Great warships

Chapter 281 Equipment of Air Transport Company

In the 50s, Lao Maozi developed the Mi-8 helicopter. In the long history of this helicopter, there were more than 50 modifications and more than 9000 were produced. It is the largest number of helicopters in the world, so it is also called The Kalashnikov of helicopters.

In the 60s, as the Mi-8 got old, Lao Maozi began to improve, specifically to increase the engine power, increase the load capacity, and improve the plateau performance of the helicopter.The Isotov Engine Design Bureau developed a 1900-horsepower TV3-117MT turboshaft engine, which was installed on it and became Mi-18, which was later renamed Mi-17.

The shape of the two helicopters is almost exactly the same, and they are also called hippos in the West. If you distinguish carefully, the tail rotor of the Mi-8 is on the right, and the tail rotor of the Mi-17 is on the left.I don't know what Lao Maozi's designer thinks. Is it because there are two generations of designers, one normal and one left-handed?

In 88, the Miri Design Bureau modernized and improved the Mi-17 helicopter again. After the improvement, it was the Mi-171 helicopter, which has been used until later generations.Of course, during this process, the Mi-8 is still in production. After all, it is cheap, and you can buy one for three or four million.

Standing in front of the Mi-171 helicopter, Qin Tao looked forward to seeing this smooth-looking helicopter with a large belly. Although the navy didn't use it, the army used it a lot, and it blossomed in full bloom, becoming the backbone and main force.

However, after all, the technology is backward. Therefore, domestic surveying and mapping would rather imitate the Black Hawk, and they have not thought about the Mi-171.

"This helicopter, can you have short wings at both ends, hang a rocket launcher and so on?"

Jishenke wanted to shake his head, but he followed and nodded again: "It's not difficult, we can transplant the Mi-24's technology over at any time. Do you need this modification?"

Qin Tao shook his head: "We need to have this ability to improve."

These Mi-171s are all civilian models, so that the army does not need to show up. After returning, they need to be able to change them by themselves, hang a rocket launcher or something, and make a guest appearance as an armed helicopter. After all, the army seriously lacks professional armed helicopters.

However, it cannot be modified here. In this case, the weapons and equipment produced here will have to be purchased, which is a huge expense, and the army has no money.

Qin Tao spoke in a serious manner, and Jishenke, Dmitry and others also listened carefully.

"Qin, as long as you need it, we can do it. When are you going to buy it?"

"I'll contact you guys when I get back." After Qin Tao finished speaking, he thought for a while, "However, I can buy two civilian models, how about 300 million?"

Two heavy-duty Mi-26 helicopters are enough, and it is useless if there are too many. This is the same as a large car. The -26 helicopter, however, must not move at ordinary times.

If Qin Tao has an emergency travel plan, or other businesses of the transportation company, he needs a medium-sized Mi-171 helicopter. If he purchases two of these helicopters, he can form a large scale.

After going back, Zhao Laosi and the others knew that their subordinates had a plane, how should they feel?
Airplanes are different from cars. It costs money to apply for airline training for pilots, so I can only use a special relationship. I guess, I will definitely be surrounded by people after I go back. When the time comes, I will ask my father-in-law to help , anchored under the navy, shouldn't be a big problem, right?

300 million US dollars a piece, only half of the price of the 80s Black Hawk, but for the current Miri Design Bureau, it is definitely a timely help.

Qin Tao came over this time and placed a large order of 600 million US dollars, the first deal since the collapse of the Red Empire!

In the future, it would be even better if hundreds of Mi-171s can be sold!
Therefore, there is nothing more to say about the price of the Mi-26.

After seeing the production workshop, Vitalia, who was with her, warmly invited them to go out for dinner. In the most luxurious hotel in the city, a banquet has been prepared.This is much better than eating in a factory.

Before the food was served, several plates of fruit and candies were placed on the table. Qin Tao picked up the plate containing the candies: "Jishenke, Dmitry, and you, you, you guys, take this plate of candies Divide it up and take it home for the children to eat."

After finishing speaking, Qin Tao grabbed candies and stuffed them into the pockets of several people.

This scene looks a bit funny, they are all big shots, do they still care about these candies?

However, the eyes of several people were full of emotion.

How long has the child at home not eaten candy?
Qin Tao was generous with Vitalia's generosity to buy people's hearts, and Vitalia was on the sidelines, just smiling and watching him do all this.

After the food was served, the eating and drinking began, and everyone chatted more casually.

"Our helicopters are indeed very heavy in terms of weight, but in terms of speed, they are still very poor." Qin Tao brought up a new topic.

In terms of weight, the Mi-26 of 26 to [-] tons is superior to other heroes, but in terms of speed, it is not enough. The speed of Mi-[-] is less than [-] kilometers per hour, and other helicopters have not broken through [-] kilometers. hourly.

Compared with the speed of ordinary aircraft, which can easily reach seven to eight hundred or even thousands, this is indeed slow enough.

"There is no way, the big plate on the top of the helicopter gives it the power to take off, but at the same time, this big plate will also act as a hindrance when flying forward, so the speed of the helicopter will not be high." Ji Shen Coe said.

This is a congenital defect of the helicopter.

How about vertical take-off and landing, relying on the large plate above the head, and flying forward?Just tilt the blade of the propeller forward, so that the rotor not only provides lift to overcome gravity, but also provides forward thrust.

Although the big plate can fly forward with the helicopter, but this big plate has also obtained huge resistance, in this case, the speed of the helicopter cannot be too fast.

"So, how about turning the platter forward while the helicopter is flying forward?"

Qin Tao spoke casually, and several helicopter experts present were startled.

"Qin, do you mean a tilt-rotor aircraft? This type of aircraft is too technically difficult to succeed at all. Just a few days ago, the American XV-15 prototype just crashed."

"That's right, the Kamov Design Bureau also tried it before, but finally gave up."

A brand-new and complex technology may take a long time and cost a lot of money, and it will be carried out with firm will.

At that time, the technology of helicopters had just stabilized, and after the scheme of a large plate on the head and a small plate on the back became the consensus of various helicopter designers, the development of the tiltrotor began.

By 1951, Bell Helicopter, with military support, began development of the XV-3 tiltrotor.

It looks simple, isn't it just turning the big plate from horizontal to vertical?In fact, the aerodynamic problem alone has troubled Bell for many years. Because of the technical problem of aeroelastic instability, in the wind tunnel test, the rotor was separated from the fuselage, which completely failed the attempt of this aircraft.

However, Bell did not give up. In the 70s, NASA and the Army launched a new, turboshaft-driven tilt-rotor aircraft program.Bell Company immediately acted, won the development contract, and started a new attempt. This prototype was named XV-15, and it was also the prototype of the famous V-22 "Osprey" aircraft in later generations.

Although in 81, the first XV-15 prototype performed wonderfully at the Paris Air Show, which made people's eyeballs fall out of surprise, but it is only a prototype after all, and it is still too early to enter service. , just this year, the prototype also fell.

The Miri Design Bureau did not proceed. On the one hand, they had a hunch that this method was too complicated and the chance of success was very small. On the other hand, it was because their counterparts had already failed decades ago.

The Kamov Design Bureau also waded through muddy waters, this is Ka-22.
In 1951, they came up with the idea of ​​a compound helicopter.It is planned to install two sets of rotors on the basis of the Li-2 transport aircraft, and then equipped with a TB-2 turbine engine. After blowing through the wind tunnel, some shapes have been modified, and finally the test flight will start in the 60s.

Compared with the American Osprey, its biggest feature is that it does not rotate.Lao Maozi solved the problem with the most crude means: one engine is installed at each end of the wing, the large plate of the helicopter is on the top, and the normal propeller is in the front!

They didn't need to solve the problem of the engine and the propeller rotating together. They simply made two. The large plate on the top was only used for take-off and landing, and the front propeller was responsible for providing forward thrust. Now, everything was solved.

The people at the Kamov Design Bureau are smart, and they already had a premonition that it would be very complicated if they rotated.

Their hunch was correct. During the Osprey's decades of development, this tilting process was the most dangerous. Even if it was in service, accidents also occurred during this process.

If there is no tilt, then things will be very simple.

However, even if there is no need to tilt, it still needs to be converted from vertical take-off and landing to normal flight. This is the biggest technical problem of this aircraft.

After several years of testing, the problem continued and could not be solved, so the project was finally abandoned.

"Technology is constantly improving." Qin Tao said: "In order to study helicopters, didn't many aeronautical engineers rack their brains to find a way to mature this technology? Now it seems that the tilt rotor aircraft has There are many problems, but they will always mature in the future, and if they mature in the future, then this kind of aircraft will completely replace helicopters."

The biggest advantage of the helicopter is that it can take off and land vertically. The biggest disadvantage is that the flight speed is slow. The tiltrotor perfectly solves these problems, so it is considered the best alternative.

It's a pity that in later generations, there is only the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and the sky is too monotonous. Therefore, Qin Tao is also idle here, so he simply fooled these people. If they are tempted, Maybe it can be done.

Technology is constantly improving!If the Miri Design Bureau wants to sell aircraft in large quantities and sell them to Europe in the future, it must have innovation!
Ji Shenke was a little tempted.

"Especially now, with the rapid development of electronic technology, the most difficult flight control system of this kind of aircraft can be completely handed over to electronic technology. In the future, maybe there is no need for a pilot at all, and it can be completely unmanned." Qin Tao continued Draw a big cake: "For this kind of aircraft, the mechanical problems that need to be solved are definitely not a problem for the Miri Design Bureau."

One of the biggest mechanical problems of this kind of aircraft is how to ensure flight safety in the event of an engine failure.

The two or even three engines of the helicopter are arranged side by side. In case one of them goes out, the other will explode quickly, even if the output is super power, so that the rotor continues to rotate to ensure emergency flight to a safe area for landing.

Tilting rotorcraft is not easy to toss, after all, the engine is on both sides, the end of the wing, the distance is too far, Bell has designed a complex transmission system, there is a transmission shaft inside the wing, usually two engines, each dry Each, but once one of them is turned off, the engine on the other side will output power through the drive shaft.

Only in this way can safety be ensured. If only one propeller continues to rotate, then the plane will rotate around the longitudinal axis and fall.

For Lao Maozi, they are the best at playing with these machines, and they may still have a way to solve problems in the simplest way.

"Tilting rotorcraft and vertical take-off and landing fighter jets can all be deployed on naval cruisers and landing ships." Qin Tao said: "Although it seems that there are still many problems, they will definitely mature in the future."

Jishenke nodded: "Yes, our heavy-duty aircraft-carrying cruisers and amphibious landing ships do all need aircraft that can take off and land vertically."

"I heard that Alexander, the chief engineer of the Yakovlev Design Bureau, almost died in Moscow?" Dmitry said.

Good things don't go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles. The car bomb incident in Moscow is already well known.

"Yes, I was with Alexander at the time. If we hadn't changed the car temporarily, then we might have to continue to attend Alexander's funeral." Speaking of this incident, Jishenko was also a little scared.

"Funeral? People from Lockheed, it's too much." Dmitry clenched his fists.

"Yeah, it is said that Moscow is still investigating, hmph, in our government..."

At this point, Ji Shenke stopped, and it would be inappropriate to continue.

"The Yakovlev Design Bureau is miserable enough. The vertical take-off and landing fighter project has been discontinued, and they have nothing at hand. I suggest to them that they can try to get a trainer. By the way, I heard that they have also made an early warning aircraft. Project, don’t know what’s going on?”

"An early-warning aircraft? I guess I'm about to dismount."

What?What do you mean you have to dismount?That is to say, you haven't dismounted yet?
It seems that Lao Maozi also has a strategic trick!It's also very straightforward to fool people.

"According to the plan announced during the Red Empire, didn't the An-71 early warning aircraft win?" Qin Tao asked.

These projects are supposed to be kept secret, but as long as it is an aircraft, it must have a test flight. As long as it is a test flight, it will be discovered by Western spy satellites, unless it is like the F-117, from the test flight to the final equipment of the troops. completely hidden in the dark.

The F-117, which specializes in attacking at night, can operate like that, but other aircraft certainly cannot. Therefore, many of Lao Maozi's aircraft were discovered by Western reconnaissance satellites that suddenly changed their orbits during the flight test phase.

The same is true for An-71. It was discovered in 84. In 87, Lao Maozi simply showed it openly. NATO even gave it the nickname "Madcap". Underneath, Jacques-44 has been quiet and unknown, and even Lao Maozi publicly stated that An-71 won the bidding.

If the An-71 bid, why did the Yak-44 still need to be developed? Even in 91, there was a wooden model that was on the Kuznetsov?This is somewhat inexplicable.

"That's right, that was just announced to the outside world. In fact, the navy has never given up its support for the Yak-44 early warning aircraft. The Yak-44 is still under development." Jishenke opened his mouth. Although he is engaged in helicopters, But I still know a little about things in the aviation industry.

"Two projects in parallel?"

"It seems so." Jishenke said: "It's just that the progress of the An-71 is faster. After all, the airframe is ready-made, and the Antonov Design Bureau is also very powerful. They have already produced three prototypes. .But those planes are all left at Ermao's place."

This is emotional and speechless. Although the Kuznetsov was pulled back, the supporting carrier-based aircraft on it stayed with Ermao, including three An-71s.
Although this kind of aircraft can't be packed into the hangar, it can take off with a short-distance ski jump, so it is no problem to arrange it on the Kuznetsov.

"If the nuclear-powered ship can be built, with a steam catapult, the Yak-44 after weight reduction may really be able to board the ship, but now, there is only the Kuznetsov. Take off from above, and we have lost the ability to build aircraft carriers here, so the Yak-44 project must be terminated."

There is no money in the first place, and there is no use for it. If it is developed, what is the use?

It is inevitable that the project will be discontinued. In this case, it is definitely a rare opportunity for Qin Tao!
Qin Tao's heart suddenly became hot.

After staying in Rostov for two days, signed the purchase agreement and paid the advance payment, Qin Tao couldn't wait to return to Moscow.

When going back, Vitalia directly arranged to take a passenger plane, which was faster, departing in the morning and arriving at noon.

When Qin Tao came to the Yakovlev Design Bureau, the atmosphere here was a little tense.

Obviously, what happened last time is not over yet.

"Plesakov, I think you are no longer fit to stay in our Jacques Design Bureau." Just as Qin Tao walked outside Alexander's office, he suddenly heard the sound of arguing inside.

"Okay, then I'll leave here, anyway, the design bureau will close down soon."

After finishing speaking, a middle-aged man pushed open the door angrily, walked out, and then closed the door heavily.

People around shook their heads a little.

This is already the third one.

Ever since he was almost killed by the bombing, Alexander seemed to have become nervous. He secretly investigated within the design bureau, and if he found anyone suspicious, he would call him to have a private conversation.

Some people can't bear to be wronged, and some people can't be wronged. After a quarrel, they are often fired. Anyway, there is chaos everywhere now, and no one interferes with them. The head of the design bureau has a lot of power.

Forget about the others, Plesakov, that's the deputy chief designer of their design bureau!Jacques-141, almost half of his effort.

Qin Tao looked at this person and wrote him down.

"Hey, my friend, you don't look very well." Qin Tao looked at Alexander.

"Well, Qin, how are you doing on the Don River? Alas, my place is a mess recently." Alexander said to Qin Tao.

"The Don River has frozen over, so it would be nice to skate on it," Qin Tao said.

"Yes, it's frozen." Alexander's heart seemed to be in a hole in the ice, only Qin Tao, the sun shining down from the top, made him feel a little bit of warmth.

"By the way, you didn't come here to comfort me, did you?"

"Yeah, I'm here to see the legendary AWACS project. I'm curious. It's completely different from the official propaganda of the Red Empire!"

"This project is coming to an end." Alexander said to Qin Tao: "There is nothing to keep secret. If you want to see it, I will take you to see it. What do you want to know about this aircraft?"

Therefore, Qin Tao finally knew the cause and effect.

Back then, when the project was first launched, it was to allow the new shipborne early warning aircraft to be used on the Kuznetsov, and there were even derivative anti-submarine models.

In the late 70s, the Yakovlev Design Bureau came up with a design plan: through two turboprop thrust engines hung under the wings and four turbojet lift engines installed in the fuselage Short ski jump takeoff.

This is very Jacques. After all, they are the most experienced in lifting engines. However, the problem is that the early warning aircraft has such a large space, and what kind of lift engines are installed, and their original electronic technology is backward. This project is not at all. likely to succeed.

Therefore, the early model was aborted in this way, and the Navy chose the An-71 early warning aircraft.

However, this product is too tall for the navy to use, and the hangar can't fit in it. Therefore, the navy turned around and asked the Yakovlev Design Bureau to continue to develop it. However, they canceled the requirement for short-distance ski jump takeoff .

Now, Alexander and the others can finally let go.

The brand-new Jacques-44 early warning aircraft has just embarked on the fast lane.

"In September 88, we completed the preliminary design, and then began to refine the design and build a prototype. At present, in addition to the wooden model, we also have a prototype that is being assembled."

Qin Tao felt his heart pounding, he tried hard to control his emotions, and said to Alexander: "Then, since the project has been stopped, the prototype is useless, should we sell it? As long as it can fly, it will be fine. Just in time to equip our air transport company with four helicopters."

(End of this chapter)