Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 348 Showing Off (5000+ words)

Witt left the day after signing the letter of intent.

The next day, Li Song flew directly back to Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Company on a Star Shine passenger plane.

Of course, we'll transfer at Guangzhou Airport first, because we need to go through customs.

"Boss!" A water salute ceremony was held at Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Company because the Xinghui passenger jet had obtained its airworthiness certificate, proving its worth. Chief Engineer Ma was excited, but also felt a little regretful.

Because Chief Engineer Ma knew that he had assembled the aircraft himself, and of course, he now had the capacity to produce it.

"Mr. Ma, tell everyone to get an extra month's salary to celebrate the StarShines aircraft obtaining its flight permit and airworthiness certificate for flying to Europe," Li Song said directly.

"thank you boss."

"Arrange the order to produce five Star Shine passenger planes for now. These are the design plans for five planes." Li Song planned to produce several planes as prototypes, one of which was designed by Li Song for the Queen of England, and another was pure white on the outside but resplendent in gold on the inside, which was targeted at a major Middle Eastern client.

Since someone in the UK is willing to help me sell airplanes, I'll get a few prototypes to showcase.

"it is good!"

"We happen to have a few sets of experimentally produced parts." Chief Engineer Ma nodded.

The parts produced in the experiment are used to test production equipment and to train employees.

Of course, Li Song was also aware of this. Foreign aircraft manufacturers also have a lot of inventory when producing certain parts, such as engine blades, because they need to select from many blades for counterweighting.

Because of the high speed of aircraft engines, the blades are weighed precisely to the 0.01 gram, so a large number of blades are manufactured at once and then selected from them.

In addition, there are other components such as landing gear. The component manufacturers cannot produce only a few of these basic parts at a time; they will produce a batch when they start production.

Because it requires a hydraulic press with tens of thousands of tons of capacity for forging, it's impossible to change the mold every time a set is made, as that would greatly affect production efficiency.

The same applies to aircraft beams. Whether they are raw blanks or forged finished products, changing molds for each forging process wastes time.

As for other parts that don't need to be stockpiled, they are relatively easy to produce, such as skin panels.

Moreover, the aircraft customization service mainly focuses on the interior; the rest of the basic components remain unchanged.

Everything is difficult at the beginning, but once you start, building airplanes is quite fast.

"Okay." Chief Engineer Ma received the design proposal from Li Song.

"Our superiors are coming to inspect our work here," Chief Engineer Ma said again.

"What time?"

"It's during ground testing of medium- and long-range passenger aircraft," Chief Engineer Ma replied, putting the documents Li Song had given him into his bag.

Li Song understood. Chief Engineer Ma meant that the leaders would come during the ground testing of the medium- and long-range passenger aircraft. Li Song understood this.

In other words, the leaders don't set a specific time; they just see when Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Plant is available.

"Okay, let me know in advance when you have a specific date." Li Song nodded.

"Yes, the higher-ups are here to inspect the aircraft industrial park, but I've recently heard some people gossiping that our aircraft manufacturing plant is engaging in redundant construction," Chief Engineer Ma said.

"Hmm?" Li Song asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Actually, some people are just jealous of us. Our aircraft manufacturing plant has much better benefits than our competitors. Whether it's the various plans and materials from higher authorities, the various logistical materials, the surrounding supporting facilities, or of course, housing."

“These people don’t even consider how much money our factory has spent. Unlike some factories that just wait for funding from higher authorities,” Chief Engineer Ma said.

"And boss, you don't know this, but in many factories, one person does the work while several people manage it."

“That won’t work well; anyone would feel uncomfortable doing the job,” Chief Engineer Ma added.

Upon hearing this, Li Song asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No need for that, I just wanted to let you know, boss, that we'll likely offend people in the future." Chief Engineer Ma shook his head.

Li Song understood what Chief Engineer Ma meant and said, "Engineer Ma, go ahead and do your job. If we offend them, so be it. What's there to be afraid of? Let them scold us if they want to. We have money, technology, and results. Give them a good scolding for me."

"Thank you, boss, thank you." The reason Chief Engineer Ma said that was mainly to let Li Song know that he might offend someone in the future.

"It's alright, only mediocre people don't attract jealousy." Li Song shook his head.

"In addition, our factory should focus on talent development, and it would be best to train more young people."

“It’s okay to have a lower level of education; you can learn anything,” Li Song said.

"Yes!" Chief Engineer Ma nodded.

Private education is not yet open to the public, otherwise Li Song would definitely start a school.

The talent gap in our own industry is too large.

Relying solely on coordination from higher-level departments is no longer a viable solution.

However, Li Song felt that the current employment system was better than the later one.

Currently, factories like Li Song still use an eight-level worker system.

Workers at different levels receive different wages and different performance bonuses.

This maximizes the initiative of workers.

Moreover, such salaries are very transparent!

The wage differences for doing the same job in the next factory can sometimes be huge!

There are many reasons for this. Some are permanent employees, some are dispatched workers, and some have a longer tenure.

Others are simply bosses who will try to rip off as many people as possible.

If the boss can give you five thousand, he will definitely not give you eight thousand!
Li Song then accompanied Chief Engineer Ma to the assembly workshop for medium- and long-range passenger aircraft.

The passenger plane now appears to have completed 90% of its work.

In fact, this passenger plane is only now reaching its most critical moment.

That's equipment testing!
Simply assembling the parts is not very difficult.

The biggest challenge is assembling the parts and then testing each system one by one!
The hydraulic control system, the mechanical control system, as well as various detectors, the air conditioning system, the ventilation system, the air pressure system, the sealing system—all of these things need to be tested, and not just once.

The final assembly will only be completed after the testing is finished.

Only then will ground testing take place!

We are currently conducting intensive debugging work.

Then Li Song went to the engine manufacturing workshop.

This is the most core department of Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Plant.

The engines being manufactured here are for the StarShines passenger jet and engines for medium- and long-range passenger jets!

Li Song glanced at it briefly, and then went to the research and development department.

Although it's called the R&D department, it's really just studying blueprints and technology.

The largest research and development department here is the B-type transport aircraft department.

Li Song, from the B-type transport aircraft department, referenced the AN124 model, made optimizations, and reserved space for subsequent fly-by-wire control and intelligent control systems.

Because subsequent fly-by-wire control systems and intelligent control systems are not limited to aircraft flight.

It also involves the loading and unloading system!

Automated loading and unloading systems can greatly reduce loading and unloading time!
This will improve the efficiency of the aircraft!
Now, cargo planes need to calculate the ballast before loading cargo.

This is why we see cargo planes as individual trailers!
The weight of each pallet is calculated!

Historically, there have been more than a few instances of cargo planes crashing because the pallets were installed in the wrong position.

An unbalanced aircraft weight distribution can lead to an air crash.

Of course, in many cases this is simply an oversight.

There are many procedures and regulations involved in aviation.

Moreover, nine out of ten flight accidents are caused by human error.

Real accidents are very, very rare.

The next day, Li Song returned to his hometown and visited his parents, maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents, and aunt.

The reason why my two aunts didn't go to work was to stay home and take care of the elderly.

Then there was the master, the master's wife! Two older sisters and their husbands, and the nephew were also taken to the aircraft factory.

"Youngest son, can we ride this plane?" Li Song brought his family to the aircraft factory. After resting for a while, they went to the tarmac. Li Song's father looked at the Starship and asked.

And they all arrived in vans.

Li Song's parents and two aunts-in-law had visited the aircraft manufacturing plant.

But there was never any chance to get to the airport runway.

They're all in my two uncles' dorm rooms!

Li Song would not bring his parents or family members to the factory area.

Because it's unnecessary, and my family doesn't understand.

"I've already spoken to the boss."

"The boss even praised me for being filial!" Li Song told his family that he had always worked for the boss!
"This plane is so beautiful!"

"How much does this plane cost?!" "Is this the plane that was in the news flying overseas?"

"This plane is indeed not cheap, probably more than ten million."

"Then let's not go up and sit there, or we'll break it!"

“I’ve already told the boss that I owe him a favor. Besides, something worth over ten million isn’t going to break so easily.”

"However, we are divided into two groups."

"These two are the pilots, and this is the flight attendant. You need to listen to the flight attendant after you board the plane," Li Song said.

Although Li Song's two uncles worked in an aircraft manufacturing plant, they never had the opportunity to get up close to the Star Shine passenger plane.

Because Li Song's two uncles didn't have any technical expertise and worked in the logistics department, they rarely had access to these things in the manufacturing workshop.

Li Song's two uncles, aunts, cousins, maternal grandparents, and maternal grandparents boarded the plane with the help of the flight attendants!
Then Li Song and his family witnessed the Star Shine passenger plane take off directly into the sky.

The plane even circled over my grandparents' house.

The flight attendants also explained it to everyone in detail.

Then it even flew over Chang'an for a while.

It flew for a full hour before we landed!
Then my parents, my two older sisters, my nephew, my grandparents, my master and his wife also went up for a stroll.

It also flew around my hometown!
The whole family was very excited after getting off the plane!

"Youngest son, that flight attendant on the plane was quite pretty..." Li Song's mother whispered to him after they got off the plane.
"Mom, we don't allow colleagues to date each other in our factory." Li Song made up an excuse to get away with it, then arranged for his family to have a good meal in the canteen, and then arranged for them to take a stroll around Chang'an city.

Then I quickly sent the person away because I was cheap. My mother also stared at the young women in the cafeteria with wide eyes.

Then Li Song gave his cheap father and master each a 1.5L six-seater minivan.

My two uncles didn't want it, saying that the gas would cost too much.

My two uncles have motorcycles.

However, Li Song still gave each of them a car.

As for those of his peers, Li Song did not give them any.

It's appropriate to give it to elders, but not to peers.

Moreover, there are too many peers, so it's hard to say whether to give one or not. But Li Song wouldn't be willing to give them all, since there's a distinction between close and distant relatives!

Moreover, Li Songyuan did not have a good relationship with several of his father's elders.

The main reason was that in his early years, Li Song's father had two daughters in a row. In the Northwest region at that time, if a family did not have a son, people around them would look at you differently.

Even decades later, in many parts of Northwest China, people still insist on having a son, and sometimes the eldest daughter's son is older than the youngest son.

Li Song didn't let his mother come to the aircraft factory either, because his father was still working in the countryside!

Then Li Song took a private plane to Kyoto.

"I'm really benefiting from your help!" Section Chief Zhou said with a smile, clearly enjoying his ride in the private jet.

"Then you should enjoy yourself!" Li Song chuckled.

Actually, having Section Chief Zhou along would reduce a lot of procedures.

Especially things like flight routes.

When Li Song and Section Chief Zhou took a plane to Kyoto.

A grand cocktail party is being held inside the New York Crowdfunding Club.

This was a charity gala; the Little Notebook Naval Association donated two million dollars to the crowdfunding club.

The president of the Naval Association and representatives from the Little Ben Yacht Club looked at the people attending the reception.

Everyone was very satisfied because the people invited to the crowdfunding club's cocktail party were all senior members.

These people all have relatively high social status in America.

"Yoshi!"

"These white Westerners have absolutely no morals. That idiot Li Song just lost tens of millions of dollars and started this crowdfunding club, which is now providing us with a platform!" Representatives from several yacht manufacturers in Japan huddled together, looking at the people attending the party, and whispered among themselves.

"Western white people prioritize their own interests!"

"I have to say that Li Song's direction in crowdfunding is correct; these people will all be our users in the future!"

"That's right, our next step is to acquire more of these high-quality customers."

“Yes, it’s usually hard to get such high-quality customers.” Representatives from several small notebook factories all thought Li Song was an idiot.

These people thought Li Song was starting a crowdfunding club to expand his influence!
Now that they are standing in the crowdfunding club, they think that Li Song is doing all the work for others.

"I think Li Song is just a puppet!"

"Otherwise, how could a twenty-year-old achieve such great things?"

"He must be backed by mainland government departments!"

“I don’t think it’s necessarily the mainland. The technology he has isn’t available in the mainland.”

"I also think Li Song is probably some Western capitalists. These white people can't compete with us openly, so they're secretly sabotaging us!"

"I also think it's possible!"

"I think it's Dai Ying!"

"I also think it's possible that he's the troublemaker, secretly stirring up trouble!" The representatives from the notebooks chimed in, all talking at once!

"Look at these despicable white people, they only exchanged two million dollars for this little bit of wine!"

"no way!"

"However, these white people won't be arrogant for long. We are better than them in every industry and every field."

"That's right!" The notebooks all agreed upon hearing this.

On the other side, Nick was also chatting and laughing with the members.

"Mr. Nick, how low can the price of the yacht be reduced this time?" More than one person asked this question, because there were more than four hundred members present today!
"It's not clear yet, but our crowdfunding club is here to serve everyone, and we'll definitely bring the price down." Nick raised his glass; he couldn't remember who this person was anymore.

Because the clubs have expanded so rapidly, the total number in North America has exceeded 200,000.

"How is the yacht manufacturing technology of the Benjamin brothers?"

"All products from our crowdfunding club will undergo testing by Ame's relevant safety agencies!"

"Furthermore, we will solicit everyone's opinions on the design and manufacturing of the yacht."

"So don't worry, our crowdfunding club has a complete process and a wealth of experience!"

“I hope everyone can drive their own beloved yacht on vacation!” Nick raised his glass.

"Thank you!" The reason these members came to this charity gala was actually to crowdfund a yacht.

Those who didn't place an order during the crowdfunding campaign for the Panda plane are now extremely regretful!
Because it's so cost-effective!

These people are also looking to get a bargain on yachts!
Nobody dislikes a yacht!

However, yachts are not cheap, and there are also maintenance, upkeep, and parking fees, etc.

Yachts have dedicated yacht clubs that offer full services, but you have to pay for it.

Those that can be towed behind a car can only be considered small boats.

Nick was also very excited because the little notebook had donated two million dollars to charity.

Of course, other people donated at the scene, but the amount was not very large.

Moreover, the club has tens of millions of US dollars in its accounts.

However, there were a few people in the corner who were gritting their teeth as they watched Nick.

"That Nick deserves to die!"

"Yes, still with those damn politicians!"

"Now we are facing the coming winter!"

"The market for single-propeller fixed-wing aircraft will probably take seven or eight years to recover!"

"We must sue this guy into bankruptcy!"

"I think we can get the yacht manufacturers involved!"

"I also think we could bring in yacht manufacturers!"

"We must stop crowdfunding clubs. If this continues, it will greatly damage our manufacturing industry." These people are from a small aircraft manufacturer in America. They came to the gathering to see what the crowdfunding club was up to this time.

"I think we could also bring Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in!"

"The small jet airliners manufactured by that damn bastard from the East will also impact their market."

"I've also read the reports. That damn guy from the East should be able to manufacture large passenger planes, or at least have the technology to do so!"

"If we unite, our chances of winning will be much greater!"

"Okay, let's go see Boeing's CEO tomorrow." The group discussed bringing in more people.

(End of this chapter)