieve high altitude and high speed, only to find that you still can't outrun or evade it.

What's the point of doing that!

The US spent a long time developing the B-1A, but after an evaluation in 76, the final conclusion was that it was useless, and it was cancelled. The B-1B, which was finally put back into service in the 80s, was mainly used for low-altitude penetration.

Later, with the development of early warning aircraft, radar and missiles, it was found that such a large bomber was not very effective at low-altitude penetration. So, let's drop cruise missiles. Then, after thinking about it, damn it, dropping cruise missiles is not as good as using B-52.

As for the Tu-160, which looks similar to the B-1 but is actually a size larger, its entire development process is, if not exactly the same as the B-1, at least virtually identical.

Ultimately, it was discovered that, aside from the B-2, the most useful aircraft were still the B-52 and Tu-95.

Sixth Master: My dear friend, I can barely use it, especially when I'm hanging a drop.

The core reason is that air defense technology developed too quickly, rendering physical means such as speed and altitude ineffective. The cost to the attacking side was far greater than that to the defending side, ultimately forcing the two main types of aircraft, fighters and bombers, to resort to magic.

In some ways, this is a good thing. If the cost of attacking weren't so high, the Cold War would have turned into a hot war ages ago. Do they really think the Americans love peace? Given their disproportionately low moral advantage, there's only one reason they don't take action: they can't afford to.

Gao Zhendong's words were undoubtedly a bombshell in this day and age, leaving everyone speechless. High-altitude and high-speed aircraft were no longer useful? From S1 onwards, haven't we been developing aircraft towards high-altitude and high-speed capabilities? Are we just saying it's no longer viable?

But upon closer reflection, what they said seems to make a lot of sense, which makes it hard to stay calm.

However, theory is one thing, practice is another, and when it comes to practice, comrades do have examples on hand.

"But it is said that the Citizens' XB-70 is progressing very smoothly and very quickly, and it will be test-flying soon."

Speaking of this, the leaders of the National Defense Industry Committee recalled that they had communicated with Gao Zhendong about the XB-70 a long time ago. His statement at that time was exactly the same as it is now, without any change. He looked down on the XB-70.

However, it now appears that the aircraft project at least did not fail.

Gao Zhendong shook his head, utterly disdainful: "No chance. I'm telling you right now, the 'X' in XB-70 will never be removed! This plane isn't high enough or fast enough to survive. Instead of researching high-altitude, high-speed flight, we should work on low-altitude, high-subsonic, rapid penetration. That way, it might survive a little longer. High-altitude, high-speed flight is like being born dead; it has absolutely no future."

(End of this chapter)