"By the way, I remember before, didn't the Persians still say that they wanted us to improve the F14?"

Referring to the Persian Air Force, Chang Haonan also recalled the situation a few months ago, so he asked Zhong Shihong again:

"The TF30 engine on it, you're already upgrading?"

No matter how you say the F14, it is also an aircraft from nearly 25 years ago, even if Huaxia is inferior to the United States in the comprehensive development level of the aviation industry, it will not be a problem to refurbish or improve such an old model in most places.

The only trouble is motivation.

Although the TF30 engine performance is very pulled.

But pulling it again is also a serious turbofan.

And the main defect is that the compressor design is unreasonable and the flying match is not done well, and the production and manufacturing process is still level.

So if you want to upgrade the TF30, it really can't be said that it is very easy.

"It hasn't started yet, and in fact, even the specific improvement plan in terms of power has not yet been determined."

Zhong Shihong shook his head:

"We just shipped a TF30 from Tehran some time ago, and we are inspecting the situation, in short, because there is no original technical data at all, so it is really difficult to upgrade the technology, and we are currently discussing with the other party whether to simply carry out a life extension maintenance, or simply wait until the domestic turbofan 9 comes out, and then give them a new engine."

The prototype of the turbofan 9, Spey MK202, has an afterburner thrust of 9.2 tons, which is slightly smaller than the 9.4 tons of TF30-P-412, but the former still has a lot of potential to increase thrust, and the focus is that the performance in the working state is much more stable, at least there is no need for pilots to practice the technique of turning off the engine in a surge state and restarting it during the maneuver before takeoff.

In addition, the length and diameter of the turbofan 9 are smaller, which not only meets the requirements of fitting, but can even save space and increase the fuel carrying capacity like the F4 after the reissue.

Or add an auxiliary power unit (APU) to the rear half of the fuselage to generate electricity -

Due to the early design age of the F14, the estimation of the power consumption of the high-power radar is not enough, resulting in a very tight power supply situation.

In short, no matter how you think about it, it is a huge advantage.

The only problem is that although the current progress of the localized turbofan 9 cannot be said to be a single word, at least it is also a distance from the expectations of the Persians......

"It depends on whether the Persians can afford to wait, for us, whether it is overhauled or upgraded, we can't make any profit anyway, and the main benefit is to increase a wave of popularity."

Chang Haonan's personal interest in the F14 is only to hunt for curiosity, after all, he has not actually been in contact with any kind of variable-swept wing aircraft, but from a practical point of view, the comprehensive performance of this model actually does not meet the requirements of the times.

The huge dead weight, low reliability and high maintenance time caused by complex mechanics cannot be solved by simply changing engines.

The F4 upgrade project, which has a large amount of management and low technical difficulty, is the main source of profits.

Zhong Shihong nodded in agreement:

"This is true, so the main plan for our side is to wait a little longer and then directly change the hair, so that the combat effectiveness will be improved greater, and it will also be conducive to our engine to play the name."

If it were to be put on hold, this kind of engine, which had not even been tested for installation, would not be considered at all, even if it was only a prototype domestic model.

But times have changed.

The success of the Turbojet 14 and the subsequent series of results brought about by the Seiko program made everyone a little more optimistic about the progress of the Turbofan 9.

"By the way, speaking of the Seiko plan, how has it progressed in the last two or three months?"

Although Chang Haonan has the title of the general consultant of the Seiko plan, he has been busy with the No. 10 project and other problems such as software design recently, so he has not directly intervened in the specific projects for a while.

"After all, this is only half a year, and many projects have just started, but there are also some specific technical achievements, especially in welding and casting processing."

When it came to the Seiko plan, Zhong Shihong's tone obviously became much more solemn.

The main reason why he was promoted from the head of the technical department to the deputy general manager was actually this Seiko plan.

At this time, another person next to him picked up:

"Mr. Chang, I think that compared with the specific new technology, the main value of the Seiko plan is to provide us with a relatively open communication platform, before the news was too closed, we sometimes do not know the degree of research of others, and we have done a lot of duplicate projects."

There are others next to him who also think so:

"Yes, our factory last month was the first time in the past five years to turn a profit, thanks to Chang Zong's new technology and the platform provided by the Seiko plan."

Chang Haonan turned his head to look, and he remembered that this should be a production person in charge of Jianning 331 Factory, and it should be called Yu Fei.

The latter was quick to explain:

"We spent four months in the first half of the year to update the technology, and carried out a process upgrade on the turboshaft 8A engine, and finally reached a more satisfactory technical index."

"Vortex shaft 8...... It's used on a straight 9, right? ”

Chang Haonan confirmed casually.

Compared with the turbofan engine that has attracted more attention, the turboshaft and turboprop, the two output shaft powers, have received relatively little attention, but in fact, until more than 20 years later, they are still the biggest shortcomings in the field of Huaxia Aviation Power.

"Yes, Z-9, and the civilian model H410."

Yu Fei nodded:

"The original turboshaft 8A, the low cycle life of several key components is only about 40% of the prototype Arriel 1C, not to mention, once it reaches the high temperature weather above 30 °C, the available power will also fall off a cliff, and even the helicopter is very reluctant to take off without load, let alone transport people and goods, which makes users complain."

"Before, Jiangcheng and Yangcheng several cities with good economic development levels originally wanted to purchase a batch of police helicopters, but after contacting Bingcheng, they brought a prototype to test flight, but the result directly scared the customer to use it......"

The crowd around them chuckled.

But there is absolutely no mockery.

If you have to say something, you are self-deprecating.

In fact, similar embarrassing situations are not isolated cases, and it can even be said that almost everyone who is engaged in aviation in this era has encountered similar scenes.

Not to mention the civilian model with more room for users to choose, even the military model will be rejected for acceptance.

"Fortunately, this time it was a coincidence, and the first batch of new engines after our improvement was completed on the assembly line, and two were quickly shipped to replace them, which was barely accepted by customers."

"General aviation is indeed a big market, if this piece can be maintained, the future is definitely promising."

Chang Haonan, who heard this story, was still quite relieved.

After all, users are used to this kind of thing, and it is actually difficult to change it in a short period of time.

In particular, the scale of general aviation users is often not very large, and they are not very sensitive to cost.

So much so that in the previous life until the 2020s, there were almost no domestic models of police helicopters in major cities in China, and most of the market was occupied by companies such as Agusta and Eurocopter.

And now is undoubtedly a good start.

It's a pity that the volume of the Z-9 is really not enough, and the Z-8 model has a big problem from the root, unless the whole aircraft can be redesigned like the later Z-8L, I'm afraid it will be difficult to save it.

In addition, the Lanxiang Machinery Factory, which produces turboshaft 6, can be regarded as a first-class weak even in the aviation power system, and even Chang Haonan almost forgot about it when he wrote the report before.

In short, it can only be said that there is a long way to go.

At this moment, the sound of high heels stomping on the ground came from far and near.

"Director Chang!"

Chang Haonan turned around and found that it was a venue worker.

"Director Chang, our conference is about to start, and Mr. Liang still has some things to confirm with you about the specific agenda, which is ...... in the background."

Looking at the back of Chang Haonan leaving, Liu Yongquan habitually touched his bald head again:

"Mr. Chang is relying on himself to drive our entire industry......"

(End of chapter)