Zhu Jingyuan calmed down the emotions of the craftsmen as much as possible and tried to make them understand and accept such changes.
Then start taking them to discuss and arrange future tasks:
“We cannot dwell on the past, there is still much work ahead.
“Let’s talk about the jet engine and airplane first.
“Depending on the characteristics of the jet engine, it will be used in all types of fighter jets, bombers of all levels, as well as large transport aircraft and large early warning aircraft in the future.
“In every possible usage scenario, a suitable model must be designed.
"The current experimental small twin-engine fighter, as well as the 600-kilogram small turbojet engine it currently uses, will continue to be upgraded in the future.
“But they are not developed as main fighters, but as advanced flight trainers, so they have to use a two-seat design.
“The main fighter aircraft of the future will have a larger body and a larger engine.
"The weight of the new engine is relaxed to 1,000 to 1,200 kilograms, and the thrust must be at least 2,400 kilograms, preferably more than 3,000 kilograms.
“Based on an engine of this size, design a single-engine fighter, a twin-engine fighter, a twin-engine bomber or an attack aircraft.
“These three types of aircraft must be designed simultaneously for carrier-based aircraft, among which twin-engine fighter jets strive to achieve supersonic flight.
"Design a larger jet engine, which will be used at most for large bombers and transport aircraft.
"The weight can be relaxed to two thousand kilograms, and the thrust must be at least three thousand five hundred kilograms, preferably more than six thousand kilograms.
"Then we design a turbofan engine based on these three engine specifications."
These research and development goals mentioned by Zhu Jingyuan are basically based on the status of jet aircraft in the 1950s.
Single-engine fighters range from MiG-17 to MiG-21, while twin-engine fighters range from MiG-19 to MiG-23.
At the same time, it also takes into account the development and extension after the 1960s, that is, the transition from turbojet to turboprop.
Regarding the ideas of turbofan engines and turbojet engines, Zhu Jingyuan had long ago introduced them to the craftsmen of the Ordnance Department headed by Li Rui and the craftsmen of the Daming Aviation Laboratory.
Turbojet engine, turbofan engine, and turboprop engine are three typical turbine engines.
The source power is a gas turbine, and the core machine structure is similar to a cylinder that runs from front to back.
In the middle are structures such as the main shaft, blades, combustion chamber, etc.
The oil supply pipe injects oil into the combustion chamber and ignites it. The high-temperature gas is injected backward and drives the main shaft through the propeller.
An engine that mainly relies on gas injection to provide thrust is a turbojet engine, or "turbojet" for short.
It is characterized by faster speed and higher fuel consumption at low speeds.
The rotation of the gas turbine is mainly used to drive the main shaft, which then drives the propeller fan at the front or rear. The engine that uses the propeller fan to blow air to provide thrust is a turboprop engine. Referred to as "turboprop".
The characteristics of "turboprop" are exactly opposite to those of "turbojet". The speed is relatively slow, the fuel consumption is relatively low, and it is close to that of a piston engine.
A turbofan engine is referred to as a "turbofan", and its structure is between a turbojet and a turboprop.
Based on the gas turbine of a turbojet engine, a larger cylinder is placed outside the gas turbine.
A fan blade is installed at the front end of the cylinder to blow air backward in the space inside the cylinder.
Therefore, the power source of the turbofan engine has two parts, one each is provided by gas injection and fan blowing.
The characteristics of the turbofan engine are also between turbojet and turboprop.
The speed and fuel consumption are largely affected by the ratio of the two power sources.
The ideal design of a turbofan engine is that the speed is as close as possible to a turbojet engine and the fuel consumption is close to that of a turboprop engine.
Li Rui and the craftsmen around him listened to Zhu Jingyuan's introduction. While nodding in agreement, they also sighed in their hearts:
According to this plan, the army's main aircraft in the future will be completely replaced by jet engines.
The only space left for the propeller engine is the directions that Zhu Jingyuan has not mentioned yet.
After Li Rui finished sighing, he couldn't help but ask:
"Your Highness, do you have any plans for the weight and size specifications of these aircraft?"
Zhu Jingyuan thought for a while:
“Once the engine specifications are determined, the size of the aircraft is also determined to a certain extent.
“At least we have a rough scope.
“As for more specific details, the attack should be discussed with people from the military.
“The specific specifications of the aircraft will be formulated based on the actual needs of the military and future strategic planning.
"Personally, I just want to remind you that the Navy's carrier-based aircraft are temporarily limited to 16 tons.
"This is the upper limit of the ejection power of the aircraft carrier catapult that has just been put into service."
Li Rui nodded in agreement again, indicating that he had taken note of it.
At this time, Zhu Jingyuan turned to the turboprop plane next to him:
"Then there is the issue of early warning aircraft. Regarding the reconnaissance aircraft that you are planning to install with radio detection equipment, where are the craftsmen going to put the detection equipment on the aircraft?"
Li Rui subconsciously agreed:
“The current idea is to have two, installed on the nose or under the belly of the fuselage.
“For aircraft using twin-engine turboprop engines or turbojet engines, the engines are placed on the wings or the tail of the aircraft, leaving the nose of the aircraft free.
“If it is a fighter jet, more artillery can be installed here, and a reconnaissance aircraft can be used to install radio detection equipment.
"However, the shortcomings are also obvious. The detection equipment can only detect the front and cannot directly see the rear and below, so everyone thinks that this setting is actually more suitable for fighter jets...
“It is obviously more reasonable for the detection function to hang the circular detection antenna under the belly of the aircraft.
“The craftsmen originally supported this plan.
“However, the early warning aircraft requested by Your Highness must be equipped with detection equipment of the size of a battleship, which raises a new problem.
“Limited by the height of the aircraft’s landing gear, the detection antenna under the belly cannot be made too large.
“If you want to install a battleship-level detection antenna, you can only place it in the north part of the aircraft.
“But this will obviously affect the detection of targets below.
"The area under the belly of the aircraft may become a blind spot for this kind of detection equipment..."
Zhu Jingyuan smiled and nodded:
"A small reconnaissance aircraft can hang a radio detection antenna under its belly.
“You can even make a hanging detection equipment pod module like a bomb.
“Use conventional bombers directly as temporary reconnaissance aircraft when necessary.
“The design of placing the detection antenna on the nose of the aircraft is indeed more suitable for use by aggressive fighters and bombers.
“Anyway, most of the original single-engine propeller fighter’s cannons were originally placed on the sides and wings.
"The pilots are already used to it, so they can continue to put it on the side without having to adjust the corresponding training logic.
“As for the large main antenna of the early warning aircraft, I think it can only be placed on the back of the aircraft.
“As for the lack of detection effect below the aircraft, I don’t think it is a particularly big problem.
“First of all, a small antenna can be added to the belly of the aircraft to serve as a targeted detection blind spot for the lower area.
“A piece can also be added to the nose of the machine specifically to enhance detection right ahead.
“At the same time, in most cases, there is a process for external targets to approach the early warning aircraft.
"It is impossible for the opponent's aircraft and warships to suddenly cross time and space from hundreds or thousands of kilometers away that are directly invisible to the blind spot directly below the early warning aircraft.
“In most cases, the enemy aircraft should appear diagonally above the AWACS aircraft.
"The enemy's surface ships are also diagonally below the early warning aircraft.
“Finally, we can also make the fuselage of this specialized aircraft even slimmer.
"Let the detection antennas extend from both sides of the fuselage and detect the area under the fuselage from both sides of the fuselage."
Zhu Jingyuan was talking about typical designs for rear-view early warning aircraft.
In fact, early warning aircraft are more likely to be modified from passenger aircraft rather than modified from transport aircraft.
The main reason is that the body of the passenger aircraft is thinner, while the belly of the transport aircraft is obviously much fatter.
A bigger belly can hold a larger single piece of cargo, but it will also block more radar antennas on the back and a wider range.
Of course, the best early warning aircraft are specially designed and have a slimmer body than a passenger plane.
However, when Zhu Jingyuan expressed these ideas, the craftsmen headed by Li Rui were also shocked when they suddenly realized it.
Li Rui couldn't help but ask directly:
"Your Highness...the detector antenna extends from the fuselage to the outside? How big is this antenna?"
When Zhu Jingyuan heard this question, he realized that the craftsmen in this world had not imagined the image of an airplane carrying a large plate two or three times wider than the airplane itself on its back.
Although they had said before that they would use battleship-level detectors, they still did not think so exaggeratedly.
That’s why the antenna is placed on the back of the fuselage, and there will be a blind spot under the fuselage.
Zhu Jingyuan smiled and said:
"Let's go to the conference room. Don't wait here. Just find me some paper and pen to draw out my ideas..."
The craftsmen headed by Li Rui quickly agreed.
A group of people followed Zhu Jingyuan into the building of the testing site and found a small conference room.
The craftsmen here prepared the equipment, and after Zhu Jingyuan sat down, he began to draw:
"Land-based early warning aircraft are easier to design, so I will just draw the ship-based early warning aircraft.
"Except for the design required for shipboard, the ship-based early warning aircraft has the typical characteristics of ordinary early warning aircraft."
When it comes to early carrier-based early warning aircraft, what comes to Zhu Jingyuan’s mind is the American E2.
Of course, there was an earlier E1, but the body itself was too small, the radar antenna was too big, the aircraft was difficult to control, and the overall design was not reasonable.
Since Zhu Jingyuan had experience in later generations, he directly designed it with reference to the more mature E2.
It has a slender fuselage, straight wings, wide tail, and a disc-shaped antenna that is much wider than the fuselage.
Ordinary people in later generations who don't care about military equipment will probably be surprised when they see the shape of this kind of aircraft.
The craftsmen of this era would find it incredible at first glance.
Li Rui looked at the round plate drawn by Zhu Jingyuan and couldn't help but mutter in a particularly astonished tone:
"This disk? Is it the antenna? Its diameter is really three times that of the body. How big is it exactly?"
Zhu Jingyuan recalled the data:
"The diameter of the detector antenna is about six to eight meters, the length of the aircraft is sixteen to eighteen meters, and the wingspan is twenty-four meters."
Li Rui was stunned for a few seconds. While slowly accepting the strange size, he then asked a new question:
"Your Highness...an aircraft of this size...has to carry such a large antenna, as well as supporting equipment and generator sets. The weight of the entire aircraft is likely to exceed sixteen tons...
"Isn't it true that the catapult mounted on our aircraft carrier can only eject a sixteen-ton aircraft?"
Zhu Jingyuan evaluated and recalled that the weight of E1 seemed to have reached sixteen tons, and the weight of E2 was directly twenty-four tons.
But it's not a big deal:
"There is no problem if the AWACS exceeds 16 tons. A maximum of four AWACS on an aircraft carrier is enough.
“In most cases, you only need to fly one or two.
“Leave a road in the middle of the deck, let the AWACS aircraft start taxiing from the rear of the deck, and just take off normally.
“The power of our turboprop engines has exceeded 4,000 horsepower, and two units have 8,000 horsepower.
"As long as there is a distance of two hundred meters, plus the thirty knot speed provided by the aircraft carrier itself, it is enough for a twenty-ton aircraft to take off.
“This usage will of course affect the overall dispatch efficiency, but the impact of one or two early warning aircraft is relatively limited.
“Also, our catapults with greater power are also under development.
"This effect will last for more than ten years at most. When the earliest batch of catapult aircraft carriers are replaced for the first overhaul, they will be able to catapult and take off like ordinary fighter jets."
Zhu Jingyuan was not just thinking blindly, but he was going through the memories of his previous life again.
The direct reference object is the American E2 early warning aircraft.
At that time, this was the only country in the world that had carrier-based early warning aircraft, and no other country had a semicolon.
The E2 was in service from the early 1960s until the late 1980s, and it was never ejected.
They are all the same as ordinary carrier-based aircraft in the World War II era. They taxi and accelerate normally and take off normally. However, the weight of the E2 is much heavier than the World War II aircraft, so it has to start taxiing from behind the deck.
Before the late 1980s, the decks of American aircraft carriers had a guidance line that ran through most of the deck from back to front, which was used for early warning aircraft to take off on their own.
The length of this line is not much different from the length of the Kuznetsov's take-off route from the heavy load point, except that there is no upward-turned bow for ski-jump take-off in front.
By the late 1980s, the U.S. Navy probably changed the E2 early warning aircraft to catapult takeoff in order to further optimize deck dispatching efficiency.
As a professional craftsman, Li Rui made a simple feasibility assessment from a technical perspective:
"If you put it this way... the twenty-ton early warning aircraft takes off directly, and the impact on the deck dispatch is indeed not very big...
“The project for a larger 24-ton catapult is expected to be completed in about five years.
“The new warships that will start construction in two years can be built according to corresponding standards.
"Only these ships built in the past two years will need to replace their catapults in more than ten years..."
(End of chapter)
