Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1465 A New Era Begins! (4k)

Combined with its mysterious and deep fuselage color, the entire aircraft appears understated yet menacing.

Gao Zhendong stared at the plane with a fascination, slowly walked forward, and reached out to touch the plane's belly. The feel of it!
No one stopped him. Paint maintenance and the preciousness of the prototype were nothing in front of Gao Zhendong.

Everyone knows that without Gao Zhendong, there would be no aircraft, no stealth coating on the aircraft, and nothing about the aircraft.

If he can't even get close enough to touch it, then there aren't many people who can.

Despite Gao Zhendong's impressive achievements, this was the first time in his two lifetimes that he had ever touched the feel of stealth coating applied to an airplane.

I made the paint, but I never touched it. For Gao Zhendong, that's just how interesting the truth is.

Having had his fill, Gao Zhendong took a few steps back and looked at the plane with satisfaction.

It meets all his expectations based on realistic conditions. Although it hasn't taken off yet, it's already eye-catching enough just by being on the ground.

The combination of the J-10 and the MiG-1.44 feels like it's just a bit more basic in terms of stealth design compared to the other two.

The trapezoidal rear fuselage, although it only houses two medium-thrust turbojet engines, still appears somewhat large, at least in the eyes of all comrades except Gao Zhendong.

After all, before this, our largest fighter jet was a member of the MiG-21 family, but the MiG-21 itself was actually a small fighter jet. To give you an example, you'll know how small it was.

Its maximum takeoff weight is not much heavier than that of the MiG-19.

Compared to Gao Zhendong, who already had expectations, the others reacted much more intensely.

The leader of the committee looked at the fighter jet and felt somewhat dazzled. Before this, he had indeed seen the aircraft at different stages of design and manufacturing from blueprints and photos, but no matter how detailed the information was, it was not as shocking as seeing it with his own eyes.

The appearance of the fighter jet in front of him exceeded all his imagination, as if it came from the future.

In fact, the core concept of this aircraft does indeed come from the future, and many of its technologies also come from the future.

"This plane...can it really fly?" He turned his head and looked at the chief engineer, who was just as excited as he was.

It wasn't that he didn't trust the comrades at the Southwest Institute, but when something is too far beyond common sense, everyone will subconsciously seek its truth, even if it is something that is really happening right in front of them.

The chief engineer nodded, half in admiration and half in awe: "It should be possible...it definitely is!!! But...this plane is just too beautiful."

Not to mention them, in the 1990s, when military enthusiasts across the country, who had long yearned for the nose-mounted air intake of fighter jets, saw the pointed-nose J-8 in the Three Knowledge Base, the excitement they felt was something that Gao Zhendong, who had only heard about it from his uncle, found very hard to understand.

Even such a small leap can excite people from all walks of life, so one can only imagine how powerful the shock will be when this new air superiority fighter leaps from the MiG-19, a first-generation aircraft, to the 3.8 generation.

Its unique structure, unusual contours, elegant shape, complex aerodynamics, sleek fuselage, aggressive stance, smooth cockpit, and even austere paint scheme...

The impact of all of this is so powerful that it is difficult for those who did not experience it firsthand to describe.

"This plane is more advanced than foreign ones, isn't it?" The leader, deeply shocked, was in a state of doubt about everything.

Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "Advanced! And much more advanced!" Apart from the engine, the level of advancement of this aircraft exceeded everyone's imagination. Even the comrades from the Southwest Institute who personally developed it did not know enough about it.

It boasts an engine with good performance and lifespan, a PD radar with a digital signal processor and a planar slotted antenna, stealth design, stealth coating, and an aerodynamic layout that balances high-altitude, high-speed, and dogfight maneuverability. Not to mention the various air-to-air missiles that have been prepared for her for a long time and are still being prepared, which are at least one generation ahead of the current mainstream international air combat weapons.

If this isn't advanced, then nothing is.

Although some supporting equipment is still under development, and even the engine is not the final target model, this aircraft still dares to claim that it is the most advanced fighter jet in the world, without exception!

"That's indeed very advanced." Gao Zhendong didn't actually provide any evidence, but the leader showed a reassuring smile.

Evidence is unimportant; all he needs right now is someone to reaffirm his expectations.

If this person is Gao Zhendong, then it's even more reassuring.

"Comrade Zhendong, thank you for all the efforts you have made for our eagles in the sky." The leader turned to look at Gao Zhendong and said solemnly.

"It's what I should do." Gao Zhendong's words were very ordinary, so ordinary that almost anyone would have answered like that. In fact, if someone else had said it, they might have been laughed at for not being sophisticated, original, or unique in their speech.

But his answer was particularly powerful.

He said it, he did it, and he will continue to do it.

Gao Zhendong could have said nothing, since all modesty seems pale and powerless compared to his contributions.

On the contrary, it is the simplest yet most difficult thing to do, "It is what I should do," that truly demonstrates the power of action.

Talk is not entirely useless, but it is far weaker than action.

"Yes, well done, thank you for your hard work. And thank you to all our comrades! Tomorrow, we must get this plane airborne, while ensuring safety and making things as reasonable as possible!"

Safety is the top priority; the leadership did not issue a death order like "it must take off."

"Yes!" Under the bright lights, excited faces were everywhere.

At 10 a.m. the next morning, when the sun was almost high in the sky, a dark gray warplane waited quietly at the end of the runway.

She had been waiting there for a while. The ground crew who were supposed to be serving her had mostly moved aside. Except for the power supply vehicle, which was still connected to the aircraft to provide power for its air conditioning and other functions, all the other ground support vehicles had been moved to the side.

"The weather forecast was very accurate; today is a good day." Most of the staff were in the control tower, which was a bit crowded, as it was located further away from the runway.

"Ready to take off!"

With a single command, the ground crew removed the last umbilical cord—the cable.

A roar of engines filled the air, and a cluster of the aircraft's wing surfaces began to move.

The canard wings rotated alternately from left to right, as if waving to the comrades watching her.

The rudder at the tail of the vertical stabilizer swayed from side to side, as if to say, "Don't worry, don't worry."

The aerodynamic control surfaces on the main wing swayed up and down in sequence, as if fanning away the beads of sweat from the tension on the body.

"It moved! Wow, this plane has so many movable parts! It must be very agile in the air!" an air force comrade exclaimed excitedly.

This familiar scene almost brought Gao Zhendong to tears again. The sense of déjà vu was so strong that it felt as if Gao Zhendong had traveled back more than forty years to come.

"Dreaming back more than forty years later" is a phrase that sounds grammatically flawed, but it fits Gao Zhendong's life perfectly.

The plane slowly advanced with the roar of its engines and came to a stop in front of the takeoff line. "Sir, everything is ready. Give the order!" The comrade from the Southwest Institute handed the microphone to the committee leader.

"Everything is ready, except for the east wind, hahaha. But this east wind isn't me," the leader laughed, then handed the microphone that the comrade from the Southwest Institute had given him to Gao Zhendong.

"Comrade Zhendong, this plane, you are the true Dongfeng! Come on, Zhendongfeng!"

The comrades were initially slightly surprised, then astonished, and finally understood.

Gao Zhendong was also taken aback. Then, seeing the intense gazes of his comrades around him, he didn't say anything and took the microphone.

You gave this opportunity to me; anyone who gives it away would be a fool.

As someone who spent 15 of his previous 20 years of life as a military enthusiast, Gao Zhendong naturally wouldn't pass up such an opportunity.

He picked up the microphone and gave the order in a firm and powerful voice: "Take off!"

Under the gaze of his comrades, the iron-gray warplane roared loudly and began to glide on the runway, its speed increasing faster and faster.

People watched the planes speeding down the runway with some tension. The taxiing test had been done a few days ago, but taxiing is not the same as takeoff.

The test pilot did not disappoint his colleagues who were eagerly waiting in the control tower and at the airport; the nose wheel of the aircraft gradually lifted off the ground.

"They've lifted the wheels! They've lifted the wheels!" Cheers erupted everywhere.

Amidst the brief cheers, all the planes had taken off and soared into the sky.

The plane didn't fly for long, nor did it perform any graceful or difficult maneuvers. It just flew in the air normally, at a low altitude, and never left the comrades' sight. The landing gear was also never retracted.

But this flight, which was completely without difficulty, brought tears to the eyes of many comrades on site.

Unlike all the mass-produced aircraft that have been tested before, this aircraft was designed and manufactured by us bit by bit. Apart from the engine, it has almost no foreign complete set of technologies.

As for the structure and aerodynamics, they are entirely original, except for drawing on the mature experience of similar subsystems abroad.

Moreover, our original work started at an extremely high level. The stealth design, an idea that could almost be written into a science fiction novel, was actually realized through our efforts.

The first fully domestically developed advanced combat aircraft is not a trial project like the Beijing No. 1, nor a relatively simple model like a trainer aircraft, nor a copy of the J-5 or J-6.

This is an aircraft that we can proudly announce: that we have officially entered the ranks of advanced fighter jet development, and that we have directly entered the forefront of fighter jet development with an unstoppable and irrefutable momentum.

Compared to just over a decade ago, the contrast is enormous, a complete transformation.

How could anyone not be moved and shed tears?

This also includes Gao Zhendong.

A man doesn't easily shed tears, unless he's overcome with emotion.

He stared greedily at the plane flying smoothly in the sky, not missing a single detail even when the plane was just a tiny dot in his field of vision.

"First flight maneuvers completed, requesting return to base!" The test pilot's equally excited voice came through the control tower radio.

"Permission to return! Permission to return!" In his excitement, the tower controller repeated the order several times.

"Yes!"

Following the test pilot's reply, everyone on the control tower, except for a few who had to stay at their posts, began to rush down. Even the older leaders of the commission started to walk with quick, short strides.

Head to the tarmac to welcome our heroes.

The plane took a while to return. It wasn't until everyone had reached the end of the taxiway and onto the tarmac that they saw a small black dot slowly approaching in the distance, accompanied by a deafening roar.

"I'm coming!"

Several lively women had already started jumping on the tarmac, pointing to the horizon as they jumped.

The warplane descended slowly and steadily.

"Hmm, the descent rate and attitude are both excellent," an Air Force comrade said with some envy. He only regretted that his skills weren't up to par, preventing him from getting the test flight assignment. However, he was quite adept at observing attitude.

Without any unexpected incidents, the plane slightly lifted its head above the runway and landed lightly on it. With a screeching sound of brakes and a gradually decreasing engine roar, it deployed its drag chute with a "bang," rapidly slowing down on the runway before finally taxiing.

"Whoosh~~~~~~" With a high-frequency whirring sound from the engine, the plane finally came to a stop not too far from the crowd.

"Success!" The comrades cheered and rushed towards the plane.

The ground crew had already placed the gangway on the fuselage, and the test pilot half-unlocked his oxygen mask and stepped down from the aircraft.

"You've worked hard! Congratulations on the successful test flight of our latest domestically developed fighter jet!" The leader of the committee grasped the test pilot's hands and shook them vigorously to congratulate him.

"Thank you, sir." The test pilot smiled broadly, his face flushed with excitement.

Two female comrades stepped forward with a large red ribbon and a red flower, and carefully hung it on the test pilot's chest.

The test pilot shook hands with each of the comrades at the front, including Gao Zhendong.

Gao Zhendong didn't say much, only saying, "You succeeded! Congratulations, thank you!"

No need for too many fancy gestures; the simplest congratulations and thanks are the most sincere.

Besides, in this situation, there's no time for him to spout any fancy nonsense. Who the hell has time to listen to your rambling? There are plenty of people waiting in line behind him.

Led by the committee leaders, the comrades burst into applause.

After a round of applause, the committee leader staggered a few steps, climbed to about halfway up the gangway, and shouted:

"Comrades, my fellow soldiers! I am pleased to announce that our country's first fully domestically developed advanced air superiority fighter has made its maiden flight..."

He paused for a moment, then shouted even louder:

"A complete success!!!!!"

(End of this chapter)