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

Chapter 30: Since we can't finish calculating anyway, let's just build a model!
Aircraft Department, Office Building, Double Delta Wing Project Office.

Actually, their office should be renamed "Super Seven Office" now, but nobody cares about the name; they have more important things to do.

Jingle Bell……

Old Tu picked up the phone: "Hey, Lao Luo? You've got the perfect time. Where's Lao Sha? Where's Lao Liu? Call them back right now. A meeting? This place is in dire straits, and you still have time for a meeting!"

*Click!* The phone was put down.

Qin Liang raised his head and glanced at Elder Tu: "Elder Tu, since we're going to mess this up anyway, let's just do it my way."

"That won't do; we need to discuss it together first!"

A dozen minutes later, Director Luo returned with a group of professors.

"Old Tu, what's wrong?"

"I just received a call from the Air Force saying they'll be coming to the Aircraft Engineering Department at Northwestern Polytechnical University for research in a week, and they hope we can prepare our presentation materials! A week? What can you do in that time?!"

Everyone's expression changed. Without advanced computers to perform the calculations, relying on the slide rules in their hands was too slow and simply wouldn't work!

"Qin Liang, aren't you the one with the most clever ideas? What's your plan?" Director Luo looked at Qin Liang.

"Well, my suggestion is, since we can't finish calculating it anyway, let's just stop and find a carpenter to make a model of the airplane. We need to make a large-scale one, at least five to one scale, so it looks impressive enough. Let the air force leaders have a good look first!"

Aircraft design is rigorous. The lines on the outside may look smooth, but in reality, they are all carefully calculated. Every curved surface has its own design data, and they are not arbitrary.

Qin Liang's explanation is too simple; he's just going to start with carpentry. Isn't that just trying to fool people?

Actually, it's not a lie.

Qin Liang can't handle computers, but he can't handle airplanes? He's a designer of sixth-generation fighter jets! He's seen the improved version of the Mountain Eagle from Guizhou Aviation Industry Corporation countless times. Although he didn't design it himself, he already knew the shape of the nose of the aircraft by heart.

We can get the carpentry work done directly and get it pretty close to the mark. After reporting to the Air Force leaders and securing some funding, we can then refine and modify the design. It's not a big deal.

But he couldn't say it!

Therefore, in everyone's eyes, this became fraud!

Tu Lao couldn't make the final decision, after all, Qin Liang wasn't from his Factory 132, otherwise he would have made the decision long ago. Now... he looked at the teachers in the aircraft department, waiting for their choice.

“I think it’s a good idea!” Professor Sha was the first to speak up: “Anyway, we can’t finish calculating it all. Since the Air Force is launching a surprise attack, we can only improvise!”

“That’s right. If the Air Force approves it, we’ll have funding, and our research and development can get on the fast track!” Professor Liu nodded in agreement. “If the Air Force blames us, just put the blame on me, Lao Liu!”

Today, the news of the paper's acceptance came back, and Professor Liu was overjoyed. He already considered Qin Liang his prized student, so he would take the blame for Qin Liang's mistakes! "Old Liu, you're not that big of a deal!" Professor Sha was anxious. Wasn't this someone trying to steal his student?! What Green's function? What paper? It's yours, but this plane is mine!
"Alright, since no one has any objections, it's settled then. If the Air Force really blames us, then the Northwestern Polytechnical University's aircraft department and Factory 132 will share the blame. What do you say, Lao Tu?"

Old Tu nodded: "Good!"

Next, there's no need to work on the blueprints anymore. Let's go straight to the lab and get to the carpentry work!

The carpenter was in a bind; without blueprints, how could he proceed?
So Qin Liang personally took charge! Wood shavings flew everywhere, and the machine head was completed in just two days. Looking at the beautiful machine head, Old Tu had a strange feeling.

"Old Dassault once said that a beautiful plane is definitely a good plane. Although the data calculations for this nose are not yet complete, it is already very beautiful just by looking at its appearance!" Old Tu exclaimed.

The conical nose extends backward, gradually becoming bulky. D-shaped air intakes appear on both sides below the cockpit. The landing gear bay is below the nose, and the cockpit is above it. This layout looks like that of a third-generation fighter jet. Who would believe that this is the nose of a MiG-21? Even its own mother wouldn't recognize it!

"Hmm, I think we can add some more decorations. What do you all think? Should we draw a dragon or an eagle's head?" Qin Liang asked.

"Forget it, let's not make things worse. Let's focus on the fuselage, add the wings, and get the whole thing done!" Director Luo said. "Your suggestion is really good! When the Air Force comes, we'll invite them to see it in person, and they'll definitely love it!"

If it were just a matter of modifying the nose, then we could just make a nose. But our original project was to modify the double delta wing, so the wings also need to be made, which means we need a fuselage. Since we've already gone this far, we might as well just make the whole aircraft!

Upon hearing what Director Luo said, Qin Liang suddenly realized something.

"Old Tu, do you think we could make the rear fuselage a single piece, with an opening at the bottom of the tail section, to make it easier for the troops to inspect and replace the engine?"

This is something the MiG-21 was born with.

When designing aircraft, the Russians never considered logistics and maintenance; they designed them for convenience. The MiG-21's engine was installed with the fuselage, so the rear fuselage had to be removed to replace the engine.

The ground crew needs to spend a whole day disassembling it, then replacing the engine with a new one, and installing it—that takes another whole day!

Unfortunately, the matching engines had a short lifespan, with early models having only one hundred hours of service life. As a result, the disassembly and reassembly work was extremely difficult for the ground crew.

Looking at the West, they simply cut an opening under the engine and design a special bracket to pull it out directly. The entire disassembly and reassembly process can be completed in fifteen minutes!
"You're giving us a real problem!" Old Tu sighed. "We know the advantages of this design, but... we've never seen anything like it before!"

For years, the Eastern aviation industry has been making minor modifications and simple improvements to Russian products. This kind of complete overhaul is a first! As for replacing the engine in the rear fuselage... how do you design it? You not only have to ensure that the engine is easy to install and remove, but also that the engine's power can be reliably transmitted to the entire aircraft!

Modifying the engine compartment means major changes, and we'll have to recalculate everything!
"Old Tu, since we have to recalculate anyway, let's just change it together! As for how to design it, I do have some humble opinions..."

What's so difficult about that? Which aircraft we've designed in later generations wasn't like this? Qin Liang knew this structure inside and out!
"Really? Then you'll just build the rear fuselage model for us? That way we can have a look!"

　PS: Thank you to reader North Wind God 2016 for the donation, thank you to all readers for reading and voting, and welcome to all alumni of Gua University!
　　The image above shows a MiG-21 with its rear end removed, and the image below shows a MiG-15. Regarding the image description function, Huadong Zhixiong has already given suggestions to Dianniang; hopefully, it can be developed as soon as possible.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)