Chapter 365 Kawasaki Heavy Industries!
"Boss, is there any new progress on Trent 1000?" Carl Holstein saw that Clark Lorenz had a very serious expression, and he immediately thought to himself that something was wrong.
The three major aircraft engine manufacturers have always been surpassing each other. For example, the PW6000 engine recently developed by Pratt & Whitney is designed to seize the market of Trent 900. Because before that, Trent 900 had just entered commercial use and had a crushing advantage over Pratt & Whitney's PW4000 engine in the latest field, so Pratt & Whitney had to create a new engine to resist the emergence of Trent 900, which is PW6000.
When the PW6000 was released, Pratt & Whitney knew that Rolls-Royce had the Trent 1000 project, but it had not yet reached the flight test stage. It only had one more ground test stage than the PW8000 engine, so in fact the lead was not much.
Therefore, in terms of progress, the two are not much different. In terms of the latest engine, PW6000 is slightly ahead of Trent 900, which has led to Pratt & Whitney's continued suppression of Rolls-Royce in the launch of new products.
But everything changed when Xu Cang helped Trent 1000 complete its flight test.
According to Pratt & Whitney's original estimate, it would take at least three years for the Trent 1000 to have a relatively high chance of completing flight tests.
According to the regulations, as long as the ground test is completed, you can apply for flight test the next day, as long as you are brave enough. However, completing the ground test is only the minimum standard for flight test. At least in Clark Lorenz's knowledge, no large engine manufacturer dares to start flight test immediately after the ground test is completed.
Therefore, Pratt & Whitney is optimistic about suppressing Rolls-Royce.
However, this conventional development process did not happen with the Trent 1000. After completing the ground test, the Trent 1000 was briefly adjusted and immediately put into flight testing, which was the time when Xu Cang flew it. As we all know, the test results were very good, which directly increased the speed of the Trent 1000.
Ground testing can represent some of the engine's operating conditions, but no matter what, there is a difference in the operating environment between an engine mounted on a ground bracket and one mounted in a pod on the wing of an aircraft. Even if it works well on the ground, it is hard to say for sure if it will work well in the air.
Therefore, flight tests are designed to test out this differentiation little by little.
Ground testing is actually the same as the training of new recruits in military camps. Some experience can be summarized, but it is hard to say whether it is useful or not. Fortunately, this kind of training will not be dangerous.
Flight testing means going directly to the battlefield. The experience of blood and fire gained on the battlefield can truly save lives. The only disadvantage is that your life may be in danger.
Although the impact of a test flight accident is smaller than that of a real flight accident, even a wealthy aircraft engine manufacturer cannot afford such a plane crash. Moreover, if the test pilot dies accidentally, the problem will be even bigger.
Therefore, the actual situation is that after the simplest initial training, new recruits will not be sent to the battlefield immediately unless it is extremely urgent.
But Rolls-Royce is different. As soon as the new recruits are trained, they are sent directly to the battlefield, and they are sent to the most dangerous ones, because Rolls-Royce's initial flight test is complete. As a result, after all the flight tests, there are no problems at all. The new recruits have full dodging points on the battlefield and have not even scratched their skin. It is a great luck. Anyway, Pratt & Whitney is envious and jealous, but he dare not do it himself.
It is the most dangerous for new recruits to go to the battlefield for the first time. The Trent 1000 made its debut in such a dramatic way that its technology was instantly compared to Pratt & Whitney's offense and defense, making Pratt & Whitney quite uncomfortable.
Clark Lorenz originally thought he still had a lot of time left on PW8000, but now it seems that he is running out of time.
“It is said that the first commercial prototype of Trent 1000 is about to be produced.”
"What, the prototypes are out?" Karl Holstein's face changed drastically.
The prototype is certainly not the final model, but it shows that the major problems of this engine have been solved and all that remains are minor adjustments.
"Too fast, too fast, how can it be so fast?" Karl Holstein's face was extremely heavy. Rolls-Royce's research and development speed far exceeded his expectations. If this news was true, then their situation was indeed quite embarrassing.
"If we can also pass the first flight test so smoothly, and be faster than them." Clark Lorenz's face was extremely solemn. "Although the 787's power system is matched with PW4000-112, the British Airways incident still has some impact. Although for some reasons, they will not blatantly change the power configuration, but perhaps they will only use PW4000-112 in the initial version like the 777, then we can only drink soup for the 787 project."
Carl Holstein frowned. "Is the 787 project so important? The 777 project also made a lot of noise at the beginning, but after it was truly commercialized , the sales volume was just so-so, not very popular. Boss, maybe we don't need to disrupt the R&D process by following the 787 project."
Carl Holstein was worried that Clark Lorenz would get too excited and force a competition with Rolls-Royce, which would significantly increase the investment. Although Pratt & Whitney's financial situation was much better than Rolls-Royce's, it still had to be cautious about some things. If the investment of billions of dollars in aircraft engines went down the drain, it would be unbearable even for Pratt & Whitney.
"You don't understand. The Boeing 777 project did have some misjudgments, but we should never underestimate the Boeing 787 project because of this." Clark Lorenz looked very solemn. "Based on the scale of the 787, it is actually more directly competing with the Airbus 330 than the Boeing 777. According to the information I have learned, among other things, the Boeing 787 is expected to reduce fuel consumption by 20% compared to the Airbus 330."
"Twenty percent!" Carl Holstein was stunned. "How is it possible that the efficiency has increased so much? It's already terrifying if it can exceed five percent, but twenty percent, Boeing is talking nonsense."
"How can such things be nonsense? If they are talking nonsense, then forget about doing business in the future." To be honest, Clark Lorenz didn't understand how Boeing achieved such a horrific fuel cost-effectiveness, but since Boeing dared to say so, it was basically believable.
Carl Holstein took a long time to digest such shocking news: "If it is really so exaggerated, then the Boeing 787 has an overwhelming advantage over the Airbus 330. The two are not even in the same league at all."
"The analysis department predicts that the sales volume of Boeing 787 will be at least 1,200. This is a very scary number. We must get enough of this big order."
Carl Holstein understood Clark Lorenz's worries. The Boeing 787 pie was too big, and everyone wanted a piece of it, especially since Pratt & Whitney had already boarded the ship. They didn't want to be squeezed into a corner of the ship, or even be driven off the ship.
"As long as we can complete a complete flight test in a short period of time, then with our capabilities, it is possible for us to catch up with the Trent 1000."
"But now we can't even pass the ground test, so we can't get permission for the flight test at all." Carl Holstein said worriedly, "Also, there are many problems with the PW8000 engine now. If we force a flight test, the risk factor is very high."
"Isn't this exactly why we spent so much money on Xu Cang? If the problem is good and the safety factor is very high, do we still need him?" Clark Lorenz snorted, "I will talk to the FAA about the flight test permit. It shouldn't be a big problem."
Carl Holstein knew that Clark Lorenz was going to use some unconventional tactics, but although such tactics were uncommon, they were not rare either, so he was not surprised.
The ground testing phase is originally an exploratory process. Even if something goes wrong during the subsequent flight test, it cannot be blamed on the FAA that issued the flight test permit. After all, before the engine is finalized, all problems are expected.
However, Karl Holstein was worried about another problem: "What if Xu Cang finds out?"
Xu Cang had previously mentioned to Pratt & Whitney that flight tests could only be conducted after the engine had completed ground tests, which was a normal requirement. Now, Clark Lorenz was going to use some special means to more quickly pass ground tests and transition to flight tests. Before that, Xu Cang would check the ground test documents. If he found anything abnormal, Xu Cang would be so angry that he would directly terminate the cooperation, and Pratt & Whitney would be speechless. This was a risk.
But Clark Lorenz obviously didn't care: "It's okay. He's just a pilot. How can he understand the records of ground engine tests? Just ask the technical department to... polish it a little bit."
Anyway, Clark Lorenz's idea was simple: to trick Xu Cang into the sky and complete the first flight test under Xu Cang's escort. Wouldn't this kind of test be more effective than ten or a hundred ground tests?
However, if Xu Cang was not saved and his life was threatened, that would not be something he needed to consider.
In Clark Lorenz's opinion, Xu Cang does this, and he must give him extremely high rewards in the future. The greater the risk, the higher the reward, which is only natural.
Of course, it would be fine if nothing happened during the whole flight test like in the previous Trent 1000, as long as the result is satisfactory.
"Should we change the test record?" Karl Holstein was a little worried: "Should we change this technical record too?"
Clark Lorenz smacked his lips. "Why don't you understand? The data sent to the FAA must not be changed. The data to be shown to Xu Cang later must be changed separately. The ground engine test records are more than 200 pages long, and they are all text data. Can he understand them?"
Hearing Clark Lorenz's words, Carl Holstein was obviously relieved. If the technical records sent to the FAA were falsified, it would be a big problem. If Xu Cang saw it, it would be a commercial issue, not that serious.
"I see."
"By the way, what did Bombardier say?" Clark Lorenz changed the subject: "I heard that Boeing sued them to the Trade Commission?"
Speaking of other people's business, Carl Holstein was obviously just looking for fun: "I heard that it is possible to be judged as dumping. Bombardier has pushed the price of CS300 too low, which has already met some conditions of dumping."
"Oh?" Clark Lorenz pursed his lips: "Then Bombardier is probably in big trouble."
Given Boeing's strength, they can create problems for you out of thin air even if there are no problems. Now it is very likely that you actually have problems yourself, so Boeing will have to use this as an excuse to make a fuss about it, right?
In fact, Bombardier's position is understandable. It finally entered the US civil aviation market, and probably in order to get off to a good start, it compromised too much with Delta's price requirements, which left a big handle.
As long as it is identified as dumping, Bombardier will basically say goodbye to the US market.
The American market is not doing well, and the European market, which is the base of direct competitor Airbus, is expected to be difficult to develop in as well. Just when it started to gain momentum, it was suppressed again.
I originally thought it was a resurrection from the dead, but it turned out to be a last gasp.
"Boeing's move to report dumping... wow, that's pretty smart," Clark Lorenz exclaimed.
Aircraft are different from other commodities. Dumping is rarely involved. Generally, only low-end commodities are involved in dumping, so basically no one would accuse the CS300 of dumping. But Boeing really had a flash of inspiration and seized this rather subtle handle.
“I heard that it wasn’t Boeing’s idea.”
Clark Lorenz was a little surprised: "Who is it?"
…
"It's Xu Cang!"
On the rooftop of Canada's Bombardier C Series, President Ryan Valite listened to his secretary's report with a grim face. After a long time, he said, "Xu Cang? He's a pilot, and he knows business?"
The secretary lowered his head, not daring to look directly at Ryan Valite: " It is said that Xu Cang informed Lance Tamir through the President of Boeing Asia Pacific."
Ryan Valite drank the coffee in the cup, as if to extinguish the growing anger in his body. He placed the paper cup on the edge of the rooftop. He held the railing with both hands and sighed: "I shouldn't have agreed to such a low price from Delta in the first place."
Delta is a giant company even in the huge civil aviation market of the United States, and has a high bargaining power. When buying aircraft from Boeing, it has always been the most favorable standard. Now patronizing your CS300 aircraft means that they think highly of you. Isn't it normal to ask Bombardier for the same favorable standard?
In this transaction, Bombardier was the weaker party and was forced to accept Delta's price request under pressure.
However, there were voices within the company at the time that such a low price might trigger an anti-dumping investigation, but in order to open up the US market, Ryan Valite still took a chance. Moreover, there was another important reason, that is, the aircraft sales field was almost never targeted by the anti-dumping department, and his peers rarely paid attention to this aspect.
Since the popularity of large jet aircraft, there have been almost no anti-dumping investigations on such products, which gave Ryan Valite the opportunity to take advantage of the loophole.
As a result, once he took advantage of this loophole, he fell directly into Boeing's trap. Now he is unable to move and is in great pain.
"But we didn't have a choice at the time, did we?" the secretary whispered.
In Europe, Airbus dreams of Bombardier's demise, and it is difficult for Airbus to enter Europe. Relatively speaking, Boeing's response to Bombardier's CS300 was relatively good. Even when Airbus and Pratt & Whitney sanctioned Bombardier, Boeing stayed out of it.
In this case, if he could take advantage of Boeing's unpreparedness and get a big order from Delta right under his nose, he would be able to recover a lot of money. That's why Ryan Vallet finally agreed to Delta and didn't argue. He was worried that if he argued for too long, Boeing would intercept him.
First, it was an established fact, and it didn’t matter if Boeing knew about it later.
Unexpectedly, after the contract was signed, Boeing could still launch an anti-dumping investigation, which really hit Bombardier's sore spot.
"Forget it." Ryan Valite scratched his head: "What did the Trade Committee say?"
"According to the current situation, an anti-dumping investigation is inevitable."
Ryan Valite let out a long breath, his shoulders drooping a little: "Anything else?"
"Except for the order with Korean Air, all other orders from East Asia have been canceled. In addition, some orders from East Asia's Challenger and Global Business Jets have also been canceled."
"The order for the business jet was canceled?"
Although Bombardier is suppressed in the mainline passenger aircraft market, it is still quite strong in the regional aircraft market, such as business jets, and is one of the two most powerful companies with Embraer. However, Ryan Varit was surprised by the cancellation of so many business jets in East Asia.
You know, the revenue of Bombardier's aircraft division is already quite scarce, and business jets are the most important one. If there is a problem with a business jet, the situation will be troublesome.
"Yes, it's mainly the Chinese market. Almost all orders have been canceled." The secretary whispered, "Also, I heard that Embraer will launch its latest Legacy 600 super-midsize business jet at the Pan-Paul International Air Show at the end of this year. It is reported that the catalog price of this business jet is more than 17 million US dollars."
"Seventeen million dollars?" Ryan Valite's eyelids twitched wildly: "The price is so low?"
Based on the size of the aircraft, business jets can be classified as very light, light, medium light, medium, super medium, large and very large.
Among them, the super mid-size can carry more than ten passengers and can meet the needs of most business jet environments.
Legacy is a series. The previous Legacy 450 was a medium-light type, the Legacy 500 was a medium type, and now the super-medium type Legacy 600 has been launched, which basically covers all stages of business jets.
For a Legacy 600 business jet that is close to a large business jet, $17 million is definitely a very cheap price.
The Bombardier product that is closest to the Legacy 600 is the Challenger 600 business jet, but the catalog price of their CL-600 business jet is nearly 40% higher than that of the Legacy 600. This is an extremely exaggerated price difference and can already affect customers' choice of aircraft.
“How can they keep the price so low?”
Ryan Varit was dumbfounded. It was quite normal for the price of similar products to fluctuate by 10%. Embraer's business jets were not new and had a good reputation internationally. They shouldn't have such crazy price-cutting behavior.
Moreover, won’t we lose money by selling planes this way?
"It seems that AVIC will provide fuselage parts for the Legacy 600." The secretary said softly, "AVIC's aviation material prices are very low, which will save Embraer a lot of costs. In addition, it is normal to have some significant price cuts for the release of new aircraft. These two factors will lead to such a low price of 17 million."
"AVIC, AVIC, damn it, they actually went to Embraer." Ryan Valite cursed, but after a while, he still asked: "Did you send someone to negotiate with AVIC?"
Even though I hate him to death, I still have to give in.
I used to think that AVIC was a bootlicker, coming when called and leaving when dismissed. Now that AVIC has fulfilled its last contract and simply walked away, I feel the seriousness of the problem.
"After AVIC informed us that it would not renew the contract, we pushed for the renewal, but AVIC seemed to have no intention of communicating with us at all. Recently, they even stopped meeting with us."
The muscles on Ryan Valet's face were a little stiff, and he didn't know how to respond to this sentence.
"After we deliver the order from Scandinavian Airlines, our inventory of fuselage parts will be exhausted and we will need to find a new fuselage parts manufacturer."
"New fuselage parts manufacturers?" Ryan Valite thought for a moment and said, "Which fuselage manufacturers are more reliable now?"
The secretary was well prepared: "Airbus is manufactured by its German branch, so we don't have to think about it. Boeing's fuselage parts are from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, so we can try to get them, but the price will definitely be higher than that of AVIC."
Ryan Valite was mentally prepared for this: "There is no other way. If the communication with AVIC is fruitless, we can only look for alternatives. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, I will go to Japan in person and must win over this parts supplier, otherwise the subsequent orders will not be completed."
"Kawasaki Heavy Industries..." Ryan Valite's expression was very solemn. He had never dealt with Kawasaki Heavy Industries and didn't know whether it was easy to talk to them.
If Kawasaki Heavy Industries makes things difficult, Bombardier's aircraft division will be in real danger.
Bombardier has three major divisions: aircraft, railway vehicles and urban rail transit.
Previously, when business jets were being developed, the aircraft department was relatively profitable. However, as the company placed its future bets on the C-series aircraft, the situation in the aircraft department took a sharp turn for the worse. Not only was it unable to generate profits for the headquarters, it was also constantly sucking blood from the group. The other two departments had begun to dislike the aircraft department.
Moreover, Bombardier's labor union has recently begun to stir. In recent days, due to a shortage of funds, the department has been laying off employees, and there are also many problems with severance pay. If the subsequent financial situation does not improve, employee problems will continue to accumulate, and if they suddenly erupt, it will also be a big problem.
Fortunately, after that amazing performance in Europe, the orders for Bombardier CS300 aircraft increased significantly. Even if it lost the US market, it could still make a living if it could handle the remaining orders.
So the next focus is Kawasaki Heavy Industries' attitude.
If Kawasaki Heavy Industries is willing to help, then there is still room for recovery. If not, Ryan Valet dare not even think about it.
…
At the same time, on the other side of the ocean, in front of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries headquarters at 3-1-1 Higashikawasaki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Japan, Li Rongcheng, former president of Boeing Asia Pacific, stared with interest at the doorplate at the door - Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.
He recalled what Xu Cang had told him and couldn't help but sigh: "Why did you let me be such a bad guy?"
