Siheyuan: No One Can Be Left Behind

Li Dongfang estimated that the fighter jet should be almost assembled, so he planned to go and take a look today.

When we arrived at the airport, we saw that all the equipment including the engine had been installed on the aircraft, and the final welding and inspection of the fuselage were undergoing.

Li Dongfang found the person in charge of the military factory and asked, "How about the engine start test?"

The person in charge smiled when he saw Li Dongfang and said, "No problem. I didn't expect your design to be so great. The test went very smoothly, from ignition to continuous operation, without any problems."

"Have you tested the afterburner output?" Li Dongfang asked the workers who were doing welding work on the plane.

"We tested it, but we didn't dare run it for a long time for fear that it would break down. We'll do the extreme test after we have a spare engine." The person in charge handed the test form to Li Dongfang.

Li Dongfang took it and took a look at it. He didn't understand anything at all, but when he saw that the test results on the form were all successful, he nodded and handed the form back.

After walking around the plane, Li Dongfang saw the missile hanger under the wing and turned to ask, "How is the research on the equipped missile going?"

When this was mentioned, the person in charge of the military factory became even more excited, grinning and saying, "We have already made a prototype, and are currently doing infrared signal tracking and control tests. Once our initial test flight is successful, we should be able to get it done as well."

"So fast!" Li Dongfang said in surprise.

Although the missile is small, the research and development work is not easy. Li Dongfang never expected that the results would be produced so soon.

The person in charge smiled and said, "Actually, we started this research work a few years ago. You heard about the air battle with Taiwan, where we obtained the wreckage of an unexploded missile... You knew about this, right?" At this point he seemed to realize that he had said too much and was suspected of leaking secrets, so he quickly asked Li Dongfang if he knew about this.

Li Dongfang actually knew about this, but he did not learn about it in this era. Instead, he saw it on a military forum in later generations.

So he nodded and said, "If you start researching from that time, it won't be strange."

When the person in charge saw that Li Dongfang knew about this, he was relieved and said, "We have never figured out the guidance principle of the missile. The Russians said there was an infrared sensor, but we were still confused. It's thanks to your infrared sensor system, otherwise this thing would be no different from a large bullet."

Li Dongfang just laughed and didn't respond. There was no way he could respond to this. He couldn't just brag about himself.

As the two were talking, they heard a quarrel.

"You know shit. I'm doing my job exactly as specified in the specifications. Stop talking nonsense here." An old worker with a weathered look on his face was lying on the fuselage, waving a welding gun and shouting loudly.

A young man in military uniform was standing on a ladder next to him, seemingly arguing with him.

"The error in your splicing is too big, and the welding is not smooth enough..."

Li Dongfang and the person in charge of the military factory looked at each other, and the two walked over. Li Dongfang shouted, "Stop arguing, let's talk it over. What happened? Let me hear it."

The young man may not know Li Dongfang and ignored him, but the welder knew him and said first: "Engineer Li, this person is giving blind orders and insisting that my welding is not good enough. I am only following the requirements."

"Let me take a look." Li Dongfang motioned the young man to come down.

Climbing up the ladder, Li Dongfang touched the welding point with his hand. It was true that the joint was not smooth enough, but with the current technology, it was considered qualified.

At this time, the young man brought another ladder and climbed up from the side. He pointed at the welding point and asked Li Dongfang: "As a pilot, I should have some say in the aircraft, right?"

Seeing Li Dongfang nod in agreement, the young man continued: "If our current fighter jets were welded to this extent, there would definitely be no problem. However, I have seen that the theoretical speed of this fighter jet is almost three times faster, which means that the wind resistance will increase three times. At this speed, we definitely cannot follow the original process standards, so I think this error is not acceptable!"

Li Dongfang understood the situation after hearing this. He had not really considered this point. Although the design of the aircraft was very detailed, it was not detailed enough to mark out the welding standards and error rates. After all, many technologies are still being explored these days.

Li Dongfang thought for a moment, and said to the welders working on the fuselage: "Everyone, stop what you are doing, all technicians, come over and gather together, let's have a small meeting."

Li Dongfang climbed down the ladder and waved to the pilot, indicating that he should follow.

He led the person in charge of the military factory to the open space next to him, and said as he walked: "I didn't think it through. Fortunately, this young man found it. Otherwise, if a genius found it, it would be a big disaster."

The person in charge asked in confusion: "Welding problem?"

Li Dongfang nodded and said, "Yes, the design speed of this aircraft is about 3000 kilometers per hour, which is equivalent to Mach 2. It is not much worse than the fastest American Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft. At this extreme speed, the force borne by any resistance point is unimaginable. Just like the uneven welding point problem mentioned earlier, it is possible that the entire aircraft will be torn apart or even disintegrated."

The person in charge frowned and asked, "Is it that serious?"

Li Dongfang nodded in affirmation.

"That means all the welding work needs to be redone!" the person in charge immediately decided.

Li Dongfang thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid this is the way to go. We need to set a standard for the error. We need to consult someone in the field of aerodynamics about this."

"Okay, I'll contact them right away." The person in charge said this and hurriedly made a phone call.

Li Dongfang explained to everyone the possible problems that might arise from welding in this way. The workers were shocked, but they also expressed their willingness to rework.

Even the old worker who had just quarreled with the young pilot took the initiative to apologize to the young man.

It was not until after lunch that the aerodynamics expert hurried over.

Li Dongfang also knew that this was already very fast. Those who could participate in this project must have gone through layers of review. Obviously, this was a special matter, otherwise it would take a lot of days to confirm the candidate.

Li Dongfang and the person in charge of the military factory discussed with him for a long time, and only decided on the plan when it was almost time to get off work.

Li Dongfang thought about it again and felt that there seemed to be nothing missing, so he went home.

To be precise, I returned to the yard where Wang Fang and I spent the night yesterday.

After entering the yard, Li Dongfang was surprised to find that not only the Wang Fang sisters were there, but also the elders and their husbands from the Minister Wang.

"Minister Wang, you two elders are here too." Li Dongfang greeted them quickly.