Chapter 600 Bearing, Broken

Not long ago, Marseille, France.

Under Pierre's anxious urging and the pressure of "there may be layoffs 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 No. 02 prototype, which is relatively new and in good condition.

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

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

In fact, up to this point, Pierre was still relatively optimistic.

It’s not that he has any extraordinary trust in the Chinese people, but that another project team, his colleagues, have already used the transmission system design solution provided by Huaxia in AS365N2, which is the second-generation Dolphin improved model. On top of the helicopter.

After testing, it was found that the effect was very good, and it finally solved the problem of the old model being unable to increase the take-off load by further increasing the engine power, and the hovering time was too short.

Of course, the Dolphin project was negotiated directly 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 provided by the same supplier and the technical routes are basically the same, the effects should be similar.

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

In the past nearly two years, Pierre's main energy has not been able to focus on technology at all.

The wrangling between the four partners had already exhausted him mentally and physically, and the unsatisfactory test flight process of the two prototypes only exacerbated the severity of this problem.

As we all know, once something goes wrong in a so-called "cooperation project", it will inevitably involve blame-shifting.

As long as the incident has entered this stage, it would be completely foolish to think about discussing technical issues calmly.

"In contrast, it is more worry-free to be each other's suppliers..."

While Pierre was thinking this, he turned around and looked at the few Chinese engineers standing not far away. He felt that his mood was as smooth as ever.

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

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

Although there seems to be no change at first glance, compared to the other No. 01 prototype a little further away, its essence is completely different.

If you are careful enough, you will find that the engine compartment of the No. 02 aircraft extends wider to both sides, and the springboard door at the tail part is obviously newly replaced, shining with the color of the metal itself.

"Have you specifically checked the condition of the tailgate springboard?"

Although the pre-takeoff checklist had already been sent to the ground crew technicians, and they only needed to follow the items listed above, Pierre still asked the assistant on the radio specifically.

"It was checked before installation, before leaving the factory and just now. There are no problems with the sealing and structural strength."

The assistant replied firmly:

"Although the counterweight of the entire aircraft will be affected to some extent, our fly-by-wire flight control has an automatic trimming function and will not be affected."

In the era of hydraulic flight control, or earlier than that, if a pilot wanted to control an unbalanced aircraft, he often needed extremely high flying skills and took huge risks.

Therefore, at that time, if the aircraft carried bombs under the wings, it was generally impossible to drop just one.

But for computer-controlled fly-by-wire flight controls, these are not problems.

The pilot only needs to ensure that the control stick is centered, and the flight control system will automatically adjust the wing surface to achieve level flight.

The same principle applies to helicopters.

Since this No. 02 prototype is a modified old aircraft, it is naturally impossible to replace all the structural parts of the aircraft, so Pierre thought of replacing the rear tailgate with a lithium-aluminum alloy material first to test the impact on flight performance. What impact will it have.

The Dutch were naturally opposed to changing the material of the fuselage at first, but Pierre was very tough on this matter, and through Le Maire's relationship, he laid out the carbon fiber of dozens of Dutch companies. The contract for the aircraft was transferred to Airbus, and through hard and soft measures, the matter was finally finalized.

"Get ready to take off."

Pierre took a deep breath, inadvertently clenched his hands into fists, propped himself on a table in front of the window, and stared at the helicopter outside and the busy crowd behind the guard.

As a burst of flames erupted from the exhaust of the APU, the rotor of Unit 02 slowly began to rotate.

Because the rotor and front fuselage have not been replaced yet, the noise is still quite obvious after starting.

Even from more than a hundred meters away, you can hear a rhythmic churning sound, which makes people feel slightly uncomfortable.

Originally, everyone was involved in helicopters. After so many years, our ears have long been accustomed to it.

But as soon as he thought of the Chinese Dolphin he saw in Singapore last year, Pierre couldn't help but laugh again.

Wang Xibo, who was next to him, looked at the constipated expression on his face and thought that the old comrade in his fifties couldn't stand the medium-frequency pulse sound, so he leaned into the other person's ear and said very thoughtfully:

"Don't worry, Mr. Pierre. My colleagues are already working overtime to develop the rotor and fuselage. It won't be long before they can be used on the newly manufactured No. 03 prototype."

Having said this, Wang Xibo glanced in another direction involuntarily.

That's Eurocopter's production workshop.

Pierre had taken him in twice before for guidance.

It must be said that the production environment and equipment level completely overwhelm Bingfei Group, which makes it hard not to be jealous.

Although his intentions were good, Pierre's face turned ugly because he was distressed at the thought that his helicopter design level was not as good as that of China. His words did not have a consoling effect, but the last hit made it stronger.

"..."

Pierre's lips moved.

He could also guess that the other party had some misunderstanding, but he really didn't know what to say.

In the end, I had to respond with silence.

But his face seemed darker.

Wang Xibo found that his persuasion had no effect and did not continue. He just took 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 up from the ground, and flew into the air.

This No. 02 prototype has flown for hundreds of hours, so there is no need to repeat all the subjects again.

Therefore, after performing a few simple actions such as flying forward, backward, left, and right, a deeper test soon began.

For a moment, the only sounds in the radio channel of ground-to-air communications were the commander issuing flight instructions and the pilot responding.

For nearly half an hour, the pilot did not specifically report the condition of the transmission system.

Pierre's mood also gradually became relieved as the helicopter's increasingly large-scale flight movements became larger and larger.

Just like for a car, the best gearbox is one that makes people unable to feel that the gearbox is working. The highest level of the helicopter transmission system is that the pilot cannot detect its existence.

Therefore, when he saw that the helicopter had entered a hovering attitude and was preparing to conduct the last test of the day, the test of different outputs of the bilateral engines, Pierre had even thought about what he would drink to celebrate tonight.

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

"The pilot reported an abnormal temperature of the reducer lubricant."

The voice on the radio suddenly became urgent, causing Pierre's heart to shrink suddenly as he was already in a relaxed state.

He almost stumbled to the front of the command podium and asked the pilot directly about the specific situation.

The report obtained is that the problem does not appear to be serious, because the abnormal point is the side that has done more work in the current test. It is entirely possible that it is a "normal abnormal situation"——

Because the input power of the engines on both sides of the current test is unbalanced, it is originally an emergency state.

The expected abnormal situations that occurred in this state are actually considered normal for test flights.

Just when Pierre was hesitating, Wang Xibo, who had just learned the whole story from the interpreter, came over and pressed on the Pierre's shoulder:

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

"According to our design, even if the output power of one side is 0 and the other side is outputting at full emergency power, there should be no problem with the lubricating oil."

Pierre is a person who mainly listens to advice.

Since the supplier of the transmission system had advised abort, he just went down the slope and asked the pilot to prepare for landing.

"Come on, let's go over and check and see what the problem is."

Abnormal oil temperature is just like a human fever, it is just a "phenomenon"

There may be many reasons for the phenomenon.

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

The NH90 project can be regarded as one of China’s two model projects for “going global” in the helicopter field.

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

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

But on the surface, he still maintained his calm.

The atmosphere in the entire flight control center also changed from the light and relaxed atmosphere just now, to becoming depressing.

When the group of people circled around and arrived at the tarmac, the helicopter had completed all landing procedures, and the ground crew had set up the maintenance frame and were ready to climb up and dismantle the entire engine compartment.

Because the engine has just stopped, it will take a while for this process to be serious.

Seeing this, Wang Xibo and Pierre had no choice but to learn the details from the three pilots.

Both of them were very nervous at this time.

The former is not a senior expert in transmission. If the problem is too complicated, it is likely that the cause of the failure will not be determined until after communicating with the country.

As for the latter, if this cooperation with China goes wrong again, the NH90 project will really be ruined.

However, the two people's fear did not last long.

The ground crew had little trouble identifying the source of the problem.

"Dr. Pierre."

His deputy stood on the maintenance frame and shouted:

"The shafting support bearing of this main reducer is broken!"