Return to 2000: Captain of the Great Powers

When Xu Cang took over Bombardier, Starley Varick, head of Airbus Americas, flew from Montreal overnight to Toulouse, France, with a thin document and handed it over to Airbus CEO Heimlein At Liszt's desk.

The helm of Airbus also attaches great importance to Xu Cang's future plan for the A350, and deliberately spared time to read this plan, which he thought would be ridiculous.

Although according to the agreement with Shengming Fund Nicholas Halliway, the leading direction of the A350 project is all decided by Xu Cang, but after all, it is a large aircraft with the name of Airbus, and it is impossible for a layman to design the aircraft. The main direction of the design, this is undoubtedly too child's play.

At the beginning, Airbus meant to try out three different oriented solutions, and then let Xu Cang choose.Nominally speaking, it was Xu Cang's decision, but in fact it was a choice made within the scope planned by Airbus, so it would not be too outrageous.

In this way, R&D funds can be earned for nothing, and it will not be too messy, which is the best of both worlds.

However, not long ago, Shengming Fund's regular payment of funds was suddenly cut off, and Airbus could not contact Shengming Fund anyway.

In terms of the amount, the Shengming Fund only paid one-third of the original plan.In fact, Airbus swallowed the money deliberately and silently, and it was a huge sum of several billion dollars anyway.However, the contract had already been signed before, and Xu Cang knew about it, and it was not easy to conceal it, so he gave up the idea.

However, the current situation is very embarrassing.

The money given by the Shengming Fund is less than 30 billion US dollars, only one-eighth of the A380 project funding.However, the expected goal of the A350 is a single-deck twin-engine wide-body aircraft. Although it is not as large as the A380, it is definitely not a small project. The $30 billion research funding is simply a joke.

According to past research and development experience, the research and development funds for an aircraft project of this scale need at least 100 billion U.S. dollars, which is a bit too much.

In addition, Airbus itself is not having a good time.Because of the delayed delivery of the A380, a large number of airlines who booked the A380 jointly launched a lawsuit against Airbus.Among these airlines, there is no lack of Saudi Airlines, which has the largest number of reservations. Airbus is not easy to come to such a large financial backer, and can only file a lawsuit in business.

This kind of international big lawsuit is not only expensive, but the existence of the lawsuit itself is a continuous blow to the reputation of the A380 project and even Airbus itself.

Fortunately, Airbus still has some foundations for the success of the A320 project. Otherwise, the A380 project would have to be like the RB211 engine project for Rolls-Royce, and it would directly drag Airbus down.

However, even if Airbus is strong, it is too weak after all this tossing. It is impossible to allocate additional budget for the A350 project, so the 30 billion US dollars is the research and development budget for the entire A350 project, not a penny more.

But the problem is that it is a joke to want to develop a new model with so little money, especially the A350 project is aimed at Boeing's Dreamliner B787.

The Boeing 787 has already reached a scale of 80 billion U.S. dollars in its first budget, and it is said that it is still adding more, and it is very likely that it can increase to 180 billion U.S. dollars.This huge gap in R&D costs shattered the confidence of Airbus engineers from the very beginning.

Industrial gatherings such as airplanes rely on money, and you get what you pay for. This is an iron law.

Isn't it difficult to build an A787 comparable to the 787 with only one-sixth of the research and development budget of the 350?
Therefore, after the budget committee fixed the upper limit of 30 billion U.S. dollars, Airbus engineers retreated in the face of such high requirements and such a tight budget, and were not willing to participate in the design of the A350 at all.

No one wants to take this hot potato!

For a time, the A350 project became the god of plague that everyone could not avoid.

In the end, Airbus had no choice but to hand over the design leadership to Xu Cang exactly as agreed with the Shengming Fund.In this way, if the subsequent projects fail, Airbus will not be burdened, and Xu Cang will be fully responsible.

It's just that it's a pity that the $30 billion was wasted by a layman.

Before, because of Xu Cang's reputation in the aviation industry, Heimlein Liszt even had a slight fantasy, wondering whether Xu Cang had some possibility to surprise him, until he saw the plan written by Xu Cang Book.

That's right, Xu Cang spent less than an hour writing this planning document in Canada. It has very little content, only three sheets of paper.

The first sentence of the opening article is that the fuselage of the A350 aircraft must use carbon fiber, at least reaching the ratio of the 787.

Just this sentence made Heimlein Liszt unable to hold back, and he saw a few veins bulging on his forehead: "Does he not know that the world's best carbon fiber supplier has been monopolized by Boeing?"

In the use of composite materials, Airbus is earlier than Boeing, but getting up early does not mean flying high.

In the 787 project, Boeing invested a lot of money to optimize the carbon fiber technology, replaced the material of the entire fuselage with carbon fiber, and solved the problem of insufficient conductivity of carbon fiber by wrapping a thin layer of copper mesh in the fuselage.

Compared with the A320, which was struck by lightning all day long, Boeing has completed the achievements of the 787 project, at least in the field of carbon fiber.

"However, the A350 will directly compete with the 787 in the future. It will be a big disadvantage that others have it, but we don't have it." Starley Varik said in a low voice.

Composite materials can greatly reduce the weight of aircraft, which is the most intuitive advantage. The 787 is already fuel-efficient and has done a good job of reducing weight, which adds to its economy.If the A350 does not keep up and still uses an aluminum alloy body, it must be difficult to impress customers.

But the problem is
"No money!" Heimlein Liszt scratched his hair: "Do you know that the fuselage of Boeing 787 uses a whole carbon barrel? Do you know how much this technology costs?"

"About this." Starley Varik muttered a few words in a low voice, took two steps forward, and flipped through the document. At the end there was a line of small words: "It says, if the whole carbon barrel cannot be conquered cheaply, Craftsmanship can be replaced by carbon plate splicing."

For such a crude solution, Heimlein List was speechless.

However, the little shock from Xu Cang was not over yet.

"By the way, Xu Cang also said that the A350 needs to follow the nose shape of the 787."

"But we don't have the carbon fiber shaping technology like Boeing!"

On the curve of the nose, the aesthetic design of the 787 is quite good.Based on the principle of learning good things, Xu Cang must imitate 787.

Heimlein Liszt has seen the concept drawing of the 787. He knows that to make such a nose curve requires an integrated carbon fiber weaving process, which is too expensive and will greatly increase the production cost of the A350. .

Heimlein Liszt was a little upset, it was too much for Xu Cang to make all kinds of demands with so much budget.

"He made some demands that couldn't be fulfilled, can you?"

However, at the next moment, Starley Varik whispered: "It can be achieved."

Heimlein Liszt was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"It's enough to replace the nose with aluminum alloy." Starley Varik said firmly, and added later: "It's also written on it."

"What kind of bullshit plan is this?" Heimlein Liszt cursed: "The nose is made of aluminum alloy, and the fuselage is made of carbon fiber. Isn't that obvious?"

Starley Varik spread his hands: "It's painted, who can tell?"

"Where is the windshield, can't you still see it?"

Starley Varik solemnly said: "Use black paint! In this way, no one will be able to tell whether the material of the nose and fuselage is different, or whether the fuselage is assembled with carbon plates."

Heimlein Liszt was stunned on the spot, taking a deep breath.

Compared with Xu Cang's astonishing performance in the field of flying, he is also "extremely talented" in aircraft design.

To have such a leader in the A350 project is simply a ghost!
What kind of deceitful operation is this!

Co-authoring is the same as turning off the lights anyway. After painting, all the gaps will disappear.

Design genius!

"There is another one." Starley Varik scratched his head: "Xu Cang wrote on it, didn't the 787 cancel the bleed air system?"

"He doesn't think about canceling the bleed air system, does he?" Heimlein Liszt sneered, "If that's the case, then the air conditioning system needs to be redesigned."

Because carbon fiber is relatively not resistant to high temperatures and cannot withstand the high-temperature airflow of the bleed air system, the bleed air system is directly canceled for the 787 that uses a large number of carbon fibers.However, this requires redesigning an air conditioning system to supplement the lack of bleed air.

In this way, another large amount of research funding will be spent.

According to Xu Cang's request, the A350 will also use a large amount of carbon fiber, so shouldn't it also cancel the bleed air system like the 787?
However, Starley Varik shook his head: "No, it says that the bleed air system is retained, and all the pipes through which the air flow flows are replaced with titanium alloy."

"He wrote it?" asked Heimlein List.

Starley Varik nodded: "Yes, it's written on it."

Heimlein Liszt was silent. In just a few minutes, he was completely convinced by Xu Cang's ideas.

For crafts such as carbon fiber fuselage or nose curve, Xu Cang just had an idea, mix it up, mix it up!

Anyway, turn off the light, and it will look the same after painting.

This is the truth, there is no problem of decline in security.

However, there is always a feeling of a grade drop.

As for the cancellation of the bleed air system, which can no longer be circumvented, Xu Cang is also the main one who can bend and stretch, and does not insist on keeping up with the 787. If the bleed air system has no money to optimize, then keep it, as long as the face is thick enough, outside rumors Gossip doesn't hurt me.

"How to solve the problem of the conductivity of the fuselage? The 787 not only covered the fuselage with copper mesh, but also doped metal materials in the composite material, which solved the problem of the conductivity of the fuselage." Heimlein Liss Te stared at Starley Varik: "Did Xu Cang write this question?"

"wrote."

Heimlein Liszt was overjoyed: "How?"

Starley Varik blushed: "Install a few more discharge brushes."

Heimlein Liszt felt his blood pressure rise instantly, rubbed his temples, and waved his hand: "I still have expectations for him. You have read the document, right? Tell me what else is on it."

Starey Varik looked at Heimlein List with a strange expression on his face, and knew that the CEO of Airbus seemed to be agitated by Xu Cang's unpredictable aircraft design skills.

"As for the main systems of the aircraft, Xu Cang asked to simply optimize the design of the A380, and transfer all of them to the A350 as much as possible, and it is best to make the parts common."

In this regard, Heimlein Liszt quite agrees. The initial failure of the A380 project led to a decline in orders and a large accumulation of parts.So many parts can't all be scrapped, can they?Optimizing and adjusting the system of the A380 and then moving it to the A350 can not only reduce a large part of the system design cost, but also digest the parts in stock, which can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone.

"I will communicate with the design department specifically about this."

"And the most important thing." Starley Varik said: "Xu Cang asked to design an engine for the A350 that is not yet available in the market. The choice of this power system will be chosen by Xu Cang himself."

"What do you mean? He wants to communicate with the A350's power system by himself?"

"Looking at it now, that's what it means."

Heimlein Liszt pondered for a moment: "Did it say which engine manufacturer will be chosen?"

"No." Starley Warrick shook his head: "However, according to the current relationship between Xu Cang and Luo Luo, Luo Luo may be responsible for this task."

"Roro?" Heimlein Liszt didn't dislike Luo Luo, even if Xu Cang chose Luo Luo in the end, it didn't matter. Compared with the power system, Xu Cang's "bold" design on the fuselage is really It was too advanced, and Heimlein Liszt didn't know if there would be a big pit ahead if he followed Xu Cang's direction.

However, one thing is certain, Xu Cang's direction can indeed save a lot of money.

Xu Cang is not a professional aircraft designer, he only needs to give a direction, and leave the rest to professionals.However, this program is too personal, once started, there is no turning back.

This led to both Starley Varick and Heimlein Liszt being confused about the future of the A350.

"What should I do?" Starley Liszt asked, "Follow the direction he gave?"

Heimlein Liszt breathed out a foul breath, hesitated for a moment, and finally made a decision: "There is no other choice, that's all, okay, that's all for him alone."

Ah Choo
In front of the ICAO headquarters building, Xu Cang sneezed, rubbed his nose, and muttered in his heart, why has he been sneezing since just now?
Beside him, Qin Xin asked with concern: "Did you catch a cold?"

"No." Xu Cang smacked his lips: "Probably not."

As he spoke, he laughed: "Maybe someone missed me."

Originally, this was a normal joke, but Qin Xin didn't laugh along with it: "Maybe it is."

Xu Cang didn't notice Qin Xin's expression, stretched his waist, and went to the International Civil Aviation Organization building: "Let's go, and settle the matter of the chartered appraisal!"