Whatever the scenario, this will have to be the first test flight after the transition to Zhukov. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

When Lin Jun first arrived just now, the technicians had already done a systematic inspection of the entire aircraft, and everything was normal. Originally, the young designers were not sure whether the wooden fuselage would be able to withstand the powerful jet engine, and feared that the wooden skin would burst and disintegrate in the air, but as it stands, there is no problem at all!

Not only is the majority of the wing made of plywood, but the edges of the wings are also made of all-wood, which is relatively important (in flight, the edges of the wings are very squeezed by air friction. The edges of the wings are made of reinforced plywood made of thin wood and resin-pressed materials, and only metal is used to withstand high temperatures, such as near the engine vents.

In the most important wingtips, high-strength aviation aluminum alloy is used, and the whole aircraft is painted dark gray, which in Lin Jun's opinion really has the potential to be a night bomber.

Because of Lin Jun's sudden arrival, the test flight time was postponed by half an hour, and Ilyushchenko and Gaidar introduced to Lin Jun the driving characteristics of the flying wing -- the most troublesome thing was its throttle lever, and the acceleration and deceleration of the "primitive" DP-1-2 engine must be strictly in accordance with the "gear", otherwise there would be a danger of "firing guns" in the air and completely stalling the engine.

When he flew the Su-27 "back then", Lin Jun would never want to fly a new aircraft equipped with a DP-1-2 engine, compared to the fighter jet decades later, this is simply "driving with life"!

But the new technology matures in the course of adventure, knowing its dangers and possible problems, but the pilots want to get such a high-performance aircraft, not to mention the test pilots, who seem to be born to test flights, like Ilyushenko, who simply don't care about the risks they take.

Fortunately, the jet power design of the Soviets in the first two years has followed a good trajectory: first improve the power, and then consider its carrier aircraft, not the other way around. This allowed the DP-1 to improve a lot, at least not to go wrong every once in a while, and to meet a minimum technical requirement.

Just like the flying wing in front of him, according to the understanding of the young designer, the whole life is about 30 to 40 large sorties, plus training time and ground test vehicles, and a set of engines will be replaced during the whole life of use - that is to say, a flying wing will just run out of service life after the overhaul of the two engines on the second set of aircraft at the end of its life.

30 to 40 sorties, the service life of two sets of 180-hour engines, which adds up to less than 400 hours, which is hard to imagine in a few decades, is simply a waste of resources! But it would seem normal at this point, even the average service life of a front-line fighter is not up to 200 hours, and it is a consumable in the first place.

Long-range bombers that were able to complete 40 bombing missions in World War II were lucky, and even the B17 crew of the US Army Air Corps had to thank God for only 25 sorties (you can return home, remember 25 missions), and the ideas of the young Soviet designers were already a bit "idealistic". Not to mention that most of the flying wings are made of wood, and the fuselage can be manufactured in a simple workshop for final assembly, and the cost is relatively low.

Even if it uses two jet engines, the cost and man-hours are still much cheaper than that of an all-metal large bomber like the B-17! The range of the B17 is not yet equal to that of this flying wing, not to mention the flight speed and flight altitude.

This will be more than 3,000 kilometers even if it is a long-range strategic bomber, then this flying wing can also be regarded as a strategic medium bomber, the maximum fuel load under the bomb load also reached one ton, as a total weight of more than 9 tons, wingspan of only 16 meters 90 "small aircraft", its performance is enough to be proud.

However, this reliability is still worrying, and it cannot be compared with the B17 aircraft, which means that it will be at least a year before the Soviet Air Force can get a bomber force composed of jet flying wings, and it is even more unclear whether it will work or not.

However, once such a bomber force was possessed at the beginning of 43, the High Command wanted to bomb any strategic target within the combat radius could become a reality - the bomb load was not comparable to that of a behemoth like the P-8, but it was cheap and easy to manufacture!

According to the Soviet aviation model, as long as the supply of engines can be guaranteed, then soon such flying wings will be able to fly all over the sky!

However, there is another problem that must be carried out as soon as the weather warms up next year - the airport must be built with enough long reinforced concrete runways, and neither it nor the "I-20" can use the lawn.

This will Lin Jun also have a calculation in his mind: it is impossible for the flying wing to completely replace the conventional layout of the aircraft, which is proven by history, and it is not possible to let a few data overwhelm the reason of the Soviet aviation industry -- its outstanding performance lies in a neutral shift between the piston engine and the jet engine -- once the jet engine is generally popularized in various aviation powers, it will become less advantageous, but the shortcomings of the flying wing will be sharply manifested.

At half past ten in the morning, the sky was clear, with only a very small number of high-altitude broken clouds, suitable for flying.

Lin Jun went up to the central tower and looked at the flying wing at the head of the runway through the large glass window.

A loud noise came with the start of the two jet engines, the flying wing was only half loaded with fuel this time, and the magazine was empty: the test flight had to be carried out step by step, and there was no hurry.

The glass of the tower seemed to tremble, and the sound was so thrilling to many people at the airport - although many people heard the strange sound when it landed in transition, it was obviously much smaller than that!

Most people are not used to it, but Lin Jun is very comfortable - this is very different from the jet engine test sound heard on the laboratory bench of the research institute, and it sounds so cordial and familiar to Lin Jun: this is the real future power!

Propelled by two DP-1-2s, the flying wing began to accelerate and glide faster and faster, until the wheels finally left the ground. The climb was not the extreme jump that Lin Jun liked to use back then, but a smooth and slow acceleration climb - the DP-1-2 could not be compared with the AL-31F series engine used on the Su-27.

The flying wing gradually disappeared from view, and Ilyushchenko's report came over the intercom: "The flight attitude is smooth, the engines are functioning normally, the altitude is 1800, the course is 270, it is climbing." ”

Suddenly, a voice came from another walkie-talkie: "Tower, tower, I'm a radar station, the target disappeared from the monitor!" We can't track it, please verify! ”

The radar station did not know that Ilyushchenko had just made a report, and thought that the test flight had failed, and hurriedly reported - the only reason for the disappearance from the screen at the current altitude in such good weather was a plane crash!

"Ilyushchenko, how's the situation going?"

"Everything is normal, the flight attitude is smooth." The voice from the intercom made everyone let go of their hanging hearts, "Okay, report the situation at any time and keep in touch." ”

Two MiG-1 high-altitude and high-speed fighters had already taken off with the flying wings in order to observe their flight attitude, and the fighter pilots reported that everything was normal.

Karhipov called the radar station again: "Continue the search, activate all nearby radars for search." ”

The Air Force general turned his head and said to a lieutenant colonel officer on the side: "You go to the radar station immediately, don't leave any hidden dangers, do a good job of secrecy, and strictly prohibit everyone from revealing this matter to the outside world, except for the core researchers, and other insiders are not allowed to mention it, otherwise the military law will severely punish you!" Obviously, this was also said to the people in the tower.

He saw Lin Jun nodding solemnly, and Lin Jun agreed with the eldest brother's approach: The lieutenant colonel who was sent to the academy knew him, and the old comrade in charge of the overall security work in the academy was rigorous and trustworthy, and he went to the radar station to supervise it to make people feel at ease.

Karhipov's brain reacted quickly: the radar station is an absolutely secret unit, and the comrades in it can be trusted, not to mention that this time the test flight was carried out by a top-secret aircraft, and the level of secrecy has been mentioned to the highest. But he still didn't think it was enough to say hello to the radar station again - sooner or later they would know that the plane hadn't crashed.

To carry out a test flight, the cooperation of radar is indispensable.

The hearts of the designers were raised again: in Gorky they sent an observation plane, but there was no radar - and suddenly they understood: they had inadvertently created a "stealth" aircraft that could not be detected by radar!

The role of radar is understood by everyone here, this new technology is changing the landscape of air warfare, there are basically no more sudden air strikes, and it goes without saying that they can understand what it means to be an "invisible" bomber!

Polikarpov's heart was also a little excited, because it was so unexpected, definitely a surprise of surprises!

The chief designer's face was red, and Lin Jun noticed it and said to him: "Bori Karpov, did you give it another name and code?" ”

"Even the test code has not yet had time to be decided, and the Air Force Commission has not yet approved it, and the institute has only taken the unofficial code name "Big Triangle". ”

"You can choose the number, I think there's a nickname that suits it - Ghost!"

Lin Jun made the final decision.

(Today's second shift, ask for a monthly pass) (to be continued.) )