Chapter 1055 Business Jet for Military Use?

However, Rob Boudin obviously did not notice Edsteiner's emo.

For him, who was only responsible for the test flight mission, his lifelong interest was to explore the performance limit of a model, and he was not very willing to care about the conflicts of interest in the research and development process.

Therefore, after a pause, he continued:

"In fact, as far as I personally feel, this aircraft is far from reaching its limit. If it performs a shallow dive during the test flight according to the original plan, it should be able to break through to a higher speed..."

Rob stretched out his hand and gestured a downward dive in mid-air.

This somewhat crazy proposal directly frightened Edsteiner, and he said in his heart that you test pilots are really not afraid of death-

He did think of cheating by shallow dives at first, but that was because according to the estimate at the time, the Falcon 8Z was too large and had a thick fuselage, and the maximum airspeed in level flight could not even reach Mach 0.9.

In this case, taking advantage of the tailwind to do a shallow dive to accelerate, the risk is still within the controllable range.

But now, the actual flight result is almost 40km/h faster than the original calculation.

Although this number is not very high when calculated according to the proportion, it is even less than 5%.

But this is the transonic range.

It is no exaggeration to say that the impact of every 1km/h speed change on the airflow and structure is unpredictable.

At least it is unpredictable for Edsteiner.

It would be fine if it kept flying level.

After all, there is no longitudinal overload. Even if the speed is found to enter the danger zone, it can be achieved by slowly reducing the throttle to achieve a gentle deceleration.

At least there will be no major problems such as aircraft destruction and death.

But if it enters a dive state, it will be hard to say when it needs to level off.

What if the rudder is locked or even the wing is pulled off...

Edsteiner just thought about this direction a little bit and felt a chill on his back.

If nothing unexpected happens, Falcon Z will be the last important project he is responsible for in his career.

Now that the big pie that was drawn back then has been fulfilled, the remaining task is to ensure that the model can be landed smoothly and achieve commercial success.

He is too old to do risky things.

"No need."

Edsteiner decisively refused:

"It is enough to meet the maximum speed and minimum speed tests. Now that the design index of 0.92 has been exceeded, the focus of subsequent tests should be shifted to the allowable envelope range at this speed, rather than blindly continuing to accelerate."

"Moreover, according to our flight control program settings, no matter under any circumstances, the aircraft will sound an alarm and automatically enter the deceleration program if the airspeed exceeds 0.9 Mach."

While speaking, he connected the data recorder that Robb had just brought to the dedicated reading device, preparing to personally confirm the test flight data, and then cut out a more eye-catching section from it and take it out as promotional materials.

"Hmm?"

Rob was stunned:

"There is such a restriction?"

"Well... we learned from some typical air crashes in the past and added it specifically."

Edsteiner's answer was a bit ambiguous, and he obviously didn't want to continue to dwell on this topic:

"Of course it was not installed during the test flight. You test pilots definitely don't need these... But it's hard to say for pilots of commercial airlines... Including the dive you just mentioned, in the future, it may also limit large-angle climbs and dives from the flight control level."

Rob next to him suddenly showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

We are all in the same circle.

At this point, how can we not guess what the reason is.

"Anyway, remember to arrange it as soon as possible..."

Just when Edsteiner was about to end this conversation, another voice came from behind:

"In fact, Charles, based on our analysis of the engine working data in this test flight, SeA650 still has the potential for further thrust increase..."

The two turned around and saw Ian Vista walking out of a small compartment next to them.

"Of course I know that."

Edsteiner looked as if it was a matter of course:

"But the Falcon 8Z is already the largest model in the entire series. Even if a new engine with a higher thrust is designed, it can probably only be used for regional aircraft..."

Obviously, he misunderstood.

He thought the other party was saying that based on the same core engine, a product with a higher thrust level could be designed.

This is indeed reasonable.

After all, SeA650 can essentially be regarded as a non-afterburning model with a small bypass ratio.

Even if nothing else is changed, just replace it with a larger fan, the thrust can be increased to 9-10 tons.

It's just that there is no suitable installation object.

But Vesta shook his head:

"It's not a redesign... I mean, judging from the performance, the SeA650 itself can still squeeze out some extra thrust, but it is currently limited by the engine control program."

"Of course, what I see here can only be regarded as some superficial appearances. The specific situation still needs to seek the opinions of the Chinese partners..."

Edsteiner couldn't help but curl his lips, subconsciously wanting to complain whether the other party calling China a "partner" was a bit inaccurate.

But as I spoke, I remembered the situation of Falcon 8Z, and felt that I didn't have any position to criticize others.

Finally he swallowed it.

Robb next to him immediately began to look forward to the opportunity to further achieve higher level flight airspeed, but then he remembered that Ed Steiner had made it clear that there was no need for this, and for a moment he didn't know what to say...

The atmosphere between the three people actually fell silent...

…

Fortunately, just when Vesta felt a little embarrassed for causing a cold scene, another figure appeared at the door of the hangar and walked in hastily.

Said Cao Cao Cao Cao has arrived.

It was Liu Yongquan who came to inspect the test flight on behalf of China.

Vesta breathed a sigh of relief and rushed forward to ask about the feasibility of further increasing the thrust of the SeA650 engine.

"Liu, take a look at this data."

He thrust several charts into Liu Yongquan's hands:

"Even at the very edge of the flight envelope, the peak vibration data measured by the sensor is still only about three-quarters of the maximum allowable amount. If this is the case, why can't a higher speed limit be opened at the control program level?"

The latter came here this time because he received news from Chang Haonan and was going to discuss the feasibility of expanding the Falcon Z market with Ed Steiner.

As a result, as soon as I walked in, I was asked a technical question.

So much so that I was a little confused at first.

It wasn't until I took the chart and looked at it for a while that I finally came back to my senses.

Immediately afterwards, he showed a slightly embarrassed expression——

Because this speed limit was specially added by Chang Haonan.

Under normal operating conditions of the SeA650, because the rotor bearing at the No. 1 fulcrum was replaced with a non-contact magnetic bearing, the vibration situation has indeed improved. As Vesta said, the engine speed can be increased by another 5 %about.

Considering that this is the first time that magnetic bearings have been put into practical use, in order to ensure foolproofness, backup rotor bearings and corresponding mechanical actuation systems are installed.

And if the speed is further increased, the magnetic bearing does not matter, but this set of mechanical backup is likely to be unable to withstand it.

But the fundamental reason for such a slightly awkward design is that Chang Haonan regarded SeA650 as a guinea pig for technical verification.

How could he explain this to the other party?

"Ahem——"

Liu Yongquan looked away with a guilty conscience. At the same time, his brain was spinning rapidly and he began to formulate words:

"The design indicators of the SeA series engines are set according to the needs of Party A...that is, Dassault. When the performance is sufficient, the main purpose is to retain a larger safety margin. There is no need to pursue more extreme paper data. …”

Then he looked at Ed Steiner not far away:

"Is that so, Doctor?"

The latter was a little surprised to be cueed suddenly, but Liu Yongquan's answer met his request of not wanting to cause any complications, so he nodded immediately;

"That's right."

"In the just-completed test flight, the Falcon 8Z has already reached an airspeed of Mach 0.92. Further increasing the thrust will reduce the cost performance and have a negative impact on safety..."

"..."

After a lot of hesitation, the two finally managed to deal with Vesta and Robb, who were obsessed with pursuing the ultimate.

"call--"

Ed Steiner sighed and shook his head helplessly:

"How come these people who are engaged in aviation development have no concept of risk control in their minds..."

After I finished speaking, I realized that the situation seemed not quite right, so I quickly made up my mind:

"Oh...Sorry, I'm not talking about you..."

"It doesn't matter……"

Liu Yongquan didn't care about these minutiae. After confirming that there was no one else nearby, he quickly switched to the main topic of his trip:

"Doctor, I came here specifically because I received a request from my superiors to ask if your company has any plans to enter the Falcon 8Z into the military market?"

According to his thoughts, his hint was already very obvious.

When business jets enter the military field, apart from changing them into special aircraft platforms, is there another way?

It should be said that if Ed Steiner was from another company, there is a high probability that he would indeed understand what Liu Yongquan meant.

However.

He is from Dassault.

Dassault, business jets, military.

When these three keywords were put together, the other party's sixty-year-old comrade's train of thought was instantly diverted.

"Military market?"

Ed Steiner had a "You're not kidding me" expression on his face:

"Falcon 8Z does have the option of an all-weather optoelectronic system, but that's..."

Having said this, he subconsciously glanced in both directions, and then lowered his voice a bit:

"That is to transfer the technology of the Damocles pod to you... No normal users will choose to install it... And in the 21st century, there will no longer be madmen who install two missiles on business jets for low-altitude penetration..."