Chapter 233 Tilt-rotor aircraft? Are you kidding me?
Chapter 233 Tilt-rotor aircraft? Are you kidding me?
Zhang Qing couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed when Kang Chi emphasized this.
I don’t know if my sleeping posture just now was rude…
Thinking of this, she quickly found an excuse to go to a meeting and slipped away, without even having time to appreciate Kang Chi’s aircraft.
After Zhang Qing left, Kang Chi climbed into the electric tilt-rotor aircraft again and performed a self-check and simulated operation on the spot.
The flight control system of this aircraft is actually very simple and intelligent. This design may not be able to make too many extreme operations, but it greatly reduces its difficulty to get started. Ordinary people can basically drive it after a simple familiarity.
Of course, just like playing DJI’s drones, although the operation is simple, you only need to watch a half-hour teaching video, pull a lever to take off, and fly forward, backward, up and down. Who can’t do it?
But it is hard to say whether it can fly smoothly, whether its obstacle avoidance technology is good, and whether it will crash…
The system panel of this aircraft did pop up, but this only proves that it is qualified as a tilt-rotor aircraft. I believe that the main parameters on the panel can definitely be achieved.
However, the stability in the face of complex airflow, the difficulty and controllability of actual operation, etc., all need actual testing to determine.
If Kang Chi really wants to drive it himself…
It is also a bit unrealistic.
So Kang Chi took out his mobile phone and called Chen Hai.
Hearing Kang Chi’s request, Chen Hai said without hesitation: “Find a test pilot? No need to bother, I can do it!”
”Huh? Are you sure? Don’t test flights require special test pilots?”
”It’s okay. I’m proficient in almost all vehicles except jet fighters.”
Chen Hai knew that the blueprint Kang Chi asked the military for was the Z-20, and he was very confident in his proficiency in the Z-20.
But when he and Lai Qinglei entered the laboratory together and saw this unique tilt-rotor aircraft, they were stunned.
What’s going on?
Where’s the Z-20? ! ? Why does it feel like a variant of the V22-Osprey? Speaking of the Osprey, it does have some black technology.
As the world’s only relatively mature tilt-rotor aircraft, it is also the world’s fastest helicopter, and is also known as the Transformer in the sky. However, this guy has another name:
The Widowmaker! This aircraft, which was launched in 1981 and rolled off the assembly line in 1988, crashed into the Potomac River in front of the Marines, Department of Defense officials and the audience during a public demonstration in 1992 because of a malfunction in the right engine. All seven people on board died, and the Osprey was grounded for 11 months.
The worst was in 2000.
One crashed in April, and another crashed in December due to a failure in the flight control software.
A total of 23 people died in the two accidents.
So the Osprey was grounded again, and its reliability and safety were criticized by all parties.
However, the Americans finally overcame all objections. After years of adjustment and evaluation, the Osprey finally entered service in 2006.
After entering service, the Osprey also maintained its fine tradition, crashing one from time to time, and each crash would kill dozens of American soldiers…
Thinking of this, Chen Hai couldn’t help but feel a little scared…
It’s definitely not that he is afraid of death!
But he is afraid of dying…
The main reason is that when the Americans were developing the Osprey, two of the five initial prototypes crashed, and the 40% accident rate was really scary.
The point is that he is indeed familiar with the Z-20 and can tell its status by listening to the engine sound, but he is not very professional in testing new aircraft…
”Ahem… Mr. Kang, didn’t we agree to build the Z-20?”
”When did I say I wanted to build the Z-20? I just said that I liked the Z-20 and wanted to refer to its internal structure design…”
Kang Chi saw that Chen Hai was a little hesitant, so he suggested: “If you can’t do it, why don’t we find a professional test pilot to try it?”
”Who said I can’t do it?” Hearing Kang Chi’s doubts, Chen Hai immediately retorted: “It’s just a new helicopter. I just want to try it. Let’s just try it on the runway. As long as we don’t fly off the runway and the altitude is controlled below 500 meters, we don’t even need to report it.”
As he said this, he also pushed Lai Qinglei beside him and squeezed his eyebrows at him: “Are you right?”
”Ah? Right!”
Chen Hai: “…”
”No!” After seeing Chen Hai’s crazy eyes, Lai Qinglei quickly reacted and said seriously,
”Team Chen, I think it is necessary to remind you that our duty is to protect Dr. Kang’s personal safety. It seems inappropriate for us to test the aircraft, right?”
Chen Hai immediately curled his lips with a nonchalant look: “Why, you don’t believe in the plane built by Dr. Kang?”
”I don’t…”
Before Lai Qinglei finished speaking, Chen Hai immediately said: “It’s just an electric plane. Test it carefully step by step. What can go wrong? And my life is life, but the life of the test pilot is not life?”
”…”
Lai Qinglei was immediately choked by Chen Hai.
You are acting, do you have to be so realistic?
It’s really a test of your ability to answer the call…
After Lai Qinglei took a breath, he slowly said, “You have the ability to protect Dr. Kang’s safety, but the test pilot can’t. Team Chen, if you insist on taking the test flight, don’t blame me for reporting you!”
Well said! Chen Hai silently gave Lai Qinglei a thumbs up, then looked back at Kang Chi helplessly, shrugged and said, “Dr. Kang, don’t take it personally. This little Lei is a stubborn person who doesn’t know how to adapt… There’s no other way. I can only bother you to waste some time and find a more professional test pilot…”
The acting skills of the two were quite outstanding, so Kang Chi almost thought that Chen Hai was really insisting on flying, until he realized at the end that the two were just playing a double act.
But Kang Chi didn’t mind. He originally wanted to find a more professional test pilot to come and test it to see if there was anything that needed to be improved.
“Can’t you help me find someone?”
”We are the Hua’an Bureau, and test pilots are generally under the control of the military. I guess you still have to find Mr. Cai.”
Kang Chi nodded. Originally, he wanted to see if he could get this kind of small matter done through Chen Hai. After all, the leader would not bother him if he could, so as to avoid another big fight.
And as expected, after hearing that Kang Chi wanted someone, Cai Yaobin immediately attached great importance to this matter.
Although it was just a Z-20, didn’t he want Kang Chi to feel the military’s enthusiasm and support for him? By the way, it seems that it hasn’t been long since they gave Kang Chi the drawings?
”You built it so quickly?”
”Yeah.”
In order to avoid misunderstandings, he immediately explained: “But what I built is not a Z-20, but an electric tilt-rotor aircraft, so it needs a test pilot with skilled helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft flying experience.”
Tilt-rotor aircraft? Or electric? Cai Yaobin was also stunned after hearing this.
Last time when he heard Kang Chi asked for the blueprint of the Z-20, he was actually a little disappointed.
First of all, this equipment already exists. Kang Chi can only increase his experience by making it, but it cannot improve the combat effectiveness of the army.
Secondly, helicopters can only play a supporting role in modern armies. Even if Kang Chi has improved and upgraded the Z-20, it seems a bit tasteless.
But who would have thought that Kang Chi would directly modify a tilt-rotor aircraft! Although helicopters can only play a supporting role, that is for traditional helicopters.
The tilt-rotor aircraft not only has the range and carrying capacity of fixed wings, but also has the ability to take off and land vertically, and can be deployed on aircraft carriers or even ships without runways.
In certain specific situations, it can also go from auxiliary to C position directly! The Americans had to insist on promoting the Osprey project under such huge pressure, and they also suffered a great loss.
In 1979, about 3,000 armed students attacked the old American embassy in Tehran and took 66 hostages.
After many unsuccessful negotiations, they launched a rescue operation codenamed “Eagle Claw”. The whole plan was to have 8 marine CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters take off from the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf with marines.
However, due to insufficient range, the helicopters could only go halfway, pick up 6 C130 transport planes to airdrop supplies, and then go to rescue the hostages.
After the hostage rescue, the helicopters will go to the stadium under the cover of C130 to reorganize the team and complete the supply, and then go to the pre-occupied airport, where the C130 waiting there will take everyone to evacuate.
The whole plan is very complicated, and the more complicated the plan, the more likely it is to go wrong.
After taking off from the aircraft carrier, the eight helicopters encountered a sandstorm. One helicopter turned back on the spot due to a serious malfunction, and one helicopter almost arrived.There was a malfunction at that time, so they had to abandon it on the spot.
Two more helicopters got lost directly. After joining the main force, they found that there was also a risk of hydraulic failure, so they abandoned another one.
So before the operation started, three helicopters had been lost. Even if the hostages were pulled out, five helicopters could not take them away, and the mission had to be cancelled.
The more depressing thing was yet to come.
When the mission was cancelled and they were about to go back, one helicopter found that it was running low on fuel and couldn’t go back at all, so it had to refuel.
Then when they were looking for a C130 to refuel, they collided directly with the C130 because of the poor visibility due to the sandstorm.
Eight soldiers died in one breath.
The commander was stunned on the spot and asked people to abandon all the helicopters directly, and then everyone took the C130 to run away.
Although the failure of this operation was largely due to the sandstorm, the helicopter’s lack of endurance, carrying capacity, and high-altitude flight ability were also the main factors for the failure of this operation.
This is why even though the development of the tilt-rotor aircraft was repeatedly frustrated, Old M insisted on making it.
After it was officially put into service, the Osprey did not disappoint the military.
The maximum flight speed of 510KM perfectly solved the speed problem of the helicopter.
In addition, the fixed-wing flight mode is more fuel-efficient, with a range of up to 1,600km under normal load, which is several times higher than that of traditional helicopters. The increase in combat radius has greatly increased its strategic significance.
In addition, in the fixed-wing state, the Osprey can fly to an altitude of more than 7,000 meters, and its performance is almost close to that of a jet aircraft.
With its excellent flight speed and altitude, the Osprey can also be deployed on destroyers to refuel fighters in the air, greatly increasing the space for tactical formulation.
If there was an Osprey in the “Eagle Claw” operation, at least the range and sandstorm would not be a problem.
Of course, the Osprey is indeed very powerful, but its operating cost is also very high. The cost of a single unit is as high as 74 million US dollars, and it consumes about 12,000 US dollars for every hour of flight.
As for safety…
In fact, due to the repeated insistence of old M, the tilt-rotor technology of the Osprey has become very mature and stable. The reason why its reputation is so bad is mainly because there have been many serious accidents during testing. But after it was officially put into service, the accident rate is not very exaggerated.
Currently, there are more than 500 Ospreys in service in various branches of the M country, with a total flight time of more than 800,000 hours, and the A-level accident rate is only 4/100,000, which is lower than the accident rate of ordinary helicopters.
In addition to the M country, the island country’s Self-Defense Force also has 17 Ospreys deployed on the Izumo-class helicopter destroyer.
Later, based on the Osprey, the United States developed the third-generation tilt-rotor aircraft v280, which is lighter than the V22-Osprey and aims to replace the Army’s Black Hawk helicopter.
Therefore, as the tilt-rotor technology matures, it is likely to become a trend for traditional helicopters to be replaced by tilt-rotor aircraft.
As for why China didn’t do it…
It’s because there are too many places to catch up, and the military budget is limited. Things like this that are not urgently needed can only be kept for future needs.
Of course, if Kang Chi can do it now, it will naturally be a pleasant surprise.
So Cai Yaobin, who originally only paid attention to Kang Chi himself, immediately attached great importance to this technology and the prototype. After the call ended, he immediately arranged the matter.
…
Northwest China.
“Super maneuverable flight test!”
”Received, super maneuverable flight test! Current speed 380KM/H, ready to pull up, 50 degrees, 60 degrees, 70 degrees…”
”120 degrees!”
”Report, super maneuverable flight test is over, no stall occurred.”
”Check the aircraft status.”
”Received, flight control system is normal, engine is normal.”
”Very good, prepare for the next test, vertical rotation limit test.”
”Received!”
”…”
In the vast sky, a twin-engine, two-seat J-20 is soaring in the sky. Under the command of the tower, the two pilots completed a series of thrilling operations.
After the test mission was over, when the aircraft landed steadily on the runway of the Aoying Flight Test Base, Li Xiangnan finally relaxed and said to Shen Hua in the back row: “The J20 equipped with the Taihang engine is still a pleasure to fly!”
”That’s a must, otherwise how can it be called a vector engine.”
The two of them saidThen he climbed down the ladder.
”Assemble!”
Before the two of them could stand firm, the captain Deng Henghua’s deep command came from the cabin in the distance, so the two of them took their helmets and ran towards the team.
”Stand at attention!”
”Li Xiangnan, Shen Ye, you performed well in today’s test.” Deng Henghua first named and praised the two, then glanced at the twenty test pilots in the team, “The leader just issued a new task. Datang Heavy Industry needs two test pilots to test the new aircraft. Who of you is willing to take the initiative to participate?”
After hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but look at each other.
”Ask directly if you have any questions.”
”Report, can I know what aircraft is being tested? How long will the test take?”
”I don’t know what aircraft it is, I only know that this is the latest new aircraft developed by Dr. Kang Chi. Once the aircraft obtains the airworthiness certificate, the test mission can be completed.”
Dr. Kang Chi?
Hearing this name, the test pilots present suddenly brightened up.
Although Kang Chi had never built an airplane before, this did not prevent everyone from knowing the great name of this scientific research expert, and they were naturally curious about the first airplane he built.
”Report!” Li Xiangnan was the first to speak, “I am willing to help Dr. Kang test it!”
”I am willing too!”
”…”
Under the leadership of Li Xiangnan, everyone signed up enthusiastically, and Deng Henghua was willing to give his most proud fighters, Li Xiangnan and Shen Ye, who were the first to sign up, to Kang Chi.
The main thing is that Cai Yaobin repeatedly emphasized on the phone just now that the best test pilots must be used…
”Tilt-rotor aircraft!!”
When Li Xiangnan knew that they were going to test only a propeller-powered aircraft next, he was stunned…
Are you kidding? They are the test pilots of supersonic fighters!
Too careless, I got cheated! (End of this chapter)