Set sail1992

Chapter 1445 The flight test alarmed several units

Richard Horn had made up his mind to talk to Zhang Qihang, but he had his own ideas about how to talk: he had to talk, but he couldn't be too anxious, because a deal that was too aggressive would not be a deal.

He had made up his mind to recall the past and would wait for two or three days before looking for Zhang Qihang.

Richard Horn was not in a hurry. Professor Wu acted quickly and came to Zhang Qihang's office the next day and asked Zhang Qihang to help greet the aviation management department.

Zhang Qihang was a little surprised when he heard this: "The blades were made so quickly?"

"Ha ha……"

Professor Wu smiled happily: "Xiao Wang and Xiao Li's plan is to do some technical verification first. Since it is a technical verification, there is no need to use a large aircraft. They chose a single-rotor drone with a total payload (load + fuel) of 40 kg. The blades of such a small drone are easy to make.

Once the performance and efficiency of this blade is confirmed on this drone, we can then adapt it to drones with larger payloads.”

"That's a good idea," Zhang Qihang nodded in agreement, and then asked, "By the way, have you done a test flight?"

Professor Wu responded: "We simply flew it over the open space of the R&D center for more than 50 meters. The main purpose was to confirm that the propeller blades could be used. We did not continue to test it higher."

Why didn't you continue trying?

Of course, if we fly higher, we will be detected by the radar of the air traffic control unit.

  A signal with low altitude, low speed, extremely weak radar reflection signal and no advance notification appears on the radar screen. What do you think the air traffic control unit’s reaction would be?

It was precisely because of the need to fly high that Professor Wu came to find Zhang Qihang and asked Zhang Qihang to say hello to the air traffic control department.

Looking at Professor Wu's smiling face, Zhang Qihang felt deeply moved: Professor Wu is so kind to his students!

In fact, there was no need for him to come to his office specifically for such a small matter. He could have just made a phone call. However, Professor Wu did not choose to call, but came in person instead. His intention to support his student was self-evident.

Now that he knew what Professor Wu was thinking, Zhang Qihang would certainly give him this face. He nodded and said, "Hearing what you said, I am really a little curious. When do they plan to conduct the test?"

Professor Wu immediately said: "As long as the air traffic control department approves, we can do it anytime."

"Then wait for me to make a call..."

The person in charge of the air traffic control department was an old acquaintance of Zhang Qihang. When the call was connected, Director Liu heard Zhang Qihang said that he wanted to test the flight altitude of the drone. He didn't care and readily agreed. He also joked with Zhang Qihang: "Mr. Zhang, you are applying to me for such a small matter. Can your drone still fly six or seven kilometers?"

"That's true," Zhang Qihang replied, "We are testing the plateau blades this time. If the calculations are correct, we can fly to an altitude of 6000 meters."

Director Liu on the other end of the phone was stunned and quickly asked, "Mr. Zhang, how high do you think your drone can fly?!"

He felt that either he had heard it wrong or Zhang Qihang had said it wrong.

Zhang Qihang understood Director Liu's reaction and gave a positive answer: "According to our design, it can hover at an altitude of 6000 meters, but whether it can fly to such a high altitude is something we are currently testing." "6000 meters... 6000 meters..."

Director Liu on the other end of the phone repeated it several times, and suddenly asked, "Mr. Zhang, what is the payload of the drone you tested this time?"

As expected of the person in charge of air traffic control in Shandong Province, Lao Liu reacted quickly. When he heard the flight altitude, he immediately realized the value of this drone.

Zhang Qihang was amazed in his heart and explained to him: "What we have this time is not a drone, but a plateau-type propeller. If the performance of this plateau-type propeller in this test is consistent with the previous computer simulation, this propeller can be used on other drones, such as our group's agricultural drone with a maximum load of more than 300 kilograms."

"Hoo...Hoo...Mr. Zhang, are you serious?"

Director Liu on the other end of the phone was breathing heavily. "Can your new blades really allow that helicopter with a maximum load of 300 kilograms to fly to an altitude of 6000 meters?"

Director Liu naturally knew about the drone with a maximum payload of 300 kg that Zhang Qihang mentioned. This drone was actually developed based on the ultra-light two-seater helicopter of Huateng Group. After removing all manned equipment such as seats, instruments, joysticks, etc., the empty weight of the aircraft is only 300 kg, and the load ratio (maximum payload (payload + fuel) / maximum take-off weight) reaches an astonishing 0.5.

After Huateng Group developed such a UAV with such a large payload, many units and departments were amazed and instantly thought of many application scenarios of this UAV. However, after knowing that the ceiling of this UAV is only 3000 meters, everyone felt extremely regretful: 3000 meters altitude is a bit embarrassing.

  But now, Zhang Qihang said that their new propeller blades can allow this drone to fly to an altitude of 6000 meters. How could Lao Liu not be excited?

After all, everyone knows who manages the country’s airspace…

Listening to the heavy breathing on the other end of the phone, Zhang Qihang smiled and said, "Isn't this being tested? Whether it can fly to this altitude or not, we have to test it first before we know."

"Right, right, right. We have to test it first." At this point, Director Liu suddenly slapped his forehead and said to Zhang Qihang, "Boss Zhang, wait a moment. I'll make a few calls. I guess a lot of people will come to see your test later."

Zhang Qihang knew exactly what Director Liu meant. He did not hesitate and nodded with a smile: "Is that so? That's fine too."

"That's it, hang up now."

........................

After a while, Director Liu called Zhang Qihang again and said in a serious tone, "Mr. Zhang, several units are very interested in your drone. Can you take your drone with you..."

After giving an address that could not be written out, Director Liu said, "Everyone wants to see it in person."

"Of course, that's no problem," Zhang Qihang agreed. He knew who wanted to see the performance of this drone. "But Director Liu, have you explained it clearly to the comrades in these units? The drone we are testing today is not the one with a maximum payload of 300 kilograms. It would be bad if everyone misunderstood."

"Ha ha……"

Director Liu smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Zhang. I have made all of this clear. What everyone wants to see is whether your test aircraft can fly to 6000 meters and how much payload it can carry to fly to 6000 meters."

After hearing these words, Zhang Qihang felt relieved: As long as there was no misunderstanding, it’s good.