The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master

The last weekend of March 2006.

Although the news of the collision risk of the International Space Station at the beginning of this month has not been completely calmed down, a considerable part of the media's attention has been drawn back to the atmosphere--

Just about two weeks ago, Airbus announced that the world's largest wide-body passenger aircraft Airbus A380 will be publicly exhibited for the first time at the Singapore Air Show and perform a flight show.

Compared with the aerospace industry, which is currently highly closed and the investment is still far greater than the output, air transportation and aviation manufacturing can actually affect the operation of the world economy.

Not to mention, after the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger, the competition between the two aviation giants Airbus and Boeing has long been artificially added with many colors beyond the commercial level.

In the past few years, relying on the huge emerging market brought by the cooperation with Huaxia first, and the package of "unequal treaties" signed by Boeing in mid-1997 to successfully complete the merger, Airbus has surpassed its competitors in the number of new aircraft orders, and the order amount is gradually approaching.

Now, as the ten-year deadline is approaching, Boeing, which has finally completed the integration of its aviation business line, will definitely make a strong counterattack, and the Europeans, who have already tasted the sweetness, will definitely fight back.

As an aircraft that was clearly announced at the beginning of its design to challenge the Boeing 747 in all aspects, the A380 is almost undoubtedly regarded as the prelude before the official start of this competition.

On March 25, although it suddenly rained over Changi Airport, a production Airbus A380 with Singapore Airlines livery still appeared at the end of the runway as planned, causing cheers in the audience exhibition area a few hundred meters away.

And the British Sky News, which signed a contract with the air show many years ago and obtained priority broadcasting rights, also seized the opportunity and set up a live broadcast position on a stand not far away.

It just happened to be able to take almost the entire runway into view.

"Dear audience, we are at the Zhangyi Air Show. It has been confirmed that the Airbus A380, which has attracted widespread public attention, will take off in the rain to perform..."

The beautifully dressed female host stood in front of the camera and briefly introduced the situation on the scene to the audience around the world. Then she quickly directed the focus to a burly guest next to her:

"We are very lucky to interview Dr. Charles Champion, a senior executive of Airbus and former chief operating officer of the A380 project, and consulted him about some basic information about the project."

After that, the camera lens zoomed out and placed the two people at the center of the entire broadcast screen at the same time, without blocking the runway and sky further behind.

At the same time as the lens changed, the A380 slowly began to accelerate amid the exclamations of tens of thousands of spectators on the scene, and finally took off from the ground at a somewhat unusual angle for a passenger plane in almost the center of the broadcast screen.

Everything was as precise as if it had been calculated in advance.

This shocking scene directly saved all the lengthy and boring opening remarks, and directly drew the attention of the scene and all the audience to the most critical topic.

After the roar gradually faded away, the host put the microphone back to his mouth:

"Well, I think we have seen the good performance of this aircraft intuitively. Now please let Dr. Champien briefly introduce the basic situation of this aircraft to us..."

"I can confidently say that the Airbus A380 is currently the world's largest, most advanced, and most environmentally friendly passenger aircraft..."

Champien cleared his throat calmly and began to recall the promotional manuscript that had long been memorized in his mind:

"It is expected that the first batch of models delivered at the end of the year will be equipped with the Trent 900 engine provided by Rolls-Royce. This is the world's first model of the same level that uses a large amount of titanium alloy materials in the turbine part, so it is lighter and more fuel-efficient. It is more fuel-efficient and will be equipped with a new generation of flight control system to achieve full linkage between rudder control and engine control..."

"Taking all these factors into consideration, the Airbus A380 consumes less than 80% of the Boeing 747's fuel and flies faster, which means passengers can reach their destinations in a shorter time at a lower cost..."

"In addition, it is worth mentioning that the same flight control system as the Airbus A380 will also be installed on other Airbus models, including the A350 also exhibited at this air show, and the new generation A320, which will soon be announced..."

"..."

Such an interview is, of course, a win-win situation.

Sky News needs a heavyweight guest as a gimmick, and Champion, who has just taken over the A320neo project, also needs a good opportunity to promote his company and a series of new models.

However, here, he played some word games and compared the Boeing 747-400 about 15 years ago, thus obtaining an extremely exaggerated data.

Of course, this is not a big problem.

After all, the updated 747-800 project was launched at the end of 2005, and it is still in the design stage at this time, and there is not even a prototype yet.

Who made you slow to act?

The host was also very sharp in finding the part suitable for leading to the follow-up topic from this long answer:

"Mr. Champien, you just mentioned that the first batch of Airbus A380 aircraft put into commercial operation will be delivered at the end of this year. Although this is six months later than the plan you first announced in 1994, it is about one year earlier than the delivery time re-set in 2003. What factors have caused such changes?"

"Yes... To a large extent, this is thanks to our long-term partners in the field of aviation power."

Champien nodded, and his eyes involuntarily cast towards the Rolls-Royce exhibition hall in the distance:

"Despite many difficulties encountered in the process, Rolls-Royce still completed the work stipulated in the contract on time and delivered to us a number of mass-produced engines sufficient for comprehensive operational testing. What is surprising is that some of the performance parameters obtained after installation are even better than on paper..."

"So there are rumors that you will strengthen your cooperation with Rolls-Royce in the future?"

The female host suddenly threw out a fatal question.

Whether you give a positive or negative answer to this question, it will be a big problem.

Fortunately, Champien was also a veteran, and realized that this was a trap almost instantly:

"Rolls-Royce has been, is and will be our important partner. Airbus has always adhered to the concept of being responsible to customers and an open attitude in the selection of aviation power models, taking actual needs and performance as the most important determining factors..."

The long and difficult English sentences with a French accent at a fast speed made the host inevitably dizzy.

Seeing that the other party did not take the bait, she quickly changed the topic:

"So... let's get back to the issue of commercial operations. There is news that the first batch of Airbus A380s delivered will include 4 aircraft, which will be delivered to 3 users from different countries. Is that true?"

Just as the two were talking, the A380 in mid-air made another compact and steep turn, which fully demonstrated its good power and flight control level.

"Yes, I can confirm this news."

After the engine screams landed again, Champien answered again:

"The first batch of delivery customers include Singapore Airlines, Emirates Airlines and China Southern Airlines. I need to thank the aviation authorities of these countries for passing the A380 airworthiness certification agreement with unprecedented efficiency..."

"..."

Although that's what he said, people who know the situation know that the focus of Champien's statement is still China, and the other two countries are just mentioned as a bonus.

China has always been relatively conservative in aviation management, mainly reflected in the long approval cycle for new models, and airlines tend to let foreign guinea pigs experience it before making a purchasing decision.

And the fact that the A380 can drink the soup is likely to mean that the two parties have reached some undisclosed transaction.

But the details here are impossible to ask publicly, let alone answer publicly...

Of course, on the other hand, even Champien himself is not particularly clear about what shameful secrets are behind this.

I just got a few clues from the performance of my partner, Luo Luo...