Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1464 It felt like the place was full of people (4k)

The reason is simple: because carbon fiber came first, aramid has the advantage of being a latecomer, and many things can be "reused".

What can be utilized here is not only experience, but also equipment, personnel, and so on.

Seeing his comrades' confident expressions, Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "Shall we continue this afternoon?"

General Manager Wei nodded repeatedly: "Good! Good!"

That was awesome!

Pan, however, hesitated, though his heart was filled with enthusiasm.

"Committee Member Gao, is the paraaramid still a similar combination of monomers?"

"Yes, almost, except this time it's poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide), so we replaced m-phenylenediamine with p-phenylenediamine," Gao Zhendong said.

Pan was even more itchy.

Having witnessed his previous performance in meta-aramid, he now desperately wanted to do something, like carbon fiber carbonization, to identify and discover something himself, even if it was immature, so that he could gain some experience.

He was confident that he could do more than carbonization of carbon fiber, since he had no prior experience with carbonization, while he had experience with polymerization and spinning.

He knew, however, that this request might be a bit excessive.

So, Committee Member Gao is only concerned with accommodating himself all day? He was given three days for carbon fiber carbonization, and a few more days for aramid? Even he himself feels that this is inappropriate.

"Forget it, let's focus on what's in front of us first, and we can talk about the rest later." He hesitated for a moment, just about to continue following President Wei's lead.

But Gao Zhendong interrupted him.

Gao Zhendong could see through his thoughts and understand his concerns.

"Mr. Pan, why don't you try it yourself first, just like carbon fiber carbonization?" he said to Mr. Pan with a smile.

"This..." Engineer Pan hesitated, not to mention that General Manager Wei was desperately trying to signal him with his eyes—at this critical juncture, we shouldn't cause any trouble.

Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "Don't hold back, just say what you think."

Pan gritted his teeth and said, "Yes! I hope Committee Member Gao can still give me three days." He still didn't want to miss this opportunity to see what he could do under the guidance of such a big shot.

Prior to this, his understanding of polyamides was limited to a broad overview, so he couldn't delve into many things, and he couldn't even grasp which specific polyamide compound to choose.

But things are different now. The monomer and the final product have been clearly defined. He feels that he should first take a test paper and then ask Committee Member Gao to grade it to see how many points he can get.

This was a very rare opportunity for him.

The only problem is that this might affect the time and progress on Committee Member Gao's side, especially since carbon fiber carbonization has already been done once at the request of the comrades.

When General Manager Wei heard this, he was also greatly surprised. Did they think Committee Member Gao would spend all his time playing with them?
Unexpectedly, Gao Zhendong smiled and nodded: "Okay, no problem, but I can only give you two days."

Actually, two or three days doesn't matter, but it's necessary to shorten the time appropriately. Two days is really enough to find a route, but the success of that route is not guaranteed.

Gao Zhendong was genuinely willing to give them time. For him personally, it made no difference; he planned to give Wei Fanglun half a day this afternoon. Spending it today or two days later wouldn't make much difference. Gao Zhendong had a lot of work to do, and he could easily find something to fill in during his spare time, so there was no issue of disrupting his work schedule.

For him, solidifying the foundation of high-strength synthetic fibers made this deal worthwhile no matter what. Taking some time to adjust the plan was hardly a cost.

Gao Zhendong's words delighted Engineer Pan and surprised General Manager Wei.

This Committee Member Gao really takes good care of ordinary researchers.

Now that things have come to this, General Manager Wei couldn't help but express his gratitude: "Committee Member Gao, isn't this disrupting your plans too much? You're being too considerate of us; we really can't accept that."

This wasn't to say he was bureaucratic, but rather that he was genuinely afraid of impacting Gao Zhendong's plans.

Gao Zhendong smiled and shook his head: "It's not that bad. As long as the plan is still under control, it's not a tiger's tail. You can still touch it. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Seeing that Gao Zhendong had no intention of changing his mind, General Manager Wei was finally relieved.

"Alright, let's go back and use these precious two days to discuss this properly. Old Pan, don't underestimate me just because I'm not as good as you at spinning. When it comes to polymerization, you have to look to me, hahaha." President Wei was quite unhappy that he couldn't get a word in edgewise for most of the time. Feeling that he was still vigorous despite his age, he was determined to regain his dignity.

And you know what? He wasn't exaggerating at all.

Because he had no experience in carbon fiber spinning, he was indeed no match for Engineer Pan in terms of polymerization. Engineer Pan's position as chief engineer and research fellow at the applied chemistry department level was not earned for nothing.

There may be other reasons that led to the promotion of a leader in a technical position, but there is one basic requirement: your technical skills must be good enough. If not top-notch, you must at least be among the best.

Engineer Pan laughed and said, "That's right! With the chief engineer personally participating, my pressure is much less."

After seeing off his excited comrades, Gao Zhendong turned around and sat down.

I was just thinking of doing something to fill the half-day when the phone rang.

"Comrade Zhendong, let's go to the Southwest Institute together. We have some good news there!" It was the voice of the committee leader.

Gao Zhendong's heart skipped a beat: "Is it that plane?" Air superiority fighter, there's nothing else but that.

"Yes! The maiden flight is coming! We're heading there right away. According to their plan, it's tomorrow! You'll definitely get to fly!"

Without a doubt, Gao Zhendong was a must-see for those comrades who knew about this aircraft.

Gao Zhendong didn't refuse at all; how could he refuse? "Okay, I'll be right there."

He put down the phone, rummaged through a cabinet in his office and found his travel bag, which he rarely used but always kept ready. Then he called Lou Xiao'e and asked for a car to take him to the National Defense Commission.

The aircraft is very fast. Compared to flying tractors that might even be blown backward by strong winds, the Falcon-20, the main business jet of the National Defense Industry Commission, is much faster and has a long range, without the need for refueling stops.

The plane slowly came to a stop at the Southwest Institute's dedicated airport, and Gao Zhendong and the committee leaders got off the plane together.

Although many things have changed, this track is beginning to overlap with several photos in Gao Zhendong's memory, and some buildings, walls, and trees that do not yet exist are beginning to appear before Gao Zhendong's eyes one by one.

He stood there, turning his head to look around, feeling the track becoming more and more familiar.

He seemed to see, in a certain direction, several tree branches that didn't yet exist, covered with large, middle-aged men holding cameras, tears streaming down their faces. He froze, staring in that direction, motionless for a long time, sand getting into his eyes.

"Zhendong, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" A concerned voice asked in my ear.

"No, I'm just standing here and stretching my legs," Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

He slung his business trip bag over his shoulder and took one last deep look in that direction, as if bidding farewell to the shadows hanging in the trees.

The trees may still be planted according to historical inertia, but the people hanging from the trees will probably not appear again, or rather, they will appear with different feelings.

"Leaders, Chief Engineer, Chief Engineer Gao, you've arrived! We've been waiting for you for so long!" The comrades from the Southwest Institute warmly greeted them, extending their hands to each of them.

"We've been looking forward to this day for you for a long time, hahaha," the committee leader said with a smile as he shook hands with the leader.

"Chief Engineer Gao, we've finally made sure your hard work wasn't in vain."

"I believe my comrades will do even better than I expected," Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

The group got into the car and arrived at a building not far from the airport.

This is not the Southwest Institute's base. The Southwest Institute's base is a bit far from here. After all, planes take off and land every day, so it wouldn't be appropriate to be right next to it. This is the production plant.

There are reasons why we arrived here first.

"Distinguished leaders and comrades, this is our static testing workshop," the comrades from the Southwest Institute introduced with pride and excitement.

The plane is scheduled to make its maiden flight tomorrow, but that doesn't mean there won't be anything to see before then.

The comrades entered the workshop and saw an airplane that was tied up tightly, quietly parked in the center of the workshop.

The aircraft's overall appearance shows the original silver color of its aluminum alloy skin. This is a static testing machine, so applying stealth coating to it would be a waste.

Countless cables extend from the fuselage, and numerous heavy objects are suspended below; almost all the steel cables are taut and straight.

Looking at those straight steel cables, Gao Zhendong recalled the little joke that 2*8=16.

Comrades could almost hear the sound of metal resisting the enormous pulling force coming from deep inside the plane.

Because it was covered in bandage-like material, the aircraft's shape was barely discernible. It could only be vaguely seen that this was an aircraft unlike any other before, a first in the history of military combat aircraft.

Before this, even the new fighter-7, which changed from a nose air intake to side air intakes, could still be identified as a MiG-19 by those familiar with it. However, this aircraft did not resemble any of the previous aircraft.

If I had to say, it's very similar to the Wright brothers' "Flyer I" because both have canards. After all, if you're looking for your father, almost any fixed-wing aircraft can find its way here.

"Beautiful, so beautiful!" the committee leader exclaimed repeatedly, his eyes shining with fascination.

"Science fiction, absolutely science fiction!" The chief engineer's eyes were no less excited than those of the leaders.

Indeed, even covered in bandages, one can still vaguely see that this is a very beautiful aircraft, at least its overall aerodynamics are very elegant.

Gao Zhendong calmed down at this point, because he had seen even more beautiful women.

He reached out his hand, as if wanting to touch it, but gave up because it was too far away.

Gao Zhendong felt a little regretful. He was sorry, but due to limited resources, he couldn't let you appear in the world in your most beautiful form.

"Chief Engineer Gao, want to touch it? This one's not an option, but the next one will be," the colleague from the Southwest Institute said with a smile.

The main reason why this structure cannot be touched is for safety reasons. After all, no one knows which part will reach its limit during the static test, or in what way the accumulated stress will be released.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Hmm, I'm not in a hurry, hehehe. How about the static test?"

"It's proceeding as planned, no problem. In fact, it has already met the basic requirements. Now it's undergoing overload testing. This is the first time we've built our own aircraft, so we've set up quite a lot of redundancy," the colleague from the Southwest Institute said with a smile.

Gao Zhendong chuckled, which reminded him of a joke.

If a construction project results in shoddy workmanship, who among those involved in the project would feel most at ease? The answer is the design team, because they are the only ones who are relentlessly adding redundancy in every aspect. They need to ensure that even if the construction team cuts corners, the remaining materials and structural strength will still meet the required standards.

The Southwest Aircraft Design Institute, which was making its own aircraft for the first time, naturally maximized redundancy as much as possible. Performance could be temporarily compromised, but the key was to ensure that the aircraft could fly.

An airplane must be able to fly.

"Yes, that's the right approach. We should ensure it works first, then optimize it," Chief Engineer Wei said with a smile.

The committee leader laughed and said, "Let's go see tomorrow's second hero."

The primary contributor is the test pilot, but we will try our best not to affect him today. He has a test flight tomorrow, and his work is very demanding, so we must ensure he gets as much rest as possible.

The second contributor, of course, is the aircraft that is about to undergo its test flight.

After all, like the first hero, they all risked their lives on the maiden flight.

"Okay, please come this way."

The comrades from the Southwest Institute led people to a building that looked similar to the static test workshop, but the security here was much tighter than that of the static test workshop.

It's impossible to open the main door wide; that door is for airplanes, and it's too big for people. Besides, it's not feasible to open that door just for a few people.

Entering through a small door on the side, what came into the comrades' eyes was a clean, tidy, elegant, and beautiful airplane.

Although it doesn't gleam like its older siblings, its iron-gray fuselage exudes a different kind of mysterious and chilling aura.

The aircraft's nose is an incomplete polygon, and to minimize the visual disruption of the polygon's outline, it was even painted with special camouflage colors.

The front of the aircraft features two swept-back canards, which, together with two enormous leading-edge twist delta wings, create a sharp front and wide rear, giving off a fierce and imposing feeling.

The belly of the aircraft features a huge air intake, which is clearly divided into two parts. The entire air intake looks like a gaping mouth, ready to devour anyone at any moment.

The two high-mounted vertical tails tilting to the sides, along with the two ventral fins below the main wings on either side of the tail, make the entire aircraft appear very balanced and stable.

(End of this chapter)