What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 528 Special Plane
Because of a travel delay, Tang Wen planned to fly directly to Guangzhou to attend the maiden flight of the first domestically assembled MD.11 fighter jet. However, while transiting in Shanghai, he saw a huge advertising banner in the city center:
"We also need to develop MDA!"

"Mobile Internet, the Future in Your Hands"

The advertisement is very concise, accompanied by an image of a handheld computer, a base station symbolizing internet connectivity, and the manufacturer's name at the bottom.
Lenovo.

In the United States, Tang Wen single-handedly propelled the development of the entire internet industry and became almost the overt guide for the development of the imperial internet. In China, however, he was... deified.

In this era, whether in terms of impression or fact, the computer field of the Empire is a level above the rest of the world.

It is unprecedented for a young domestic entrepreneur to gain the empire's recognition and actually receive a massive influx of funds according to his vision.

In China, such a thing might be considered a scam, but now no one dares to question Tang Wen.

Mobile internet based on handheld computers is also firmly believed in China as the future, and leading consumer electronics manufacturers are trying to follow suit.

Besides the well-known Lenovo, there were many other companies that Tang Wen had never heard of and which had been lost to later generations, all shouting in domestic newspapers that they wanted to create their own handheld computers.

Moreover, many of them are electronic dictionary brands, because what they manufacture can also be considered "ultra-low-end" handheld computers, so they are very experienced.
However, Tang Wen is not too worried about domestic companies entering the market. There are very few domestic companies that are capable of getting involved. As long as he is careful not to be scammed by fraudsters who donate money under false pretenses and then run away with it, he will not suffer any major losses.

However, he did not expect that the trouble would be even bigger than he imagined.

……

First Aircraft Manufacturing Plant
Because of the tight schedule of only eight months, only one runway line was opened after the first MD.11 was assembled, but that was enough.

Tang Wen didn't value the passenger plane, which was mostly symbolic, but what he didn't expect was that the local leaders accompanying him were also thinking about other things:

"Mr. Tang, how about setting up another handheld computer factory in our Nansha District? The district can fully fund it!"

"Uh... Today is the maiden flight of the MD.11, let's talk about the handheld computer later?"

However, the leaders of Nansha District suddenly became serious:

"How can we delay technological matters? Our country has been lagging behind for too long! But the mobile internet is just beginning, and there are already reports of meetings being held in the capital to promote it simultaneously. We need to give strong support to handheld computers and not continue to fall behind in this new arena!"

Tang Wen: "..."

It seems I'll have to make another trip to Beijing when I have time.

After finally managing to deal with the handheld computer, everyone's attention shifted to the MD.11G passenger plane.

The cost of this heavily modified MD.11G is three times that of the normal cost. Half of the cost is due to the relocation of the factory and the training of the domestic technical team, and the other half is due to the costless correction of many original problems. The cost will be roughly offset when the fifth aircraft begins assembly.

McDonnell Douglas also went to great lengths to please the domestic public: during the period of Tang Wen's delay, they painted the first passenger plane with a livery that was very similar to that used by Air China.

The plane had already been towed to its takeoff position and the engines were started. Changbus symbolically asked Tang Wen for the order, and then the passenger plane began to taxi on the runway and took off very smoothly.

A round of enthusiastic applause immediately erupted from the viewing platform, even from Chen Suli, who came from the Civil Aviation Administration.

In the early days, the Civil Aviation Administration was not optimistic about assembling the MD11. The bad reputation of crashing was secondary, after all, the Tu-154 in China had also been crashing.

The main concern is that the assembly process is a cover-up, and that someone is trying to force the sale of imported passenger planes directly to civil aviation companies.

However, the result was that the Y10's deputy chief designer, Chang Busi, led the final assembly, which was entirely completed domestically, directly making the MD11 break multiple domestic records:
-
The first assembly of a wide-body transoceanic passenger aircraft;
For the first time, a large aircraft weighing over 250 tons was assembled;
In addition, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is aware that the main components of the second and third MD11G aircraft have arrived at port, and the bidding and announcement process for domestic suppliers has recently been completed. Starting with the fourth aircraft, components such as some wings, interior parts, and lighting assemblies are supplied by domestic suppliers. Furthermore, the aviation machinery plant under Gaijin Heavy Industry has successfully trial-produced the wheel braking system required for the MD.11, and it will be ready for use after completing reliability testing.

Although it is still far from being as good as domestically produced ones, the Civil Aviation Administration of China had no reason to refuse, allowing the MD11G to operate in China and deciding to purchase it, and made an important decision:

The plan is to purchase two MD.11G aircraft and convert them into special planes for leaders.

This decision was made by Chen Suli in private with Changbus and Tang Wen after the maiden flight ceremony, which surprised both of them.

The reasons for buying special planes are understandable. In the early days, when China directly ordered special planes from abroad, the number of listening devices found was more than the number of lights. So, the final solution was to have the special plane crew participate in civil aviation operations and only temporarily requisition them.

The MD11G is assembled entirely in China, making it extremely difficult to steal and it can be monitored. As a private jet, there is no risk of leakage.

But what about safety?

"Security is not an issue."

Chen Suli pushed up her glasses:

“我们总结了所有MD11系列以及DC10系列客机的事故，DC10系列人为因素占比超过70%，只有20%的设计缺陷但集中在70到80年代，并且在MD11上已经得到修正。

The MD11G series is more advanced. If there are no major problems after a period of operation, Air China will purchase two as special-purpose aircraft, and is also considering purchasing two more for other needs.

"That's wonderful! We'll definitely cooperate!"

Changbu agreed without hesitation. Securing this order during their most critical period of development was extremely important to them; it might even help them escape the shadow of the McDonnell Douglas crash!

However, Tang Wen stroked his chin thoughtfully, nodded vaguely, and dismissed Chen Suli.

This puzzled Changbus, so Tang Wen told him when they were alone:

"Over the next year, I will try my best to get McDonnell Douglas to help you develop that new twin-engine passenger aircraft. As for developing our own aircraft, I have other ideas—what do you think of Concorde?"

"..."

Changbu's eyes were just like those of Benboerba, who was ordered to eliminate Tang Sanzang and his disciples. The Concorde was the ultimate creation developed by Dai Ying and Faji, who exhausted their aviation expertise. Even the Tu-144 next door failed in commercial operation, so you can imagine how difficult it was.

Tang Wen realized he had misunderstood and quickly explained:
"It's not that we're developing a passenger plane to rival the Concorde, but rather that we're creating a supersonic passenger plane by copying the Concorde, without any human guidance and only with data and physical evidence."

Tang Wen was actually not optimistic about the relationship with the Empire. Although he had temporarily stalled the Empire by using the Internet, the IAA had not given up on controlling Gekin.

At most, the superficial harmony can be maintained for one year, or slightly longer.

The Empire will not be able to resist the temptation to give up control of Gekin, and it is unknown how long X Company and MDA can hold onto their dominance.

Once the time is right, the sensitive passenger aircraft trade will inevitably be restricted. Who knows how much we can learn from McDonnell Douglas in a year?
Like the honeymoon period, a friendship that started with 100 MD11s is lucky to last two years; in the end, it still depends on oneself (cheating).

Rather than following the established path, Tang Wen prefers to use his superpowers to give things a push, starting with the difficult and gradually moving to the easy, aiming to achieve a significant leap in aircraft research and design capabilities.

(End of this chapter)