After a few minutes of silence, Grigorievich spoke first: "I understand, but I still have a question."

"Just ask," Chen Geng said: "No matter what your request is, I know everything I can say."

Grigorievich asked: "Okay, since your company has obtained the technology of nk-44 and nk-56, why do you still need to improve nk-8?"

"And they came up with two plans at once," Vlasievic said: "Especially the one with a bypass ratio of 3 to 4, although there are no detailed technical indicators yet, the overall performance indicators that were finally released should be similar to nk-44..."

So, since you have nk-44, why do you still have to do such a thankless job? This is simply a waste of money!

Chen Geng thought about it, but did not answer directly, but asked Vlasievich: "Mr. Vlasievich, I have a question: Which step has the Kuznetsov Design Bureau done with the two engines, nk-44 and nk-56? Has the Kuznetsov Design Bureau completed all the design work and was waiting to start manufacturing the original prototype, or did it not even complete the design work?"

The Kuznetsov Design Bureau has begun to hand over the original design information of the two engines, nk-44 and nk-56, to Runhua Industrial, so there is nothing to be ambiguous about this issue. Vlasievic immediately said: "Most of the design work has been completed, and the rest is expected to be completed within one year..."

"That's the paper work has not been completed," Chen Geng nodded before Vlasievich finished speaking: "Considering the technical risks and financial risks during the R&D period, Mr. Vlasievich, starting from now on, without considering the diplomatic and policy impacts of the two countries, how long do you think we can produce prototypes and complete the test flights required for engine airworthiness certification? After obtaining airworthiness licenses from the Soviet Union and China, how long does it take to obtain airworthiness licenses from European countries and the United States?"

"..." Vlasievic was stunned. He had never thought about this problem.

There is no need for Grigorievich's reaction to be very good.

Only then did the two realize a very important issue: time.

In 1969, after conducting a survey on the civil aviation market, the French government proposed the research and development of turbofan engines with the largest thrust of 100kn level. With the support of the French government, Snekema Company reached a strategic cooperation agreement with General Dynamics in 1971, and decided to develop a large bypass ratio civil turbofan engine that meets the needs of civil aviation in the 1980s with low fuel consumption, low noise, low pollution and high reliability.

From the establishment of a cooperative relationship between Snekema and General Dynamics in 1971, the design and trial production of the prototype was completed in February 1972. In September 1974, the two parties officially formed CFM International.

Because the core aircraft uses the core aircraft of the F101 military turbofan engine that the US military has used for many years, and is mature and reliable, the entire R&D process is very smooth. But even so, CFM International's first product, cfm56-2 engine, finally obtained the airworthiness certificate from the United States and France.

From the time when France's Snekema Company officially signed a cooperation agreement with General Dynamics in 1971, to the time when the first engine officially obtained a flight certificate in November 1979, the R&D expenses during this period exceeded US$1 billion!

Runhua Industrial has great ambitions. They hope that the nk-44 and nk-56 produced in the future can participate in international competition, so they must obtain airworthiness licenses from European and American countries. In this way, even the most ideal and smoothest situation may take at least 10 years from now on. If Americans and Europeans do not want Chinese people to come in, it will be a bit bad for you in the process of airworthiness evidence collection. It is not impossible to obtain an airworthiness license for 15 or even 20 years.

The premise of all this is to require the entire R&D process to be smooth. What if something unexpected happens during the R&D process? Who can control the time of the entire R&D process? Could it be that before a better engine is dragged into use, Runhua Industrial can only use the 1.02 bypass ratio nk-8?

From R&D to formally putting it into the market, there were too many uncontrollable factors during this period. No one knows how long it will take for nk-44 and nk-56 to be put into use. There are many unavailable factors, which means that there is a high risk. If there is a substitute before nk-44 and nk-56 are officially put into use, everything will be much more controllable. The two nk-8s that Runhua Industrial requires to improve are the substitutes before nk-44 and nk-56 are officially put into use.

"I understand what you mean," Vlasievic nodded and shook his head: "I don't know if your decision is correct. Although it does sound reasonable, I need to remind you that even if it is improved based on nk-8, it will take three or four years to complete the entire development process, so..."

"Three or four years? It doesn't matter," Chen Geng asked: "More than this, I care more about whether you can bring out what I want within three or four years?"

Vlasievic and Grigorievich looked at each other, and they laughed in unison...

Grigorievich: "Mr. Chen, you should know that the nk-8-6 is the only aircraft engine in the world with a bypass ratio of 1.5 but a thrust of up to 127kn."

"Yes," Vlasievich said, "The Kuznetsov Design Bureau started developing the NK-8 in the late 1950s, and it has been more than 30 years since."

What is self-confidence?

What is domineering?

That's it!

No matter who it is, if he can immerse himself in a product for more than 30 years, he can also have this domineering attitude and the confidence of "What do you have? I can already play with this engine" is that for the Kuznetsov Design Bureau, which has developed multiple derivative models based on NK-8, they have created all the monsters like NK-144 in the afterburner chamber, so... Chen Geng's request is still a problem?

"That's it, if you do you think the performance of this engine can reach a level if the bypass ratio is 4?" Chen Geng thought for a while and asked.

"Bypass ratio reaches 4?" Vlasievic pondered for a moment and answered with confidence: "Although there is no way to answer your more accurate data, I think the maximum thrust of 160kn is absolutely fine."

"Yes," Grigorievich said, "If you don't pursue maximum thrust too much, we can make more inclinations in the service life and fuel consumption of the engine. By Soviet standards, we can achieve a cruising fuel consumption of around 0.63."

Chen Geng: "..."

Well, the cruising fuel consumption rate of 0.63 is the cruising fuel consumption rate of the Soviet Union. I don’t know how much it will be after conversion with European and American standards. But I think 0.7 can definitely be guaranteed. What is the cruising fuel consumption of the famous CFM56 series? It is only between 0.6 and 0.69...

Dumb!

Not even realizing that after comparison, Chen Geng suddenly realized that this number was so scary: Doesn’t that mean that after a series of improvements, nk-8, with a bypass ratio of 4, is already extremely different from products with the same thrust as European and American products in terms of core technical indicators?

Although I knew that after reaching these data, I would definitely sacrifice in other aspects, Chen Geng was still shocked by the original design of the Russians on this engine: Should I be so cruel? nk-8 is a product from the late 1950s and early 1960s.

“Ok…”

Chen Geng pondered and said slowly: "Mr. Grigorievic, Mr. Vlasievic, if you two are allowed to be responsible for this project alone, can you complete these two projects within 3 years?"

"Let us both take responsibility?"

Neither Grigorievich nor Vlasievich expected that Chen Geng would actually hand over such an important task to them. He looked at each other for a while. After a long time, the two of them asked carefully: "Are you serious?"

"Of course it's true. Do you think I'll joke about such things?" Chen Geng asked back.

"Well……"

Indeed, Chen Geng didn’t have the reason to joke with him about such a big thing. In other words, that’s true?

Such an important R&D task fell on both of them like a joke. Vlasievic and Grigorievich felt that it was like dreaming.

Chen Geng continued: "If you think you can undertake this task, your salary will immediately follow the chief designer and chief engineer. I guarantee that your annual income will be more than US$200,000. After the project is completed, there will be a super big red envelope, but there is a requirement."

"What are the requirements?" Chen Geng asked in a voice as soon as he finished speaking.

"You have to lead the students," Chen Geng said: "During the research and development process, we will have people from Runhua Industrial join your team. You must cultivate them, and as a reward for you, I can relax you in terms of time."

With such generous conditions, what else can I hesitate about? The two looked at each other and nodded in unison: "No problem, we agree!"

a
Chapter completed!