"80 cents?"
Thinking that the lighter cost only 60 cents, Chen Lu, who lacked business experience, mentioned an amount uncertainly.
John was about to object, but was overtaken by Chen Lu's uncle.
"No, Xiaolu, I think you can price it at $1. Didn't Li Hang say that someone would buy this lighter even if it was priced at $1? I think you should set it at this price." The uncle on the side immediately objected.
He spoke in English, so John could understand it.
"No, no, no, I think we can price it at $2." John couldn't help but make a suggestion.
"Is there so much? Is anyone buying it?" Chen Lu was a little surprised.
She first learned English from the English teacher she hired, and later became much more proficient with the help of Li Hang.
She was also learning when she came to the United States. Now she has no problem communicating in basic English, but her accent is slightly strange.
Even his uncle, who felt he had a dark heart, opened his eyes in surprise when he heard John's words.
He thought the lighter cost 60 cents and sold for 1 dollar, which was a bit high. As a result, John's heart became even darker in front of him.
"Someone must buy it. This lighter is better than a gasoline lighter. Once it is launched on the market, it will definitely be very popular. And if you want to build a reputation, the price cannot be low." John assured, patting his chest.
In fact, he had been tempted, but the middle-aged Chinese man in front of him had a Chinatown gang background.
There are a lot of Chinese in New York, and those gangs are also famous, especially On Liang Tang.
John is not a person with any background. If he offends the gang for such a trivial matter, his life will be lost.
More importantly, he knew that the patent for this gas lighter had been registered.
Seeing how confident John was, Chen Lu hesitated for a while before agreeing.
A lighter that costs 60 cents and sells for 2 US dollars, as long as it can be sold, it will make 1.4 US dollars in tears!
She also thought of several other small inventions mentioned by Li Hang.
Suddenly full of expectations!
She also thought of what Li Hang said in the telegram, which was to find a partner in the United States.
Quite simply, even if the Chinese Exclusion Act is repealed, the life of Chinese people in the United States will not be very good.
Find a white American partner as a partner, but not one who is too strong.
The John in front of him is pretty good, with some strength, but not strong, and his current situation is not that good either.
We just have to wait and see whether we can become partners.
It would be great if Li Hang could come in person.
. . . . . .
"Do you want to mass-produce this training type 1 training aircraft?"
In his busy schedule, Lao Zhou took some time to come to the Chengdu Aviation Research Institute. When he saw the flight performance of the training aircraft type 1 that had been converted into a training aircraft, Lao Zhou was also surprised.
What's more important is that Wang Zhu actually plans to mass-produce this trainer aircraft, and even Lao Huang supports it.
It was for this reason that Lao Zhou took the time to run over.
"Yes, sir, we want to accumulate more production experience by producing this training aircraft." Wang Zhu sounded very sure.
"You want to produce it yourself, instead of letting Shaoguan Aircraft Manufacturing Factory manufacture it?" Lao Zhou asked curiously.
There are currently four aircraft manufacturing factories under the Aeronautical Commission.
The first is the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, the factory in Jianqiao, a Sino-US joint venture. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the machinery and equipment were moved to Hankou to undertake some maintenance work and open a new factory.
However, due to the Japanese bombing of Wuhan, Wuhan is not safe. It is currently preparing to move to Yunnan to build a factory, and currently does not have the manufacturing and assembly capabilities.
The second factory is the Shaoguan Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, the original Guangdong Shaoguan Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, which was established during the Cantonese warlord period.
I have experience in imitating the Hawker III before, and I am currently imitating the Yi-15. Although the production capacity is poor, it has certain aircraft manufacturing capabilities and is still in normal operation.
The third is the Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, a Sino-Italian cooperation. It is currently moving to Nanchuan, Chongqing and does not have production capacity for the time being.
The fourth is the Chengdu side, which is directly managed by the Aviation Research Institute. The former Mawei Naval Aircraft Manufacturing Office is considered to have aircraft manufacturing capabilities, but it is much worse than the Shaoguan Aircraft Manufacturing Factory.
Of course, these four factories have very poor aircraft manufacturing capabilities and cannot produce engines. They are more like assembly plants.
"Mr. Zhou, the Shaoguan Aircraft Manufacturing Factory is too far away. We can now manufacture aircraft with the relevant equipment of the Aircraft Manufacturing Department of Mawei Shipyard. They are just some trainer aircraft, which should be able to do the job.
And the cost is not high.
We have calculated the cost and found that the engines, propellers and tires can be made from Hawker and other aircraft. The main cost is the body structure, because it is made of wood, and the cost will not exceed 10,000 yuan. "Wang Zhu explained confidently.
This was calculated by the research institute.
However, they can only replace the materials needed for the body structure with wood, but the most important thing about the aircraft is actually the engine.
The Hawker series of engines is destined to be limited.
Fortunately, it is only a trainer aircraft. With the current training capabilities of aviation colleges, not many trainer aircraft are needed, and not many engines are needed.
"Okay, since you want to give it a try, I can make the decision to grant you 100,000 yuan in funding to build 10 of them."
"Yes! Thank you for your support, sir."
"Training aircraft are not very capable. The prototype is Li Hang's aircraft, right? The biggest improvement to our air force is the pursuit aircraft. Where are you now?"
In fact, the improvement of the air force's combat effectiveness is not just the self-sufficiency of aircraft, but the comprehensive development of the entire system.
Like pilot training.
At present, only the Central Aviation School that has moved to Kunming has the training capacity, with more than 100 pilots in one class, and they fly different types of destroyers, transport aircraft, bombers, etc.
Even if aircraft manufacturing capabilities are improved, the lack of pilots is still a big problem.
Li Hang had previously given Lao Zhou a relatively detailed air force development plan, and mentioned the establishment of more aviation schools.
In addition to Kunming, several branch schools can be opened in Chengdu, Lanzhou and other places to improve pilot training capabilities.
It's just that these require money and people, and they can't be done in a short while.
"The drawing has been finalized and we are preparing to manufacture the prototype, which should be available within two months."
"So fast?" Lao Zhou was a little surprised.
"Mainly, the sketches provided by Li Hang were of great help, and the rest of us perfected the specific design according to the drawings."
“What about the performance of the design?”
"The reference is the I-16, which has a maximum design speed of 450 kilometers per hour and is equipped with two 7.62mm aviation machine guns."
“Can the prototype meet this standard?”
"We will try our best."
"Li Hang, don't you have nothing to say? Are you going to become taciturn when you stay here?" Lao Zhou greeted Wang Zhu politely, then looked at Li Hang with a playful smile.
