I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

"The round-the-world flight of aircraft B4143 has been postponed to December."

As soon as the hot search list came out on November 27, aviation enthusiasts at home and abroad cried out.

The round-the-world flight challenge originally planned for the end of November was postponed because both An-1250s had work to do.

The B4043 aircraft needs to transport the Xinyuan-2 modified rocket body and the H2 space shuttle, so the launch mission of the Lightning can only be handed over to the B4143 aircraft.

At a large military airport in Quanzhou, B4143 landed carrying a 55-meter-long, 8-meter-long maximum diameter fusiform fuel tank with a shiny appearance. On the back of the IL-76 next to the runway was the Lightning with its nose raised.

Androv and Dou Ping supervised the operators as they hoisted the Lightning onto the back of the An-1250 and carefully installed the fuel pipes.

The Lightning's fuel tank is disposable, mostly made of magnesium-aluminum alloy to reduce weight, and its surface is divided into countless hexagonal blocks by shallow dents.

Although the fuel tank has no technical content, Serev still carefully optimized it to reduce costs as much as possible.

The shuttle-shaped fuel tank is designed to only maintain a stable state for 16 hours after being filled with fuel. If it does not take off during this period, the internal structure will not meet safety standards due to metal embrittlement caused by hydrogen and must be discarded.

Such a planned life span brings extreme low cost, and also means that the launch preparation process must be very careful, otherwise a fuel tank and 300 tons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen may be scrapped, the latter is valuable.

Dou Ping was very curious about the Lightning, which had quietly come up with new tricks. He only found out about it a week ago, and then he rushed over.

The first time he learned about this aerial launch method, Dou Ping decided to copy it.

For no other reason than to be cheap.

There are currently two launch methods for the Shenlong-1A (SL-1A) in the desert base: liquid rocket launches such as Xinyuan-5B or Long March 7, and solid rocket launches in the S2100 emergency state.

The preparation time for liquid rocket launches is too long, and the solid rocket S2100 is so expensive that even the space agency does not want to use it, and it is not willing to use it at all.

Air launch is too cheap. Researchers at the base estimate that it is only 30% to 50% of the cost of liquid rockets. It is more flexible and only requires an airport.

For example, the Lightning was arranged to go to Quanzhou and take off to the southern sea for launch. The fuel tank fell directly into the Pacific Ocean, and the landing zone control and launch location were randomly selected.

For the Shenlong-1A, this means large-scale maneuverability. If the enemy wants to attack, they have to plow all the airports. But even so, if I say that the carrier aircraft takes off from the field airport, how will you respond?

Dou Ping: "Androv, I think the military should order a few more Y-40s (the military code name of the An-1250). I didn't expect you to resurrect MAKS here. No wonder the alliance supported this thing back then. It was indeed very good. "

Androv was a little confused: "Isn't XAC developing the Y-35? The aircraft's back load capacity is also 350 tons. The time it takes to install our new batch of 1250s is actually not much different from the Y-35, which is much more economical."

Dou Ping: "But we want it now, and it doesn't seem to need any modifications, right? Another Shenlong-1A has been built. It hasn't been completed yet and there is still time to modify the nose. I will rent your aircraft for the test launch next year." ?”

"..."

Dou Ping: "Also, you developed the Lightning to transport low-G spacecraft, so why not develop a manned version that can hold at least 6 people? Isn't it more cost-effective?"

"Well, the current Xinyuan-5B method of space tourism is actually quite good, and the air launch of the An-1250 requires some preparation time. In our opinion, the money saved is not very necessary."

Dou Ping said "Oh" and suddenly said:

"Androv, I suddenly want to demonstrate the feasibility of a manned aerospace fighter like the MiG-105. This may be more flexible than the Shenlong-1A."

Androv coughed dryly. He didn't expect these people to be so interested in Korolev's casual work. Is this a step-by-step plan to resurrect the alliance?

With so many unfinished projects in the alliance, maybe it can be said that the alliance’s orthodoxy lies in the East in the future?

As the chat between the two came to an end and the An-1250 was preparing to take off, Dou Ping said meaningfully:

"The significance of the Lightning may be greater than that of H2M."

However, eight XW-30 engines had already started at this time, and Androv could not hear clearly. He only saw the mysterious smile on his face.

Six crew members and four Lightning engineers took off in B4143, and then immediately turned to fly south. Several Su-35s and J-11BSHs from nearby airports took off for escort.

Such an unabashed flight path heading south was immediately noticed by an RC135 taking off from Okinawa that was walking nearby. The radar recognized the unique signal of the An-1250 at a glance, and the crew quickly moved closer.

Because it had entered the high seas at this time, the B4143 fleet only gave a routine greeting to RC135 and advised it to stay away to avoid an accident. However, the latter seemed not to hear anything and just kept approaching, and then took out a camera to take pictures.

The co-pilot, Wright, who was performing this mission, was extremely happy. He understood the purpose of the Lightning and fuel tank combination on the back of the 1250 aircraft without much effort. He was immediately very excited. He took out his Canon 400D camera and started to erase the card. Mopping the floor and taking photos.

As soon as these photos land, they can be sold to the media for a good price. The space shuttle is air-launched and may even enter orbit. This is absolutely big news.

The follower RC135 followed it to the waters close to Mindanao. At this time, the latitude was close to the equator, and the launch could save a lot of fuel.

In Captain Ryder's footage, the An-1250 continued to climb to 11,500 meters, the escorting fighters slightly pulled away, and the RC135 also calmly moved away.

The crew of B4143 increased the power of the eight turbofan engines to maximum, allowing the aircraft to reach a speed of approximately 870 kilometers, and then pulled up an elevation angle of approximately 10 degrees.

On the back of the aircraft, liquid hydrogen first entered the H300 engine turbine pump at the tail of the Lightning through the pipeline. Following the ignition command issued in the cabin, the H300 began to output thrust at 110% power, and at the same time, the fixed point connecting the fuel tank and the Lightning exploded. The bolt is energized.

The 330-ton thrust with the jet angle pointed at the center of gravity allowed the freed Lightning to take the fuel tank away from B4143. The latter immediately lowered its nose to prevent being burned by the tail flame, and the two formed a "\u003e" shape in the air.

The orange-red tail flame of the hydrogen-oxygen engine working at an altitude of 10,000 meters can still be seen. The huge tail flame caused a bright fire ball to suddenly appear in the airspace. The Indonesian indigenous people on the ground thought it was fire from the sky, and they knelt down and worshiped devoutly while chanting the indigenous language. .

Wright, who witnessed and recorded this spectacular sight throughout, allowed RC135 to continue climbing to capture as many images of the Lightning as possible, almost ignoring the escort fleet next to it.

In fact, in the back seat of the Su-35 that was closest to them, there was also a pilot holding a camera and silently looking at the RC135 joining in the fun.

In a sense, the latter became the first foreign "journalist" to witness.

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