Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Qin Yang looked curiously at the person who walked in. He was wearing a faded work uniform, thick glasses, his temples were graying, and his forehead was so sparse that you could see the top of his head.

At this moment, his face was filled with a smile, showcasing the spirit of a third-line military worker: no matter how harsh the external environment, his heart was always full of hope and his body always full of fighting spirit!

"Old Lin, you guys are really something, coming all this way without saying a word."

"Old Yu?" Old Lin was also delighted: "You busy man, what are you doing here?"

"There are some processing tasks that require the help of the workshop here, so I came over to coordinate. Who is this young man beside you?"

"President Qin, general manager of Fangbei Company."

"Fangbei Company? President Qin? Are you the President Qin who is rumored to be investing in us?" Yu Ximing quickly stepped forward to shake hands: "President Qin, I am Yu Ximing, the chief designer of the First Design Institute of the 011 Base."

The 011 Base is vast, not only with a large number of production workshops and complete sets of production equipment, but also two design institutes.

Yu Ximing is also a veteran in the aviation industry. Back then, when the higher-ups gave an order, he moved from the city to the mountainous area without a word, and has since taken root in the third-line base. Although he is now old, he is still full of energy.

Just now, when this person proposed that Factory 960 wanted to invest, everyone expressed their integrity by refusing food that was offered with contempt. However, when they discovered that this person was the big financial backer, everyone suddenly became enthusiastic.

President Qin!

President Qin!

"Old Yu, it's a pleasure to meet you. Coming here today has made me feel the spirit of struggle and progress that belongs to our third-line military workers again! By the way, I heard that you are engaging in self-reliance through production and have your own projects. Can I take a look?"

"Of course," Yu Ximing said, "I'll take you to Workshop 180 to see the J-7 trainer we are currently imitating."

A fighter jet needs a corresponding two-seater trainer. From the J-5 to the J-7, it has always been like this. However, the J-7 trainer is still under development. This project started in 1979 and is the last hope of the 011 Base.

If this project succeeds, their base will be able to survive. If this project fails, the entire 011 Base may have to be abandoned.

In recent years, Yu Ximing hasn't had a good night's sleep. He doesn't know how many design drawings he has revised, or how many roads he has walked in various supporting factories. Now, the first J-7 trainer is being assembled, and Yu Ximing is even busier.

He didn't expect to suddenly see Old Lin and President Qin, which made him even more energetic and radiant.

"Workshop 180 is our largest production workshop." The group got into the car and moved forward along the mountain road. Yu Ximing excitedly introduced the guests.

"Is this workshop also in a cave?"

"When it was first built, it was indeed in a cave, but later, during the production process, it was discovered that the cave simply couldn't complete the final assembly of the aircraft. So, we built a factory building outside the cave, which is also the largest single production workshop in the entire 011 Base."

The final assembly of an aircraft needs to be carried out in a spacious and bright workshop. A cave is absolutely impossible. The interior often seeps water, the workshop is damp, and the top of the cave often drops dust, which makes the aircraft have intractable diseases during final assembly. The most important thing is that it is not conducive to carrying out the final assembly work.

Therefore, after considering the actual situation, the higher-ups abandoned those unrealistic fantasies. Blindly pursuing concealment and dispersion would bring serious difficulties to production.

Even so, the final assembly plant of Workshop 180 is still very small and cannot be compared with other factories.

Here, it is equivalent to blasting and leveling a hillside to build a flat ground, with a large number of trees around to cover it.

The group walked into the factory building and saw a silver fighter jet being assembled.

Its appearance is very similar to the J-7: air intake at the nose, and the rear cockpit area is lengthened, changing from a single seat to a tandem double seat. The front is the student, and the back is the instructor, both sitting at the same height.

Generally speaking, tandem two-seater trainers are designed with a front-low and rear-high layout, so that both the front and rear people have a good view, especially the instructor in the back seat, who can better control the aircraft's condition. Once a special situation is encountered, they can still take over the operation.

But the aircraft in front of me is obviously unqualified as a trainer!

"Old Yu, with this kind of trainer, the rear seat instructor's visibility is very poor," Qin Yang couldn't help but say.

"That's right, the rear seat instructor needs to rely on a periscope to observe, and the visibility is indeed very poor, but the plane is like this, and we can't change it," Yu Ximing said.

"Our J-5 and J-6 trainers are also designed like this, you'll get used to it." Old Lin, as an air force user, didn't feel anything inappropriate. It was like this before, and of course it is still like this now.

"The previous J-5 trainer was subsonic, and the J-6, although supersonic, only just broke the sound barrier. But the J-7 can fly at twice the speed of sound, can it be the same? What's more, the J-7's takeoff and landing characteristics are very poor," Qin Yang retorted, "Old Lin, have you looked at any advanced trainer in the world that has the same height for the front and rear cockpits?"

The J-7 trainer is a simple modification of the J-7, and it is very difficult for flight students to train. If you are not careful, you may rush out of the runway, so it was once jokingly called the best trainer: it can eliminate a large number of pilots with poor skills in advance, leaving only the most skilled.

"But, the J-7 is just this foundation, do we have to design a completely new trainer?"

"A completely new one is not necessary. I think the appearance of our J-7 trainer can be modified, so that it should be able to better meet the training requirements."

Although Qin Yang is a layman, every suggestion has proven to be correct in the end. Old Lin became serious: "How do you plan to change it?"

"First of all, the wings. Factory 132 has already developed a double-delta wing, and the effect is good. You can completely copy this wing, which can greatly reduce the takeoff and landing speed and better train pilots."

This was also Qin Yang's suggestion to Old Tuo at the beginning, and it has now been proven to be a successful design. Originally, the takeoff and landing speed of the J-7 exceeded 300, which was very difficult to operate. Changing to a double-delta wing greatly changed the low-speed handling performance, and the takeoff and landing speed was reduced to 255 or 256, and the tire wear was much smaller.

"Will Factory 132 give it to us?"

"I'll make a call and see if they dare not give it."

Even if they know about the double-delta wing, they are too embarrassed to ask Factory 132 for it again. It would be great if Qin Yang could help coordinate.

"Also, there is the modification of the nose. Changing the nose air intake to air intakes on both sides of the fuselage will allow the nose to have a larger angle of inclination, lowering the front cockpit, and naturally raising the rear cockpit, which will solve the problem of rear seat visibility."

At this moment, Yu Ximing's face showed embarrassment again.

This kind of nose modification plan is a major change! It's not something that can be changed with just a few words!