John Flannery and Alain Bellemare looked at each other, both disappointed: it would have been great to have kicked GE out of the way, but now it seems that there is no chance.

Although GE's GE90 is still in the ground bench testing stage, as a high-thrust aero engine developed from the highly mature CF6, even Rolls-Royce and Pratt Whitney, a pair of GE life and death enemies, feel that the GE90 is unlikely to have any problems.

That's it!

When the time comes, let's get PR from the airlines.

In addition, what the two of them wanted was to hope that the MD-11 after this major improvement could sweep away the decline of the previous three-engine version of the MD-11 and get more orders.

But it was McDonald Jr., who was secretly happy to see it, as a system integrator, McDonald Jr. likes to see suppliers fighting cocks. Clapping his face, McDonald Jr. said, "Gentlemen, please come over this time, there is one more thing ......"

Facing the puzzled eyes of the three, McDonald Jr. said: "According to our calculations, after removing the tail engine, if the maximum thrust of a single engine can reach 350KN, and about 10 tons of fuel is removed, the twin-engine version of the MD-11 can still ensure the thrust-to-weight ratio of the three-engine version of the MD-11."

We have also learned about the development of your latest high-thrust engines, whether it is Rolls-Royce or Pratt Whitney, your 'Trent series' series and PW4000 series also have plans for the development of larger thrust models, so, gentlemen, I ask you to feed this signal back and start the development of the 350KN thrust version of the engine this morning......"

What McDonald Jr. said is also a normal situation, the aero engine has the attribute of "high customization", which is different from the mass production of cars, and many times it is in accordance with the requirements of the aircraft manufacturer, which leads to the fact that we will find that there will be many versions of the same aero engine with different thrust, such as Rolls Jr. In order to meet the needs of different customers, the RB211 has more than 10 versions, with a maximum thrust from 190KN to 270KN, and the total production of one version of the engine may only be a few dozen.

So none of the three of them felt that there was anything wrong with McDonald's request, not to mention that the engine of the 350KN thrust version was already in their planning.

Alain Bellemare glanced at the two competitors and said proudly: "Our Rolls-Royce's 350KN 'Trent is already being studied, Mr. McDonald Jr., if you think it is necessary, we can speed up the pace, and it is expected to complete the airworthiness certification work in the following year." ”

After speaking, Alain Bellemare did not forget to look at Jeff Culp provocatively: Even if everything goes well for your GE90 with 330KN thrust, it will not be able to complete the airworthiness certification until the year after tomorrow, and our Rolls-Royce 350KN "Trent Da" will also complete the airworthiness certification the year after next, how can you grab the market with us?

Jeff Culp's expression looked calm, unmoved by Alain Bellemare's provocation: although it seems that the 330KN is 20KN lower than the 350KN, the needs and cabin layouts of various airlines are different, so even if it is the same aircraft, the brand and thrust of the engine are different, and he doesn't bother to pay attention to Alain Bellemare's provocation.

It's Chen Geng, look at Jeff Culp, and then look at Alain Bellemare, the corners of his mouth are slightly upturned: interesting......

........................

Looking at the DC-10 in front of them, the executives of the major airlines who were invited all had their eyes shining!

Compared to the three-engine version of the DC-10 that their company is currently operating, this twin-engine version of the DC-10 is so beautiful, although only the tail engine has been removed, but the redesigned vertical tail and flat tail actually make this aircraft look much more coordinated than before.

Although McDonnell Douglas has already given a detailed explanation of this improvement in the materials mailed to them before, now that they are looking at this improved DC-10, everyone still has countless questions to ask McDonnell Douglas staff......

"After removing one engine, is the maximum flight range really 1,200 kilometers less than you claim?"

McDonnell Douglas staff immediately responded politely: "Sir, we have not only lost one engine, we have also closed two fuel tanks, so the maximum take-off weight of our improved DC-10 is much lower than before, but because only two engines consume fuel now, according to our actual tests, the maximum flight range of this twin-engine version of the DC-10 is indeed only 1200 kilometers less than before." ”

"But in this case, there is no way to carry out the previous flight. ”

"Sir, you can redeploy the aviation resources within the company, and if you are not satisfied with the shortened range, you can choose to replace the engine with higher thrust in the 'old for new' mode, and after replacing it with a new, higher thrust engine, under the premise of ensuring dual release, not only can the previous two closed fuel tanks be reactivated, but the maximum flight range will be even improved compared to before. ”

"Will the maximum flight range of the new engine be increased?" said the airline man, half skeptical, half surprised.

"Yes, for example, the early model of the DC-10 is installed on the CF6-6D engine of General Electric, the maximum thrust is only 177.9KN, if you choose the latest model of General Electric CF6-80C2, the maximum thrust has reached 282KN, the total thrust of these two engines even exceeds the total thrust of the original three engines, and the fuel economy of the new version of the CF6 engine is better, according to our accurate calculations, after the new engine, the twin version of the DC-10 can be increased by about 10% of range. ”

This explanation is very convincing, the original three CF6-6Ds only have a thrust of 533.7KN, and after the CF6-80C2 is replaced, the total thrust has reached 564KN, which is 30.3KN more than before.

The thrust is large, and the removal of an engine means that the weight of the whole machine is reduced, plus the new engine has better fuel economy, and at the same time, after removing the tail engine, it also reduces some wind resistance and increases the range by 10%, which is theoretically possible.

The airline's executives nodded repeatedly: "If we choose to trade in the old and upgrade the original DC-10 to the current new version, how much will we have to pay for it? and how long will the entire construction period be?"

That's what a heartbeat!

The staff immediately smiled and said, "Sir, we have an engineer here who specializes in explaining and explaining all this to you, if you are not interested, you can talk to our engineers......"

........................

Little McDonald's face is red!

It's been a long time since he's experienced the feeling of being surrounded and flattered by the executives of various airlines, and it's this feeling that makes him so obsessed, and it's this feeling that makes him refuse to leave McDonnell Douglas even though he's in his 60s, because it really makes him want to stop.

Just after chatting with a certain Lufthansa executive, I accidentally saw Chen Geng out of the corner of his eye, and McDonald Jr. immediately stepped forward and grabbed Chen Geng's hand: "Fernandez, you are right, you are right, I am extremely sure, inviting you to McDonnell Douglas is the most correct decision I have made." ”

“......”

Chen Geng blinked and didn't speak, what is this guy stimulated again?

Fortunately, there was no need for Chen Geng to ask, and little MacDonald himself said excitedly: "Fernandez, do you know? Just now, the vice president of Lufthansa Hans promised me that as long as our twin-engine version of the DC-10 has passed the FAA airworthiness certification, they will hand over all their passenger versions of the DC-10 to us for modification, which is more than 80 DC-10s!"

In addition, they were very interested in our twin version of the MD-11...... You're right, the triple engine is already behind, and the twin engine with a large wide-body fuselage and a powerful engine is the trend of the times......"

Little McDonald chattered and didn't match the preface, but Chen Geng finally understood the meaning of his words: he was very satisfied with the current situation, and he was very satisfied.

Nodding with a smile, Chen Geng said, "Is everyone's feedback so enthusiastic? If that's the case, Mike, you have to think about another thing from now on." ”

"What?"

"According to the current trend, the total number of DC-10s waiting to be modified may exceed 400, and everyone is very anxious, no one wants to continue to operate with a bomb that may explode at any time, so ......" shrugged, Chen Geng said: "You still have to think about how to complete the modification of these aircraft as soon as possible, I estimate that these airlines will require McDonnell Douglas to complete these modifications within two years." ”

Little MacDonald's face suddenly darkened!

He really didn't think of this problem, but he now admits that Chen Geng is right, in the past, everyone had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue to operate with the three-engine version of DC-10 that exploded at an uncertain time, but now, DC-10's biggest stubborn problem in terms of aerodynamic layout has been solved, who is willing to continue to hold such a bomb?

Of course, I hope that my DC-10 will be modified as soon as possible.

Without waiting for McDonald Jr. to speak, Chen Geng continued: "In addition, upgrading the early CF6-6D and CF6-50C to 80C2, the amount of engineering in this project is not small, have you communicated with General Electric about this?

Little MacDonald's face instantly darkened: this is indeed a big problem!

This engine upgrade is not a direct change of engine, one is a new CF6-80C2 engine is very expensive, it is not cost-effective to replace the engine directly, and the other reason is: who will sell the old version of the CF6 engine to the thousands of replaced?

————————————

PS: Sorry brothers, please wait a few minutes.

It's been a long time since he's experienced the feeling of being surrounded and flattered by the executives of various airlines, and it's this feeling that makes him so obsessed, and it's this feeling that makes him refuse to leave McDonnell Douglas even though he's in his 60s, because it really makes him want to stop.

Just after chatting with a certain Lufthansa executive, I accidentally saw Chen Geng out of the corner of his eye, and McDonald Jr. immediately stepped forward and grabbed Chen Geng's hand: "Fernandez, you are right, you are right, I am extremely sure, inviting you to McDonnell Douglas is the most correct decision I have made." ”

“......”

Chen Geng blinked and didn't speak, what is this guy stimulated again?

Fortunately, there was no need for Chen Geng to ask, and little MacDonald himself said excitedly: "Fernandez, do you know? Just now, the vice president of Lufthansa Hans promised me that as long as our twin-engine version of the DC-10 has passed the FAA airworthiness certification, they will hand over all their passenger versions of the DC-10 to us for modification, which is more than 80 DC-10s!"

In addition, they were very interested in our twin version of the MD-11...... You're right, the triple engine is already behind, and the twin engine with a large wide-body fuselage and a powerful engine is the trend of the times......"

Little McDonald chattered and didn't match the preface, but Chen Geng finally understood the meaning of his words: he was very satisfied with the current situation, and he was very satisfied.

Nodding with a smile, Chen Geng said, "Is everyone's feedback so enthusiastic? If that's the case, Mike, you have to think about another thing from now on." ”

"What?"

"According to the current trend, the total number of DC-10s waiting to be modified may exceed 400, and everyone is very anxious, no one wants to continue to operate with a bomb that may explode at any time, so ......" shrugged, Chen Geng said: "You still have to think about how to complete the modification of these aircraft as soon as possible, I estimate that these airlines will require McDonnell Douglas to complete these modifications within two years." ”

Little MacDonald's face suddenly darkened!

He really didn't think of this problem, but he now admits that Chen Geng is right, in the past, everyone had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue to operate with the three-engine version of DC-10 that exploded at an uncertain time, but now, DC-10's biggest stubborn problem in terms of aerodynamic layout has been solved, who is willing to continue to hold such a bomb?

Of course, I hope that my DC-10 will be modified as soon as possible.

Without waiting for McDonald Jr. to speak, Chen Geng continued: "In addition, upgrading the early CF6-6D and CF6-50C to 80C2, the amount of engineering in this project is not small, have you communicated with General Electric about this?

This engine upgrade is not a direct change of engine, one is a new CF6-80C2 engine is very expensive, it is not cost-effective to replace the engine directly, and the other reason is: who will sell the old version of the CF6 engine to the thousands of replaced?