Chapter 891: Major Events in the History of Chinese Aviation, Huge Breakthrough in Aviation Engines

"Mr. Cao, tomorrow Mr. Zhao from AVIC, Mr. He from COMAC, and Chief Engineer Wei will come to confirm the aero-engine issue."

"Should we only introduce the aero-engines used on C919, or should we also introduce the products to be used on Venus 777?"

Cheng Tao must discuss such an important matter with Cao Yang.

Otherwise, it will be difficult to recover if the wrong choice is made.

Since Nanshan Engine is preparing to enter the aero-engine market, it is naturally impossible to develop only one product.

At that time, Cao Yang made a series of arrangements to prepare for various situations.

"Introduce the aero-engines planned to be used on our Venus 777 and the engines to be supplied to C919."

"Don't say so much about the others."

Cao Yang thought for a while and gave specific instructions.

When reporting to the leader, many people are most worried that the leader's instructions are too ambiguous.

It is really difficult to make yourself guess every time.

Cao Yang is also very clear about this, so he tries to give clearer instructions every time.

The company is my own, and I have to pay for the tuition out of my own pocket.

"That's fine. I'll take this opportunity to let everyone know that my Venus 777 is not a PPT aircraft, but a real one, and the progress is very fast."

"According to our plan to complete all engine tests next year, we can produce the first prototype as early as the end of 2015, and then complete all tests in 2016, and consider delivering it to customers from 2017."

Although this time seems long, it is super short in the history of world aviation development.

Look at the development progress of C919, which took more than ten years to successfully develop.

If Venus 777 can be developed within this year, it will definitely be super fast.

After all, even if the time for engine development in the first two years is counted, the total recommended plan only took 5 years.

In this situation, other countries, except China, absolutely do not have the strength to achieve it.

"The designs of our various parts are relatively mature, and the progress of related experiments may be faster than expected."

"We will try to advance the time of mass production."

"If all parties are really worried, we can launch the cargo version first, and the threshold is much lower."

Cao Yang naturally hopes that his own project can be put into commercial operation as soon as possible.

Otherwise, it would not make much sense to stay in the laboratory every day.

With the rapid development of China's Internet industry, the development of the express delivery industry is bound to be very fast.

At that time, the demand for cargo aircraft will naturally be very strong.

Although Venus Technology has launched the Kunpeng heavy transport helicopter to enter the express delivery industry, compared with Venus 777, Kunpeng also has its own disadvantages.

At that time, Kunpeng and Venus 777 will be combined to create a cargo aircraft series belonging to China, which is definitely a very exciting thing.

After one or two years of cargo transportation, it will be much smoother when it enters passenger transportation on a large scale.

Of course, if airlines dare to directly purchase Venus 777 for passenger transportation tasks, it would be the best.

"The current progress of C919 is estimated to be not much faster than our Venus 777."

"When we explain tomorrow, should we also explain the mass production plan of Venus 777 to put some pressure on Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation."

"After all, they have been working on C919 for so many years. If the final production time is later than our Venus 777, the shareholders will definitely be very dissatisfied."

After Cheng Tao said this, Cao Yang immediately felt that it made sense.

Think about it from another perspective. If he were He Guoqing, knowing that the Venus 777, which Venus Technology just announced some time ago, would enter mass production in a few years, while the mass production time of C919, which he has been working on for many years, is far away, he must be under great pressure.

In this case, any plan that can speed up the development of C919 will be favored by Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation.

At that time, it will not be Nanshan Engine that is begging Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation to give itself some opportunities, but the other party will beg Nanshan Engine to help speed up the C919 project.

Especially among the companies in the Nanshan system, it is not only Nanshan Engine that can provide services for C919. Companies such as Nanshan Carbon Fiber, Nanshan Auto Parts, Venusstar Technology and Nanshan Equipment can all provide some related materials or parts.

Even with the advancement of Venusstar 777, Nanshan companies can basically provide more than half of the parts on C919.

This is of great significance.

The R&D and manufacturing capabilities of large passenger aircraft are an important symbol of the level of a country's industrial system and an important symbol of a country's overall strength. They are considered the jewel in the crown of modern industry.

Previously, there were only two large aircraft "oligarchs" in the world, Boeing and Airbus, and there were only a handful of countries with independent R&D and production capabilities for large passenger aircraft.

According to the normal development history, the engine of C919 is not mentioned. The avionics system is provided by Safran of France, including flight control systems and navigation systems.

The airborne equipment is provided by Smith Group of England and Lockheed Martin of the United States, including communication equipment, airborne systems, etc.

The fly-by-wire flight control system, auxiliary power unit and landing gear are produced by Honeywell.

In addition, Rockwell Collins provides it with weather radar and simulation systems.

Parker Hannifin supplies flight control systems and fuel systems.

Michelin supplies tires.

The localization rate is really not high.

Some people may say that most of the parts of Boeing's passenger aircraft are not produced in the United States, but come from all over the world.

This is indeed true.

But everyone should see that whether it is suppliers from Japan, England or Germany, these countries are allies of the United States, and they don't have to worry that their parts will be strangled by these people one day.

Especially, manufacturers in Japan supply a large number of parts for Boeing aircraft.

Among the parts of Boeing 777, Japan's share reached 21%.

And among the Boeing 787, even 35% of the parts are made in Japan.

But for Boeing, what does it matter?

But for China?

The situation is completely different!

Look at Venus Technology and how Nanshan companies are suppressed by the United States, and you will know the seriousness of the problem.

It can be said that the C919 was finally able to be successfully launched. In addition to the support of China's huge market, it is also an important reason to give a lot of benefits to international parts suppliers.

Modu Commercial Aircraft took this path, which may be a last resort, or a compromise for the smooth mass production of C919.

But Venus 777 definitely cannot go this way, and cannot go this way.

Those parts manufacturers in the United States are not allowed to cooperate with Venus Technology at all, and they don't want to cooperate with Venus Technology.

Cao Yang doesn't dare to use other international parts companies easily.

After all, if they just block you casually, Venus 777 will be directly shut down, and even after-sales service will not be provided.

The impact is really too great.

So for Venus Technology, all parts need to be purchased from China.

Fortunately, China's market is large enough, and the hearts of international parts manufacturers are dark enough, so in the end, the cost of parts produced by Venus Technology itself or purchased from China should not be higher than that of mass production by international parts manufacturers.

You know, in the aerospace industry, the cost of parts is closely related to production.

Although China's products normally have cost advantages, it depends on the situation.

Compared with the cost of parts after others have produced thousands of aircraft, it is simply impossible to make it lower than the cost of parts used to produce an aircraft.

So there is also a saying that the reason why the proportion of localized parts in C919 is so low is that even if some parts can be produced domestically, the cost will be higher than imported ones.

Because imported parts are parts that are being mass-produced on other models, they can save a lot of costs.

For domestic parts, everything has to start from scratch, and the amortized cost of various development costs, mold costs, and testing costs is very high.

Of course, Cao Yang does not really agree with this statement.

Once an aircraft of the C919 level is successfully mass-produced, the domestic demand alone can reach thousands of aircraft.

With the support of thousands of aircraft production, whether it is a newly developed aircraft engine or avionics system, or other parts such as landing gear, it is unlikely that the cost will be higher than imported ones.

After all, although imported parts may be parts that have been mass-produced for many years, they will not sell them to you at cost price, but will bite you hard.

"Okay, then let's share the R&D plan of Venus 777 with them."

"Let them feel the pressure and consider using the various parts we supply to the greatest extent."

"Many parts are similar or even completely universal whether they are used on C919 or Venus 777."

"By then, the sales volume of C919 will definitely be higher than that of large aircraft such as Venus 777, which is also very beneficial for amortizing our parts development costs."

Why can the launch cost of reusable rockets such as Venus 9 be greatly reduced?

It is because of the large number of production and the number of launches that the amortization costs have been reduced.

For aircraft parts, if you only produce dozens of them, the cost is bound to be unattainable.

But after the number goes up, the cost of parts is not so scary.

Some of Boeing's passenger aircraft in the future have a sales price of about 600 million yuan, half of which is still profit.

And half of the remaining half of the cost is due to various actions of the United States, which has led to high costs.

If Venus Technology is allowed to produce the same type of products, it is entirely possible to reduce the cost to about 100 million yuan.

At that time, even if it is sold at a price of 300 million yuan, there will be a profit of 200%.

This business is worth doing!

"Yes, if we are asked to assist in the design of C919, half of its parts can be shared with Venus 777."

"The cost reduction effect will definitely be huge at that time."

Cheng Tao was in a very good mood when he saw that his proposal was recognized by Cao Yang.

This can be said to have changed the development progress of China's large aircraft to a certain extent.

Large aircraft play a significant role in promoting the development of the national economy.

The aviation industry has a long industrial chain, a wide radiation area, and a strong linkage effect. It can drive group breakthroughs in key technologies in the fields of new materials, modern manufacturing, advanced power, electronic information, automatic control, computers, etc., and will also drive major progress in many basic disciplines such as fluid mechanics and solid mechanics.

In countries with developed aviation countries, the large aircraft industry is developed as an important pillar industry.

Otherwise, why would countries such as the United States and France care so much about their own aviation industry?

If China's large aircraft project can achieve rapid and efficient development, the significance is really extraordinary.

If you have a good passenger plane, it can actually promote the development of military aircraft.

After all, many technologies are universal.

…

When Nanshan Engine was preparing to welcome the inspection team of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation and AVIC, Zhao Tianling and his team had just arrived in Guangzhou and couldn't wait to come to Nanshan Engine.

Although many people don't believe that Nanshan Engine has really developed an aviation engine, what if it is true?

"Mr. Zhao, Mr. He, Nanshan Engine initially researched a high-thrust engine for large transport aircraft, which will also be the engine that will be installed on the Venus 777 in the future, so the current development speed of this engine is the fastest."

"The engine we plan to provide for the C919 is a miniaturized version based on it."

"In order to let everyone better feel the advanced nature of this series of engines, let's first learn about NS44, which is the giant with a thrust of 44 tons used on the Venus 777."

Today's inspection is very important. Cao Yang personally brought the heads of Nanshan Engine, Venus Technology, Nanshan Auto Parts and other companies to participate.

Then Cao Yang was also responsible for introducing the performance of NS44 to everyone.

This is also a way to express the sincerity of cooperation of various Nanshan companies.

Of course, the premise must be that the technology is strong, otherwise, no matter how sincere you are, it is useless to take it to see the young lady every day.

"44 tons?"

Wei Jian, the chief engineer of Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation, is a professional technician and an aviation engine expert.

Now when he heard Cao Yang say the number of 44 tons of thrust, his face was immediately full of surprise.

You know, although the world's largest thrust aircraft engine is General Electric's GE90, which can reach a maximum thrust of 58 tons, in fact, most of the Boeing 777s using this engine use the GE90 version with a thrust of less than 40 tons.

The 58-ton version is actually used very little.

Because the engine on the passenger plane is not simply pursuing the maximum thrust, but also needs to comprehensively consider factors such as fuel performance.

The comprehensive performance of the 58-ton version is not the best, but the price version of around 40 tons is more popular.

Now Nanshan Engine said that the NS44 it developed is a large aircraft engine with a thrust of 44 tons. It would be strange if Wei Jian didn't find it strange.

After all, the engine that is ready to be used on the C919 now has a thrust of only more than ten tons.

Even if the two engines on an aircraft are added together, the thrust is not as good as that of an NS44.

"Yes, the NS44 is a three-shaft fan turbojet engine with a fan diameter of about 3 meters."

"It uses a series of advanced technologies, such as high bypass ratio fans, composite fan blades, and advanced combustion chamber design to achieve higher fuel economy."

"During the design and testing process of the NS44 engine, special attention was paid to reducing noise levels."

"It uses a low-noise fan design and advanced silencing technology to reduce noise pollution during flight."

"The NS44 engine is designed to be easy to maintain and overhaul to reduce airline operating costs."

"It adopts a modular design, making some key components easier to replace or repair."

"And it is highly intelligent, using advanced sensors and control systems, which can monitor the engine's operating status in real time, detect potential problems in time and issue warnings."

"In addition, the engine also has functions such as adaptive control and fault diagnosis, which can automatically adjust the working status according to different flight conditions and mission requirements to improve flight efficiency and safety."

"At the same time, NS44 adopts a low-emission combustion chamber design and other environmental protection technologies to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and other harmful substances."

"We can go to the site to see the prototype of NS44 in person later."

Since NS44 is to be displayed, its technical advantages must be introduced in detail.

The prototype is placed in the special workshop of Nanshan Engine, and it will be shown to everyone in detail later.

However, Cao Yang was very excited to introduce it, and He Guoqing, Wei Jian and others looked at each other in bewilderment.

It's not that NS44 is not excellent, but that it is too excellent.

Such an excellent aircraft engine, has Nanshan Engine really designed it?

According to the information they learned, Airbus has not used such a high-thrust product so far.

However, Cao Yang said that we can go to see the prototype later, so no one directly raised questions.

If you want to question, wait until you see the prototype.

After all, everyone is a professional. You can see a lot of things by looking at the prototype on site.

For example, the 3-meter-long size is definitely not fake.

As long as this size of aircraft engine can be produced, as long as it can operate normally, the performance will not be particularly bad.

After all, this kind of engine, a turbofan alone, can block most countries.

"Mr. Cao, why don't we go to the site directly and learn while watching?"

He Guoqing was a little impatient to go to the site to see NS44.

If Nanshan Engine really makes such an excellent product, then it is natural to produce products with much lower thrust levels than this.

After all, the positioning of C919 is different from that of Venus 777, and it does not need a high-thrust engine like NS44.

Of course, Shanghai Commercial Aircraft Corporation will certainly want to enter the market of larger models in the future, but that is a story for the future.

The most important thing now is to confirm whether Nanshan Engine is really that powerful.

Cao Yang naturally has no objection to this.

Anyway, everyone has to go to the site to see it, so that they can finally convince everyone.

Otherwise, it will become a PPT engine.

There is no point in exaggerating the performance.

NS44 is a product developed by Cao Yang based on Rolls-Royce's XWB-97. Historically, Airbus will use XWB-97 on the A350 in a few years.

Now Nanshan Engine develops NS44 based on XWB-97, and various performances will only be stronger.

Especially in the use of high-end composite materials, Nanshan Engine has its own unique advantages.

After all, the company with the highest level of carbon fiber in the world is Nanshan Carbon Fiber.

The group soon came to an independent factory of Nanshan Engine, which is specially prepared for the production of aircraft engines.

The development of NS44 and NS22 is in this factory.

"Mr. Zhao, Mr. He, Mr. Wei, look, that's our NS44, and the smaller one next to it is the NS22 prepared for the C919."

"The design principles of these two engines are basically the same, and some parts are also shared."

"The current design has been basically completed, and it will be finalized and put into mass production next year."

"According to our plan, the first prototype of the Venus 777 will roll off the assembly line at the end of next year, and all tests will be completed the year after, and it will be delivered to airlines for use in 2017."

"Of course, it is estimated that it can only be used domestically in the early stage, and it is highly likely that the airworthiness certificates from Europe and the United States will not be obtained."

Cao Yang "inadvertently" mentioned the plan for the Venus 777, which made He Guoqing feel a huge pressure.

The Venus 777, which was established later than the C919 project, will enter mass production earlier. What will everyone think of this matter at that time?

Thinking of this, his enthusiasm for looking at the NS44 was reduced by a few points.

After all, such a big thing is in front of everyone, and it is easy to confirm whether the performance parameters are consistent with those just introduced.

With Cao Yang's current status, there is no need to falsify in such a place that is easily exposed.

So although it is hard to believe, He Guoqing has to convince himself that Nanshan Engine has really developed two significant aviation engines, NS44 and NS22.

This is definitely a major event in the history of Chinese aviation.

Nanshan Engine has made such a huge breakthrough, which is a huge breakthrough for C919 and China Aviation Industry.

I didn't expect that the other party would release an atomic bomb without making any noise.

"Mr. Cao, will NS22 also enter mass production next year?"

Seeing that his boss was silent, Wei Jian asked beside him.

Looking around, there are all kinds of equipment related to engine assembly.

In addition to a finished product, there are several NS44 and NS22 samples being assembled.

Obviously, the progress of Nanshan Engine is much faster than everyone imagined.

Sure enough, the bragging of Nanshan companies can eventually come true.

This time is obviously no exception.