"Speaking of which, I have the impression that French planes used metal during the European War, and the effect was quite good."

Ba Yuzao frowned and thought for a while, and said with some uncertainty:

"Hiss ~ It seems to be called the Breguet 14 type, known as one of the most outstanding models, characterized by the large number of metal materials used in the fuselage skeleton parts, and it is also the first model in aviation history to enter mass production with metal as the main material of the fuselage."

Wang Zhu obviously knew more about this, and hugged his arms and shook his head: "Strictly speaking, the Bregue 14 is not a metal aircraft, but only a part of the metal is used on the skeleton, and the rest of the parts, such as the fuselage skin, are still traditional materials. ”

Cheng Nuo smiled and nodded: "Yu Peng is right, Bregue is not a new model across the era, at most it is an improved version of a wooden aircraft, but such an aircraft has become a powerhouse in the European sky, which is enough to show how broad the future prospects of metal materials are." ”

Ba Yuzao was a little puzzled: "If this is not the case, then it is the German one?" ”

“Bingo！” Cheng Nuo snapped his fingers happily and said with a smile: "It's the Junkers designed J1, as far as I know, this aircraft is the world's first pillarless cantilever all-metal single-seater, which is fundamentally different from the front breeque."

The J1 skin is made of aluminum sheets, reinforced with corrugated steel plates on the inside. The J1 was powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) engine and reached a speed of 155 km/h, making it the fastest aircraft in Germany. ”

"Why haven't I heard of this plane?" Wang Zhu held his chin with one hand, his eyes full of confusion: "And dean, you are also a layman in the aircraft industry, where did you get all this data from?" ”

Cheng Nuo was speechless for a while, of course, he couldn't say that it was because he had read "Aviation History" in his previous life, and he wanted to be deceived by haha: "It just so happened that I had some classmates in Germany, and I inquired about them through them, and the data source is absolutely true and reliable." ”

"But this ......" involves the cutting-edge development of the aircraft industry, and Wang Zhu wants to break the casserole and ask in the end.

"It's important to get down to business, we'll talk about the rest later, not so much." Ba Yuzao stopped his friend and didn't let him continue to ask: "If the data is true, not to mention that Germany is the fastest, it is possible to be the fastest in the world, but it is such a powerful aircraft, why haven't we heard of it?" ”

Cheng Nuo was slightly stunned, and said in a hurry: "The mass production of any aircraft must go through repeated test flight tests, not to mention that it is still wartime, and the rigor will be more demanding." In the middle, J1, J2, and J3 were successively iterated one after another, but because the experimental data was insufficient, they were basically still in the experimental stage.

However, it is understood that by the beginning of this year, the new J4 has officially begun to be installed, and aluminum alloy has become the main material of the body. ”

Cheng Nuo simply pushed aside all the documents on the table, took out a large piece of white paper and began to draw on it, drawing the J1J4 series of planes one by one.

Some people say that it is often a few people at the top of the pyramid who play a decisive role in driving the development of a certain industry, and the same is true in the field of aviation.

Professor Hugo Junkers, the designer of the J series aircraft, was first a famous industrial inventor before becoming a pioneer in the German aviation industry. Professor Junkers holds more than 1,000 patents in the fields of engines, power transmission and mechanical engineering.

The company's initial business was to manufacture steam boilers and radiators, but this time the patented invention was transformed into an industrial product, and Junkers' business went smoothly.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, when the German air force that stepped into World War I urgently needed a large number of combat aircraft, the government began to widely "mobilize" those well-known factories to switch to the manufacture of aircraft, and Junkers was one of the enterprises that were "transferred".

When he changed careers, Junkers was 55 years old, and he had to fight the country again when he should have been guarding the country.

"While traditional airplanes are framed with wooden trusses and ribs, reinforced with brackets and cables and covered with cloth skin, the J1 uses steel ribs and bulkheads to form trusses and skins, which is not to say that Junkers is reluctant to use aluminum, but that the price of aluminum is too high."

Cheng Nuo lay on the desk with both hands, holding a ruler in one hand and a pencil in the other, and it didn't take long for him to draw the structure of the J1 aircraft.

"Of course, as a layman, compared with the two of you insiders, there must be a difference in the focus on the aircraft, and you can directly point out the wrong drawing, and I can study more while I am doing so."

"Dean, your words are too out-of-the-box, this picture is too detailed, if we didn't know your origins, I would have thought that this plane was designed by you yourself." Wang Zhu, who was watching the drawing on the side, admired more and more, and sincerely admired: "Even the scale has annotations, which is really amazing." ”

After all, people are still emotional animals, listening to the praise of his subordinates, even Cheng Nuo was a little shaken, and he drew out an extra pencil without paying attention, and quickly wiped it with something: "I draw this for everyone to give opinions, not to listen to sycophants, if there is any problem, let's just say it." ”

Ba Yuzao hesitated for a moment and asked: "Look at your sketch, I just calculated it in my heart, and the practicality is indeed very high, but this aircraft is made of thin plate steel, and the result is that the aircraft is very heavy, which can easily lead to poor climb and maneuverability, I don't know if you have considered this?" ”

Cheng Nuo's pen paused slightly, and then explained: "But also take into account its clean monoplane layout, so that the drag of the aircraft is very small, although only installed with a 120 horsepower engine, but the actual speed can reach 170 km/h, which is already very remarkable, if it is replaced with aluminum, what will happen?" ”

Inspired by this sentence, the expressions on the faces of Ba Yuzao and Wang Zhu were wonderful.

Confused, shocked, suddenly realized, unbelievable, reasonable.

However, Cheng Nuo did not dwell on this issue, but struck while the iron was hot, continued to take out the straw paper, and drew the rest of J2, J3 and J4.

"The J2 was optimized as much as possible from the J1 to become a single-seat fighter with weapons, and the J3 was an unfinished mid-wing design with a rotary engine, replacing the original steel plate structure with corrugated (corrugated) aluminum alloy."

As soon as the screen turned, to J4, it suddenly turned from monoplane to biplane.

Cheng Nuo is a pity: "Although the J4 is better, all flight control surfaces (wings, horizontal tails) made of corrugated aluminum alloy are used to achieve the purpose of weight reduction, and it is possible to mass production, but it is a pity to return to the wings, which has to be said to be a pity." ”

"If I were the head of the army, I would definitely choose a biplane, because a few materials can make the wing reach a high strength, so as to improve the flight performance of the aircraft," said Ba Yuzao. ”

Cheng Nuo shook his head with a smile and questioned: "The power of the aircraft is getting stronger and stronger, the flight speed is getting faster and faster, and the pillars in the middle of the two layers of wings bring great resistance, which seriously restricts the improvement of the aircraft's flight performance.

In terms of aerodynamics, biplanes are only suitable for low-speed flight, as long as the speed increases, not to mention that the pillars in the middle of the wings will cause a surge in flight resistance, even the upper and lower wings themselves will interfere with each other.

It's a pity that the German military didn't appreciate the structural design of the monoplane, and it lost such excellent functions in vain, and went against the trend of aviation development, which is a pity. ”

Historically, the J4 prototype was designed and completed in early 1917, but it was not until September 1917 that it made its debut on the Western Front in Europe, and by the end of World War I, the military had placed a total of 283 orders, and finally only 227 were completed, of which only 184 were delivered to the troops.

But it was such an aircraft, with stable turns, flying freely in strong winds, good unpowered gliding performance, and a record of 85 hits in good condition, until 1918, when French troops claimed to have shot down the aircraft with anti-aircraft guns.

More and more detailed information from later generations shows that this record is likely to be a lie about military intelligence, that is to say, the aircraft has never been shot down since the test flight to the mass installation of the army, and then to the end of the war, and it is known as the most outstanding German ground attack aircraft during World War I, and its performance is terrifying.

Later, the Soviet/United aircraft designers who designed the aircraft began to leave, and after returning to China, they designed the Il-2 attack aircraft on its basis, which the Soviet army called the "flying tank" and the German army called the "Black Reaper", and Uncle Qiao compared the aircraft to the bread and air of the Red Army.

Of course, none of this has anything to do with Cheng Nuo, what he needs most at the moment is for Ba Yuzao to absorb the ideas of these planes, design an all-metal monoplane, and successfully complete this transition time.

"In other words, the biplane solves the problem of whether the aircraft can be lifted into the air, and what we need to do now is the question of whether it is good or not, and if we want to design a higher, faster, larger aircraft, we must adopt a monoplane design." After drawing J4, Cheng Nuo put down the pencil with his hand, although he was still smiling, his tone could not be questioned.

Ba Yuzao originally wanted to fight for his wings again, but seeing that Cheng Nuo seemed to be very interested in aircraft design, and this sounded like an order rather than a discussion, he gritted his teeth: "Okay, let's go back and learn again." ”

Cheng Nuo breathed a sigh of relief in his heart: "In terms of landing gear, you can continue to use the pontoon type, and you can also change it to wheels when the technology is mature, which I respect your previous design." ”

According to Cheng Nuo's assumption, although the plane is moving in the direction of preparing for war in the future, there is still a period of time before the end of World War I, and there are still long days before "9/18", and this period of time cannot be wasted.

The military road was temporarily blocked, so it was natural to think of civilian use.

Especially after the end of World War I, a large number of fighters poured into the commercial aircraft market, such as the DH.9 bomber produced in Britain was converted into a civil aircraft, and it was very cheap, which made the commercial aircraft market very competitive.

Even in this context, Junkers designed the world's first all-metal airliner based on the J series aircraft, and even though it could only carry 4 to 6 passengers at the time, it was still sold all over the world.

From tropical Colombia in South America to the snowy regions of Canada and Finland in the north, people have used this aircraft to dominate the international aircraft market in the thirties of the 20th century.

Thinking of this, Cheng Nuo couldn't help but secretly swear in his heart that in his previous life, C919 commercial aviation stumbled, and even had to use materials from other countries on some key parts in order to obtain international permission, which made people choke.

In this world, we must make good use of the advantages of crossing and lay out the international aviation market in advance.

"Dean, if the previous design plan is completely overturned and redesigned, the human, material and financial resources we need will be greatly improved, and you had better be mentally prepared." Following the aircraft design drawings that Cheng Nuo took out, Wang Zhu looked at it for a while and gave his thoughts.

"Yes, it means that all of us are using new technologies and new methods, and it will take a short period of time to run in alone, is it worth it, dean?" Ba Yuzao asked sincerely.

Compared with new technology, he wants to let domestic aircraft go into the sky first, and talk about the rest of the matter.

Cheng Nuo said with a smile: "This is not just right, you took advantage of this time to design our first domestic wind tunnel to lay the foundation for the later aircraft design, it just so happened that the comrades of Huasheng Electric Appliance Manufacturing Factory were coming over, and you could just find them to cooperate."

Regardless of the cost, make some low-speed, high-speed, and ultra-high-speed fans to support your work, in other words, you put forward your needs, and they will solve the problem. ”

Ba Yuzao's eyes lit up, and he agreed with this suggestion very much: "This is good, I have long wanted to have our own wind tunnel, so that it can not only be used to experiment with new aircraft, but also compare the advantages and disadvantages of biplane and monoplane." ”

Cheng Nuo smiled, it seemed that the other party was still obsessed with the wings, but he didn't blame him for these little things.

"At present, you will first design a new monoplane all-metal aircraft based on the J series aircraft and combine your previous experience, and strive to make the prototype as quickly as possible, and open the door to you in terms of funding."

Ba Yuzao immediately straightened his body: "No problem, we will make the design drawings as soon as possible, and hand them over to you for review at that time." ”

Cheng Nuo smiled and waved his hand: "Whether you can fly after designing, whether it is good or not, you all know it in your own hearts, I don't want to repeat it if it is redundant, but there is one point, you are also clear about the situation in our country, don't consider localization in the production of prototypes."

Aluminum, steel, and copper can all be made of foreign materials first, and then gradually replaced when we figure it out. ”

Of course, with this bad background of the times, it is difficult to find these heavy industrial materials purely domestically, even if they are difficult to find, their quality is also lagging behind Europe and the United States.

Therefore, in terms of heavy industry, it still has to rely on Cheng Nuo and the Academy of Sciences to promote.

If everything goes well, and the plane designed by Ba Yuzao and them can go to the sky normally, Cheng Nuo will naturally take out his big killing weapons.

For example, Beginner 6!