"Within five years, we will complete the development of our own engine. Do you dare to accept this bet?" Xu Cang's face was serious, as if he was not joking: "How about it?"
Li Hezai was stunned for a moment, then he chuckled: "Xu Cang, your bet is not... rigorous. The concept of aircraft engine is very broad, and third-rate aircraft engine is also an engine. You have spent ten years to make a mediocre thing, so do you still want us to admit defeat? This doesn't seem fair."
"Of course, there's no point in making that kind of garbage." Xu Cang said, "Let's use your CFM56 engine as a basic reference standard. Set the bypass ratio and thrust-to-weight ratio to five, how about that?"
Luo Tianrong sneered from behind: "You are so arrogant, why don't you use the LEAP series engine as a reference standard?"
Xu Cang snorted: "Ask Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney if they can come up with an engine that can compete with the LEAP engine. We are just trying to save face, not talking nonsense!"
Xu Cang's thinking was very clear. The bypass ratio of the LEAP engine, which was more than 10, was simply an insurmountable gap that could not be crossed in the short term. Therefore, Xu Cang only used the CFM56 engine as a reference target.
However, using the CFM56 engine as a standard is quite outrageous. You should know that this engine is the main product of CFM, which is very popular all over the world and is a classic engine that has been tested by the market and time.
With the current domestic technical capabilities, it is absolutely impossible to develop an engine that matches the performance of CFM56 in less than ten years. Moreover, in fact, ten years is already the most optimistic estimate. If we are a little more realistic, it should be fifteen years or more.
However, Xu Cang said that the research and development must be completed within five years, which scared Deng Peng so much that his face turned pale.
"Xu Cang, you are not in the engine field, don't talk nonsense." Deng Peng quickly tried to smooth things over: "Xu Cang is young and naive, please don't mind it."
Li Hezai laughed: "Xu Cang, look at you guys, you have no confidence, this matter will be difficult to handle."
"So will you agree or not?" Xu Cang asked.
"Five years? In five years, can you build an aero engine with the same performance as the CFM56 engine? If you don't dare to take this, then that's something that only a coward would do." Lee Hyuk Jae said, "But a bet requires a suitable stake. Can you come up with it?"
This bet was too predictable. Even with sufficient funding, Lee Hyuk-jae did not believe that AVIC could develop an aircraft engine that could match the performance of the CFM56 engine within five years.
There are indeed examples of technological explosions in the history of science and technology, but they are absolutely impossible to happen on the land beneath our feet.
Xu Cang did not respond to Li Hezai's words, but smiled at Deng Peng with an innocent smile. At this time, Xu Cang behaved like he should at his age.
"Manager Deng, can we come out and talk for a while?" Xu Cang said with a smile.
Deng Peng was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hand, signaling Xu Cang to come out. He had the same idea, maybe Xu Cang was young and hot-tempered, but this bet could not be made, he would definitely lose.
He is the head of the engine department of AVIC and is well aware of the level of domestic aviation engines, so he is more certain that Xu Cang's bet is a farce doomed to fail.
Seeing that Deng Peng had hurried out, Xu Cang followed him slowly. The two of them walked out of the door and turned into the stairwell next to them. Deng Peng saw that there was no one around and immediately said, "Xu Cang, right? I know you are angry. We are all angry. But don't let your imagination run wild. Five years, even if all the departments of AVIC were to focus on researching engines, they would not be able to come up with an engine with the same performance as the CFM56. This is a fact, not me trying to embarrass myself."
Deng Peng was anxious, but seeing that Xu Cang was full of enthusiasm, he didn't want to discourage this young man, so he tried to be restrained in his words.
However, Xu Cang shook his head: "It is possible. It is entirely possible to build a CFM56-level engine within five years."
"You, young man. The guy just mentioned that fan blade technology, surge elimination technology, and high- and low-pressure turbine alloy technology are three huge mountains. It would take more than ten or twenty years to move one of them, let alone all three. The guy just said that you are trading three-rotor technology with Rolls-Royce. I don't know how you do it. The three-rotor technology is indeed one of the means to eliminate surge. Even if you can get it, how to solve the problem of fan blade materials and how to make high- and low-pressure turbine alloys, have you ever thought about it? Or do you have any hidden technology?"
Xu Cang blinked his eyes and said, "I'm just a pilot. I can only fly a plane. I don't know how to solve the material problem of the fan blades, and I can't come up with high- and low-pressure turbine blade alloys."
"Then you start to lie with your eyes open!" Deng Peng almost fainted with anger. In fact, when he saw Xu Cang's fearless look just now, he had a little fantasy in his heart. That is, this young man in front of him is a genius who is not very conspicuous. He has new technology that they don't know about, which can help domestic aviation engines achieve leapfrog development.
As a result, Xu Cang's innocent words shattered Deng Peng's last bit of fantasy. As expected, this kind of once-in-a-lifetime genius does not exist.
Xu Cang smiled: "The most direct solution for low-pressure fans with large bypass ratios is indeed to replace the general materials..."
Deng Peng gritted his teeth and glanced at Xu Cang: "Could it be that you have done some research on carbon fiber?"
"Not really." Xu Cang said, "The carbon fiber fan technology is indeed too advanced. It will take at least 20 years for there to be any breakthrough. We can't go down this road in the short term. In this case, why don't we change our thinking? And who says we can't make the high and low pressure turbine blade alloys? You just don't know."
Deng Peng was full of disbelief: "What do you mean by that?"
"Just listen and figure it out for yourself." As he spoke, Xu Cang leaned close to Deng Peng's ear and whispered for a moment.
These words, which took less than a minute, made Deng Peng's face change drastically, and his three views were almost shattered. Holding the stair railing, Deng Peng took a long time to digest this plan with such a huge amount of information.
"Really? Is this news true?" Deng Peng leaned against the railing, his pupils still trembling: "If...if what you said is true, then it's feasible, absolutely feasible!"
Xu Cang said seriously, "If you want me to prove it now, I can't. This can only be based on your own judgment. Now there is only this one chance. The CFM representative now thinks that I made the bet out of passion. If I miss today, when they have time to make a careful judgment, it's hard to say whether they will agree to it later."
"Damn it, are you setting a trap for CFM?" Deng Peng looked at Xu Cang in disbelief: "Were you just acting?"
Xu Cang shrugged. "It's a true and emotional performance...acting! The technology of carbon fiber embedded with titanium alloy is amazing. In the next twenty years, no, in the next thirty years, this will be the most advanced material technology. This technology is enough for us to make a big bet."
In fact, Xu Cang has already said it conservatively. Twenty years later, on the eve of his rebirth, China can indeed produce carbon fiber, but there is no mature technology to use carbon fiber to make fan blades.
Xu Cang remembered that 20 years later, China had just managed to produce a carbon fiber fan blade prototype, which had not even passed the verification, let alone mass production. Not to mention the process of embedding titanium alloy at the tip of the blade.
This shows how strong General Motors’ technical capabilities are.
"Xu Cang, the guy from CFM is a smart guy. If he knew that he had to use the carbon fiber and titanium alloy fan technology as a bet, he might not agree."
This technology is cutting-edge even for General Motors, and there is a lot of pressure in putting this technology to the test.
Xu Cang narrowed his eyes: "So, we also need to come up with a bet that he can't refuse, such as agreeing to accept CFM's premium conditions for the LEAP engine."
As soon as these words came out, Deng Peng's face suddenly changed: "Xu Cang, this is a huge order worth more than 6 billion US dollars."
"I know, that's why CFM finds it hard to refuse. Even if they find there may be some risks, I think they will endure it." Xu Cang said: "The key is to see if you have the courage."
"You..." Deng Peng was caught in a dilemma for a moment. Thinking back to what Xu Cang had just said, it was simply a brilliant idea that was linked together and fit perfectly.
As long as it can be successfully completed, within ten to fifteen years, the technical level of domestic aviation engines will be able to achieve unimaginable leapfrog development and truly reach the world's top level. Xu Cang even considered domestic wide-body aircraft. His careful thinking does not seem like something a young man can come up with.
Xu Cang's plan was so grand and so tempting that Deng Peng felt like he was being scratched by a cat. Xu Cang provided solutions to all the three difficult technical barriers mentioned by Lee Hyuk Jae, especially the solution to the low-pressure fan technology, which made Deng Peng feel that Xu Cang was not aimless.
Xu Cang urged: "What do you think? We need to make a decision quickly."
"Let's go in first." Deng Peng was confused and seemed to be worried about gains and losses under great pressure. However, he was not the one who made the final decision, he had to consult someone else.
"You can't make a decision?" Xu Cang's mind turned, and he soon remembered Lin Ming's figure. Could this person be the one in charge? Although Xu Cang had some feelings, the seating order did not seem to match his status.
Deng Peng did not answer Xu Cang, but walked back quickly on his own. Xu Cang hurriedly followed him. When he re-entered the meeting room, he happened to see Deng Peng whispering in Lin Ming's ear.
Sure enough, Lin Ming was the one who made the decision.
Although Xu Cang didn't understand why someone like Lin Ming, who was in charge, would sit at the last seat, the next moment would be a decisive one. After hearing Deng Peng's words, Lin Ming's face was obviously turbulent.
In fact, anyone who hears about such a huge plan will not remain calm, especially in such a short time.
Lee Hyuk Jae is a thoughtful person. After seeing the change in Lin Ming's expression, he was shaken and felt that something was wrong. However, after a brief shock, Lin Ming quickly calmed down.
He was silent for a while, during which time no one in the meeting room spoke, as if everyone was waiting for his decision.
Lin Ming looked around and could feel the tense and suffocating atmosphere. He could see the tense expressions on everyone's faces. Suddenly, he smiled and said, "Why are you all so nervous? Did you take the kid's joke seriously?"
As Lin Ming finished speaking, the stiff atmosphere in the field suddenly broke. Luo Tianrong was the first to laugh, followed by laughter one after another. Instead, Lee Hyuk Jae breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Ming walked up to Xu Cang, patted him on the shoulder, and praised him, "Young people are in good shape. I can't even straighten my back after sitting for a while. Representative Li, as I said just now, your price is too high. We can't afford it, especially for an old man like me."
As he spoke, Lin Ming waved his hand at Deng Peng and said, "We can't come to an agreement, so let's go."
"Mr. Lin, take care. We will have plenty of opportunities to cooperate in the future." Faced with the breakdown of the transaction negotiations, Luo Tianrong was so anxious that he scratched his head, but Lee Hyukjae was calm and composed.
As long as the technology is advanced enough, money can be earned sooner or later. Instead, he focused his attention on Xu Cang who went out with Lin Ming.
After leaving the venue, Lin Ming was at the front, followed closely by Xu Cang, and Wu Yue and Deng Peng were at the end.
The group walked forward along the corridor. In fact, Xu Cang didn't know where to go. Soon, Lin Ming said faintly: "Xu Cang, will you be unhappy if I don't agree?"
Xu Cang was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "I'm just a pilot, I just focus on flying the plane, why should I be happy or unhappy?"
"Is that so?" Lin Ming smiled and said to Wu Yue, "Director Wu, take Xu Cang with you."
"Oh, okay." Wu Yue patted Xu Cang's shoulder. Xu Cang said goodbye to Lin Ming very obediently, and then followed Wu Yue in another direction.
After walking for a while, Lin Ming suddenly thought of something, turned around and shouted in the direction where Xu Cang left: "Can you figure it out on your own?"
At this moment, Xu Cang was not far from Lin Ming. Wu Yue turned back first, but Xu Cang walked forward without looking back, as if he didn't hear it.
Seeing Xu Cang's expression, Lin Ming smiled bitterly: "This kid..."
…
Actually, it's not that Xu Cang felt uncomfortable. Just listening to a young man draw a pie, and then betting billions of dollars on it, it seems impossible.
Reality is not a novel. It is normal that Lin Ming did not use orders worth billions of dollars to support Xu Cang.
However, it was not that painful, Xu Cang was still a little disappointed. After all, the road to counterattack he told Deng Peng was not just talk, but a real and practical one.
There was no way, the prospect was so bright that even Xu Cang himself was immersed in it.
Of course, that feeling of disappointment only lasted for less than an hour and was eventually replaced by drowsy boredom.
Symposium, symposium, Xu Cang just sat there, and didn't have a chance to talk. However, Xu Cang didn't plan to participate. It was just that the meetings within this system were really boring and long. Even though Xu Cang had the experience of the later generations, he still couldn't stand it.
Not much substantive stuff was discussed at the meeting. The main thing was to ask the Civil Aviation General Hospital to issue a new physical examination and appraisal standard to adapt to the possible outbreak of civil aviation in the future.
For example, in terms of vision standards, the authority intends to lower them, while appropriately relaxing the scope of application of glasses.
After more than two hours of torture, Xu Cang was finally freed. Perhaps Chen Xiangdong also knew that attending such a meeting was a double torture for both the body and the mind. After Xu Cang came out, he took the initiative to take Xu Cang out for dinner instead of just having a quick meal in the cafeteria of the General Administration.
Maybe it was because he hit his head, but although the feeling of nausea disappeared, Xu Cang still had no appetite when he looked at the table full of fish and meat. In the end, most of the dishes ordered by Chen Xiangdong were finished by Chen Xiangdong himself.
"Not to your liking? That shouldn't be the case. Has your taste changed in the past two years?" Chen Xiangdong put a piece of braised pork into his mouth and finally put down his chopsticks: "You really don't want to eat it? I'll order something else for you?"
Chen Xiangdong was about to call the waiter to prepare a special meal for Xu Cang, but was stopped by Xu Cang: "Master, you don't listen to me. I told you before that I'm not feeling well and have no appetite."
"Ah? You really don't feel well. I thought that was your excuse for not wanting to help." Chen Xiangdong carefully examined Xu Cang's face and said, "You look fine. Where are you feeling unwell? I'll make you some porridge. Don't people in your hometown drink porridge when they feel unwell?"
"Which TV show did you see this from?" Xu Cang pushed the dishes in front of him aside and said, "I'm done, I'm done. I'm going back and going to rest early."
Chen Xiangdong poured Xu Cang a cup of tea: "I've finished eating, but I have something to tell you. Do you have time to talk?"
Xu Cang picked up the tea and said, "Speak."
"You know what important things I was busy with while sending you to the meeting?"
Xu Cang put the tea cup on the table, making a dull sound, just like Xu Cang's impatient mood: "Isn't this an excuse you made up to escape?"
"Really not!" Chen Xiangdong said with a smile: "Didn't you call me before and tell me that you were worried about setting up three aircraft for the airline recently?"
"Wait another two months, the last plane will arrive, and the problem will be solved." Xu Cang was already a little impatient: "That's all? That's it, let's go back to sleep."
Chen Xiangdong hurriedly stopped Xu Cang: "What? No need to wait two months, it can be solved now."
Xu Cang's butt almost left the chair, and he sat down again, asking incredulously: "What did you say, the rules have changed?"
"No." Chen Xiangdong said, "But you already have three planes now."
"Where are there three planes? Wasn't 1566 scrapped?" At the end, Xu Cang was shocked and understood what his master meant: "Are you saying that 1566 is now also considered a quota for a plane?"
Chen Xiangdong slammed the table and said, "That's right! It takes a complicated process to identify an aircraft as scrapped and remove its registration. Now the aircraft No. 1566 is indeed scrapped and has been identified by a specialized agency, but we have not yet reported to the authority to remove the registration information of this aircraft. In other words, in theory, this aircraft can still be counted as your inventory aircraft."
"You mean, the plane is scrapped, but not completely scrapped?" Xu Cang asked tentatively.
Chen Xiangdong nodded: "That's pretty much the truth."
Xu Cang slapped his forehead and said, "It turns out that there is a bug!"
It is like a person dies but has not yet gone to the public security bureau to cancel his account. However, according to regulations, the bureau determines the existing aircraft based on the aircraft registration information when accepting the application.
You can have as many aircraft as you have registered. 1566 is in this dying state.
"Is this possible?" Xu Cang couldn't help but admire his master's twists and turns in his imagination. He could even figure out such a complicated thing.
"It's allowed according to the regulations," Chen Xiangdong said. "I asked my colleagues, and although they knew it was outrageous, there was no loophole in the regulations."
Xu Cang was shocked by Chen Xiangdong's amazing operation. He paused for a long time and said, "So you mean that I can submit an application to set up an airline now?"
"Just submit it. It won't cost you anything anyway." Chen Xiangdong said.
Although it seems a bit outrageous, it makes sense. If the authority thinks it is not suitable, then it will not approve it. Later, when the 737-900 arrives, you can apply for it legitimately.
Thinking of this, Xu Cang remembered that Li Rongcheng asked him to respond to the matter about Boeing's compensation conditions, and he seemed to have not given a clear answer yet.
However, he really hadn't figured it out yet, so he decided to think about it again. Of course, direct compensation for the damage to aircraft 1566 must come first.
Xu Cang leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment: "I'll talk to the boss later."
"You two can discuss it. But there is still a problem." Chen Xiangdong said, "If you want to change companies, you need to obtain qualifications again. Now you can't fly, so you have to fly a simulator again."
After Chen Xiangdong mentioned this, Xu Cang finally remembered that if the establishment of the company could be advanced, then his qualification restoration should also be advanced.
"Then I still need to make an appointment with the simulator center in Jianchuan. I don't know if it's possible."
In this era, simulators are still relatively scarce, and Xu Cang can’t get one just because he wants to.
"Are you still going back to Jianchuan to make an appointment for a simulator? Now that you're in Hanjing, why don't you use it?" Chen Xiangdong patted his chest and said, "Not long ago, Guoda Aviation opened a simulator training center. I'll set one up for you, and you can restore your qualifications right here in Hanjing."
Xu Canglue was a little worried: "Is it convenient?"
"What's the inconvenience?" Chen Xiangdong said, "Whenever our bureau needed a simulator, we coordinated with Guoda Aviation. It was very convenient."
"That's good." Xu Cang thought for a moment and said, "What about the instructor? Can we also hire an instructor from the National Aviation University to teach us?"
"What are you asking for? I, the deputy director of the General Administration, am here to guide you. Is that enough?"
"Ah? That's right!" Xu Cang laughed and said, "I forgot that you also have full qualifications."
Chen Xiangdong laughed: "How about tomorrow? Do you need to take a day off?"
"No problem, it's not a big deal. Besides, it's not the captain's simulator, so it's just a formality."
"Okay! I'll contact NUS Airlines when I get back, and I'll pick you up tomorrow."
So, the two of them discussed the details again, and the simulator training plan was hastily finalized.
…
When Xu Cang said it was just a formality, he meant it literally. That night, Chen Xiangdong set the simulator plan for the next day and sent a text message to inform Xu Cang.
The next afternoon, Xu Cang, wearing sportswear, took Chen Xiangdong's car to the simulator training center. It was not that Xu Cang was so casual on purpose, but he really did not expect the development after arriving in Hanjing.
If the airline's safety supervision department comes to inspect, won't Xu Cang be punished?
However, although there are regulations for simulator training in this era, no one follows them strictly, and the atmosphere is very relaxed. Even if Xu Cang wears sportswear to the simulator, it probably won't be a problem.
The simulator training center is about a fifteen-minute drive from Xu Cang's hotel. When he drove in through the gate, Xu Cang found that the scale of the center was quite good. There was an administrative building for daily office use, and the other two buildings were all training buildings.
Xu Cang and his companion did not go to the administrative building but went straight to Training Building No. 1. They first waited for a while in the lounge on the second floor, waiting for the previous group of trainees to get off the simulator.
According to the introduction of the simulator training center hanging on the wall that Xu Cang saw, this simulator training center has ten simulators, including three 737NGs, one 737-300, three A320s, one ARJ2, one 747, and one Airbus 330. This scale and configuration is considered quite good in the domestic simulator training center circle.
"A state-owned enterprise is a state-owned enterprise. Even its own simulator center is so grand. Not only are there a large number of them, but the types are also so complete." Xu Cang sat down on the sofa and looked around curiously.
Chen Xiangdong seemed to have been here many times and had no interest in this place. He yawned after sitting down. "It turns out that there is a simulator of the MD-90 here. However, some time ago, all the MD-90s in China were cleared out, and that MD-90 was also sold. Originally, we were going to install a simulator of the MA60 here, but the leaders of Guoda Airlines were unwilling to introduce the MA60, so there was no news about the simulator of the MA60 afterwards."
"New...Xinzhou 60." Xu Cang's mouth twitched.
This passenger plane developed based on the Y-7 uses turboprop power, which is also known as propeller. Although this evaluation is somewhat arbitrary, in the eyes of ordinary people, propeller aircraft are lower in grade than turbofan engines.
However, to be honest, when the Xian MA60 is placed next to other mainstream turbofan passenger aircraft, it does lose a lot in terms of appearance.
Xu Cang can fly many planes, but he has no idea how to fly the Xian MA60.
Xu Cang looked around and found that the lounge not only had snacks, desserts, and drinks, but also a small restaurant. In this restaurant, if you only order dishes specially prepared for the crew, you don't have to pay.
The prices of other dishes that require payment are not expensive compared to other places and are considered quite reasonable.
"I went to the simulator center in Jianchuan, and there was really nothing there, not even a kettle or a water dispenser. It's nothing like here, where the restaurant has everything."
"Jianchuan is a private simulator center. Their top priority is to make money, so they naturally save as much as possible. Can it be the same as here?" Chen Xiangdong squinted and looked at his watch: "It's almost time, let's go up."
Xu Cang glanced at the menu posted on the wall of the restaurant, and then followed Chen Xiangdong into the simulator building.
When Xu Cang and the others entered, the trainers from the previous group had just come out. It was an old instructor with two co-pilots, and judging from the appearance, it was possible that they were undergoing initial modification.
The old instructor knew Chen Xiangdong and greeted him politely: "Director Chen, come over and fly the simulator."
"Yes, take my apprentice with you." Chen Xiangdong pointed at the simulator and said, "There is nothing wrong with the simulator, right?"
The old teacher laughed and said, "The autothrottle sometimes doesn't connect, it's always a malfunction. Otherwise, there are no malfunctions."
As the old instructor spoke, his eyes fell on Xu Cang who was following behind Chen Xiangdong. How could he not know that the deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China was still training an apprentice?
This young man in sportswear also looks unfamiliar. Could he be the child of some important figure?
After some polite words, Xu Cang and the other person entered the simulated cabin one after another. Logically speaking, this training requires the cooperation of one person, after all, nominally, the crew is at least two people.
However, in this era, many rules are not strict. Chen Xiangdong planned to fill in his own name in the column of Xu Cang's cooperating pilot.
That's right, Chen Xiangdong was both the pilot and the coordinator, playing two roles at the same time. If this were done in the future, the simulator training would be directly deemed invalid, and the trainees would also be held accountable.
But now people don’t care much about this, as long as you participate, the flying standard will not care how you fly. The authorities will not specially investigate such things.
Moreover, since the simulator was scheduled too urgently, Xu Cang did not have the relevant simulator materials. Therefore, Xu Cang planned to fly first and then make up for it. That is, fly the simulator first, and then make up for the writing work later when there is time. It is so arrogant.
Although Chen Xiangdong is nominally Xu Cang's cooperator, he will not actually take the seat.
After entering the simulator, Xu Cang sat down naturally on the left seat, while Chen Xiangdong lay down on the instructor's seat. After raising the ladder, Chen Xiangdong waited for Xu Cang to prepare the cockpit, muttering, "I almost didn't get a simulator this time. Guoda Aviation has so many rules. State-owned enterprises are good in everything, but they are hard to get used to. They are very rigid. This kind of temporary appointment one day in advance is not easy to handle. Do you know who helped me in the end?"
Xu Cang tilted his head, checked the panel, and asked casually, "Who is it?"
"Yi Feng." Chen Xiangdong sighed, "It turns out that the words of our leader are still effective."
"Yi Feng?" Xu Cang's mind suddenly popped up the image of a handsome young man. This young man, who was already the head of the Aviation Strategy Department of the National University, was one of the most capable people Xu Cang knew.
"Yes, this young man is not bad." Chen Xiangdong saw that Xu Cang had already prepared to go to the dashboard in front of him, so he said, "I will set it to calm wind, Category 1 weather, temperature 15 degrees, corrected sea pressure 1010, zero fuel weight 55 tons, center of gravity 24, you can take off at full thrust, speed 121, 123, 128, and you can try the rest at random, flying from Hanjing to Jianchuan, anyway, you won't really fly any subjects."
Xu Cang prepared the plane according to the data given by Chen Xiangdong. Chen Xiangdong continued to ask: "How do you want to fly? Are you just killing time, or do you want to fly a certain subject?"
"Let me make the plane stall under severe ice accumulation." Xu Cang pressed the CDU and said, "Can this be set up?"
"Severe icing. Just set the aircraft to severe icing. Wait a minute, let me take a look!" Chen Xiangdong hadn't used the simulator for a long time. He had forgotten some things and needed to look for them carefully on the control terminal.
"It's okay, no rush, I just need to get the plane ready."
Xu Cang slowly prepared the plane. When everything was ready, he lifted up both engines, and after stabilizing them, he prepared the plane for takeoff.
When the plane was about to take off, Chen Xiangdong, who had been searching for a long time, gave up and said, "I can't find it. Xu Cang, what do you mean?"
"After I fly to 8,900 meters, you set a severe icing condition for me and let the plane freeze naturally." Xu Cang remembered that there seemed to be no such function to directly set the plane to severe icing. However, the simulator can simulate the situation of the plane slowly freezing under icing conditions, which can derive many faults, such as unreliable airspeed, etc.
"Okay, do you want us to slowly climb up, or should I just pull it up to 8,900 meters?"
"Let the plane climb by itself. It's two hours. Fly slowly." So, after Xu Cang finished speaking, he did not wait for Chen Xiangdong to give the take-off command, but directly pushed the throttle to full thrust manually.
Just as the old instructor said, the simulator's autothrottle just doesn't work. However, it doesn't matter if there's no autothrottle, just free up your right hand for manual control.
Chen Xiangdong did not set any faults. After a normal takeoff, Xu Cang increased the speed and retracted the landing gear and flaps by himself. After entering the cruise climb, Xu Cang simply leaned back in his seat, found a comfortable position, put his right hand on the thrust handle, and continued to drive automatically.
I don’t know what happened last night. Maybe it was because I learned that we could set up an airline in advance, or maybe I hit my head and caused my brain to short-circuit. Anyway, I was extremely excited and couldn’t fall asleep until four in the morning when I finally felt sleepy.
Although he had gotten some sleep in the morning, he was still feeling groggy. During the more than ten minutes of climbing, Xu Cang had already dozed off while curled up in his seat.
It was not until the plane leveled off that Xu Cang finally regained some spirits.
According to Chen Xiangdong's settings, the aircraft entered icing conditions after takeoff. After more than ten minutes of severe icing conditions, it is estimated that by the time the aircraft leveled off and waited for a while longer, a large amount of ice crystals would have accumulated on the surface of the aircraft.
"Xu Cang, why do you suddenly want to learn this subject? Is there any special intention?" Chen Xiangdong asked weakly from behind.
"No, just fly casually. I want to see if the plane will naturally stall if there is severe ice accumulation at this altitude, and whether it can be corrected before crashing to the ground." Xu Cang's eyes kept lingering on the plane's instruments.
Chen Xiangdong was speechless: "Is this a new subject? I haven't even read the training outline yet."
"It's not a common training subject, it's just my personal idea." Xu Cang didn't tell Chen Xiangdong the truth. Just as Xu Cang finished speaking, the plane that was originally normal suddenly began to fall.
Then the steering wheels on both sides began to shake.
In order to prevent the aircraft from deviating from the preset altitude, the autopilot began to adjust the pitch trim. However, even if the pitch trim was adjusted backwards in circles, it still could not stop the nose of the aircraft from falling.
"The stick is shaking so fast?" Xu Cang frowned. This didn't seem to be consistent with what he expected.
However, no matter what, this situation must be dealt with. Xu Cang did not need to disconnect the autopilot, because the autopilot was automatically disconnected due to the uncontrolled travel of the nose.
Xu Cang took advantage of the situation and pushed the aircraft's pitch attitude below the pitch limit indicator. Moreover, compared with an ordinary stall recovery, Xu Cang pushed forward a greater distance.
Usually at this time, while reducing the aircraft's angle of attack, thrust must be added in order to quickly increase the aircraft's speed.
However, despite the high thrust and extreme pitch, the aircraft was still shaking.
"Still shaking the stick?" Chen Xiangdong, who was sitting in the back, sat up a little straighter and looked at Xu Cang's PFD with a little curiosity: "Is the ice accumulation judged to be so serious? Xu Cang, pay attention to your speed."
Without Chen Xiangdong's reminder, Xu Cang had already put the throttle back to the slow position after glancing at the airspeed indicator. There was no other way. In such a deep dive, if the thrust was still maintained, the speed of the aircraft would increase rapidly.
Almost at the moment when Xu Cang stepped on the throttle, the speed of the plane exceeded three hundred knots.
If the aircraft exceeds the speed limit in this situation, in this nearly dive-like condition, the aircraft may disintegrate in the air under the huge load.
However, the strange thing is that as the aircraft speeds up, the top of the red and black speed band at the bottom also moves up with the increase of aircraft speed. The aircraft can't get rid of the stall area, and the aircraft's stick shaker continues.
Even though the throttles of both engines had been fully reduced, the huge downward dive posture pushed down to reduce the angle of attack still caused the aircraft to produce an indescribable huge descent rate, which had reached 6,000 feet per minute, which was almost reaching the downward dive limit of the aircraft's vertical table.
Under the influence of such a huge descent rate, the potential energy of the aircraft was quickly converted into kinetic energy. Under the condition of dual-engine slow running, the speed of the aircraft was still rising, and finally broke through the lower end of the upper red and black speed band. The aircraft finally entered the overspeeding area.
Beep, beep, the plane's speeding warning sounded.
The red and black speed strips above and below were actually stuck together, and the plane entered a strange state of both stalling and speeding.
"Xu Cang, this is not easy to do. It seems that the ice is too severe. It is impossible to correct such a small angle of attack." Chen Xiangdong said with a smile from behind.
To be honest, this level of ice accumulation is rarely seen in actual flights, because there is no pilot who would not turn on the anti-icing equipment after starting the aircraft into an icy area, and allow ice to spread on the surface of the aircraft, eventually forming such a serious situation.
In the case of icing on the wings, as long as a layer of ice as thick as sandpaper forms on the wings, the aircraft's maximum lift will be lost by more than 30%, which is an extremely scary statistic.
Moreover, in addition to wing icing, tail icing is even more dangerous because its handling procedures are completely different from what conventional pilots know.
Under certain extreme conditions, an aircraft can almost completely lose lift in severe ice accumulation, causing it to fall straight down, just like what Xu Cang is experiencing now.
Diving down at a speed of more than six thousand feet per minute, Xu Cang kept pushing the stick up in an effort to recover from the stall.
But even when the speed increased to 340 knots, the stick shake continued.
Finally, under the continuous stick shaking, Xu Cang could no longer hold the steering wheel, so he simply let go of it. At this time, due to the extremely excellent static stability of the 737, the aircraft tended to recover on its own.
However, after Xu Cangsong released the control wheel, the plane's attitude moved up slightly, but soon the plane began to fall into an extremely exaggerated downward state again.
"It has completely lost its lift. It's just a lump of iron." Xu Cang muttered.
Just as Xu Cang finished speaking, the plane's screen finally stopped being gray and suddenly showed the ground. Then, within three or five seconds, the plane crashed into the ground, and the entire simulator cabin shook violently.
Since Xu Cang didn't wear a shoulder strap, the shaking almost threw him out. Then, the cockpit screen turned red, indicating that the plane had crashed.
Not to mention Xu Cang, Chen Xiangdong who was sitting in the back was also shocked: "Oh my god, this simulator crash is too exciting, I thought the simulator was going to fall apart just now."
That’s right, any slightly better simulator can not only simulate the flying feeling of the aircraft in a dynamic state, but can even produce the state before the crash, that is, the violent shaking just now.
It’s just that the simulated crash of this simulator seemed a little too dramatic, and the noise was too loud.
After the plane crashed, Chen Xiangdong needed to reset the simulator. While waiting for the control computer to reload, he asked Xu Cang, "Why didn't you turn on the anti-icing just now?"
"I just wanted to see if I could exit the stalled state through manual control alone, but it doesn't seem to work." Xu Cang said, "Let's try again. This time I'll turn on the anti-icing function."
"You've been flying in severe icing conditions for nearly twenty minutes. Normally, flying in such weather conditions for five or six minutes will form a very obvious layer of ice. You've had ice accumulated for a full twenty minutes. How can you correct it by human control alone? Moreover, I feel that it won't be enough for you to turn on the engine anti-ice later. You have to turn on the wing anti-ice as well."
"Yeah, I think so too!" Xu Cang agreed with Chen Xiangdong's suggestion: "I just don't know if the wing anti-icing can remove the accumulated ice during the descent."
Soon, the simulator was reset. This time, Xu Cang slowly climbed to 8,900 meters in more than ten minutes. Then he waited for a while, and the plane began to fall again.
This time, Xu Cang directly moved the thrust handle to slow speed while pushing the stick, and turned on the wing anti-ice and engine anti-ice at the same time.
This time, because Xu Cang reduced the thrust earlier, the speed of the aircraft was not as fast as last time. However, after the aircraft's descent rate increased, the speed of the aircraft began to increase uncontrollably.
After waiting for two minutes, the plane started to fall into the same situation as last time, with stalling and overspeeding occurring simultaneously.
This time, Xu Cang maintained similar operations to last time. The only difference was whether the aircraft's anti-icing equipment could reduce the impact of ice accumulation to an acceptable range before crashing to the ground.
When the aircraft was about 1,000 feet above the ground, the red and black speed bands below, which had been motionless, suddenly receded like a tide. Soon, the aircraft left the stall area. This showed that the anti-icing equipment on the aircraft was indeed melting the ice and was effective.
Seeing that the plane had escaped from the stall, Xu Cang immediately stepped on the throttle and started to pull the stick back. However, due to the high initial descent rate and the small altitude margin of the plane, the moment Xu Cang pulled the stick back, the plane crashed to the ground with a bang.
When the plane hit the ground, the simulated cabin shook extremely exaggeratedly, just like last time. However, this time Xu Cang and Chen Xiangdong were prepared, one fastened his shoulder strap and the other held the seat armrest tightly.
However, unknown to them, when the simulator was shaking violently, a spark burst out from a circuit board between the hydraulic supports under the simulator.
"It seems that the aircraft's anti-icing equipment is still effective. It can remove such serious ice accumulation. I wonder if it has such an effect on actual aircraft." Xu Cang sighed.
Chen Xiangdong's bones were almost broken by those two shakes. He adjusted his sitting position and said, "Xu Cang, do you want to do it again?"
"Forget about it. Two times is enough. There are still many differences between the simulator and the actual aircraft. There is no need to practice on the simulator. It's a bit boring."
Chen Xiangdong looked at his watch and said, "What should I do? There's still an hour left."
"Take a look at this simulator to see if there are any interesting glitch settings. Otherwise, I'll probably fall asleep if I wait for an hour."
"What an interesting glitch." Chen Xiangdong looked around the console and suddenly raised his eyebrows: "There is also a smoke simulation here."
"Smoke simulation?" Xu Cang suddenly became interested: "Can this simulator produce smoke?"
Although some low-end simulators have special situation subjects that simulate smoke, they don't actually emit smoke, so there is basically no training effect. However, some simulators are more realistic, with air vents in the cabin that spray smoke, so the simulation effect is very good.
"I don't know about that either. Come on, let's try it." Chen Xiangdong sat up straight and said, "I'll pull you to 6,000 meters, and we'll do a smoke disposal project."
"Well... okay." Xu Cang was actually not very willing to do this kind of subject which was more about procedures than operations, but since Chen Xiangdong was interested, he would just do it. He didn't care anyway.
Soon, the plane was set to an altitude of 6,000 meters, and then Chen Xiangdong smiled and clicked the smoke simulation button on the control panel: "Xu Cang, it's started."
"Oh." Xu Cang responded, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
He had flown a simulator that could emit smoke, but only very rarely, so Xu Cang was actually quite curious about it.
After waiting for two or three seconds, smoke started to come out from somewhere on Xu Cang's left. At the same time, smoke was also coming out from the same position on the right seat.
"Oh my god, it really can produce smoke." Chen Xiangdong was very excited as if he had seen some incredible toy: "Guoda Airlines bought such a good simulator, they must be very rich!"
"Master, this isn't the first time you've seen a simulator that emits smoke, is it?" Xu Cang was already doing a smoke checklist while he was speaking. All the quick checklists were in his mind, so he didn't need to look them up.
According to the checklist, Xu Cang had to put on an oxygen mask first. However, Xu Cang was not so realistic, as it would be troublesome to put on an oxygen mask. Therefore, Xu Cang skipped this step and turned off the busbar switch, the cabin/lighting switch, the in-flight entertainment system, the kitchen power supply, and the recirculation fan switch, and finally verified that the APU bleed air switch was off.
After completing this step, Xu Cang went directly to the smoke exhaust checklist. Yes, these are two completely different checklists.
Relying on memory, Xu Cang set both component switches to high flow. After seeing Xu Cang's actions, Chen Xiangdong was a little curious: "Xu Cang, you said that this simulator can spit out smoke, so can it suck the smoke back?"
At this moment, Chen Xiangdong was like a curious baby, full of curiosity about the simulator.
"I'll follow the checklist and see how the simulator reacts." As he spoke, Xu Cang set the landing airport altitude to 10,000 feet. At the same time, after confirming that the bleed air from both engines was connected, he increased the engine thrust to maximum.
Normally, when this step is achieved, the smoke will dissipate. However, Xu Cang looked around and still saw no sign of the smoke dissipating.
"Master, how did you set it up? Is it that it's so stubborn? Or is it that this simulator can't get rid of the smoke and can only spray it out?"
"Hey, you haven't finished the checklist yet. Keep going. Maybe it will work."
As Chen Xiangdong said, even if the smoke could not be controlled in this situation, there were still follow-up treatment steps. However, Xu Cang didn't want to do it anymore. He was choked by the smoke and felt uncomfortable. He wanted his master Chen Xiangdong to directly eliminate the fault.
However, after hesitating for a moment, Xu Cang continued on, as there were only a few steps left anyway.
So, Xu Cang manually reduced the throttle, adjusted the altitude down to three thousand meters, pressed the altitude change button, and let the plane start to descend rapidly.
The checklist required that the aircraft be fully decompressed when below 14,000 feet to allow smoke to escape through the outflow valve.
However, during the descent, Xu Cang suddenly sniffed his nose, followed by a violent cough, tears came out. He waved the smoke in front of him and couldn't help but sigh: "This simulator is so amazing, the smoke simulation is just like the real thing."
Chen Xiangdong also tutted his lips in the back: "Yes, the technology is really amazing nowadays. The effect of the simulator is too realistic. I have never noticed it before."
"Yeah, where did Guoda Airlines buy the simulator from? It's amazing." As he spoke, Xu Cang suddenly had an insight. He bent down and placed his palm close to the floor above the rudder. He could actually feel a hint of warmth rising from the floor.
This major discovery shocked Xu Cang greatly. He turned to Chen Xiangdong, pointed at the floor under his feet, and exclaimed: "Master, even heat can be simulated here."
"Is this true?" Chen Xiangdong immediately got off the seat, propped up the sun visor with one hand, leaned down, and tried to keep his other hand close to the floor under Xu Cang's feet. Soon, he could also feel the real weak heat wave: "It's true! No, this simulator is amazing. The smoke generated by the short circuit is simulated so realistically that even the heat is produced."
You know, one of the most important reasons for cabin smoke in real flights is short circuits in wires, which then cause fire and smoke. However, Chen Xiangdong was already surprised that the simulator could produce such realistic smoke, but later on, it was incredible that it could even produce the heat caused by a short circuit in wires.
Sitting back in his instructor chair, Chen Xiangdong was still amazed: "I have to talk to the person in charge of this simulator center later. Such a good simulator should not be promoted to other simulator centers in the country? It's so stingy that Guoda Aviation is hiding such a good thing."
"Yeah." Xu Cang echoed from the side.
As the two were talking, a red light suddenly lit up in the corner of Chen Xiangdong's console. That light was a fire alarm light, simulating the fire alarm light in the cabin.
Chen Xiangdong laughed: "Xu Cang, look at how powerful this simulator is. It produced so much smoke that it fooled me. The fire alarm light even came on."
Xu Cang looked back and exclaimed in amazement: "Even I was fooled! This is what we call making the fake look real!"
"Yes, it's so real, so fake that I almost believed it." As he said that, Chen Xiangdong stretched out his hand and slapped the red light directly, and actually canceled the fire alarm light.