Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 525 The Technical Deal in Leningrad, RO-82 Rail Launcher

Taishan's private seaplane flies over Leningrad Oblast.

Located northeast of Moscow, on the East European Plain, and bordering the Gulf of Finland.

Looking down from the sky, there are numerous lakes, lush forests, and a sparse population.

Gong Xiuneng couldn't help but mutter, "Why did the Soviet Union put that research institute in this godforsaken place?"

In high spirits after obtaining the treasure, Fang Wen replied, "The capital of this state is also called Leningrad. It was formerly known as St. Petersburg and was the capital of Tsarist Russia. Ninety percent of the state's population lives there."

"Commander, what does 'Gele' mean?" Gong Xiuneng asked again.

This kind of place name is indeed unclear to most Chinese people, but Fang Wen knew a little about it and immediately explained: "Gree is the pronunciation of their Slavic language, and it is the same as our so-and-so city or so-and-so city."

"I understand, it's Lenin City." Gong Xiuneng was pleased that he had gained some new knowledge.

At that moment, an Il-16 fighter jet flew in from the northwest.

They were there to welcome Fang Wen and his group. While it was called welcoming, it could also be said that they were monitoring them to prevent Fang Wen's seaplane from flying to places it shouldn't.

The Il-16 fighter pilot flew the aircraft to a position parallel to the Taishan seaplane and communicated with hand gestures through the cockpit window.

His gesture meant to follow him, and Fang Wen responded with a gesture that he understood.

Immediately, the Il-16 flew in front, followed by Fang Wen, heading northwest.

Half an hour later, the outline of a city appeared in the distance.

This city truly lives up to its reputation as the capital of Tsarist Russia, with a large number of medieval buildings in its city center.

The most distinctive feature is the towering, circular tower-topped building.

Fang Wen couldn't help but ask in French, "Alyosha, what kind of building is that?"

Alyosha said with deep emotion, “St. Isaac’s Cathedral, my grandfather used to celebrate Mass in the cathedral. When I was a child, he liked to tell me stories about the place at our home in Paris, and the stories often mentioned this cathedral.”

It turned out to be a famous building here. Fang Wen thought of his wife. It was almost Chinese New Year, and he should send a postcard and a gift to his wife who was far away in the United States. This would be a great background for the postcard.

He spoke up.

“It’s really beautiful. Gong Xiu, could you take a good picture of it for me? I want to send it to Mingzhu.”

"Okay." Gong Xiuneng quickly took out Fang Wen's Leica camera and snapped a picture of what was below.

To get a better shot, Fang Wen even lowered his altitude and flew around the Basilica of St. Isaac once.

This behavior attracted the attention of pedestrians below, who all looked up at the sky.

Clearly, they had never seen this model of seaplane before and did not know where it came from.

The Il-16 leading the way noticed that Fang Wen hadn't kept up, so it flew back.

Meanwhile, Gong Xiuneng had finished taking the photos, and Fang Wen then continued flying after him.

A few minutes later, Il-16 brought Fang Wen to the west side of the city.

Below is the mouth of the Neva River, where there is a deep-water port, which is the designated landing spot for Fang Wen.

Fang Wen then landed the plane on the sea in the port and docked it at the pier.

The plane landed at the port, and Fang Wen, Gong Xiuneng, and Alyosha disembarked. Two officers came over from the dock.

The officers spoke in Russian, and Alyosha translated.

"Hello Mr. Fang, we are from the Aerodynamics Research Institute, which is directly under the Revolutionary Military Commission. We are here to pick you up on orders from our superiors. Your seaplane will be parked here and will be looked after by the comrades at the port, so don't worry."

Fang Wen shook hands with him, "Then let's go."

Led by two officers, Fang Wen and his two companions walked out of the port.

The snow outside had not yet been cleared, and there was still a lot of snow on the road. A Soviet-made GAZ M1 sedan was parked on the side of the road.

The officer opened the car door and said, "You can sit in the back."

Fang Wen and his two companions got into the car, with two officers sitting in the front seats. The car started moving forward.

During the journey, the officer sitting in the passenger seat suddenly turned around.

Gong Xiuneng immediately took a defensive stance.

The officer explained, "Don't misunderstand, I meant to tell you that you must draw the car curtains when you go to the research institute, and you can't look at the road conditions outside. After all, our research institute is a classified institution."

Gong Xiuneng only relaxed after Alyosha translated it once.

Immediately, the curtains on both sides of the car's rear window were drawn, and even a black curtain was placed between the front and rear seats.

Fang Wen did not say anything about this.

It simply activated mechanical perception, allowing it to see the outside world from a mechanical perspective.

The car did not enter the city, but instead drove around it, arriving at a relatively remote cluster of buildings in the south of the city.

Fang Wen also noticed that there were many troops guarding the area, indicating that it was indeed very secretive.

The car then pulled up and parked. The officer got out first and opened the door: "Mr. Fang, we've arrived."

Immediately, Fang Wen and his two companions got out of the car and followed the officer to the place where they were to be received.

It was a guesthouse.

After arranging accommodations, the officer led Fang Wen and the other two to a conference room in a nearby office building.

"Mr. Fang, please explain the weapon data you need to communicate to our technicians here, and they will communicate with you."

"Ok."

Fang Wen surveyed the room.

The meeting room was filled with the strong smell of tobacco, and Lenin's profile portrait and Russian slogans hung on the mottled walls.

Three Soviet technicians in rumpled Brazilian suits sat across the long table. The balding old man in the middle pushed up his round-framed glasses: "I am Korolev, in charge of the stability research of the 132mm rocket. I am also the person in charge of this technical discussion. What kind of improvements do you need to make?" He spoke, revealing teeth stained yellow from smoking, and his cuffs were stained with blue ink.

As soon as Alyosha finished translating, Fang Wen nodded knowingly and took out the materials he had prepared in advance from his briefcase.

Instead of directly presenting the data, he gave a speech.

“Our military industry at Taishan Aviation developed a man-portable rocket last year and used it in actual combat. However, we have encountered problems with large-caliber rockets. I know that research in this area requires time to accumulate, but China’s war is imminent and there is no time to waste. Therefore, I would like to ask you for help.”

After he finished speaking, he showed the documents to the technicians.

The first sheet of paper records the tail fin vibration problem encountered during the test launch of the Taishan Aviation rocket.

Soviet technicians spotted the problem and proudly pointed out the error in the drawings.

Upon hearing this, Fang Wen had a sudden realization. So that's how it is. He had made a mistake. If he went back and analyzed the Soviet rockets, using their strengths to overcome his own weaknesses, he could definitely help the Taishan rocket technology cross that threshold.

He then raised the issue of the rocket's propellant charge.

The Soviet technicians stopped talking about it.

This clearly involves their core secrets and cannot be disclosed.

Fang Wen didn't care, and instead took out more information.

When Gong Xiu helped unfold the hand-drawn curve diagram, Korolev's eyes visibly lit up.

The old man suddenly tapped a spot on the drawing with his pencil, turned to his companion, and quickly spoke a string of Russian. Then he looked at Fang Wen: "What does this mean?"

That data is related to the critical point of Mach number.

This is a technological discovery that will only be made in the future. It means that when the airflow speed reaches the critical Mach number, the aerodynamic characteristics will undergo a key change, resulting in phenomena such as local shock waves.

This theory was discovered by Fang Wen when he recalled fragments of knowledge from his future memories. He studied it in conjunction with propeller shock waves and ultimately used it for supersonic rocket launch calculations.

But now, it is a top secret of aerodynamics, the core of supersonic flight and supersonic weapons, and Fang Wen will not tell these technicians.

Therefore, he replied, "I'm not quite sure about that. You just need to make the changes according to the data."

The technicians communicated for a while.

Then, the young technician got up and drew the curtains, and a projection device similar to a movie projector projected a blurry test image onto the wall.

They explained that the footage was of a Katyusha rocket test launch, but Fang Wen could tell that it was edited, with key frames deliberately cut out and skipped.

Then, the third technician, sporting a Stalin-style mustache, finally spoke: "According to Article 17 of the contract, we can provide an improved version of the 82mm rocket, but we need one day to calculate and determine what kind of modification to make."

“No problem, I can wait,” Fang Wen replied.

The matter is not over yet.

"There's one more thing, regarding research and development costs, which weren't mentioned in the contract. I need to state here that all research and development costs incurred in building your new rocket must be reimbursed. If they can't be reimbursed, we'll add them to the later sales revenue," Korolev said.

Fang Wen hadn't expected that the R&D expenses wouldn't be included in the contract; he habitually assumed that such expenses were.

But obviously not. He couldn't let the research institute pay for it; money makes things easier.

Fang Wen then asked Alyosha to translate: "We can prepay the R&D costs. Do you have a budget?"

The researchers were taken aback by Fang Wen's generosity and were momentarily at a loss for words.

Therefore, a technician left the meeting room to consult with the leader, and returned after a while.

"2 US dollars, or equivalent currency."

This wasn't much. Fang Wen asked Gong Xiuneng to open his briefcase and take out twenty bearer bonds.

"These are American bonds, 1000 each, which can be exchanged for cash at most banks in Europe and the United States. If there are American banks stationed in the Soviet Union, they can also be exchanged here."

Bearer bonds are ideal for large-scale transactions, as they are even more convenient to carry than currency. These technicians had never seen them before, so they brought in professional financial personnel to authenticate them, which confirmed the authenticity of the bearer bonds.

With the advance payment for research and development, they became much more proactive about Fangwen.

A reform plan was devised overnight.

The next day, in the same conference room, Fang Wen saw the other party's restructuring design draft.

Technicians stated that this rocket can also be launched using the RO-82 rail launcher that their institute developed for 82mm rockets.

However, the RO-82 rail launcher is a military device that the Soviet Army was about to equip its fighter jets with, and it is not included in this transaction.

In other words, they bought rockets but lacked the necessary military equipment to launch them.

This kind of deal seems like a rip-off.

But Fang Wen wanted these rockets, and he was willing to accept them even without the rail launcher.

Of course, he needed to see the effectiveness of the sample before he could decide to have the other party produce and ship it.

Three days passed.

The Leningrad Aerodynamics Institute's factory worked overtime to test-produce a modified rocket.

The officer knocked on Fang Wen's door.

"Mr. Fang, the rocket is ready according to your standards. We can now conduct a test launch. Please follow me."

After Alyosha translated, Fang Wen did not immediately go with him, but quickly pondered in his mind.

The research institute wants to conduct a live-fire demonstration to confirm the export trade of rockets.

This provided an opportunity to access Soviet-made rocket launchers.

As long as you can access the device and use your special abilities, you can sense the launch process and the device's internal structure.

It may even be possible to obtain the structural secrets and operating principles of the RO-82 rail transmitter.

We must seize this opportunity.

Therefore, he showed a very interested expression: "Can I participate in the launch process?"

The officer shook his head: "No."

"If I could personally experience the launch of a Soviet-made weapon, I would be willing to pay a launch fee."

"Launch fee?"

“Yes. I can pay this amount as long as you agree.” Fang Wen held up five fingers.

He was willing to offer a hefty reward of $5000 for a single launch, which surprised the officer.

It's just a matter of operating a new weapon to launch once. How could that possibly leak military secrets?

The officer thought it was impossible and immediately reported Fang Wen's request.

Fang Wen awaited a reply. If $5000 wasn't enough, he was willing to spend more, since this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Half an hour later, the officer returned and said sternly, "We can accept $5000 for launching rockets. If you're willing, pay now."

Fang Wen smiled and told Gong Xiuneng to open the box and take out five bearer bonds to hand to the officer.

Thus, he gained the opportunity to launch the rocket.

An hour later, at the research institute's live-fire testing range.

Led by the institute's technicians, Fang Wen arrived at the RO-82 rocket launcher.

This device is currently only in the research stage and is still very rudimentary, consisting of a rail launcher and an air-to-ground aiming device.

It is located on a high platform and is used to simulate the process of fighter jets diving and firing.

To give Fang Wen a better shooting experience, the technicians taught him quick formulas.

This is for pilots to quickly calculate target results when aiming in the air, thus assisting in firing.

(Calculation problem regarding the air-launching capabilities of Soviet fighter aircraft equipped with the ROS-82 rocket in the 40s)
Listening to the technician recite the calculation formula, Fang Wen quickly calculated the result in his mind, and then learned how to combine the formula to calculate for actual aiming.

Then, we moved on to the actual operation.

Soldiers below waved flags, and a technician said in English: "Target is about to appear. Your current flight status is a 20-degree dive angle, speed of 350, and stable speed."

Following the instructions of the technicians, Fang Wen operated the equipment, pointing the rocket downwards, and an abandoned car appeared in the crosshairs.

Looking at the markings on the crosshairs, Fang Wen quickly calculated in his mind, and after confirming, launched the rocket.

The rocket was launched from the high platform, accurately hitting the target and exploding in flames.

Fang Wen also took this opportunity to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the internal structure and operating principle of this equipment.

He was secretly delighted and went back to modify the television fire control device according to this system.

(End of this chapter)