Not so long ago, France, Marseille.

Under Pierre's anxious urging and the pressure of "layoffs may be made if the project is gone", the work efficiency of the entire NH90 project team has improved a lot.

According to the technical information provided by Huaxia, the transmission system has been manufactured and installed on the relatively new and relatively good condition of the No. 02 prototype.

When it comes to aviation project research and development, the process is basically the same all over the world.

The next step is definitely to prepare for the test flight.

In fact, until this point, Pierre was still relatively optimistic.

It's not that he has any extraordinary trust in Huaxia, but another project team, that is, his colleagues, has used the transmission system design provided by Huaxia in the AS365N2, that is, the second-generation Dolphin improved helicopter.

After testing, it was found that the effect was very good, and finally solved the problem that the old model could not increase the take-off load by further increasing the engine power, and the hovering time was too short.

Of course, the dolphin project was directly discussed with the Torch Group, not the Bingfei Group, so it was naturally not included in the NH90 cooperation.

However, in Pierre's view, since they are all solutions from the same supplier and the technical route is basically the same, the effect should be similar.

Therefore, on the morning of the day when the ground test was over and ready for the test flight, he felt a rare sense of joy.

For the past two years, Pierre's main focus has not been on technology.

The four partners had already exhausted him, and the not-so-smooth flight test of the two prototypes had exacerbated the problem.

As we all know, once something goes wrong with the so-called "cooperation project", it will inevitably involve throwing the blame.

And as long as the incident has reached this stage, it is completely foolish to discuss technical issues calmly.

"In contrast, this way of being each other's suppliers is more worry-free......

While thinking so, Pierre turned his head to look at a few Huaxia engineers standing not far away, and felt that his mood was unprecedentedly smooth.

"Dr. Pierre, the aviation department reports that all preparations for take-off have been completed."

A voice over the radio interrupted his thoughts, causing him to refocus his gaze on the silver-gray helicopter on the tarmac outside the window.

Although at first glance it may not seem to have changed, its essence is completely different compared to the other prototype 01 a little further away.

If you look closely enough, you will notice that the engine compartment of the No. 02 extends wider to the sides, and the gangplank door in the tail section is clearly newly replaced, shimmering with the color of the metal itself.

"The situation of the tailgate springboard has been specially checked, right?"

Although the pre-takeoff checklist had already been sent to the ground technician, as long as the items listed above were carried out in order, Pierre still asked the assistant on the radio side.

"I checked before installation, before leaving the factory, and just now, and there is no problem with the tightness and structural strength."

The assistant replied in a firm tone:

"Although the counterweight of the whole machine will be affected somewhat, our fly-by-wire flight controller has an automatic trim function and will not be affected."

In the days of hydraulic flight control, or even earlier, pilots who wanted to operate an unbalanced aircraft often required extremely high flying skills and took huge risks.

Therefore, at that time, if an airplane carried a bomb under the wings, it was generally impossible to drop a single one.

But for computer-controlled fly-by-wire flight controllers, none of this is a problem.

The pilot only needs to keep the control stick centered, and the flight control system will automatically adjust the wing surface to achieve horizontal flight.

It's the same with helicopters.

Since this No. 02 prototype is a modification of the old aircraft, it is naturally impossible to replace all the structural parts of the aircraft, so Pierre thought of changing the rear tailgate made of lithium aluminum alloy first to test how much impact it will have on flight performance.

The Dutch were naturally opposed to the change of materials for the fuselage at first, but Pierre was very tough on this matter, and through the relationship between Le Maire, the contract for dozens of carbon fiber pavers of the Dutch company was transferred to Airbus.

"Prepare for takeoff."

Pierre took a deep breath and inadvertently clenched his hands into fists, propped himself up on a table in front of the window, watching the helicopter outside and the busy crowd of account guards.

As a burst of flames erupted after the APU was exhausted, the rotors of the No. 02 slowly turned.

Because the rotors and the front fuselage have not yet been replaced, the noise is still noticeable after starting.

Even if you are more than 100 meters away, you can hear a rhythmic sudden sound, which makes people feel a little uncomfortable.

Originally, everyone was engaged in helicopters, and after so many years, the ears have long been used to it.

But as soon as he remembered the Chinese dolphin he saw in Singapore last year, Pierre couldn't laugh again.

And Wang Xibo next to him looked at him with a constipated expression, and thought that it was an old comrade in his fifties who couldn't stand this kind of mid-frequency pulsing sound, so he leaned into the other party's ear and said very intimately:

"Don't worry, Mr. Pierre, my colleagues are already working overtime on the rotor and fuselage, and it is estimated that it will not be long before it can be used on the newly built prototype 03."

Speaking of this, Wang Xibo's eyes involuntarily glanced in the other direction.

That's the Eurocopter production workshop.

Pierre had taken him in twice before, in order to guide the work.

It must be said that the production environment and equipment level completely crushed Bingfei Group, which makes it difficult not to blush.

Although his intentions were good, Pierre's ugly face was originally because he was saddened by the thought that his helicopter design level was not as good as Huaxia.

“……”

Pierre's lips moved.

He could also guess that the other party should have misunderstood, but he really didn't know what to say.

In the end, I had to go silent.

It's just that his face seems to be darker.

Wang Xibo found that his persuasion had no effect, and he did not continue, but just fished out a sound-isolating earphone from the side and handed it to Pierre.

The latter took a deep breath.

But I put it on anyway.

Just as the two of them were playing a small theater in their hearts, the helicopter on the tarmac had accumulated enough power, roared from the ground, and flew into the air.

The prototype 02 has been flying for hundreds of hours, and there is no need to redo all the subjects.

Therefore, after a few simple maneuvers, such as flying forward, backward, left, right, and left, it was not long before the test began to go deeper.

For a time, in the radio channel of ground-to-air communications, there was only the sound of the commander giving flight orders and the pilots replying to orders.

For nearly half an hour that followed, the pilots did not specifically report on the drivetrain.

Pierre's mood gradually calmed down as the helicopter flew on a larger scale.

Just as the best gearbox for a car is one that doesn't feel like it's working, the helicopter drivetrain is the highest level that the pilot doesn't notice it.

So, when he saw that the helicopter had entered a hovering position and was ready to carry out the last test of the day, the different output of the bilateral engines, Pierre had even thought about what to drink tonight to celebrate.

However, it turns out that champagne can not be opened in advance.

"The pilot reported an abnormal temperature of the reducer lubricating oil."

The voice on the radio suddenly became rapid, and Pierre's heart, which had already entered a relaxed state, suddenly shrank.

He almost stumbled in front of the command station and asked the pilot directly about the situation.

The report was that the problem did not appear to be serious, because the point where the abnormality occurred was the side that had more effort in the current test, and it was entirely possible that it was a "normal anomaly"-

Because the input power of the two engines currently tested is unbalanced, it is originally an emergency.

And the expected anomalies in this state are actually normal for test flights.

Just when Pierre hesitated, Wang Xibo, who had just learned what had happened from the translator, came over and pressed on the former's shoulder:

"Dr. Pierre, I recommend that this project be discontinued immediately."

"According to our design, even if the output power on one side is 0 and the other side is fully output with emergency power, the lubricating oil should not be a problem."

Pierre is a person who focuses on listening to persuasion.

Since the supplier of the transmission system said that it was recommended to stop, he also got off the donkey directly down the slope and asked the pilot to prepare for landing directly.

"Let's go check and see what the problem is."

The abnormal temperature of the lubricating oil, like a human fever, is just a "phenomenon"

There can be many reasons for this.

Wang Xibo was even more anxious than Pierre at this time.

The NH90 project is one of the two model projects for Huaxia to "go global" in the field of helicopters.

If something really goes wrong on their side, it will have an immeasurable negative impact on the reputation of Bingfei Group and even Huaxia Aviation Industry.

This made Wang Xibo's mind a little messy for a while.

On the surface, though, he remained calm.

The atmosphere in the entire flight command center has also changed from the brisk and relaxed just now, and has become depressing.

When the group circled around to the tarmac, the helicopter had completed all the landing procedures, and the ground crew had set up the maintenance rack, ready to climb up and disassemble the engine compartment.

Since the engine had just stopped, it would take a while for the process to get serious.

Seeing this, Wang Xibo and Pierre had to learn the details of the time from the three pilots first.

Both of them were very worried at this time.

The former is not a senior expert in transmission, and if the problem is too complex, it is likely that the cause of the failure can only be determined after communicating with China.

For the latter, if this cooperation with Huaxia is lost, the NH90 project is afraid that it will really be ruined.

However, the fear of the two did not last long.

The ground crew found the root cause of the problem with little effort.

"Dr. Pierre."

His deputy, standing on top of the maintenance rack, shouted:

"The shafting bearing of this final reducer, it's broken!"

(End of chapter)