Chapter 121: The Best Is to Meet the Requirements

Chief Engineer Yu had called these people together because he was already well aware of their general situation. He had long wanted to straighten things out with this group, and this opportunity was perfect. Making Yang Hui the team leader was not only to support him, but more importantly, to let the troublemakers reveal themselves.

Before embarking on a major project, it was necessary to first reorganize the research team. Among the ten or so aerodynamicists in the institute, there were still a few willing to work. Identifying the true troublemakers was especially important—one couldn’t let a few individuals ruin things at a critical moment.

To coax these troublemakers into the open, Chief Engineer Yu now needed to send them a signal.

“Everyone, follow me. I’ll first take you to meet the professor from Beihang University and his students. After that, you’ll need to focus on the experiments. I have other matters to attend to and won't be able to stay with you.”

The real point wasn’t what he said at first, but rather that he would be leaving. Only by doing this would the mischievous monkeys act up without a tiger in the room to keep them in check. As to whether Chief Engineer Yu would really leave—well, that was obvious. The only parts of the new aircraft project requiring external cooperation were avionics and radar, and those negotiations had to be conducted in the capital. In this era, any negotiations involving foreign parties had to happen under the emperor’s nose; otherwise, who knew what you were up to?

So, this “departure” was just a ruse to lull these young engineers into a false sense of security. When the time came, Chief Engineer Yu would not hesitate to use the few dismissal quotas at his disposal. Jobs in government research institutes were iron rice bowls, and ordinarily, no one worried about being fired. But every year, a few dismissal slots were kept precisely for times like these.

At last, they arrived at Beihang University. The aerodynamics professor, with whom arrangements had been made early in the morning, came out to greet Chief Engineer Yu. He had every reason to offer a warm welcome. Right now, they were short on funding for projects, and here was one being delivered right to their door, complete with funding. Of course, they had to host them well.

The professor was the quintessential old scholar: thick glasses, hair streaked with white, his clothes not new but impeccably clean and neat—a true academic.

“Hello, Chief Engineer Yu, I’m Zhu Jiangcheng. I’ll be working with your team on these new aerodynamic experiments. I’ll also be bringing a group of my students—about ten or so graduate students. Technically, they’re quite capable of assisting with the work.”

Graduate students doing menial tasks—this was something only their academic supervisors would assign. Elsewhere, having graduate students would mean immediately entrusting them with responsibility, not relegating them to supporting roles. Yang Hui could already picture Professor Zhu’s reaction once he saw the technical abilities of the personnel sent from the base.

Hearing this, Chief Engineer Yu could hardly contain himself. Graduate students were a rare commodity—there were only a handful graduating in aerodynamics across the entire republic each year.

But there was no time to dwell on it; Chief Engineer Yu turned to business. Wind tunnel testing was indispensable.

“Professor Zhu, how are the wind tunnels arranged? Low-speed wind tunnels are all at your disposal, aren’t they?”

Chief Engineer Yu’s words were true—aeronautics universities always had wind tunnels. But using them wasn’t easy without the right connections. Even with higher-level introductions, it was still hard to get access. Wind tunnels were typically managed by designated school personnel, and those specializing in aerodynamics naturally had the best relationships. As a senior professor, Zhu could arrange priority access.

Professor Zhu walked to his desk and pulled out some documents—likely the experiment schedules.

“Our university has a low-speed wind tunnel, which can handle the low-speed tests. For the high-speed tunnel, I’ll make arrangements in the capital—there’s one here as well. The only challenge is the transonic wind tunnel; we’ll have to go to the large wind tunnel complex in the southwest for that. A newly completed transonic tunnel there is said to perform quite well, and I’d like to take this opportunity to see it for myself.”

As he spoke, Professor Zhu’s excitement was clear. Anyone in aerodynamics would understand. Wind tunnels were unlike ordinary experimental equipment—they were too complex and expensive for most nations to afford. Only the great powers could build and use them.

So, the opening of a new wind tunnel was cause for celebration across the entire field; anyone with the chance would want to pay homage.

With these arrangements discussed, Chief Engineer Yu called Yang Hui over to introduce him to Professor Zhu.

“Professor Zhu, this is Yang Hui, the leader of our base’s aerodynamics group. He’s quite young but has some unique technical insights. Unfortunately, he gave up the chance to continue his graduate studies and started working early. The main aerodynamic theory for the new aircraft was proposed by him, so during the experiments, I hope you’ll give him your guidance.”

Professor Zhu looked at Yang Hui, searching his memory for any impression of the name. Suddenly, he recalled a recent journal paper authored by a Yang Hui. Yet, thinking of that paper, Professor Zhu found it odd.

“You’re Yang Hui, correct? Judging by your age, you’ve just graduated from university. Didn’t you recently publish a paper on the large leading-edge extension? That was you, wasn’t it?”

The academic community was small, and Yang Hui had only just left school half a year ago. His paper on the large leading-edge extension had only recently been published, so it was still fresh in the minds of professionals like Professor Zhu.

Yang Hui hadn’t expected the paper to actually be published—he realized his advisor hadn’t treated him unfairly after all. Thinking back to when he had just been reborn, still not fully adjusted, he’d been too excited and hastily produced something that, in hindsight, was rather off the mark for his position at the time.

Yang Hui knew that in this moment, humility was best, especially in front of seasoned scholars and professors.

“That was indeed my paper, but after some practical experience, I’ve found that we still can’t apply those ideas now. Everything needs to proceed step by step.”

Hearing this, Professor Zhu nodded in understanding and pointed to the sketches on the desk. “So, you chose a conservative design for the new aircraft, abandoning the leading-edge extension you studied and opting instead for the simpler double-delta wing, correct?”

One had to admit, an expert was an expert—just from Yang Hui’s few words, he had deduced his reasoning, something Yang Hui had never shared with anyone. Yang Hui had chosen the double-delta wing over the leading-edge extension because of the difference in technical difficulty. In fact, the inner highly swept delta of a double-delta wing already bore some resemblance to a leading-edge extension; one could even say the leading-edge extension was a super-evolved form of the double-delta.

But according to Yang Hui’s calculations, the double-delta wing was the best fit for the current advanced trainer modification, and for many reasons. The two main ones were:

First, the double-delta wing was simple in shape and easy to modify—not too much trouble.

Second, wind tunnel testing for the double-delta was quicker and simpler. As long as its performance met requirements, time had to be the primary concern.

These reasons were more than enough for Yang Hui to abandon the leading-edge extension, even though he knew that in later years, the adoption of such extensions would give the highly modified J-7, the JF-17, considerable capabilities. But current conditions simply couldn’t support that option.

Yang Hui affirmed Professor Zhu’s observation. “Yes, it’s precisely practical experience that taught me that developing new aircraft isn’t just about chasing performance; other aspects must also be considered. Only by compromising among all the requirements and meeting the overall needs can we achieve something truly good.”

Professor Zhu agreed with Yang Hui’s perspective. Universities and research institutes focused on theory, favoring maximum performance, but in design bureaus, satisfying the requirements was paramount. As someone who had taught for many years, Professor Zhu understood this well.