Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 143 Seize the opportunity and fleece the sheep!

A thrust of 400 kN means that passenger planes that used to need four engines now only need two! The thrust is the same, but the operating costs will be greatly reduced. The maintenance costs of two engines are much lower than those of four engines, and the fuel consumption of two engines is also lower than that of four engines... As for the regulations on twin-engine extended-range flight, those can be circumvented by finding ways to do so.

In short, increased engine thrust is definitely meaningful!

At this point, Stanley was truly tempted.

“Mr. Qin, our Rolls-Royce R&D equipment is very advanced. If you want to design this brand-new blade, you can definitely go to our company in the UK!” Stanley said. “If our equipment cannot meet your needs, we can also purchase according to your requirements…”

Qin Liang shook his head: "No, I don't have time!"

How long would it take to go to the UK? I have a lot of work to do back home, and my time is very precious!

"How much is your time? We'll buy it!"

Qin Liang shook his head again: "My time is priceless and cannot be measured in money!"

At this moment, Qin Liang was actually wavering. Asking for a large sum of money seemed like a good idea, but... that would mean he wouldn't be able to get the data on the RB211 engine!
The two major American aircraft engine manufacturers, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric, both use dual-rotor structures. Even the GE9, with its incredible thrust, is a dual-rotor engine. Rolls-Royce's large passenger aircraft engines, on the other hand, use three-rotor engines. These engines have a complex structure, but the fan is driven by a separate turbine, which reduces the fan speed.

In comparison, this three-rotor design has more advantages and greater potential!
The Russians also use three-rotor aircraft. The NK-32 used on the Tu-22M and Tu-160 bombers is a three-rotor aircraft! The D-18T used on large transport aircraft is also a three-rotor structure!

It's very difficult to obtain technology from the Russians, so now that there's an opportunity to take advantage of Rolls-Royce, we certainly can't let it pass!

"What, are you afraid we'll copy the RB211? This large three-rotor engine is the crown jewel of the aviation industry. Even if we got the complete structural data, we couldn't copy it. Its manufacturing process is far superior to the Spey engine!"

Stanley took a deep breath. Indeed, even if the blueprints were given to the Easterners, they would not be able to replicate them. The industrial base determines the superstructure of aircraft engines!
"Okay, we'll hand over the pneumatic data to you."

The matching of three-rotor engines has been greatly simplified, but aerodynamic data is still required to match the airflow and avoid issues such as surge.

"No, no, aerodynamic data alone is not enough; we also need structural data to match the engine. It's not just about airflow; there are also issues like structural vibration. You probably don't know, but we in the East once overlooked the resonance problem, which led to a brand-new aircraft catching fire..."

Seize the opportunity and make the most of it!

“This…” Stanley frowned.

Schroeder spoke up: "Mr. Qin, the new fan blades we developed for Spey last time weren't this complicated..."

“Of course we have it. We have all of Spey’s technical data, so we did all the work ourselves. But the RB211 is brand new. Without the technical data, we can’t match it. Mr. Schroeder, we still need to do what we did last time: have the fan blades and power turbine designed here so that we can better complete the matching work.”

Stanley frowned. "Mr. Qin, may I see the server room you designed?" "Of course!" Qin Liang smiled broadly. "Please, everyone!"

"Currently, our aviation department building is under construction. In the future, we will have a whole floor of computer rooms that can accommodate hundreds of computers. Right now, we only have a few dozen..." Qin Liang said as he pushed open the door to the computer room. The room was spacious, with four rows of computer desks and a row of microcomputers on them.

Schroeder asked curiously, "Didn't we use IBM computers when we did the design last time?"

"That's right, IBM's computers are right next door, but... there are only three of them, which isn't enough for the engineers. These are microcomputers developed by our Northwestern Polytechnical University, equipped with our self-developed CAD software..."

In front of each computer, there is someone operating it—a student or a teacher.

Stanley stood behind a young man, watching him skillfully operate the computer, typing formulas for the aircraft's shape into the dialog box. The left side of the screen began drawing the shape according to the formulas—it was a… nose section design? And it looked quite beautiful!
"This design software is indeed excellent, but... our engine data was designed using Dassault Systèmes' CATIA software..."

"That's no problem. Our CAD software can translate other design drawings, whether they're from France or the US, whether they're from minicomputers or mainframes, all kinds of drawings can be translated into our software. The biggest feature of our software is that it can be used online. If needed, everyone in the entire computer room can design a project together..."

Stanley's eyes lit up: "Really? That's wonderful! How much does one of these machines cost?"

"It's not expensive, only $10,000 per unit, FOB price, excluding shipping."

“Okay, give us a hundred of these computers first!” Stanley nodded. “As for sending our engine data to the East to help with the fan blade development project… I need to report back to the company after I get back. As long as the company approves, I will bring the relevant data over!”

Inside the computer room, Zhu Xianghua, who was working, suddenly stopped typing on the keyboard, looked up, and looked at Qin Liang and the others.

"Ahem, Mr. Stanley, the $10,000 I just mentioned is only for the hardware. The software also costs money: the operating system, word processing software, C compiler, plus this design software. Each set only costs $2888, which is absolutely great value for money, and it even includes software upgrades for the next five years..."

Seeing how readily the other party agreed, Qin Liang knew he had asked for too little and would have to ask for more money!

In China, hardware can create barriers that deter those who want to copy it, but software is something that can't be done. So, once software is developed, it's usually given away along with the machine.

Now, we have to pay money to sell to foreigners!

Zhu Xianghua's heart was pounding violently. One hundred computers would cost one million US dollars, and the software would cost nearly three hundred thousand US dollars. For the mathematics department, this was a huge sum of money!
Moreover, this is foreign exchange! With this money, we can buy so many chips!

“Okay, no problem!” Stanley answered readily, making Qin Liang feel like he hadn’t sold enough.

(End of this chapter)