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

Chapter 278 Sikorsky Company Takes the Initiative to Visit
Christian graduated last year, and the two never saw each other again. Yang Duo'er had never heard her father mention this star student, let alone know that he had joined Sikorsky.

“Yes, my home is in Connecticut, so I came back home to look for work,” Christian said. “Yang, how is the teacher?”

"My father is doing well."

"No, no, I wasn't talking about your father, I was talking about Qin. I heard you got married, but unfortunately I wasn't invited..."

Christian genuinely showed disappointment, and Yang Duo'er's face flushed slightly. Liangzi was actually her teacher? Wasn't this just a joke Liangzi made back then? How could this guy take it seriously?

However, judging from his current expression, he doesn't seem to be joking. He truly regards Qin Liang as his teacher.

"By the way, the problem you're facing now is that the delivery time is too long, right? The sales department can't make a decision on this either. I need to take you to see a senior executive in the company. Come on, let's go over there now."

Executive?

As a recent graduate who's only been with the company for a year, how could you possibly talk to senior management, unless...

Yang Duo'er suddenly realized: "Are we looking for your relatives and friends?"

“My father, Ray Leo.”

Yang Duo'er's eyes widened instantly, but then she thought about it and realized it was perfectly normal.

In the United States, attending university, especially a good one, is a privilege reserved for elite families. Children from ordinary working-class families, who attend public education and barely complete elementary school, lack the necessary knowledge to meet the demands of university. They also lack the financial resources to support university expenses, as all the top universities in the US are private.

As for MIT, it's a gathering place for elites!

Ray Leo, chief designer of the Black Hawk helicopter! In the United States, collective contribution is emphasized, and individual names are rarely singled out. Therefore, for many top-notch equipment, people only know which company it belongs to, but not who designed it.

Yang Duo'er did her homework before coming to Sikorsky Company, and that's how she learned about this person. Even now, she still didn't expect that he and Christian were father and son.

dong dong!

"Come in!"

"Father, I'm sorry to bother you, who is this...?"

"If you have something to say, then say it. If not, please return to your posts. Also, during work hours, call me Mr. Leo!"

A cold voice rang out from behind the desk. It turned out to be a stern father.

"Yes, Mr. Leo, this is a classmate I met at MIT. She's my advisor's daughter..."

"Don't talk about these relationships, tell me the specifics!"

"She came here to purchase S-70 helicopters and wants to get the goods as soon as possible..."

"Then go find the sales department. Coming to me will only waste your time! Okay, you can all get out!"

Christian was somewhat embarrassed. He was so happy to see Yang Duo'er that he had forgotten his father's temper, and now... he had lost face in front of Yang Duo'er.

"Alright, close the door from the outside!"

"I'm sorry, Yang, it's all my fault. When I have time in the future, I will definitely go to Dongfang University and Northwestern Polytechnical University to see my teacher, Qin Liang..."

"Wait, stop!"

At this moment, the two had already reached the door when they were stopped by someone working behind a desk.

"Mr. Leo..."

"Why call him Leo? Call him Father! Is there no family affection in you? Madam, please sit down. What is your relationship with Qin Liang from Dongfang Northwestern Polytechnical University?"

The stern-faced engineer had vanished, replaced by a kind and approachable elder. He chuckled as he left his seat, beckoning to them and calling out towards the door, "Joe, make two cups of coffee!"

Sitting on the sofa, Yang Duo'er still sighed repeatedly. It was truly astonishing that even Christian, her own son, couldn't compare to the influence of her husband.

“Husband and wife relationship? Christian, you have such good friends, why didn’t you say so beforehand? Invite them over for a visit!” Engineer Leo scolded his son again, then switched back to a smiling face.

At this moment, Secretary Qiao had already brought over the coffee.

"Come on, Yang, have some coffee."

Christian stood aside, becoming an outsider, and wondered to himself, "Is my teacher really that famous? Even my father knows about him?"

“Yang, Northwestern Polytechnical University has cooperation with many American companies. If you say that Northwestern Polytechnical University is going to buy helicopters, we will definitely give you priority in supplying them. We will allocate two helicopters from the US Marine Corps’ order to you!”

"How can that be? That's a military Black Hawk, not the civilian S-70 helicopter, is it?"

"There's not much difference, as long as we don't install military frequency-hopping radios or other such devices," Leo said with a smile. "Don't worry, we'll definitely deliver within three months!"

"Thank you, Mr. Leo."

“You’re welcome, it’s nothing, it’s what we should do.” After making some pleasantries, Leo got down to business: “I heard that your husband is collaborating with Boeing to develop a tiltrotor aircraft? This aircraft…”

So that’s why!
After the Langtuo incident, the Americans realized that their existing equipment was not perfect, and under Qin Liang's guidance, Boeing proposed the high-tech concept of tiltrotor aircraft, which quickly attracted the attention of the military.

The Black Hawk has only just been put into service! Although there are still many orders, everyone at Sikorsky has a sense of crisis. Once this tiltrotor aircraft is successfully developed, their Black Hawks will no longer be able to sell!

They also wanted to start researching this kind of thing, but unfortunately they didn't have much technical expertise. After several months, they still couldn't understand the principles and felt there were a lot of problems. Engineer Leo was annoyed by this and would even scold his son when his son came.

Unexpectedly, the son sent over a key figure! Qin Liang's wife should know about these things, right?

Yang Duo'er shook her head: "I'm sorry, Mr. Leo, I don't have access to my husband's work either. I'm mainly in charge of Pacific Trading Company's affairs."

Leo was somewhat disappointed, realizing he was in the same boat; he certainly wouldn't talk about work with his wife when he got home. However…

"However, if you are interested, you can come with me to the East. I will introduce you to my husband. Also, Christian can come along. My husband will be very happy to see you as a student."

"it is good!"

While Yang Duo'er was receiving special treatment at Sikorsky, Qin Liang had already led a group of students from China Southern Airlines on a Y-10 special plane directly to Chengdu!
After a rain shower, the weather cleared up and the sky was blue. The hangar of Factory 5701 was bustling with people.

A large group of people in military uniforms surrounded the plane, looking it over from all angles.

"This plane is fucking huge!"

"That's right, there are three hardpoints on each side of the wings. I can't wait to see it fully loaded with weapons!"

A group of officers were studying something when they heard a chattering noise coming from outside.

Old Lin raised his head and looked outside.

"Hey, the reinforcements that Comrade Qin Liang invited have finally arrived!"

"Yes, if they don't come, we can only see the exterior. Now, we can finally let them take it apart and see the internal structure!"

Everyone sighed as they looked at the group of energetic young people who had entered, led by Qin Liang.

When Qin Liang saw the Mi-24 for the first time, he couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

It's huge, really huge. The West has never been wrong when it comes to nicknames. Doe, it's just as aptly named!
This enormous aircraft truly resembles the belly of a doe, but the height of the crew cabin... is a real problem. Trying to have both leads to this result. We still need to develop dedicated helicopters; that's the right way!
"Liangzi, you're here?"

"Yes, Professor Lin, let me introduce you. This is Director Huang from China Southern Airlines, and these are senior professors specializing in helicopters and aero engines."

Qin Liang introduced the helicopter to Professor Lin, but these professors clearly weren't paying attention to greeting Professor Lin; their eyes were fixed on the helicopter.

We have a project! China Southern Airlines has a project too! "Liangzi, everyone's here now. Should we dismantle it right away, or try it out first?"

"Of course, we'll take it for a flight test, check its various flight performance characteristics, and then disassemble it," Qin Liang said. "Are our air force helicopter pilots ready?"

"Yes, I've been waiting for this for ages!"

The massive helicopter was towed away, and everyone stood around the airport, listening to the roar of the engine and watching the huge helicopter take off.

“We will definitely be able to develop a similar helicopter!” Cao Lijuan said.

"Yes, it definitely will!" Zhou Xu exclaimed with anticipation. "And it will be even more advanced than what we have now!"

the other side.

"Our air force is really eager to have advanced attack helicopters to fly to the south to support ground operations!"

Hearing Elder Lin mention this, Qin Liang became interested: "Elder Lin, our air force doesn't have attack helicopters, but it does have Q-5 aircraft. I'm curious, the south has always been fighting on the ground, why hasn't our air force made any moves?"

In recent years, Northwestern Polytechnical University's main contribution has been in fixed-wing aircraft, such as the Super-7 and the twin-engine Q-6, which are all aircraft with world-class advanced technology. Why not go south? It's easy to get criticized for that!

"Sigh, what can we do? By the way, have you heard what our old leader said when he visited the United States?"

Qin Liang shook his head.

"If a child is naughty, he/she should be spanked."

That's it?

The nation's focus is on economic development! The scale in the south cannot be large; it's defined as a limited local conflict, like disobedient children being taught a lesson!
If the scale is expanded and a large number of air force personnel are deployed, what will happen? A large number of air force personnel will also come from the south, and they may even fly over to bomb, escalating the conflict. There may even be some Russians among those pilots!
We need to control the scale!
"So, armed helicopters can go up then?"

“A helicopter is only a treetop high; we can easily use the army’s name to cover it up,” Old Lin said.

Ok!

At that moment, a roar sounded, the helicopter circled back again, and then... the rotor suddenly began to swing up and down.

Everyone's expression changed; they hoped the plane wouldn't crash!

The helicopter began to shake violently and then plummeted.

Boom!
The Mi-24 crashed heavily into the ground, kicking up dust. The crowd snapped out of their surprise and quickly ran over.

The canopy opened, and the Air Force pilot steadied himself before climbing down. Looking at the approaching ambulance, he waved and said, "It's alright, I'm fine!"

It couldn't be said that nothing was wrong. The pilot was put on a stretcher, put into an ambulance, and then driven to the hospital for a full-body checkup.

Zhou Xu and the others had already climbed the ladder to the top of the helicopter and were looking at the rotor mechanism.

"The damper on this rotor blade is damaged, causing it to wobble erratically," Zhou Xu said. "It seems the quality of Russian helicopters is truly exceptionally poor..."

During class that day, Qin Liang listened to the introduction of the rotor clamp. Between the rotor blade and the rotor clamp, there is a oscillation damper to limit the blade's oscillation. Early models used springs, and later models used hydraulics. Perhaps because of the special circumstances in Afghanistan, the lifespan of this Russian product was greatly shortened.

"Well, let's not fly this plane, let's just dismantle it!"

Without ground maintenance, spare parts, or professional guidance, an aircraft like this can encounter all sorts of dangers when it takes off!

Fighter jets can eject, but helicopters can't. If ejected upwards, they'll be shredded to pieces by the rotor; if ejected downwards, they'll crash directly to the ground due to their low altitude. Historically, only the Ka-52 had an ejection seat, but even then, the rotor had to be destroyed first.

Since ejection is not possible, the aircraft's crashworthiness must be emphasized. The landing gear and the pilot's seat are equipped with cushioning. If the altitude is not too low, a hard landing is possible. If the altitude is high enough, the rotor will rotate on its own under the propulsion of the airflow, thus acting as a parachute.

The helicopter was towed back to the hangar, and the grand mapping and replication mission began.

"Liangzi, this is an armed helicopter, with so many electronic devices. Should we copy it too?"

"No, that's too outdated. Let's switch to our own."

Helicopters and fighter jets are both airplanes, and many of their avionics are interchangeable. Even the operating system can be modified into a fly-by-wire flight control system!

This fire control system can naturally be completely transplanted to our side, and it is definitely more advanced than the Russians'.

The truly useful components are the engine, reducer, propeller shroud, and rotor.

Seeing the teachers and students of China Southern Airlines immersed in the vigorous surveying and replication work, Qin Liang finally breathed a sigh of relief and assigned another task!
The development of the airframe and other related aspects will have to wait until the Black Hawk arrives. For now, let these teachers and students take apart the Mi-24 and treat it as a big toy.

"I wonder when Black Hawk will arrive," Qin Liang muttered to himself.

"About three months. By the way, Yang Duo'er is coming back soon, and she'll be bringing some people from Sikorsky. You'll have to host them then."

Favors are the hardest to repay!
Wait a minute, this domestic helicopter project is lacking funding again. Since the people from Sikorsky are here, we're going to squeeze another sum of money out of them!

Qin Liang had already come up with a new project in his mind: Comanche!
June 18th, a good day for sales.

"Welcome, everyone, to Northwestern Polytechnical University!" Qin Liang warmly greeted his wife and her group of fifteen engineers from Sikorsky.

“Teacher, it’s a pleasure to meet you. This is my father, Mr. Ray Leo, the designer of the Black Hawk helicopter!”

At this moment, Leo stood tall, proud to have a son who knew Qin Liang.

"Mr. Qin, you are highly accomplished in all fields. In the field of rotorcraft, you even recommended the tiltrotor aircraft project to Boeing. Our Sikorsky company..."

“Mr. Leo, rest assured, Christian is your son and also my student. I won't watch my student's company go downhill! I happen to have a new project here…”

That's a bit of an exaggeration. Even without you, Sikorsky will still be a world-class company! But this was also a way to build relationships, especially since the new project was what Mr. Leo was most looking forward to.

"What project?"

"Come on, let's come to our meeting room. I'll show you a few slides."

Inside the conference room, the curtains were drawn, the projector was turned on, and when the silhouette of a helicopter appeared on it, all the Americans widened their eyes.

what is this?
A helicopter?

This appearance...

Now, the shape of helicopters has been basically finalized. Transport helicopters generally have a slightly flattened fuselage with two people sitting side by side in the nose, while attack helicopters have two cockpits, one lower in the front and one higher in the back. Regardless of the layout, the fuselage shape is streamlined.

What now?
The aircraft's fuselage has a clear fold line running from front to back, and the fuselage and tail section do not have crossbeams, but rather gradually taper towards the rear.

The entire fuselage has a multifaceted shape, which reminded them of... Lockheed's stealth aircraft project!

"This is... a stealth helicopter?"

“That’s right!” Qin Liang was very satisfied with these people’s understanding: “Now is the time for a major overhaul of the US Army’s equipment. Although we already have the UH-60 utility helicopter and the AH-64 attack helicopter, there are other helicopters that need to be replaced, such as the OH-58 reconnaissance helicopter. For reconnaissance flights, the best way is to make them stealthy!”

With this in mind, the U.S. Army proposed the LHX program in 1982, even boasting a procurement quantity of 5,000 aircraft. After much effort, in 1985, Sikorsky and Boeing formed a research and development team, while Bell and McDonnell Douglas formed a bidding team. They conducted demonstrations and verifications, and experimented with various configurations. Ultimately, the Boeing and Sikorsky team won, which was 1991.

After more work, in 95, the first prototype rolled off the production line and was named RAH-66, nicknamed Comanche.

This is the only stealth helicopter in the entire history of helicopters. Unfortunately, after many years of effort, the project was eventually scrapped.

Now, Qin Liang has brought out this high-end project, which is absolutely superior to Boeing's tiltrotor aircraft. This project sounds incredibly high-end!
Of course, this project will ultimately fail and will be a waste of money. Qin Liang's requirements are not high. He would be satisfied if Sikorsky gave him tens of millions of yuan in research and development funds!
　P.S.: This is an early work photo of Sikorsky. The plane still had a steering wheel installed. The young man's hat is hilarious.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)