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

Chapter 145 The Y-10 is going global!
Shanghai Aircraft Factory.

A beautiful large passenger plane was slowly pulled out of the workshop. Its fuselage was painted with the white livery of China Eastern Airlines, and the bright red flag on its tail was even more dazzling.

At the main entrance, a large crowd had gathered, and when the plane came out, enthusiastic applause erupted.

The first Y-10 was rolled out in 1976 and then sent to the flight test institute for static testing. The second Y-10 had its airframe completed, but it lacked a suitable engine, preventing its maiden flight. Now, we have the Spey!

With almost all four Spey engines installed, various taxiing tests were conducted, and today, the maiden flight is finally here!
Countless eyes were drawn to the engine hanging under the wing. The brand-new engine was a sight to behold, with a thrust greater than the JT3D. In the future, even the Boeing 707 in civil aviation could be equipped with our Spey engine!

The plane stopped at the end of the runway, and against its backdrop, a podium was set up on the lawn next to it.

"Comrades, today is a special day. Our Y-10 is about to make its maiden flight! This is the glory of our Shanghai!"

Old Ma watched the Shanghai leaders' speech with great excitement, then suddenly remembered something: "Didn't we invite leaders from the capital to come over?"

"Well, most of the leaders in the capital are busy. Leader Duan arrived last night, but I don't know why he left this morning," said Cheng, the deputy chief engineer of the Y-10.

Old Ma's face turned slightly unpleasant.

At this moment, enthusiastic applause broke out.

The test pilots, dressed in neat flight suits, boarded the Y-10 and closed the hatch.

The roar of the Spey engines filled the air as the Y-10 slid rapidly down the runway and then took off!

This is the take-off of the Y-10! The take-off of the Shanghai Aircraft Factory! And the take-off of the civil aviation industry in the East!

Watching the Y-10 take off, Old Ma's displeasure disappeared once again. The Y-10 in front of him had taken off. This aircraft was his child, the child of the Shanghai Aircraft Factory, and the child of the Eastern Civil Aviation Industry!
Amidst everyone's anticipation, the aircraft landed smoothly, marking the successful completion of the Y-10's maiden flight!
Next up is the victory celebration banquet!
In the canteen of the Shanghai Aircraft Factory, just as Old Ma picked up his wine glass, he saw Old Cheng rush in from outside.

"Everyone, good news! Good news! Our superiors have sent us a congratulatory telegram for the successful maiden flight, and have also instructed us to conduct long-range flight tests as soon as possible, flying from Shanghai to Chang'an!"

Northwestern Polytechnical University.

"Qin Liang, our Third Ministry of Machinery Industry and CATIC have done our best. At the meeting, many leaders gave up expressing their opinions, but we stood up and stated the pros and cons. This trip to Paris is to showcase the strength of our Eastern aviation industry! Sending only fighter jets is not enough; we must send large aircraft as well. No matter what happens to the Y-10 in the future, at least flying there now will enhance our Eastern presence!"

After finishing speaking, Manager Liu picked up the water glass on the table and gulped it down in one go.

"However... the higher-ups have also said that all expenses for participating in the Paris Air Show will be borne by Northwestern Polytechnical University! If the products transported by the Y-10 cannot cover the expenses after sales, Northwestern Polytechnical University will fill the remaining gap. Anyway, you have money, and you don't hand over the foreign exchange you earn to the country..."

Director Luo smiled wryly. Northwestern Polytechnical University made money and became the first university to adapt to the market economy, which also attracted a lot of envious people!

"So if we make a lot of money, the rest will be ours too?"

"Well... I guess so." "Yeah, we'll just spend all the money we earn, and then the relevant departments can't do anything to us." Qin Liang muttered to himself.

"By the way, the Y-10 has already completed three test flights at the Shanghai Aircraft Factory. Its overall flight performance is good and its handling is excellent, so... it will be flying to Chang'an next..."

"Really? When will it fly over? I'll go check!"

The phone rang. Director Luo picked it up and exclaimed in surprise, "What? The Y-10 has arrived at the airport? Okay, let's go right now!"

At Chang'an Airport, a large crowd had gathered around the Y-10 passenger plane. Airport manager Chen Wenbin remarked with emotion, "Our airport mainly handles foreign passenger planes, such as the British Trident and the Russian An-24... but none of them have flown our own passenger planes!"

"Yes, this passenger plane is really beautiful, just like a Boeing 707!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is our Y-10 transport aircraft, which is quite different from the Boeing 707!"

Upon hearing the voice, Old Ma excitedly looked up at the speaker: "Qin Liang, you've finally arrived! Come on, let me show you our passenger plane!"

Qin Liang didn't move, his eyes shining brightly.

Following Qin Liang's gaze, Old Ma assumed that Qin Liang was looking at the engine on the wing, so he said, "The performance of this Spey engine is really good! It's even better than the JT3D in civil aviation. We originally designed it to have a range of 7,000 kilometers, but now the Y-10 can fly more than 9,000 kilometers!"

The JT3D, as the first generation of Western civil aviation engines, was an improvement on the JT3C turbojet engine by adding an outer bypass duct. Its bypass ratio was only 1.4, which may have been excellent at the time, much better than the Spey engine. But now... the Spey engine has been upgraded to a bypass ratio of 2.4! It has greater thrust and is more fuel-efficient!

During the flight from Shanghai to Chang'an, the engineers calculated various data and obtained the aircraft's maximum range under normal commercial payload. They were incredibly excited; 9,000 kilometers was definitely achievable! They even estimated the maximum takeoff weight could be increased, but they didn't have time to verify that!

"Our aircraft still needs improvement! Hopefully, the improvements can be completed within half a month, which should reduce flight drag by another 5%, thus increasing the range to over 10,000 kilometers!"

Mr. Ma was stunned. A five percent reduction in flight drag? How could that be possible! Aircraft design is a rigorous science that requires wind tunnels and various complex calculations. Now that the aircraft has been built, how could it be improved in just half a month, let alone have its drag reduced by five percent?

"Qin Liang, what should we do?"

"Tamper with it here!" Qin Liang pointed to the wingtip of the wing.

Who dares to say that our Y-10 is a copy of the Boeing 707? Our Y-10 is clearly a crystallization of Eastern wisdom!

The Y-10 has many shortcomings, including its heavy weight, which leads to poor fuel economy. However, this problem is about to be solved! By using fuel-efficient high-bypass turbofan engines and winglets, even with its heavy weight, it can achieve the same fuel consumption as similar Western passenger aircraft, and at least be more fuel-efficient than the Boeing 707!

That's right, this amazing skill is the winglet! In later passenger planes, without changing anything else, just by installing this small, upturned winglet at the wingtip, the drag can be reduced by more than five percent. Users love to buy this kind of plane. With a small winglet installed, it's like a new plane, and it looks very prestigious when it flies!

(End of this chapter)