Return to 2000: Captain of the Great Powers

Chapter 209 Am I the father of 737MAX? (Please subscribe!)

Two days later, the apron of Daocheng Yading Airport was crowded with people.The world's highest civilian airport is rarely popular on weekdays, but today it is quite lively.

If you take a closer look, you can see that there are many foreigners with other skin colors among the crowd on the airport apron, and all of them are dressed in neat clothes, looking very formal.Standing at the front of the crowd were the person in charge of the 777, inspectors from EASA and FAA, and observers from CAAC.

As the limit of twin-engine airliners so far, the Boeing 777 deserves such treatment.

At the very front, the person in charge had his hands behind his back, staring at the huge monster parked quietly at the end of the runway in the distance.As long as it survives today's test, the suffering of Boeing 777 will come to an end.

Beside the person in charge, Li Rongcheng stood aside respectfully, which shows the high status of the person in charge.In fact, two days ago, when he decided on his own that he could exchange two 737-900 aircraft for the solution of LEAP engine adaptability without consulting the headquarters at all, it already showed how powerful he is.

Breathing the cool air in the early morning, the person in charge turned slightly sideways: "Li, it's God's grace, it looks like we're going to be successful in this test."

Li Rongcheng was slightly taken aback. He knew that the person in charge could speak Chinese proficiently, but he had hardly used Chinese in communicating with him. Why did he speak to you in Chinese today?

However, Li Rongcheng didn't think too much, and replied in Chinese: "It should be so!"

"En!" The person in charge just responded softly, but said nothing more, staring in the direction of the Boeing 777 expressionlessly, and fell silent.

In the observation area, the CAAC observation group headed by Sheng Gaoliang, director of the Aircraft Airworthiness Certification Department, is also paying attention to the Boeing 777 at the end of the runway.

"Director, this plane has such a big engine!"

"Yes, I see that the diameter of the engine is larger than that of the 737 next to it."

Amid the exclamation of colleagues around him, Sheng Gaoliang's pupils shrank slightly: "With a super large air inlet of 3.43 meters, the ultimate thrust of the test can reach 12 pounds. Is this the world's top industrial capacity?"

"12 pounds?" A colleague was shocked when he heard such an accurate figure for the first time: "Then the thrust of this engine is enough to exceed the sum of the thrust of five CFM56 engines."

Sheng Gaoliang clenched his right hand into a fist and didn't answer his colleague's words.

At this moment, in the cockpit of the Boeing 777, Ye Xian, Boeing’s chief test pilot, is conducting the final inspection of the aircraft, while Xu Cang on the side is wearing an oxygen mask to cover his mouth and nose, pulling the seat back, arms Hugging, actually closed eyes to rest.

The oxygen mask worn by Xu Cang is supplied by an independent device with a square meter and a half on the right side of the seat. throughout the testing process.

Behind Ye Xian and Xu Cang, an FAA and an EASA assessor were adjusting their seats.This time, they will follow the test throughout to ensure that Ye Xian can complete all the test items and give feedback on the degree of completion of the test.

Ye Xian could hold back his anger to check the cockpit at first, but after seeing Xu Cang's leisurely appearance several times, he really couldn't help it.

"I said Xu Cang, Boeing spent so much money to invite you here, is it for you to come and sleep?"

Xu Cang raised his eyelids: "Did something happen to the plane?"

Ye Xian was startled: "No."

"What are you calling me for?" Xu Cang was a little annoyed: "Or you can't fly a plane by yourself? If you say so, I can help you if you can't do it."

What level of pilot is Ye Xian?Flying solo is not difficult for him, but he just can't understand Xu Cang's behavior.

"Forget it, you'd better fall asleep."

Xu Cang snorted, raised his right foot, and pushed the air outlet under the PFD to the upper right corner, and just now it was blowing towards himself, making his knees feel cold.Xu Cang is still thinking about why his knees are not warm anymore even if he is not even 30 years old, and he will feel uncomfortable after a little wind, and whether he needs to take care of it in the future.

Thinking about it, Xu Cang temporarily dismissed the idea of ​​going to sleep, took out a small bottle of oral liquid from the small compartment on the right hand side, found a straw from nowhere, inserted it, took off the oxygen mask, and relaxed on the spot drank up.

Ye Xian was already planning to ignore Xu Cang directly, but in the blink of an eye, he found that Xu Cang was drinking oral liquid in full view, and immediately became furious: "What are you doing, you dare to drink anything during the flight?"

Xu Cang showed Ye Xian the pattern of the vial, and said with a smile, "Rhodiola is used to prevent and treat altitude sickness."

"You..." Ye Xian was so choked by Xu Cang that he couldn't figure out if the headquarters had lost his head, so he invited this living Bodhisattva, and he didn't do anything but make offerings.

I heard that if the test is successfully completed, a supplementary agreement will be signed afterwards, and Boeing will transfer two 737-900s to Xu Cang for free.This made Ye Xian, who already felt that Xu Cang had taken advantage of him, even more annoyed.

While the two people in front were chattering, the EASA evaluator who just sat down behind smiled and said in fluent Chinese: "Xu Cang, right? The pending list of commissioners for ICAO's CAAC area this year has been sent to EASA. My friend said, it has your name in it."

For Xu Cang, who planned everything, this was a matter of course, so there was nothing to be surprised about.So, Xu Cang turned his head slightly, and said very politely: "Please be accommodating."

"Haha, we are part of the aircraft airworthiness review department, which is not related to the personnel qualification review department. It is useless for you to ask me to accommodate you. However, my friend is indeed in charge of your department, and I heard that the director of CAA is still in charge. I went to him specifically and talked about your matter." The evaluator of EASA obviously meant something: "Mr. Xu, I didn't expect that CAA would sell your face."

Xu Cang raised his eyebrows. It seems that the CAA gang still kept their promise, and they said they would solve the EASA commissioner's review for him, and they would take care of it for him.

"It's just helping each other." Xu Cang laughed, turned around and drank the last sip of Rhodiola Oral Liquid, found a paper bag and carefully packed it, then folded the mouth of the bag and sealed it.After thinking about it, he had to fill half of the bottle of mineral water at hand before giving up.

"It's so fucking bad!"

Even after half a bottle of mineral water was dried, the strong medicinal smell of Rhodiola still remained on Xu Cang's tongue, and half of Xu Cang's face was drooping.

Good guy, drinking this sip of bitter water is really more powerful than any refreshing medicine, and Xu Cang immediately revived.

Xu Cang put on the oxygen mask again, squatted on the seat for a few minutes, but couldn't cultivate any drowsiness, and finally sat up straight in agitation, scratched his head, and simply stopped sleeping.

"I thought you could really rest easy and sleep all the way!" Ye Xian snorted next to him, and immediately shouted directly into the radio: "5431, preparations are complete, apply to drive on the same spot!"

5431 is the aircraft number of this 777. Since this training is not a flight of any kind, naturally there is no temporary flight number, so the call sign is replaced by the aircraft number.

"5431, you can drive on the spot! Takeoff configuration, be ready to report." The airport control tower replied.

"Roger that!"

Ye Xian immediately started the pre-launch procedure. The overall layout of the Boeing 777 is somewhat similar to the 747, of course, only similar.There are a total of six DUs and three MCDUs, except one for the left and right seats, and one CDU between the left and right communication panels of the central console.The automatic brake and other switches are also placed on the right side of the upper DU, and the landing gear handle is a reduced version of the 737.The backup attitude indicator, altimeter and navigator are located on the left side of the upper DU from top to bottom.

In addition, the Boeing 777 is a product of the new era after all, and it does not follow the old layout of the 737, so there are many extra parts in the components.

However, after all, they are all Boeing series. In fact, the basic concepts are similar, but any Boeing pilot can basically transition to other aircraft relatively smoothly after a little adaptation.

In fact, Xu Cangfei didn’t fly many Boeing 777s. The most important thing is that in the era when Xu Cang was free to try aircraft models, this so-called dual-engine Boeing 777 has already been set on the altar by his younger generation, the 787, which is known as the Dreamliner. .

Who doesn't love a Boeing 787?
Of course, it doesn’t mean that the Boeing 777 is a failed model. At least at the moment when Xu Cang was reborn, the Boeing 777 was still playing its role, and the A380 had already planned to announce its discontinuation. That was the real failure.

Since it was not a real flight, there were relatively few restrictions, so Ye Xian completed the start-up procedure on his own, while Xu Cang clicked on the identification page of the CDU, and found the engine model of this plane?
"GE90-115B?" Xu Cang raised his eyebrows in doubt: "Shouldn't this engine be used in the second-generation model?"

"Huh?" Ye Xian is still making the final configuration settings for the launched plane, in order to make preparations before take-off.However, when he heard Xu Cang's words, he couldn't help being a little surprised: "Do you still know GE90-115B?"

Xu Cang curled his lips: "What's the secret? GE90-115B, now GENX is the secret, right?"

Ye Xian didn't say anything yet, but the FAA assessor behind him said in a slightly teasing and ulterior tone: "Mr. Xu, since you know it's a secret, you still tell it?"

"It's just a name, what can't you say?" The corner of Xu Cang's mouth twitched, it seems that GENX is indeed in the process of development.

Xu Cang is still looking forward to how much shock this civil aviation engine with the largest diameter and the strongest thrust in history can bring.

Xu Cang tightened his seat belt, directly replaced Ye Xian who was ready, and said on the radio frequency: "5431, get ready, request to take off."

"5431, after takeoff, according to the scheduled plan, climb to 10 meters within 800 minutes, fly to point A for subject operations, runway 33, ready to take off!"

"Got it, runway 33 is ready for takeoff!"

This point A does not belong to any waypoint on the map, but a point temporarily positioned by latitude and longitude. This point is carefully selected.The vicinity below point A is full of high mountains and mountains, and there are few people. Even if there is a problem with the test flight, it will basically not cause any harm.

Moreover, point A is selected in the empty airspace of the two air routes, which will not have any impact on the two nearby commercial air routes.

In addition, since there are some sensitive areas in the southwest region, and this plane is registered abroad, and there are foreigners on board, it is not allowed to keep low altitude for a long time. Therefore, it is required to climb to a high enough altitude in a short time.

Climb to 10 meters in 800 minutes, that is to maintain an average rate of ascent of 777 feet per minute, which is quite a high average rate of ascent.However, the test flight of the Boeing [-] is close to empty, and the average rate of ascent of [-] feet per minute is not difficult.

Sure enough, with the permission to take off, Ye first released the brakes and pushed the accelerator to the maximum.Under the huge roar of two GE90s, the whole airport seemed to be shocked by the huge running sound.The grass outside the end of the runway was blown by the airflow from the engine, and the grass and soil flew together.

It only took two or three seconds for the thrust to increase, and two deep marks were blown on the grass.

On the apron, Sheng Gaoliang was affected by the airflow from the engine, his windbreaker rattled, and his colleague handed him earplugs: "Director, earplugs, this is too loud."

However, Sheng Gaoliang didn't pick it up. The sound was the roar of the dragon of the world, and he wanted to hear it again.

Suddenly, Sheng Gaoliang's heart contracted suddenly, and the Boeing 777 moved.The world's largest twin-engine airliner shot out like an arrow off the string.I don't know if it's because there is enough water vapor in the early morning, and two long strips of water vapor have formed on the wingtips of the Boeing 777, which adds a bit of dreaminess to this technologically-sounding product.

While Sheng Gaoliang was still thinking about how long the take-off and run distance of the empty Boeing 777 would take, the plane flew straight into the sky after passing the middle section of the runway. Then, driven by two powerful engines, the Boeing 777 [-] pierces the sky in an incredible, almost dry land-like gesture.

"What a big climb angle! Aren't they afraid of stalling?" It was the first time for a colleague to watch the no-load jerk of a Boeing 777, and the visual impact was almost imprinted in his soul.This is not a fighter jet, but a large passenger plane that can seat about 400 people. Even if it is empty, it can complete the initial climb at an almost vertical angle. With his thinking, he can't even think about it.

In the cockpit, Xu Cang just watched Ye Xian pull up from the initial 25-degree posture of take-off. After exceeding the [-]-degree posture, Xu Cang took a deliberate look at Ye Xian and found that his expression did not change. Then he didn't say anything.

However, after passing the 25-degree posture, Ye Xian was still pulling back, and finally Xu Cang almost became in a state of lying down and watching the sky.

"It's almost done. I know your engines are powerful. Two full-horsepower GE90-115Bs can fly up to the sky even if you tie a brick. Just show it. Don't you feel uncomfortable in this emergency take-off state? "Xu Cang said a little unhappy.

This kind of frenzied probing technique on the verge of a takeoff stall is generally only used in emergency takeoff situations, especially for military aircraft.It's not that Xu Cang deliberately made things difficult for Ye Xian, but this state will bring a certain load to the pilot.

Of course, it's not that Xu Cang can't bear the load, but he's not mean, and the load is uncomfortable, why keep it for so long?
Ye Xian didn't even listen to Xu Cang's words, until the evaluator of EASA said later that it was all right, Ye Xian then gradually switched to a more normal way of climbing.

"Boeing 777's power and aerodynamic performance are really good enough, and it can maintain such a fast climb after taking off from an airport at more than 1 feet." EASA's evaluator praised.

It is not impossible for some excellent large passenger aircraft to complete such maneuvers in an empty state, but the basic premise is at a low-altitude airport.The Boeing 777 just completed this maneuver at Daocheng Yading Airport, which is over [-] feet above sea level. The meaning is completely different.

"After this test, you will truly realize how excellent the 777 is." Ye Xian said somewhat proudly.

"Actually, I also think the 777 is a pretty good plane. After this test passes, Chief Ye will give the price to an acquaintance?" Xu Cang laughed.

According to the rules of the civil aviation market, the price of an acquaintance is not a star and a half. It can be discounted by [-]%, which is quite an astonishing discount.

Maybe it's because being called Chief Ye made me feel a little flustered. After all, the same words have completely different effects when they are spoken by different people.Who is Xu Cang? In terms of flying skills alone, he is about to be the best. When he is praised by such a person, Ye Xian can't stand it anymore, and almost agrees with his chest on the spot.

However, Ye Xian still maintained some rationality, and said with a smile: "Mr. Xu is very sincere. I will respond to my superiors later, and I will win Mr. Xu over."

Xu Cang nodded slightly: "That's troublesome."

"It's easy to say, easy to say!" After Ye Xian finished speaking, he immediately began to speed up and retract the flaps.

Due to the increased speed, the rate of ascent of the aircraft was once reduced to about [-] feet per minute.However, Ye Xian was not worried about this.After the flaps of the aircraft were retracted and entered a clean state, the aircraft began to enter a rapid climb state again, all the way to an ascent rate of more than [-] feet per minute, and it can be maintained all the time. This climb performance is simply appalling.

Moreover, Xu Cang saw that this Boeing 777 still had enough energy, and the throttle had not been pushed to the limit yet!

Although Xu Cang has various opinions on Boeing, he has to admit that the world's civil aviation giant has incomparable strength. This is an iron-clad fact.

As a result, in less than 7 minutes, the Boeing 777 had climbed to the predetermined altitude, and then flew to point A according to the predetermined trajectory, and performed some predetermined subjects at point A.

In fact, as Xu Cang guessed, the Boeing 777 was originally an aircraft with no obvious defects. The problems in the previous verification flight were simply due to accidents and wrong fuel choices.Now, the only fuel error problem has been solved, so naturally there is nothing to worry about.

Sure enough, in the various subjects since then, Xu Cang was basically just a spectator, watching Ye Xian displaying the performance of the 777 by himself.Although it was a bit boring after a long time, one of them left a deep impression on Xu Cang.

That is to say, it needs to descend quickly on the way back. In the initial stage, Ye Xian operated on the CDU. Xu Cang took a look and found that Ye Xian did not know how to do it. page.

Then, when Xu Cang was still thinking about how to access these unfamiliar pages, Ye Xian directly turned off the accelerator, and then under the slightly surprised eyes of everyone, he actually directly pulled up the reverse of the two engines.

Push back in the air!

Due to his experience in Jakarta, Xu Cang is more sensitive to the reverse thrust in the air, even the reverse thrust under the idle thrust.

However, contrary to Xu Cang's expectations, apart from the obvious increase in the vibration of the fuselage, it seems that there are no other abnormal conditions.Of course, under the reverse thrust in the air, the aircraft's descent rate began to drop sharply, with a maximum of more than [-] feet per minute.

During this period, Ye Xian even stepped on the accelerator for a short time, which made Xu Cang a little nervous.However, nothing frightening happened, and even the vibration of the fuselage did not intensify significantly, which surprised Xu Cang.

He knew that the Boeing 777 was a good aircraft, but he was able to complete the real aircraft test of thrust reverser in the air so easily and freely.

This not only puts extremely high requirements on the engine, but also the structural strength of the fuselage is slightly weaker, and the consequences are unimaginable.Ye Xian dared to do such a dangerous thing as refueling on this occasion, which shows that he has sufficient confidence in the 777 aircraft.

Before landing, Ye Xian actually manually cut off one engine. According to the plan, he would use one engine to land the 777 on the Aden Airport.

The landing of a single engine is a test of whether the power of the engine is strong enough, and the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft is not good enough to support the flight with a power loss of 50.00%.

The incredible high altitude of Daocheng Yading Airport will undoubtedly greatly weaken the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft.If the Boeing 777 can land on the Aden Airport with a single engine, it can basically prove that under the condition of a single engine, it can land at any civil airport in the world with enough runways.

At this moment, on the apron, the person in charge squinted at the Boeing 777 that had already appeared on the fifth side of the runway, looked down at his watch, and smiled at the corner of his mouth: "The time is just right, it seems that the progress is going well. "

"It's just a matter of landing." Li Rongcheng responded with a smile.

"Hmm!" The person in charge saw the plane on the fifth side getting closer and closer. He was silent for a while, and then suddenly said: "Li, do you have any relatives in the United States? I remember that your father is in France. You are not married." , do you have a girlfriend?"

Li Rongcheng was stunned for a moment, instinctively feeling a little strange, but when the boss spoke, he replied obediently: "I don't have a girlfriend yet, and I don't have any relatives in China."

The person in charge hummed: "This is good, no worries!"

"Huh?" Li Rongcheng didn't understand for a while: "Is there any problem?"

At this time, the Boeing 777 was already very close, and the oppressive feeling that covered the sky and the sun was already close at hand, and it landed in an instant.

"Li, when I was talking to Xu Cang two days ago, I mentioned that two companies were targeting him. He was a little surprised, but not many, which surprised me."

Just as the person in charge was speaking, the Boeing 777 landed on the runway, and the huge movement somewhat covered up the voice of the person in charge.

"Sorry, I didn't hear clearly just now."

From that side angle, Li Rongcheng clearly saw that the face of the person in charge who had been smiling until now was covered with piercing frost. The moment the Boeing 777 finally landed on the runway, he slowly turned around and faced Li. Rongcheng: "In view of your many contributions to the company before, we will give you enough severance pay, you go back and submit your resignation letter!"

The Boeing 777 test was as boring as Xu Cang expected. Perhaps, if it wasn't for the oral liquid of Sedum sedum, Xu Cang could really sleep from beginning to end.

However, although the process is a bit boring, the rewards are still quite generous.If given the chance, Xu Cang would rather be bored a few more times.

After getting off the plane, Xu Cang was led by the Boeing staff to a small room, in which there was only a small table with a paper agreement on it, and the person in charge and Li Rongjian stood beside the table.

However, compared to the smiling person in charge, Li Rongcheng looked a little dazed.

Xu Cang noticed Li Rongcheng's strangeness immediately, but before he had time to think about it, the person in charge knocked on the table: "Mr. Xu, this is a supplementary agreement, including the transfer of the two 737-900s. Of course Now, the customs duties for the two planes have nothing to do with us, right? We can’t send the planes and pay them back, right?”

After this interruption, Xu Cang's attention was attracted, and he said with a smile: "Of course the tariffs are paid by us. Is it okay to deliver within half a year?"

"Delivery within one year, this is the fastest we can deploy, I hope Mr. Xu can understand." The person in charge said with a smile: "The 737-900 model is applicable to relatively narrow scenarios. I am not afraid of Mr. Xu's jokes. In our opinion, the 900 model is not considered a success. It is precisely because this model is not so successful that the production capacity is not high. It is basically a radish and a hole. If you want to deploy two extra planes from it, half a year is indeed a bit too big."

The corner of Xu Cang's mouth grinned: "It's not that we can't spare two planes, but it's just a little troublesome, isn't it? 1000 million, I can give you 1000 million, and it will be your hard work in deployment."

It really wasn't that the person in charge was intentionally making things difficult for others. Xu Cang is also a member of the civil aviation industry. He knew that it would be difficult to free up two planes in the first half of the year at a fixed production capacity, so it was reasonable to give 1000 million.

The person in charge actually didn't care much about the 1000 million. To ordinary people, 1000 million is indeed a lot, but to him, that's all.

At least compared to the 1000 million, the person in charge is more curious about one thing: "Xu Cang, are you really in such a hurry? You can't wait for half a year, would you rather spend an extra 1000 million? Can't the company continue?"

"No, no, I'm just worried that you won't be able to deliver the goods after one year! Or, you don't have the energy to deliver the goods."

The person in charge jokingly said, "You don't believe my words?"

"Where! How could I not trust you?" Xu Cang smiled and said, "I just don't trust the whole Boeing!"

The person in charge narrowed his eyes: "What do you mean? After a year, is there any problem?"

At this time, Xu Cang did not answer the person in charge, but walked slowly to the table, picked up the pen next to it, signed his name on it, and then took his own copy.

"Okay, how relaxed and happy!" Xu Cang clapped his hands: "Don't think too much, what can happen? One year is one year, anyway, if you can't deliver the goods, you will have to pay for it. Now I don't want to know how to solve the problem of the LEAP engine. Is there a fit problem?"

Person in charge: "You said?"

Xu Cang smiled and said, "Does the engine have to be made into a regular circle?"

The person in charge was taken aback: "What do you mean? The engine nacelle of the second-generation 737 is already oval."

"I mean to do it more thoroughly, to completely separate the accessory boxes from both sides," Xu Cang said with a slightly mocking smile: "Also, move the engine up as a whole, but this may damage the wings. Therefore, it may be necessary to move the engine pylon forward. Of course, this change requires an increase in the height of the nose landing gear. The specific value is naturally to be explored by yourself.”

The person in charge pondered: "However, doing so will result in a longer arm of thrust acting on the fuselage, which may produce some unexpected changes, right?"

"This is not what I need to care about." Xu Cang originally thought of ending the conversation at this point, but for some reason, Xu Cang added: "Maybe it will have a negative impact on the maneuverability of the aircraft at high speed? Maybe you can Pay attention."

The person in charge frowned. He was also a technician, so he probably understood Xu Cang's words, but it's unclear whether he took these words seriously.

Seeing the expression of the person in charge, Xu Cang sighed. This is the most direct reminder he gave Boing, as long as Boing still has a conscience...

(End of this chapter)