Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 160, page 159, D.332 test flight: a major design problem for Devatina Corporation, which Fang Wen can solve.
Fang Wen felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing Lin Shuiwang.

He and Lin Shuiwang had been through danger together. He really couldn't have done those things during their trip to England, France, and Germany without Lin Shuiwang's company.

Fang Wen strode over, shook hands with him, and patted the other man's shoulder forcefully.

"Is everything settled in Europe? I'm waiting for you to come to my company and help out. The Asia-Europe route is about to start."

Lin Shuiwang sensed the importance placed on him from Fang Wen's tone, which warmed his heart.

“Everything is ready. I don’t plan to go looking for that woman. Let her go. I originally planned to take my mother back by boat, but after receiving your telegram, I decided to stay and wait for you.”

"Okay, I'll assign you something to do, and then you can go back to your mother after you've finished it."

"what's up?"

"I brought a flight attendant with me this time. He'll be staying here for 80 days, and he can't just do nothing. I'm planning to arrange for him to learn at this airline. Do you have any way to get him a job with Air France? After he learns, he can go back and teach the other flight attendants."

“It might not be easy to study with Air France, but I know that Air France has a flight school that specializes in training this. As long as the fees are paid in full, he can get in and study there.”

"That's good." Fang Wen turned to Cheng Dayou: "Cheng Dayou, while you're in Paris, just follow Lin Shuiwang's arrangements. Don't wander around outside of your studies. Wait for me to come back."

"Yes, General Manager. I will definitely learn from you." Cheng Dayou cherished this opportunity and was determined.

Fang Wen looked at Gu Xingzuo and Dai Shimao. "You two can stay in Europe for 80 days and then come to meet me. My advice is to keep a close eye on your passports and don't lose them. Also, don't show your money; there are many pickpockets here, some of whom will just rob you."

The two were well-prepared. Gu Xingzuo said, "Don't worry, General Manager Fang. See you in 80 days. We both have relatives here."

It turned out the two had some connections in Europe, so Fang Wen didn't say anything more.

They watched Gu Xingzuo and Dai Shimao leave.

Now only Bai Zeshan remains.

Fang Wen asked with concern, "Bai Zeshan, which school are you planning to study at? I can help you make arrangements."

Fang Wen felt he had to take good care of this genius who had already grasped some electronic logic and would be working for Taishan Airlines after graduation.

"I don't know either." Bai Zeshan had never been abroad and didn't have any friends in this field. He had only heard that the best electrical engineering knowledge could be learned in Europe.

Looks like I'll have to find out for him.

Fang Wen got into the car and unconsciously chose the driver's seat. Whenever he had a car, he would subconsciously hand over control to himself.

Lin Shuiwang didn't have any objections; he was already used to it.

I sat directly in the front passenger seat, while the other two sat in the back.

The car started, and under Lin Shuiwang's guidance, Fang Wen drove to the city center and checked into a hotel.

After the room was booked, Lin Shuiwang went out to inquire about the situation, while the others waited in the room.

Lin Shuiwang didn't return until evening.

He explained the situation.

"I've already contacted the school for Air France. Cheng Dayou, come over here."

Cheng Dayou stood nervously beside Lin Shuiwang, awaiting his instructions. Looking at Lin Shuiwang's mature and capable demeanor, no one would have guessed that the two were actually not that far apart in age.

"Come with me tomorrow. I've found you a place to stay, not far from the school. The host family is Chinese and can teach you French. You need to learn basic French conversation with them in the first month, otherwise you won't be able to communicate with your teacher, understand?"

"Understand."

"That's good. I'll drive you there tomorrow. We can talk about everything else there."

After speaking with Cheng Dayou, Lin Shuiwang reported the school's situation to Fang Wen.

According to what he found out, there are four good schools in Europe.

Technical University of Munich (Germany), ETH Zurich (Switzerland), École Polytechnique (France), Imperial College London (UK).

The Technical University of Munich is one of Germany's top technical universities, and its electrical engineering department enjoys a high reputation in Europe and around the world.

ETH Zurich also excels in electrical engineering, electronic engineering and related fields.

École Polytechnique is one of the top engineering schools in France, and its electrical engineering department also boasts a high level of teaching and research capabilities.

Imperial College London has a long history and outstanding contributions to the field of electrical engineering, and was one of the first schools to offer electrical engineering education.

After listening to Lin Shuiwang's introduction, Fang Wen looked at Bai Zeshan: "Which one do you choose? I personally suggest you don't choose the Technical University of Munich. The situation there is a bit bad, and I'm afraid you'll run into trouble."

After hearing Fang Wen's words, Bai Zeshan considered it and replied, "I think since they are both very good schools, the theoretical differences should not be significant, so I will choose École Polytechnique."

Fang Wen nodded: "Lin Shuiwang can't make you a full-time student at École Polytechnique, but I can pay for you to audit classes and have the school's teachers answer your questions. The rest is up to you. But I have one request: while you're studying, think more about that vacuum tube adder. I hope you can make that kind of device in the future and further optimize it."

Bai Zeshan nodded and solemnly said, "I will make the addition device."

"I'll try my best. I have high hopes for you and I hope you will achieve great things in the future." Fang Wen replied with a smile, which made Bai Zeshan a little excited.

So what if Bai Zeshan can't make an additive device for the time being?

What will appear in the future will eventually appear, but those who have never existed in the future will have more possibilities.

1933 6 Month 25 Day.

Zhao Jiu took a ship to the United States ahead of time, as he needed to pay a visit to some of the Green Gang veterans who had come from Shanghai to New York to make their fortunes.

Lin Shuiwang was still arranging things for Bai Zeshan and Cheng Dayou; wanting to enroll in a foreign university was not as simple as it sounded.

But if you have the money, it's still possible to do it.

Fang Wen, however, went to Toulouse, the capital city of the Haute-Garonne department in the Pyrenees region of southwestern France.

Toulouse is the future headquarters of Airbus, and it is also home to an aircraft manufacturing company: the French company Devatina.

Fang Wen came here, not by car, but by piloting a Boeing 247.

As the plane approached Toulouse, Fang Wen looked down over the entire city and found the small Devatina company on the western outskirts.

There is a very brightly colored running track there, which is very easy to spot.

Fang Wen turned on the radio.

"Taishan Airlines Flight 02 is calling the ground, requesting to land."

The response was immediate.

"Hello Fang Wen, I am Devatina. It is an honor for you to come to my company."

The other party did not follow the rules of air-to-ground communication at all. Fang Wen could tell from the other party's words that he was a casual person. Perhaps it was this personality that made him unique in aircraft development.

Fang Wen replied, "May I land now?"

"Ha, of course you can, the runway below is empty."

Under this strange air-to-ground communication, Fang Wen controlled the aircraft to land on the runway.

Once the plane had come to a complete stop, Fang Wen opened the cabin door and prepared to exit.

Outside, an old man waited eagerly.

He just opened his mouth.

"Hello Fang Wen, I am Emil de Vatina. May I take a look at the Boeing passenger plane?"

"No problem, please make yourself at home." Fang Wen stepped aside.

After entering the cabin, the old man observed very carefully.

When he saw the two horizontal obstacles in the middle of the cabin, he smiled knowingly: "Boeing's engineers are too lazy; they didn't even want to make the wing connecting rods curved up and down."

Fang Wen agreed, "Yeah, every time I step over it I want to complain. This is a passenger plane. If a passenger trips because of this, should I ask Boeing for compensation?" "Hahaha," Emil de Vatina laughed out loud.

He carefully examined the aircraft's structure and inquired about the aircraft's performance and equipment models from Fang Wen.

This was all publicly available information, and Fang Wen had no intention of covering it up for Boeing, so he told them everything.

Afterwards, Fang Wen piloted the plane and circled in the air a few times, allowing Emil de Vatina to get to know him better.

When the plane landed again, Emil de Vatina was no longer smiling.

He asked seriously, "Mr. Fang, I would like to know your opinion on the Boeing 247."

Fang Wen thought for a moment and replied, "In Chinese terms, it should be called the Doctrine of the Mean. It seeks stability in all aspects of performance and has no particularly outstanding features."

Emil de Vatina nodded in agreement: "It is indeed 'mediocre'. In some aspects, it is not as good as my d.332, but overall, it is no worse than the d.332."

Fang Wen was somewhat surprised by Emil de Vatina's words.

His tone was somewhat disappointed, which made Fang Wen wonder if there was some design flaw in the d.332.

He had planned so much for so long, and he didn't want it to end because of a problem with d.332.

In any case, we have to fly over it before we can make a judgment.

Therefore, Fang Wen asked, "Can I begin test flight training now?"

"No problem at all, come with me."

Emil de Vatina led Fang Wen to another hangar, where the D.332 passenger plane was parked.

There's another test pilot waiting.

After a brief introduction, Emil de Vatina left for test flight training by the test pilot.

In just one day, Fang Wen completed the test flight training and piloted the plane independently.

In independent pilot mode, Fang Wen fully activated his mechanical perception capabilities and gained a comprehensive understanding of the aircraft.

After becoming one with the aircraft, Fang Wen gained a completely new sense of perception.

He is the airplane, and the airplane is him; through this, he also discovered the problems with airplanes.

No wonder Emil de Vatina showed a sense of frustration after fully understanding the Boeing 247.

Fang Wen already understood.

Compared to the Boeing 247, the D.332 appears crude in terms of engineering structure.

The Boeing 247 has a modern, streamlined fuselage, while the d.332 has a three-dimensional, multifaceted fuselage.

Under the same wind resistance, the Boeing 247 will experience less drag.

The cause of this result is the manufacturing process of the aircraft fuselage.

Boeing clearly has a more professional group of aircraft engineers, while Devatina's aircraft engineers were unable to achieve that smooth, streamlined fuselage and could only use sheet metal for welding.

If it's just a streamlined fuselage, it's not a big deal, since both aircraft have a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, so the impact isn't too significant.

But there are other problems.

The wing structure is unstable.

This is a big problem.

An aircraft with an unstable wing structure is prone to accidents.

Fang Wen was surprised. Why would this happen?

He compared the data from the two aircraft.

The Boeing 247 has a wingspan of 22.6 meters, a length of 15.7 meters, and a wing area of ​​78.0 square meters.

The d.332 has a wingspan of 29.4 meters, a length of 22.1 meters, and a wing area of ​​99.0 square meters.

The wingspan to length ratio of the Boeing 247 is 1.3, and that of the d.332 is 1.4. Both ratios are considered normal.

However, the wing area of ​​the d.332 is only 99 square meters, just 21 square meters more than that of the Boeing 247.

Something is wrong.

The d.332 has a range of 2000 kilometers, which is 40% more than the Boeing 247, and its payload is also twice as much (2 tons). So why is its wing area only so much larger?

With his mechanical sense and extensive driving experience, Fang Wen was well aware of the importance of wing area to an aircraft.

First, wing area is a crucial parameter for calculating aircraft lift. Lift generation is directly related to wing area; generally, the larger the wing area, the greater the lift generated. This is especially important for large aircraft that need to carry large amounts of cargo or passengers.

Secondly, wing area has a significant impact on flight speed. At high speeds, an excessively large wing area increases drag, thus affecting speed. Therefore, for high-speed aircraft, such as fighter jets, the wing area is typically smaller to reduce drag and increase speed.

Third, an increase in wing area also means an increase in structural weight. Therefore, when designing an aircraft, a trade-off must be struck between lift and weight to ensure the overall performance of the aircraft.

Determining the wing area requires considering multiple factors, including flight speed, lift requirements, drag, structural weight, and stress distribution at the wing root. These factors are interrelated and collectively affect the overall performance of the aircraft.

In the future aircraft design process, wing performance will typically be evaluated and optimized through a variety of methods, including wind tunnel testing, numerical simulation, and actual flight testing. Only the wing area determined after comprehensively considering all factors represents the optimal design for the aircraft.

Now, without these things, Emil de Vatina unleashed his wildly imaginative design skills, but misjudged the aircraft's basic data.

Thinking about this, Fang Wen roughly understood Emil de Vatina's design concept.

He wanted to design a civilian airliner that could fly far, carry a large payload, and be fuel-efficient.

However, the combination of these requirements has created a huge hidden danger.

Fang Wen immediately landed the plane and went straight to find Emil de Vatina after getting off.

Emir de Vatina is in his office.

Fang Wen entered the office with a cold expression and got straight to the point.

“Emil de Vatina, your aircraft has a major hidden danger. If it is not resolved, my Taishan Airlines will not purchase it, and the transatlantic flight will not be carried out.”

Emil de Vatina looked at Fang Wen in surprise, "What did you discover?"

"The wings are too narrow and cannot support the weight of the aircraft. They will become fragile and will break down in bad weather."

As Fang Wen finished speaking, he picked up the quill pen on his desk and snapped it in two.

"That's how it will turn out."

Emil de Vatina nodded: "That's true. Under normal weather conditions, it'll be fine, but in cases of air currents, the wings will be very vulnerable. But if we increase the wing area, its speed will decrease significantly. A long-haul aircraft with a flight speed of only 200 kilometers per hour has no commercial value."

After Emil de Vatina finished speaking, he leaned back in his chair, feeling utterly powerless. It was indeed a blow that his meticulously crafted aircraft had such a problem, and that it had been discovered by outsiders.

But Fang Wen felt he could solve the problems Emil de Vatina faced.

With his knowledge of aircraft, he could easily point out the discrepancies in the data and provide the best optimization solution.

But to achieve this, you can't just give it away for free.

Fang Wen smiled and looked at Emil de Vatina.

"We can talk about it; this problem might not be difficult to solve."

(d.332)

(Boeing 247)

(End of this chapter)