Lawrence Bell was overjoyed when he heard this and understood that Fang Lang was trying to fulfill his promise. It seemed that it was a good idea for him to agree to Harvard University authorizing him.
As a businessman, of course the higher the sales of his Bell Aircraft Manufacturing Company, the happier he would be. He would not refuse at this time and said directly to the middle-aged white man who had just been responsible for arranging the test flight:
"Arthur, how many Bell 47s do we have in stock right now?"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged white man named Arthur walked up quickly, opened a folder in his hand, glanced at the two of them, and saw that Lawrence Bell had no intention of covering up, so he faced them directly. humane:
"Boss, our Bell 47 has obtained the airworthiness certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, but its use needs to be further developed. The factory does not dare to mass-produce it. The entire company only has twenty units in stock."
When Lawrence Bell heard what this guy said, he felt a little regretful. He would have just told him to report the numbers directly, so why talk so much.
Fang Lang on the side just smiled when he heard this. Planes are no better than cars. Not every private person will buy one as a means of transportation. There are many aviation clubs in the United States. As a new type of aircraft, helicopters may have a lot of club feel. Interest, buy him back to train drivers, or attract club members, but large-scale purchases are obviously unlikely.
This is destined that his output will not be very high. Similarly, things are rare and expensive, and Fang Lang can almost predict that the price of this aircraft will definitely not be cheap.
】
Therefore, he said directly:
"If I take all this inventory, I wonder what unit price Mr. Bell is going to sell it to me?"
Lawrence Bell, who was complaining about his men's talkativeness, turned to look at Fang Lang with surprise when he heard this, and said eagerly:
"Fang, are you serious?
The unit price of our Bell 47 is US$50,000. If you are really interested in getting my entire inventory, I can give you a 20% discount. What do you think? "
Fang Lang couldn't help but take a breath when he heard this quotation. Fifty thousand US dollars was not a small amount. In this era when two thousand US dollars can buy a car, fifty thousand US dollars is estimated to be as much as two or three million US dollars in later generations. The U.S. dollar is not much different, right?
This made Fang Lang, who was ready to be stabbed severely, couldn't help but secretly click his tongue.
However, he also knew in his heart that the price was not deliberately high. It must be a normal market price. After all, this is the first civilian helicopter in the world to obtain an airworthiness certificate.
The research and development costs have not yet been recovered, so it is normal to set a high price.
In fact, according to the information found by the author, in 1959, in order to broadcast traffic conditions on American highways in real time, American radio stations purchased a Bell 47 to monitor highway conditions. The purchase price at that time was US$50,000.
However, the fakeness of this aircraft can be calculated at a glance. The entire aircraft has a simple structure and uses a piston engine. According to Fang Lang's estimation, the production cost will never exceed that of a car.
This means that the cost of this aircraft will not exceed two thousand US dollars, and the gross profit margin is as high as over 960%. No wonder the aircraft manufacturing industry is said to be a high value-added industry. At this moment, Fang Lang had a profound understanding.
"Mr. Bell, I have a heartfelt request. Should I take it seriously?"
Lawrence Bell understood that Fang Lang wanted to negotiate terms. He thought Fang Lang meant to continue bargaining. In business negotiations, he didn't think there was any problem. He just nodded slightly and said:
"Fang, if you have anything to say, please say it!"
Fang Lang only hesitated for a moment before speaking directly:
"If I purchase fifty aircraft at one time, I wonder if I can obtain the production authorization from your company?"
This request was obviously beyond Lawrence Bell's expectations. He frowned slightly and looked at Fang Lang with burning eyes. He was a little confused as to why Fang Lang wanted to obtain the Bell 47 production authorization.
In fact, although this helicopter has obtained the airworthiness certificate of civil aviation, the aircraft has not opened up sales, mainly because the practical prospects are not yet clear, and even they themselves have not yet figured out what this aircraft can be used for.
After the US military purchased 28 aircraft for evaluation, there is still no news, although the company has been trying every means to conduct public relations.
However, the Bell 47 is not a fighter jet and cannot directly cause direct damage to the enemy. The military does not yet have a clear idea of its use. Therefore, the efficiency of the military's assessment is very low, and their company's public relations progress is also slow.
"It seems that Mr. Fang is very optimistic about the prospects of Bell 47, right?"
Of course Fang Lang would not deny this. After all, he also wanted to get the other party's support in the Harvard University authorization matter.
Therefore, he said without hesitation:
"Yes, Mr. Bell, I am very optimistic about this product of your company. Since it can obtain the airworthiness certificate of civil aviation, it means that it has the opportunity to have broad prospects in the civil market.
Our family owns an aircraft manufacturing company in Brazil and has been engaged in aircraft modification business. We really want to get the opportunity to enter the civil aviation field. "
Lawrence Bell didn't expect that Fang Lang would come prepared. His family had a factory engaged in aircraft modification business. No wonder he wanted to obtain production authorization from his own company.
It seems that this guy is very ambitious! However, he did not reject Fang Lang's request directly. Instead, after thinking for a moment, he slowly said:
"It's not impossible to authorize production to your company, but you have to understand that since the Bell 47 project was established in 1941, it has gone through nearly six years of research and development before it finally has the current product.
Our company has invested a lot of energy and cost in it, and it is impossible for us to easily authorize production to other companies without recovering the cost.
Therefore, you must be able to show enough sincerity to impress me. "
Seeing that the other party did not reject him directly at the first time, Fang Lang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he was not rejected directly, it meant that there was still hope.
“Of course, I have always respected the value of intellectual property, which is why I am contacting Harvard University through you.
Knowledge is wealth. I can feel the efforts your company has put into developing the Bell 47.
I am also willing to pay for knowledge, but I don’t know what kind of sincerity I need to use to impress Mr. Bell. "
Lawrence Bell burst out laughing when he heard this. He felt that Fang Lang was very candid in his speech. He liked communicating with the other party very much. He did not make any pretense and beat around the bush and said directly:
"To be honest, we are a little confused about the future prospects of Bell 47 now. As we said before, although it is very suitable for aerial reconnaissance, its approximately zero protection capability makes it difficult for it to adapt to the battlefield environment.
In the civilian field, the short range, small load capacity, and high price make it really impossible to compete with fixed-wing aircraft.
Therefore, our sales of Bell 47 have not been good so far.
I am very curious about why you are optimistic about his prospects. I wonder if you can tell me what practical areas you have arranged for him.
If your solution can open up a new practical idea for my products, I am willing to authorize your factory to produce this Bell 47. "
From Lawrence Bell's words, Fang Lang could feel the pressure that the other party was under. Obviously, he invested a lot in developing this product, but now he has not achieved the success he wanted.
It made him feel a little impatient.
This time I just asked to come to his helicopter factory to have a look, and he agreed without hesitation to the Harvard University authorization, which shows that the sales pressure of Bell 47 is now very huge.
In fact, Bell Aircraft Company's financial situation was not ideal. If it hadn't been for the sudden outbreak of the Peninsular War, which gave them a large number of orders, it would have been difficult for their company to persist.
Later, even though the Peninsula War greatly increased their sales and improved their financial situation slightly, they did not persist for long. In 1960, they were finally acquired by Textron Corporation, also a Boston consortium.
Of course, Fang Lang didn't know this, but he could feel the pressure on Lawrence Bell from his attitude. Obviously, if the other party cannot immediately expand the sales of its products, his company may be unable to make ends meet.
This is obviously an opportunity for Fang Lang. As for the practical aspects that the other party wanted to know about him, Fang Lang didn't mind telling the other party directly.
"If Mr. Bell is interested, of course I can tell you!
Our group has a grain group in Brazil that is conducting large-scale mechanized agricultural experiments. It was originally planning to modify some fixed-wing aircraft to carry out pesticide spraying operations.
But you also know that the flying height and flying speed of fixed-wing aircraft are limited, and the spraying effect on farmland is not particularly ideal.
After seeing this helicopter today, I thought of modifying it and adding a sprinkler head in front of the nose. The 400kg load capacity is also very suitable for loading pesticides and spraying pesticides. "
Lawrence Bell's eyes lit up when he heard this. The United States is the leader in large-scale agriculture! Since Fang Lang can promote it in Brazil, of course he can also promote it in the United States.
If they can really open up this market, they don't have to worry about the sales of their products.
Moreover, not only farms that grow crops can purchase helicopters for operations, but large cattle farms can also purchase helicopters for grazing!
Unexpectedly, the products produced by ourselves have the potential to become agricultural machinery. Doesn’t this open up ideas?
“It’s a good direction. If it can be realized, it will definitely open up sales for our products.
In this case, I agree that you need to obtain the production authorization, but the premise is that your company must purchase at least thirty more Bell 47s from our company, that is, a total of fifty aircraft, before we can authorize you to obtain the production authorization, and you will produce Products cannot be sold within the United States. "
Fang Lang was overjoyed when he heard this. This was really an unexpected gain. He didn't expect that he and the other party were originally discussing joint school running. Unexpectedly, they negotiated two authorizations, authorizing the reproduction of Harvard University's school running method.
He unexpectedly obtained a ticket to the helicopter field that he had always wanted to enter. This trip is truly worthwhile!
"No problem, but of the thirty newly purchased helicopters, ten of them must be sent by your company's technicians to our factory in Brazil to guide us in their production."
For Lawrence Bell, the production authorization has been agreed, and the final production of the cross in Brazil is naturally not an excessive request. At most, the parts will be shipped to Brazil and then assembled locally.
You can also save your own labor costs, of course there is nothing wrong with that.
Next, the two returned to the office, discussed some details of authorized production, and signed an agreement of intent on the spot. They only waited for General Manager Pohlman of Fangyuan Aircraft Manufacturing Company to return to Brazil and send a professional negotiation team to Bell Aircraft further negotiated and entered into a formal purchase and licensing agreement.
This practice of authorized production is actually very common. Bell Aircraft Company historically authorized the Italian Agusta Company to produce the Bell 47. This Italian helicopter production company eventually became the world's largest helicopter manufacturer by digesting and absorbing the technology of the Bell 47. Well-known helicopter manufacturing company.
And the path Fang Lang chose now is actually not much different from the path of this company.
