Chapter Sixty-Nine: This Is the True Lineage

After five grueling days of travel, crossing countless mountains and rivers, the ancient, sluggish train finally managed to bring Yang Hui and Director Bai safely back to the great southwest. Upon returning to the institute, Yang Hui was exceptionally energetic, showing none of the fatigue one would expect after such a long journey. Why? Because he had already slept away several days’ worth of exhaustion on the train.

It seemed the workday wasn’t yet over, but regardless, Yang Hui could still go find Yang Yue. In the model aircraft project, Yang Hui at least counted as the structural designer, so it was necessary to check on the progress of the design. After putting his things away, he hurried over to the airframe project group, only to find, to his surprise, that the entire office was empty. Asking next door, he learned that the initial design of the airframe was already complete, and now the team was conducting component tests.

That meant Yang Yue would soon be leaving; at Institute No. 2, it was impossible to test all the large airframe components—some of the bigger pieces would have to be taken to Institute No. 1 for testing. For now, smaller parts were still being tested locally.

Trotting over to the testing center, he found Yang Yue there as expected. The beautiful woman with the elegant figure had now fully transformed into a robust, hands-on engineer, dressed in her testing overalls and working alongside the technicians to test component performance.

After greeting Section Chief Li nearby, Yang Hui approached Yang Yue. At that moment, she was still unaware of his presence, continuing to install a component—only by getting it properly in place could the data be accurately tested. Once she had finished, taking a long breath of relief, Yang Hui finally spoke.

“Chief Engineer Yang, could you step outside for a moment?”

She turned her head and, sure enough, saw that it was Yang Hui, the blockhead she’d guessed by his voice. Seeing there was nothing more for her to do here, Yang Yue put down her measuring tool and followed Yang Hui out of the testing center.

“So, did you get everything sorted out on your trip to the capital?” she asked.

Women with careers, once they devote themselves to their work, often put family matters aside—just like Yang Yue. She didn’t bother with small talk, didn’t even ask after Yang Hui’s health, but dove straight into business. This was normal among researchers, and Yang Hui was used to it.

“No problem,” he replied. “We found a new trading company to handle our order, and I even met with the chief designer himself. He was very impressed with our project, said it could serve as a model, so he approved that all profits—after taxes—could stay with us, and we’d also keep thirty percent of the foreign exchange.”

As he spoke, Yang Hui’s excitement was clear, and Yang Yue shared it. The project was nearing its end; if any issues cropped up with the export side, it would be a disaster.

“That’s great. As long as nothing goes wrong from here on out, I can speed things up. Once the components finish testing, I’ll ask the factory to build the prototypes—make a few more, work overtime to fly them, and we’ll definitely finish the design by early May.”

Yang Hui did a quick calculation. If the design was done by early May, ten days would be enough to produce a batch of model aircraft—about fifty units. With their swept wings taking up less space, half a shipping container would easily suffice.

Choosing a fast shipping company and alternating between sea and land transport, the shipment would take at most a month. That meant the planes would arrive in Paris by early or mid-June, just in time for the air show. The schedule was tight, but manageable.

Satisfied with his calculations, Yang Hui continued, “That’s settled then. We’ll have the official plan soon, so there’s nothing to worry about. The day’s almost over—come with me for a bit.”

“Alright, let me just change out of these overalls,” Yang Yue replied, quickly shedding her white coat and setting it aside.

“Let’s go. What is it?” she asked.

Yang Hui, never one to keep things to himself, immediately spilled everything. Hearing him out, Yang Yue gave him a look, as if to say, “At least you have a conscience.” After all, she’d followed him all the way from the capital to this remote corner; naturally, she expected something in return for his recent trip.

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In a flash, ten days passed. Yang Yue had returned to Institute No. 1 the day after Yang Hui got back, to continue testing. In recent days, Director Bai had received the production schedule: the engines in the blueprints were already being manufactured, the first batch of fifty nearly complete, and materials for the second batch ready to go. According to feedback from the base factories, the engines, aside from the main shaft, felt more like farming tools than aircraft engines—production was straightforward and mass production would cost just a hundred or so yuan each.

The plan called for a total of three hundred engines. Fifty model planes required a hundred engines, since some hobbyists with money to burn would want a spare; thirty more were accounted for this way, with the remainder to be sold directly to DIY model builders, who only needed the engine. All these scenarios had been considered.

Now, Yang Hui was preparing to join the director on a trip to Institute No. 1 for the model aircraft’s final review. The folks at Institute No. 1 had called to say: as long as the model could fly and wouldn’t crash, that was good enough—no need for further tests. After just six days of trial flights, the flight manual would be written, with only a few remaining data points to collect.

The director was in high spirits; the institute’s doggedly pursued project was finally bearing fruit, and now all that was left was for their “old farmers” to come and inspect the outcome.

A string of motorcycles trailed behind the lead 212 jeep, making quite a spectacle, and Yang Hui at last escaped the torment of riding a bike. Since the Party Secretary was tied up with work, only the director and another deputy director would attend the review, leaving an extra seat—one Yang Hui gladly claimed. Although the jeep was still noisy, it was nothing compared to the motorcycles.

Bouncing along in the crisp morning air, Yang Hui found himself reflecting for the first time: no wonder the 011 base would survive into the future. Even the fresh morning air here was superior to that of other aviation plants—fresh air invigorated the spirit, and with high morale, how could there not be some success?

In the distance, the test flights had begun again, the thunderous roar signaling that their destination was near. As they drew closer to Institute No. 1, the convoy at its gates spotted them, started up their vehicles, and led the group toward the airfield.

The motorcade swept into the aircraft factory, slowing as they approached the runway. Everyone disembarked, and Chief Designer Yu greeted Director Bai. “Old friend, it looks like your project is a success—let me congratulate you in advance.”

“Not at all, we couldn’t have done it without the support of our fellow institutes,” Director Bai replied.

“Please, spare me. Landlord Bai, we’ll all be depending on you to earn our keep in the future.”

Yang Hui then noticed that the balding, medium-built leader who’d spoken must be someone involved in the control systems, as only those in that field would be familiar enough to joke with both Chief Designer Yu and Director Bai.

As host, Chief Designer Yu led the three of them to the far end of the runway, where a designated area had been set up to observe the trial flights. Once everyone was in place, Chief Designer Yu introduced the day’s test flight arrangement.

“Today we were supposed to carry out three final flight tests. After some discussion, we decided to send all three test planes up together, each performing its own set of tests. As for the specifics, you’ll see them shortly.”

Yang Hui, of course, wasn’t watching from the observation platform. Eager for a close-up experience, he’d slipped into the ground control team under the pretense of checking the engines.

The three model aircraft pilots were already seated at the control console, and Yang Hui was amazed by the setup. The yellow tripod stood as tall as a man, with a yellow box at the top bristling with antennas, looking like a radio station. Several cables ran from the box, branching into multiple lines, ending in pedals and control sticks.

Compared to modern control systems, this setup was enormous, but the designer had cleverly modeled it after a real aircraft cockpit, installing every pedal and control stick you’d find in a real plane.

Yang Hui couldn't help but marvel: this was how it should be—only in this way could one truly feel like piloting an aircraft. The ground control systems of later generations had all gone astray; only this one could be considered the true standard.