Return to 2000: Captain of the Great Powers

Chapter 161 The Future of Widebody Machines! (Please subscribe!)

(The end of the last chapter has been modified, you can go and have a look, the readers who subscribed at the beginning can refresh it)
In front of the boarding gate in the departure hall of Yangcheng Airport, Xu Cang hung up the phone, and his gaze stayed on the TV screen hanging in the hall for a moment.Then he put the phone back in his pocket, rubbed his chin, walked back, felt the rough texture on his fingers, and wondered if he forgot to shave when he went out in the morning.

After showing his boarding pass at the boarding gate, Xu Cang passed smoothly. When he was on the corridor bridge, the road ahead was blocked by passengers. Xu Cang glanced forward and felt that there was no possibility of crossing. He was at the end of the queue, walking slowly along with the passengers, still thinking about the news about the Airbus 380 that he saw just now.

There have been too many things going on recently, and he even forgot the establishment of the Airbus 380 project this year.

If the 737MAX is Boeing's Achilles' heel, then the A380 is Airbus' eternal pain, a typical case of a battle of spirits in the field of wide-body aircraft that almost ruined the entire company.

Just now, when Xu Cang learned that Ma Cheng obeyed his "request" quite sensibly, in order to thank him for his help, Xu Cang came up with the idea of ​​pulling Muhua Airlines.After all, except for Ma Cheng's help in recruiting, he seems to have taken advantage of the fact that he intercepted the quota that originally belonged to the Jianchuan base aviation company halfway, and it is necessary to give some feedback.

In many ways, the Airbus 380, the dreaded jumbo of the sky, was a commercial failure as big as its size.However, according to Xu Cang's recollection, at least in the middle and early stages, the Airbus 380 was still favored by airlines.But when the tide recedes, it will be clear at a glance whether you are swimming naked.

This is the pinnacle of Airbus that claims to overwhelm the Boeing 747 in the field of wide-body aircraft. This Kunpeng Jufei, which once ruthlessly ridiculed other models as "small aircraft", has only experienced a dismal life span of more than ten years. The ending is embarrassing.

The Boeing 747, which it determined to defeat at the beginning of the project, is still soaring in the sky after more than 30 years of ups and downs. The comparison highlights the unimaginable failure of Airbus in the A380 project.In the later period, if the Airbus 350 was not born, the wide-body aircraft field, Boeing's later Dreamliner 787 would have swept all demons and monsters.

If there is no reminder from Xu Cang, Muhua Airlines will at least suffer a severe fall on the Airbus 380.Of course, Xu Cang felt from the bottom of his heart that Muhua Aviation would not listen to the baseless advice of an unknown person like himself.What is basically certain is that Muhua Airlines should continue to purchase Airbus 380s in accordance with historical development.

However, I can remind Muhua Airlines that Xu Cang feels that he has done his best and will not make any other efforts. If Muhua Airlines still insists on buying the Airbus 380, it has nothing to do with Xu Cang.

Originally, Xu Cang just wanted to simply remind Ma Cheng, and then it was over. At most, he would lament the life of the Airbus 380, but after calming down for a while, a little bit suddenly appeared in Xu Cang's mind. Emmanuel.

The rise of the new king often does not depend on his own hard work, but the decline of the old king himself, and the power change is completed under the ebb and flow.

At least in the field of civil aviation aircraft, Airbus and Boeing are like two separated, oppressing the latecomers to death.Airbus also gathered the power of the whole of Europe, opened a hole under the iron curtain of Boeing, and finally developed into a situation of two heroes fighting for hegemony.

However, where can there be a third force to change the situation from a two-horse struggle for hegemony to a tripartite confrontation?Xu Cang hoped that his own country would participate.However, the difficulty was so great that even Xu Cang himself was a little pessimistic.

Therefore, if possible, Xu Cang felt that it would be more practical to try to weaken Boeing and Airbus.At least in the foreseeable future, Xu Cang knows that the 737MAX will be a sharp sword piercing Boeing's heart, so where is the means to restrict Airbus?

Now Xu Cang's heart was agitated, he seemed to have some ideas, a grand plan for the Airbus 380 might really be able to overthrow Airbus in one fell swoop.

Thinking about it, Xu Cang felt a little lost, until a voice came from the front: "Brother, everyone is here!"

"Huh?" Xu Cang was startled, and when he raised his head, he realized that he was empty, and the purser was standing at the door of the cabin, waving to him.

Only then did Xu Cang come back to his senses, trotted over, entered the cabin, glanced at the passenger cabin, and saw that it was almost full, so he asked casually, "Has the manifest arrived?"

The purser waved the note on his hand: "We're here, it's almost full again. The cockpit is closed, so I'll wait for you, brother."

"Sorry, I didn't notice something just now, close the hatch."

With that said, Xu Cang went into the cockpit, passed Tan Heling who was playing with his mobile phone, and as soon as he got into his seat, he found that the speed window on the MCP board had already adjusted the speed, even the auto throttle was connected.

"Has the speed been calculated?" Xu Cang slightly adjusted the position of the rudder, and with the other hand, brought up the take-off page of the CDU.Sure enough, V1, V2, and Vr have been entered, and the center of gravity has also been entered, and the calculated trim amount is consistent with the trim amount.

It seemed that Mo Shangyun finished the rest of the work after he left.

"The manifest arrived not long after you left." Mo Shangyun took out the manifest and handed it to Xu Cang: "Can you verify it?"

When Xu Cang went to the bathroom, the manifest hadn't come yet, so some weight data, center of gravity position and take-off speed couldn't be looked up, so they left it. It wasn't that Xu Cang was passive and sabotaged.

"No need!" Xu Cang took the manifest and handed it to Tan Heling at the back: "Brother Tan can help you to verify it."

Tan Heling, who was playing with his mobile phone in the back, never thought that Xu Cang would call him.Cross-verification of cockpit data is a normal operation, and a captain can be commanded. Xu Cang, the co-pilot, seems too smooth, right?

Anyway, I am also the captain, although I was fired, but at least I have a photo of the route, so I can save face a little, for example, add a letter of invitation.

Although he slandered, Tan Heling obediently put down his phone, took the manifest handed over by Xu Cang, and went to verify the data with a dull head.

Seeing that Xu Cang didn't consider himself a co-pilot at all, his domineering attitude was not what a ten-year-old pilot might have developed.Although Xu Cang spoke politely, his natural tone and the small gesture of handing over the manifest were really penetrating.

Mo Shangyun is really strange. Although Xu Cang has amazing talent, some things need time to settle down. How can Xu Cang command the captain so easily?
Mo Shangyun could tell that Xu Cang didn't mean to humiliate Tan Heling deliberately, but was really the smooth way that superiors order subordinates.

"Just now I saw you in a daze on the covered bridge, what happened?"

"Huh?" Xu Cang adjusted the rudder and the seat, and replied casually: "It's nothing, just lost in thought."

Mo Shangyun didn't ask any more questions, but Xu Cang checked the plane a little bit to confirm that the preparations had been completed. After Tan Heling verified the manifest data, Xu Cang took out the checklist: "Teacher, I'll make a pre-flight checklist and Takeoff briefing?"

Mo Shangyun nodded: "Do it."

While Xu Cang was making the checklist, Mo Shangyun contacted the clearance frequency: "Hi clearance, Lantian 9912, stand 331, ready."

In fact, this approach is not very compliant, because when another pilot makes checklists and briefings, mutual verification and communication are required.

However, this era is not strict enough, and some even do not make briefings when time is tight.Both Mo Shangyun and Xu Cang were experienced pilots, so Mo Shangyun was a little slack.

When Xu Cang contacted Mo Shangyun for control, he didn't take the initiative to stop, and the cooperation between the two still seemed a little casual.

"Lantian 9912, contact the apron 121.35, goodbye."

"121.35, goodbye."

Xu Cang, who was just adjusting the frequency on Mo Shangyun's side, glanced at Xu Cang, who was still making briefings, and suddenly said, "Teacher, slow down! I'm running out of time, the trailer is right below."

Mo Shangyun glanced under the nose of the aircraft, and sure enough the trailer was already waiting below, waiting for them to flash the lights. If the speed was faster, Xu Cang would have less space to make a briefing.

"En." Seeing this, Mo Shangyun adjusted the frequency a little and did not switch immediately, but waited for a while.

Of course, this time should not be too long, otherwise the side that releases them will have to ask what happened.

At that time, briefings were not that complicated. Unlike later generations who wished for a thousand-character long article, the take-off briefing in 2000 only talked about some key items.

Originally, Xu Cang really planned to deal with it casually, but when it came to the risk of taking off, Xu Cang suddenly thought of the 1566 plane that made him very unhappy, so he added: "Teacher, this plane is flying off the ground. There may be problems with the speed of raising the head, you can help me take a look in a while, and get started when it is time to get started."

"If I get started, you won't give me a bad meal, will you?" Mo Shangyun said with a smile: "However, I feel okay for the first few takeoffs, nothing special."

The first half of Mo Shangyun's sentence is obviously ridiculing Xu Cang's past when he almost snatched the authority of Captain Tan Heling in the incident of the alternate landing on Tianshan Mountain.As a witness, Tan Heling's face darkened, but she didn't dare to express anything.

In that incident, the bureau actually didn’t know some details, but Mo Shangyun was a veteran of the company, so he knew a lot of inside information, such as the real reason why Tan Heling was dismissed as the captain after the bureau’s investigation, and what happened in the backup. In the surrender incident, Xu Cang showed extraordinary aggression and strength.

Xu Cang put the Jane Lingka back, and said with a light smile, "I have a relatively good temper."

It's not that Xu Cang is putting gold on his face, but that he really thinks that he is quite kind, except that he is a little irritable at certain times and on certain occasions.

Tan Heling laughed dryly from behind, while Mo Shangyun laughed quite heartily, and the cockpit was filled with a joyous atmosphere.

"Okay, let's not talk about it." Mo Shangyun switched the frequency to the airfield frequency: "Airport, blue sky 9912, stand 331, ready."

"Lantian 9912, you can push out and drive with your head facing south." The airfield side was quite straightforward, without any waiting, and quickly gave permission to push out and drive.

"You can push out and drive with your head facing south." This sentence was returned by Xu Cang.

After replying, Xu Cang turned on the anti-collision lights, the fuel pump, turned off system A, and turned on the hydraulic pump driven by the engine of system B. While wearing his seat belt, he said with a smile, "I'm going home."

Seeing that Xu Cang was so happy, Mo Shangyun felt relieved.Seeing Xu Cang lost in thought on the covered bridge just now, he thought he had encountered something difficult to solve.

The follow-up aircraft was very normal. After aligning with the runway, Mo Shangyun aligned with the runway, released his left hand from the retractor, and put his right hand on the accelerator.After getting permission from the tower to take off, Mo Shangyun asked before handing over the plane to Xu Cang, "Give you the throttle?"

Under normal circumstances, when piloting, the throttle is controlled by the pilot.However, Mo Shangyun knew that his level was not enough to really lead Xu Cang away, so he asked Xu Cang for his opinion.

Of course, there is a reason why the gas pedal is held by the instructor.

Sure enough, Xu Cang said very naturally: "No need, teacher, you can control it, so that it is convenient to perform the action of interrupting takeoff."

This is one of the reasons why the instructor usually controls the throttle, because the action of rejecting the takeoff should be completed by the left seat.Most of the flight instructors are in the left seat, so that it is convenient to complete the movements in one go during the interrupted takeoff.

"It's up to you." It doesn't matter who controls the accelerator, Mo Shangyun pressed the timing button: "The plane is handed over to you."

Xu Cang put his feet on the rudder and turned the plate with both hands: "Take control."

"Turn over the control, connect to the communication!" After finishing speaking, Mo Shangyun pressed the TO/GA button, and the aircraft engine began to increase the thrust continuously under the action of the automatic throttle, until the takeoff N1 set when the cockpit was ready.

As the plane gradually accelerated, Mo Shangyun kept making standard announcements, and all the data was very normal.The wind at Yangcheng Airport was also very small. Xu Cang didn't even need to adjust the rudder to correct the direction of the plane's taxiing, so he was very relaxed and freehand.

"V1!"

After Mo Shangyun reported the V1 speed, his right hand came down from the thrust handle.

"Vr!"

Following Mo Shangyun's report of the rotation speed, Xu Cang moved gently, and the plane took off in response to the momentum without any pause.It can only be said that the take-off performance analysis given by Boeing is really something. When the above wheel rotation speed is reached, the aircraft can be lifted smoothly.

As soon as the main wheels of the plane left the ground, Mo Shangyun reported that it was ascending, and retracted the landing gear by the way.But at the same time as Mo Shangyun retracted the landing gear, the plane suddenly started to raise its head.

Xu Cang was taken aback, he obviously didn't move with the stick.Originally, he had a lot of uneasiness about this plane, so Xu Cang wanted to put the plane down for a while under such a reaction.But at the moment when Xu Cang relaxed his tension on the stick, the nose of the plane began to drop again, and the speed was soaring upwards.

"Huh? Xu Cang, what are you doing, don't you take it?" Mo Shangyun raised his eyebrows, noticing Xu Cang's abnormal behavior, and subconsciously reminded him.

Xu Cang let out a light sigh, and immediately took hold of the plane again, thereby stabilizing the speed.After that, Xu Cang didn't feel any other abnormalities.

With a little hesitation, Xu Cang glanced at the altitude, connected to the autopilot B channel, and then pressed the N1 button, and the aircraft began to reduce thrust.

After waiting for a while, Xu Cang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was nothing wrong with the plane.And Mo Shangyun next to him asked strangely: "What happened just now, did you not bring the rod?"

Xu Cang began to adjust the UP speed, and expressed his doubts: "The plane suddenly raised its head for a moment just now, did you notice it, teacher?"

"I know, didn't you bring it?"

Humans are not machines. It is quite normal for the hand to tremble a little at the beginning of the climb and take the plane too much. Mo Shangyun did feel it, but he didn't think much about it. He simply thought that Xu Cang's small accidental mistake.

"No!" Xu Cang shook his head.

If it is in normal flight, Xu Cang may really have this kind of problem.After all, it is impossible for him to maintain a high level of concentration all the time.However, knowing that the plane had an abnormal lift, Xu Cang paid enough attention at least during the take-off stage.

Xu Cang is confident that when he is concentrating, he can precisely control every muscle in his hand, and it is impossible for him to make any movement that goes against his ideas. Xu Cang is certain of this.

Xu Cang recalled it again, feeling more and more abnormal, seeing the speed increase: "Retract the flaps."

Mo Shangyun didn't even look at the speedometer, and put the flaps back to the position of flaps one, while saying: "Could it be the wind, I didn't pay attention to the change of the wind direction and speed just now."

Since Xu Cang was manipulating it, Mo Shangyun couldn't help but relax a bit.

"I just stared at the speed of the plane's head-up." Xu Cang looked back at Tan Heling: "Did you see it?"

Tan Heling's expression was suffocated. Just now he was in a soy sauce mentality, not to mention the wind direction and wind speed, and the PFD didn't think much of it.

Seeing Tan Heling's embarrassed look, Xu Cang knew what was going on.However, he didn't say anything. He sat in the back and said that he wanted to help keep an eye on the status of the plane, but it was really easy to slack off, and he did the same when he got up and sat.

"Don't think about it, just go back and ask the quality center for a QAR data and take a look." Mo Shangyun looked at the data of getting off the plane: "At least until now, there is no problem, and the plane's head up just lasted for a moment. It must be the wind."

Xu Cang nodded: "Maybe I'm too sensitive. In two days, I'm going to Jianchuan to upgrade to the second level. When the time comes, I'll take a look at the data that just took off."

"En." Mo Shangyun saw that the speed reached the flap-maneuvering speed, and retracted all the flaps, then turned the auto throttle to the OFF position, put the landing gear handle in the neutral position, and turned off all the lights except the fixed landing lights .

After the flaps are fully retracted, the checklist is pulled out: "Checklist after takeoff?"

At this time, Xu Cang, who was a little more relaxed, put down the armrest, opened the lower DU, confirmed that there was nothing abnormal, lay down on the back of the chair, and nodded: "Do it."

Xu Cang's tense muscles gradually eased, and he was really shocked just now.

"Fortunately, nothing happened."

After the plane landed, Xu Cang and his group left the field. As soon as they arrived at the small courtyard of the base, they found Li Rongxian talking to Qin Xin at the door when they got out of the car.

Li Rongxian saw Xu Cang approaching in uniform, and hurried up to meet him: "Mr. Xu, are you done?"

Xu Cang handed the flight box to Qin Xin casually, and Qin Xin also took it over obediently, and even dragged the box away in a rather executive manner.

When Mo Shangyun returned to his dormitory, he took a look at Xu Cang's side. He seemed to recognize Li Rongxian, and he seemed to be from Airbus. He had been to Blue Sky Airlines to negotiate an order before.

However, although he didn't know why the Airbus people came here, Mo Shangyun was not that curious, so he curled his lips and went back to his dormitory.

"Why, Airbus executives came to our little temple?" Xu Cang laughed.

Li Rongxian smiled with embarrassment: "I know an old saying, if the mountain is not high, there will be immortals; if the water is not deep, there will be dragons."

"Yoho, I didn't expect you to know this? I thought you just studied ABC all day long."

For Li Rongxian's flattery, Xu Cang didn't feel any benefit, and he himself didn't like to be flattered.

"Mr. Xu, we are partners now, there is no need to be so gunpowder."

Xu Cang hummed: "Tell me, what's the matter?"

"A few days ago, Mr. Xu mentioned the cause of the accident of Flight 9451 based on the conditions of the Jinmen General Assembly Plant. Our superiors have already agreed, and have already sent people to resume negotiations with AVIC. I don't know if Mr. Xu has Haven't received any news?"

Xu Cang didn't hide anything about this: "I just heard that you are moving very fast."

"Time is money now, and there is no need to delay it." After speaking, Li Rongxian took out a copy and handed it to Xu Cang: "This is a preliminary agreement we signed with AVIC, and it is legally binding. After all, this There are still many details to discuss about the project, and it cannot be completed and agreed in such a short period of time. However, since we have signed a preliminary agreement, we must follow Mr. Xu's request and complete the project within three years."

Xu Cang took the copy, which was indeed the content of the agreement between Airbus and AVIC, and at the end there were signatures of representatives of both parties.Xu Cang watched carefully for more than ten minutes, while Li Rongxian just waited beside him, not daring to make a sound or urge him.

After reading it for a while, Xu Cang felt that there was nothing wrong with it, so he closed the file.

Seeing that Xu Cang had finished reading, Li Rongxian asked impatiently, "Mr. Xu, is there any problem?"

Xu Cang nodded: "So far, it's okay, no problem."

Li Rongxian suddenly became a little excited: "We have already followed Mr. Xu's wishes, sincerity is here, what about you, Mr. Xu?"

"I know!" Xu Cang did not immediately tell Li Rongxian the cause of the accident, but asked suddenly: "Have you discussed the Airbus 380 project with Boeing?"

If a layman listened to Xu Cang's question, he would definitely feel that Xu Cang is a guy who doesn't understand anything.Isn't it ridiculous why Airbus has to discuss with its rival Boeing about its own aircraft project?

However, when Li Rongxian heard Xu Cang's words, he didn't show any disdain. Instead, he laughed dryly: "Mr. Xu, you should keep your ears open."

"Your aviation hub plan is nothing new. It is estimated that the wide-body aircraft market with a scale of 4000 aircraft and a total market of more than [-] billion US dollars is enough to feed you and Boeing, and you need to share R&D costs with Boeing. "Xu Cang's smile was mixed with something that Li Rongxian couldn't figure out: "You Airbus are not sure about the future of wide-body aircraft!"

Airbus's aviation hub plan is to roughly divide all future aircraft into regional narrow-body aircraft and wide-body aircraft.Wide-body aircraft are responsible for transporting passengers from one hub to another, and then regional narrow-body aircraft, such as the Airbus 320, transport people from the hub to their respective destinations.

Moreover, there is a huge difference between Airbus's perception of wide-body aircraft and Boeing's.That is, they believe that wide-body aircraft are divided into three grades, one for [-] seats, one for [-] seats, and one for [-] seats.

However, Boeing has no interest in Airbus's so-called aviation hub plan at all, and quite disagrees with it.

Perhaps due to Boeing's long-term reputation as the top spot in the wide-body aircraft market, Airbus was a little unconfident in its own judgment, so that it initially hoped to cooperate with Boeing.

Li Rongxian's face froze: "Mr. Xu, Airbus has countless experienced think tanks, how could it be impossible to analyze the future clearly?"

徐苍却是冷笑起来：“那空客380为什么还是四发引擎？为什么立项于起始的A380-800？既然这么有信心，为什么不直接开始于A380-1000？”

空客380有800，900和1000三种型号，然而空客最先开始研发的是最简单的空客380-800型号。

"No matter how difficult it is, that's normal." Li Rongxian said with a dry smile.

Xu Cang looked at Li Rongxian with a half-smile, which made Li Rongxian feel uncomfortable.He asked again: "Then why is the Airbus 380 still a four-engine engine? I'm just curious, just asking."

Li Rongxian was at a loss for words for a while, he didn't know how to answer, and finally he could only say helplessly: "Mr. Xu, this question is beyond the scope of our meeting's discussion."

"Xu Cang, let me tell you why!" At this moment, a powerful voice came from not far away, and Xu Cang turned his head to see that it was Li Rongcheng, the head of Boeing Asia Pacific.

Seeing his half-brother, Li Rongxian was very surprised, obviously he didn't expect Li Rongcheng to appear here.

I saw Li Rongcheng approaching in stride, walked up to Li Rongxian, and said with a sneer: "Because their Airbus is still very unconfident about the expansion standard of ETOPS!"

(End of this chapter)