Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Originally, the first flight was just takeoff, circling, and landing, without even retracting the landing gear. This was to prevent any unexpected situations, such as the landing gear failing to deploy after being retracted, which would result in a belly landing.

But now, it's different!

Araga, by accidentally flooring the throttle, experienced the power of this fighter jet and couldn't contain his excitement. He extravagantly engaged the afterburner, then pulled up the nose for a beautiful climb.

The Tomcat fighter is a heavy fighter, with an empty weight of 18 tons. The domestically produced copy couldn't possibly be lighter; in fact, it might be slightly heavier. So, even with both engines at full afterburner, it couldn't provide a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than 1.

However, the engine operation is silky smooth, and no rough maneuver will cause the engine to stall. Pilots can fully focus on the battle during flight without worrying about the engine. This feeling is just too good.

Araga felt like a bird escaping its cage, finally enjoying freedom.

The fighter climbed upwards, soaring into the sky, and its speed began to decrease. He leveled the plane, turned off the afterburner, and casually reduced the throttle to idle.

The engine continued to run smoothly, and the wings extended as the speed decreased.

Below, everyone stared wide-eyed, watching this scene in disbelief.

Is this a first flight? It's practically an aerial display!

Old Lu's eyes were wide as saucers. Araga was too bold, wasn't he? Wasn't he afraid that some parts inside the plane might not meet standards and suddenly cause an accident?

However, the way this plane flies gives people a sense of exhilaration.

Old Lin sighed, "This is a real plane. Once the design is finalized, I want to fly it too!"

Many of the air force leaders came from front-line grassroots units. Although they've moved into the headquarters, they still need to maintain a certain number of flying hours each year. Old Lin even flew the Su-27 in the 1990s, and he's not about to admit he's too old now.

With such an advanced fighter jet, Old Lin certainly wants to fly it.

"Yang-ge, the red envelopes are ready. Three hundred US dollars for each person. What do you think?" At this moment, Nie Xiaoqian walked to Qin Yang's side and whispered.

Only Factory 960 could readily produce foreign exchange. No one else had that ability.

Qin Yang glanced at the red envelopes. They were thick, probably more than one hundred US dollars, with tens and even some one-dollar bills.

"According to our tradition, give them each one hundred and eighty-eight US dollars."

Save one hundred and twelve US dollars. Who told Araga and the others to be so wasteful in the air?

Nie Xiaoqian didn't say anything and took out a portion from inside.

The fighter landed with a roar. At this time, Old Lu became nervous again, watching the three landing gears under the fuselage deploy normally before he breathed a sigh of relief.

The J-11 with its wings extended was very beautiful. It descended under the gaze of everyone and landed steadily on the runway, taxiing for nearly a kilometer before finally coming to a stop.

Araga shut down the engine, then sat in his seat, chatting with the radar officer behind him.

"Rostam Bol, how do you feel?"

"I can't believe this plane was copied by the Orientals. It's exactly the same as the Tomcat's performance!"

"No, it's even better than the Tomcat. Didn't you notice that no matter how roughly I handled it, the engine didn't stall?"

"Yes, the engine didn't surge. I really don't know how the Orientals did it!"

"I think we should not only purchase the planes, but also buy a batch of engines from the Orientals to replace the ones in our Tomcats. Many of our Tomcats can't fly because of a lack of engines."

The lifespan of a fighter jet is often thousands of hours, but the lifespan of an engine isn't that long. The WP-7 used in the J-7 and J-8 only had a lifespan of 150 hours, which was later increased to 300 hours.

American technology in the 1960s was at the same level. The initial TF30 had an overhaul life of only 150 hours, but American technology developed rapidly. By 1972, the TF30-P-3 and P-6 reached 1000 hours, and later various TF30 models had an overhaul life of 1500 hours.

Even so, there came a time when they reached the end of their service life. The Iranian-imported Tomcat fighters frequently took off for combat, and the engines were consumed quickly.

They were also working hard to master the overhaul technology of the TF30 engine, but no matter how they tinkered with it, the inherent problems such as surge couldn't be changed.

In the future, we will gradually replace the unreliable Tomcat engines with this type of engine produced in the East!

"Your Excellency Araga, aren't you planning to come down yet?"

A voice came from below.

While the two were chatting, a large group of people had already gathered around.

The first flight is over, and it's time to celebrate!

Araga smiled, "That's right, I really don't want to come down. I want to stay on this plane forever. I feel like my youth has returned."

Although he said he didn't want to come down, Araga began to unfasten his seat belt and then climbed out of the cockpit.

The celebration ceremony below was ready. As soon as Araga and Rostam Bol got off the plane, two Young Pioneers gave them flowers. The two stood in front of the plane, radiant.

"Everyone, with a spirit of fearlessness, completed the first flight of the J-11 fighter jet." Qin Yang walked forward with two red envelopes: "On behalf of the Eastern aviation industry, I'm giving you a red envelope to express my gratitude."

"Thank you."

The two accepted it frankly. In the West, this is a tradition, a token of appreciation.

"Alright, enough nonsense. Next, let's go eat!"

The cafeteria was a little busy.

Originally, it was planned that the first flight would be in the afternoon at the earliest, and the celebration would be held in the evening. Who would have thought that the plane would be flown in the morning!

Now we have to celebrate at noon. It's a bit chaotic, but for a celebration, the dishes are secondary. It's okay to have a few cans to make do with, as long as there's wine.

"Old Lin, our test pilots don't drink alcohol." Seeing Old Lin excitedly directing his subordinates to get Moutai, Qin Yang said, "So, shouldn't we respect their rules and not drink alcohol either?"

If we don't drink alcohol, what do we drink? Old Lin glanced at Qin Yang.

"Fruit juice." Qin Yang looked at Old Lu: "Old Lu, what's our local specialty fruit?"

"Loquat."

"Then get some loquat juice, freshly squeezed on the spot. Let's drink something fresh!"