Chapter 82: Engine Failure

Chang Haonan didn't really need to wait for two days.

Because at the same time as the work coordination meeting was held on Shengjing's side, Yan Liang had an accident.

Time goes back to half an hour ago.

Test pilot Lin Tingguang is piloting the J-8-3 prototype 01 to carry out a planned high-altitude and high-speed test flight project.

Although the subsequent 04 and 05 full-state prototypes will be replaced with new wings, this does not mean that the test flight data of the non-full-state 01 and 03 prototypes are meaningless.

In fact, unless the overall design is completely overturned, as in the case of the prototype of the Su-27, the T10, even if the aircraft design changes, it only needs to be supplemented with a new prototype for some related subjects.

Even if the change seems obvious.

For example, the No. 01 and No. 03 prototypes of the FC1 Thunder fighter still use the air inlet with a surface layer partition, and the DSI air intake is only changed from No. 04.

For example, the six stiffeners above the air intake channels of the No. 01 and No. 03 prototypes of the J-10 really only play the role of structural reinforcement, but the layout of the mass production model has been adjusted, and the turbulence effect has been increased by the way.

What Lin Tingguang wants to test today has nothing to do with the wing, but to find the extreme flight envelope under the current flying matching design-

As with all other equipment, the worse the engine is in working condition, the more likely it is to fail.

When the operating conditions reach a certain critical value, the failure rate becomes unacceptable.

The level of this critical value also determines the quality of engine performance.

But as with all other equipment, the performance of an engine on paper is often different from the actual performance it once it is built and installed in an aircraft.

For some engines with better stability, such as the F110 or F404, the difference between the two is not too big.

But for some engines with poor stability, such as the TF30 or the early F100, the performance on paper has little reference value.

And the performance of the same engine on different aircraft can sometimes be very different.

The TF30 performed well on the F111, but it was a complete disaster on the F14.

Therefore, it is necessary for the test flight team to be able to determine exactly where the actual limits of the engine are.

On the one hand, it is to let the pilots of the combat unit know how to ensure that the aircraft is in normal working order and reduce the accident rate.

On the other hand, it is also to fly out enough data and hand it over to the engine design and production units so that they can make more targeted improvements.

And the turbojet 14, at least the turbojet 14 in the current technical state, undoubtedly belongs to the latter kind of engine with poor stability.

Therefore, the test flight work has to be done with a lot of care.

……

In the cockpit of the No. 01 prototype, Lin Tingguang pushed the throttle stick with a gentle movement with his left hand, and watched with both eyes as the flight speed on the HUD slowly exceeded Mach 1.8.

This is the speed he needs to maintain for the next test flights.

"Preparing for a yaw maneuver test flight."

The voice of the tower commander came from the headset.

"Roger, yaw maneuver test flight."

After Lin Tingguang repeated the command, he began to use his hands and feet at the same time, carefully coordinating the amount of maneuvering of the lever and rudder, so that the plane gradually began to enter a sideslip state.

"Start going into the sideslip." Lin Tingguang took a deep breath and reported to the tower.

Every second that follows is as long as a century.

The flight conditions with the sideslip angle have exceeded the adjustment range of the adjustable inclined plate inlet duct, so the intake flow distortion is very serious, especially testing the stability and reliability of the engine.

Strictly speaking, this is a stance that should be avoided as much as possible in normal flight.

But just like the subjects of stall and tailspin, "abnormal" flight is inherently normal for a special group of test pilots.

Under the control of Lin Tingguang, the No. 01 verification aircraft successfully maintained a side-gliding flight attitude for more than ten seconds, and then smoothly leveled out, during which everything was normal.

"Very good, the subject is complete, ready to return, pay attention to the large crosswind in your current airspace."

The voice of the commander of the tower has also become noticeably more relaxed.

The most dangerous part of this test flight has been completed.

"Roger, ready to return."

Lin Tingguang in the cabin also breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time began to slowly retract the throttle valve, controlling the speed of the aircraft to slowly reduce to Mach 1.1.

However, just when everyone thought they were done, he suddenly heard a "bang" sound from the right air intake, followed by a sharp drop in the speed of the right engine, and the shaking in the cockpit became violent.

"The right engine malfunctioned and lost thrust."

Although facing the failure of the aircraft in the case of high speed, the long-term training still allowed Lin Tingguang to calmly report the current problem and began to think about troubleshooting.

Almost subconsciously, he slowly retracted the throttle, and then adjusted the attitude of the plane into a left turn and descended, aiming in the direction of the airport runway.

If it was just an ordinary engine stop in the air, then he still had enough speed at the moment, and as long as the airflow was allowed to rev the engine again, it should not be difficult to recover.

However, soon, the alarm of abnormal temperature on the right made him lose his mind about restarting the engine in the air.

Something is definitely wrong.

An engine that has been damaged, and there is certainly no hope of restarting.

Lin Tingguang looked at the altimeter that kept falling, his brain was running rapidly, and he kept thinking about the situation he was currently facing.

Although the J-8-3 aircraft has two engines, if one engine has a fire, it is likely to affect the other engine, and even disintegrate in the air.

At such a time, the pilot will not have any responsibility.

But as a test pilot, Lin Tingguang was unwilling to give up.

In addition to recovering the aircraft itself, the failure data generated by this test flight is also quite valuable, and if it can be brought back as it is, it will bring great help to the next improvement work.

So he hesitated for a few seconds.

It was these few seconds that Lin Tingguang found that as he gradually retracted the throttle valve and stopped supplying oil to the engine, the temperature of the right hair was being controlled.

And he still has a certain altitude now, and if it is handled properly, it is entirely possible to return to the airport and land.

"01 prepares to return to the airport to land."

This sentence implied the risk of sacrifice at any time, but Lin Tingguang's tone was as ordinary as if he was just describing what he had for breakfast.

The commander in the tower narrowed his eyes slightly and opened his mouth several times in a row, but in the end he still did not open his mouth to affect the pilot's judgment, and only asked the emergency response team to prepare to set up a blocking net, and prepare fire trucks and ambulances to deal with possible special situations.

"The plane's hydraulics failed, but the landing gear was down."

The good news is that the loss of hydraulics means that maneuvering the rudder faces can be extremely difficult, but having the landing gear down at least means that the aircraft is basically safe as long as it touches the ground.

(End of chapter)