Chapter 973 This thing is really ugly
"Well, my dear general, this matter is settled. Don't worry, there is still a lot of time. We need to find the next opportunity and our white gloves need to be prepared for action. And how to find these opportunities is what you need to focus on." The civil servant raised the coffee in his hand, gestured to the general, and took a sip.
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"Boss Gao, a comrade is looking for you."

When Gao Zhendong and several other comrades were furiously writing a steel material manual, a comrade from the internal security department came over with two other comrades.

Those who can find my office directly are most likely from the Defense Work Committee, and they must have undertaken very important tasks.

Gao Zhendong asked the comrades from the Third Factory to leave first. Anyway, the matter of the steel manual was not urgent. Those that had been taken out now, the Third Factory, the Third Rolling Mill and the Beijing Steel Plant were still working hard to verify them. It was like they had been fed too much at once and they felt a little overwhelmed.

As soon as the visitor opened his mouth, Gao Zhendong was reminded of the wonderful man Lao Duan from the Northeast Carbon Research Institute, whom he had not seen for a while. In the past year, except for receiving gifts from him during the New Year and other festivals, he had not seen him.

The accents of these two visitors reminded him of this man from Northeast China. As for Mr. Wang from Northeast Aerospace Engineering Institute, he is not from Northeast China and does not speak with this accent.

"Hello, Chief Engineer Gao. This time we are here to copy the MiG-21." The leader of the group was named Huang, and he was one of the persons in charge of the copying of the MiG-21.

Gao Zhendong was overjoyed when he heard this. It finally started? As far as he knew in his previous life, the imitation of the MiG-21 should have started last year. Why it was a little late in this line was unknown.

"Welcome, welcome. Please take a seat." Gao Zhendong turned around to make tea, but Mr. Huang's next sentence made Gao Zhendong realize that he was wrong.

"The MiG-21 prototypes, kits, and information we received this time are very detailed. It took us a long time to digest and absorb them, so the overall work has only just begun, and that's why I came to visit you."

It turns out that this aircraft was quickly copied in the previous life. The main reason was not good news - the Russians did not provide us with all the aircraft kits or the complete set of technical data we ordered. They were swallowed up due to the deterioration of relations.

This meant that the imitation of the MiG-21 began with only a small number of prototypes and kits and an extreme lack of information.

Since there was not much to learn, it would definitely be sooner to start the imitation process. The sooner we started the imitation process, the sooner we could figure out the tricks and twists and turns involved. By 65, we would have copied the aircraft and built a prototype.

Under such harsh conditions, this speed can be said to be fast, but there are many things in the process that can only be copied, and the principles behind them are not very clear.

In fact, it was not until the 80s that we really got to know the MiG-21, but by then it was too late and the skies were already dominated by aircraft such as the F-15, 16, 18, Su-27 and MiG-29.

But this life is different. For various reasons, the Russians were very real this time and handed over all the prototypes, kits, and technical data intact. This made the Northeastern men in charge of the imitation fall into a happy trouble.

It's too much.

You have to know that even for the line that Gao Zhendong knew in his previous life, we were self-reliant in the absence of information, and we came up with a total of 26 new alloys, coatings and other new materials, tested and mastered 46 new technologies and new processes, as well as titanium alloy one-piece molding and other technologies, before we managed to build this aircraft, and it was not very good.

One can imagine how much energy and time it takes to digest the complete set of information.

It can be said that this is already very fast. The time spent in the front has the effect of sharpening the tools before doing the work well, which is beneficial for the actual work later.

"Wow, that's amazing! This plane must be much more complicated than the MiG-19, right?" Gao Zhendong pretended not to know.

"Indeed, it is too complicated. It took us a long time to basically understand it. The current situation is like this. If we want to copy it directly, we have basically met the conditions for copying it. We have even started some of the preliminary work."

The Northeast adopted a method of digesting and preparing at the same time, mobilizing aviation-related factories across the country to work together to complete this task, and the preliminary work was prepared relatively quickly.

After all, no matter how complex the MiG-21 is, it is still a second-generation aircraft, and its complexity is limited compared to later aircraft.

"So, if we want to copy it, it will be quick?"

"Yes, because we have a complete set of information and a large number of prototype kits, this is somewhat different from surveying and copying, and the speed is much faster."

Surveying and mapping replication requires a lot of effort, and you often have to start over because you know the results but not the reasons.

"So what's the decision about imitation now?" Gao Zhendong asked with a smile. Since Mr. Huang specifically mentioned "if it is directly copied in its entirety", it means there must be other options behind it. After all, when Gao Zhendong decided to copy the MiG-21 as an interceptor fighter, he laid some hooks and baits.

"It has not been decided yet. We are seeking opinions from all parties." Mr. Huang also smiled and was very happy. Everyone likes to do this kind of multiple-choice question with a relatively good backup option. The worst case scenario is to copy it completely. Anyway, the MiG-21 is not bad. This is 62, and the MiG-21 looks really good.

After that, he introduced: "In fact, after digesting the technical data of the MiG-21F's R-11F300 engine, our comrades at the Northeast Aerospace Development Institute clearly stated that they are confident that their thrust can be increased by at least 10%. As a result, we have more ideas and are greedy, haha."

"Are you ready to do it higher and faster?" Gao Zhendong asked with a smile.

"No, no, no. We think the double 2 interception indicators you proposed at the meeting are sufficient. What we want to do is to use the increased thrust to improve other performance, such as climb rate, acceleration, etc., as well as onboard equipment. After all, the performance of an aircraft is not as simple as top speed and altitude. As for altitude and speed, we will improve as much as possible while these are met. At least we need to ensure that it does not decline."

It seems that Mr. Huang and his team have also thought deeply and conducted comprehensive research, and their considerations in this regard are very thoughtful.

In fact, after reaching a certain limit, it is very difficult to increase the aircraft's top speed and altitude. Instead of increasing the top speed by a tiny bit to achieve the required flight speed with afterburner, it is better to transfer the engine's improvement to other capabilities.

When many aircraft are improved, even though the engine thrust is greatly increased, the altitude and speed remain the same. This is the reason.

"Mr. Huang is absolutely right." Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

"Boss Gao, I remember when planning the three levels and three types of fighter jets, you said that the nose space of the MiG-21 could be greatly expanded without affecting the aircraft's speed and air intake, right?"

This is the main reason why Mr. Huang came here.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes, that's what happened."

Mr. Huang clapped his hands and laughed: "That's great. Mr. Gao, you don't know that the new radar you and your comrades are working on is not yet finished, but after looking at the current parameters, we are envious. If we can install this thing on the MiG-21, it will be the overlord of the sky, at least in terms of detection. But when we look at this plane, we really can't find a place to install it."

"Actually, my idea is just a thought process, and the details haven't been elaborated yet," said Gao Zhendong.

But Mr. Huang didn't care and was very happy: "The idea is good! What we lack now is the idea. The specific engineering implementation is not that difficult. After all, we have wind tunnels, detailed data, and experience in working with the interceptor type of the Zhan-6. The idea is the most important."

As long as you have a technical route, you don’t have to worry about the details, and you can’t worry about it. After all, Gao Zhendong can’t get involved in the specific work.

"Okay, you see, this is my idea." Gao Zhendong drew a schematic diagram of the lower jaw air intake on paper. This diagram came from the Zhan-7FS model that was not further developed in the previous life. Although it was not further developed, this aircraft had a prototype and completed all test flight missions and obtained a large amount of flight data, proving that this path is feasible.

While the engine thrust has been increased and the aircraft has gained weight due to various improvements, the overall flight performance of the aircraft has remained unchanged, but some performance has been greatly improved, such as the maximum climb rate has increased by 40% and the 0.6~1 Mach acceleration has decreased by 20%.

While getting a big nose, getting these upgrades proves that this path is still effective. But when this thing was tested, the Tenth Master was almost done, so the Air Force naturally didn't like it.

Looking at the graphics that flowed out from Gao Zhendong's pen, Huang finally understood why Gao Zhendong said "it will just be a little ugly" at the meeting. This thing is really ugly.

"It looks a bit like the F-8 Crusader of the Citigroup, but the size of the air intake and the proportion of the nose are more radical. We really didn't think in this direction. We always felt that it would greatly affect the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft, and we always felt that it was impossible to change the air intake from the nose to the chin."

The scope of this air intake method is quite wide, and the comrades who were holding a brand new machine did not dare to think about it in that direction.

Old Attack-5: Actually, it’s not that big.

F-8, the Citigroup's carrier-based supersonic fighter, has a typical chin-mounted air intake. If this aircraft is not very famous and most people don't know it, then its son is more famous, the A-7 subsonic attack aircraft.

Gao Zhendong smiled and said: "In fact, the impact is not much, and it is generally acceptable. Especially if AECC can improve the engine by more than 10%, then there will be more hope."

The size and details of the picture he drew are very particular. He tried his best to restore the proportions through pictures from various channels. Although it cannot be said to be exactly the same as FS, at least there will be no problem with the general direction and it is very instructive.

(End of this chapter)