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

Chapter 177 Lockheed Corporation, I'll help you modify the plane!
On the tree-lined path, Yang Duo'er linked arms with Qin Liang and walked slowly.

"Brother Liangzi, be careful when you go to Lockheed and General Electric for inspections. They will try every means to keep you here."

Qin Liang smiled and said, "This is also a test. If you are not determined, then don't accept the education from Northwestern Polytechnical University. You can just come here and be a banana (yellow on the outside, white on the inside). Their departure will also purify our ranks!"

"Isn't this more than just a test for them?"

Looking at Yang Duo'er's delicate face, Qin Liang lowered his head and gently kissed her.

Indeed, this is also a test for Yang Duo'er. Her several encounters abroad—were they coincidences, or...?

Therefore, Qin Liang boldly used Yang Duo'er, both to benefit from her fame and to put her to the test. And the most important test was this one.

The mapping and replication of the F-107, and the theft—cough cough—of the stealth coating material, were all accomplished with Yang Duo'er's help. The Americans would never have paid such a high price, especially that stealth coating, which was a top-secret American secret.

If it weren't for this opportunity, we would have had to wait until 99 to get our hands on it. Qin Liang isn't an omniscient person; he really doesn't know anything about this. Even if he knew what the materials were, he wouldn't be able to do it without knowing the proportions. Now, all he needs to do is study the manufacturing process!
"Qin Liang, Qin Liang, something terrible has happened!" Just then, Yang Wei rushed over: "Our black... black model airplane number one, it was flying over the Charles River, and suddenly it exploded!"

Everyone was still excited, but then...

"So what if it explodes? Failure is the mother of success. There's no such thing as perfection on the first try. The fact that our Black Silk No. 1 can fly is already a success. Back then, Edison failed thousands of times when he was researching light bulb filaments."

Seeing Qin Liang's calm demeanor, and considering that the entire flight control program was written by computer professionals but Qin Liang modified it in the end, it seems... I was overthinking it.

MIT, office.

"Damn it, those military bastards!" Ben Rich gritted his teeth. It was perfectly fine to fly it; it used civilian parts, how could it possibly have strong anti-jamming capabilities? And with all this messing around, the model airplane just exploded! How are we supposed to do research now?!

“Mr. Ben Richie, although Black Silk One was blown up, my daughter still helped you complete the work. What you promised... won't go back on its word, will it?”

"Of course... no, Mr. Yang. We are not short-sighted people. We mean what we say. From now on, it's fine for your daughter to be with Qin Liang..."

"No, no, my daughter isn't a spy! Besides, even if it's blown up, you still have photos; you can use them as a reference for research and development!"

"Okay, why are you reacting so strongly? Next, it's time for a visit to our Lockheed Corporation!"

Burbank Aircraft Factory, California.

"What you see before you is Lockheed's TriStar aircraft, one of the safest planes in the world, and the world's third wide-body jet airliner..."

When Lockheed is mentioned, military enthusiasts will think of the F-117, F-22, and F-35. It is a leader in the field of military aircraft development. In fact, Lockheed has also ventured into the commercial airliner market, competing with Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.

Moreover, it's a wide-body, medium-to-long-range jet aircraft that rivals the Boeing 747 and DC-10! Its takeoff weight is nearly two hundred tons!

Unfortunately, those who make military aircraft generally can't make commercial airliners. McDonnell Aircraft Corporation originally made military aircraft, but after acquiring Douglas Aircraft Corporation, which made commercial airliners, it went downhill and eventually ended up being acquired by Boeing.

Lockheed had previously worked on the L-188 Elikra, but it encountered numerous problems. The L-1011 TriStar was their second attempt, and it ultimately failed miserably, leaving the market empty-handed. While 500 aircraft were needed to break even, only 250 were sold. From the outset, it was designed with Rolls-Royce's RB211 engine, and... the engine almost caused its failure. Otherwise, it could have taken to the skies much earlier than McDonnell Douglas's DC-10.

"What do you guys think of our aircraft?" Ben Richie asked.

Qin Liang shook his head: "Have you ever heard of the Three-Shot Curse?"

Many of the accompanying experts' expressions changed. If it weren't for Qin Liang and his team developing a stealth tomahawk at MIT, which intimidated many people, some would have already been cursing, "What do you know, buddy!"
"Mr. Qin, please don't speak nonsense. Three engines are the most suitable for transoceanic flights. Compared to four engines, they are more fuel-efficient, and the amount of maintenance work is reduced by a quarter..."

"What if we changed it to a twin-engine configuration?"

"How could that be? You probably haven't heard of the regulations for dual-engine extended-range operation, have you?"

Mr. Ma looked a little embarrassed. Three engines were indeed the best choice for intercontinental flights, as they saved on maintenance costs compared to four engines. However, twin engines could not fly over oceans, especially the Pacific. After all, in 1936, the FAA stipulated that twin-engine aircraft must find an airport and land within sixty minutes if one engine failed, due to concerns about engine failure in the air.

In the propeller era, this meant that there had to be an airport within a 160-kilometer radius of the flight path. In the jet era, this distance expanded to 800 or 900 kilometers, but the 60-minute time limit could not be changed. This is the famous 60-minute rule.

To circumvent this regulation, a large number of companies have designed three-engine passenger planes that can fly routes that twin-engine planes cannot.

"Of course I've heard about it. But I've also heard that ICAO has increased this time to ninety minutes, so Airbus A300 series aircraft can fly many more routes, so..."

Qin Liang looked at everyone present: "I predict that the FAA will also relax this restriction, for example, by increasing it to 120 minutes. This would allow Boeing to better integrate into market competition. Ladies and gentlemen, the era of three engines will soon be over. The future skies belong to twin engines. If your aircraft is converted to a twin-engine configuration ahead of time, it will definitely be able to seize the market!"

The expressions of the people present varied, especially those of the engineers from Samsung Aircraft. They had indeed heard many rumors, such as that Boeing's chief engineer, Dick Taylor, was lobbying FAA Administrator Lynn Holmes to relax the dual-engine restrictions, which would expand the market potential of the Boeing 767.

but……

"Even if the twin-engine restriction is changed, it won't make a difference. Our twin-engine passenger aircraft needs tremendous thrust. The RB211-22 engine it is equipped with has a thrust of up to 50400 pounds. If we switch to twin engines, each engine would need to be more than 75200 pounds. There simply aren't any engines with that much thrust right now!"

“In the past, we didn’t have that, but things are different now. We in the East have advanced fan blade materials, and we can make fan blades with larger diameters to increase thrust. Increasing thrust by half is not a big problem.”

"What did you say?" Everyone present held their breath.

Westerners tend to misuse units. A pound is an imperial unit; 50400 pounds is roughly 23 tons. If you increase that by half, it's about 30 tons. What's so difficult about that? Later generations produced many vehicles with thrust exceeding 40 tons! The largest, the General Electric GE9X, was over 60 tons!
"If you act early, I believe the Samsung Aircraft will become the best-selling aircraft in the future!"

"Your help from the East? What are your requirements?"

"There are no special requirements. If you have time, please help us get an FAA airworthiness certificate for our Y-10."

　PS: The illustration is of a Lockheed L1011 passenger plane.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)