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

Chapter 464 The Third Passenger Aircraft: C909
Once upon a time, McDonnell Douglas, in order to completely destroy the civil aviation industry in the East, hypocritically came to seek cooperation and sent the technology of the McDonnell Douglas-82 passenger plane to the East for production. In order to practice the technology, the Shanghai Aircraft Factory used all the materials of the third Y-10 to make rivet guns.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 is a short-to-medium-range direct passenger aircraft with an empty weight of 37 tons and a maximum takeoff weight of 67.8 tons.

The Y-10 is a long-range trunk passenger aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of over 100 tons.

These two are not even in the same league. Unfortunately, driven by certain interests, some people are willing to be traitors to the nation and the aviation industry, just to be on the same side as the Americans!
Now, the Y-10 has been transformed into the C919, and the even larger C929 has also taken flight. The civil aviation industry in the East is developing vigorously!
Previously, they cooperated with Boeing, but they couldn't put all their eggs in one basket. Now, they are cooperating with McDonnell Douglas, which can solve the problem of the lack of short- and medium-range regional jets, and also allow McDonnell Douglas to survive for a few more years. A monopoly is not good for the East.

Summer in Shanghai is either extremely hot or very rainy. When people arrived in Shanghai, it was drizzling outside.

In the conference room.

"Everyone, welcome to the Shanghai Aircraft Factory." Old Ma was very excited: "Comrade Qin Liang, what tasks do you have to assign this time?"

There's a lot of good news to report to Qin Liang, but since he's brought McDonnell Douglas's men, he must have other missions.

“Yes,” Qin Liang nodded. “We plan to collaborate with McDonnell Douglas to develop a modern regional jet, project codenamed C909.”

Mr. Ma's eyes lit up. Sure enough, there was another new project!
Moreover, instead of calling it 939 in sequence, it was named 909. It is appropriate in terms of size, but what should we name when we have a new passenger plane in the future?
"Okay, no problem, Comrade Qin Liang, is the passenger capacity of this aircraft 90?"

The last two digits are based on the number of people. So, 09 means there are less than one hundred people.
"In the standard model, which mainly seats business class, it can seat around 90 people. If it is the extended model with regular seats, it can seat around 150 people."

This is much bigger than the C909 of later generations! It's targeting the McDonnell Douglas-82 market, which has a maximum seating capacity of 147, so of course we have to be of that level as well.

"In terms of aerodynamic design, advanced supercritical wings should be adopted to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft during cruise. The fuselage width should exceed 4 meters to make the internal space more spacious..."

These small aircraft are all narrow-body passenger planes. The Trident's cabin width is 3.2 meters, while the McDonnell Douglas-82 is derived from the DC-9, with a fuselage width of only 3.34 meters, leaving an internal cabin width of only 3.09 meters. As a result, the interior of this aircraft can only accommodate five seats per row, adopting a 3+2 layout.

McDonnell Douglas continued to improve the aircraft, but the fuselage was never upgraded, as such a change would be too drastic, would be inconvenient to use existing production equipment, and would increase costs.

Later models like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 increased the fuselage width to 3.95 meters and the interior cabin width to a full 3.70 meters. This allowed for six seats per row in a single-aisle layout, creating a 3+3 configuration.

We don't care what McDonnell Douglas thinks. In short, the new aircraft we're developing must be big enough so that even a big guy like Professor Sun won't feel cramped sitting in it.

Upon hearing Qin Liang's words, Michar-Hills's expression changed slightly.

"Qin, if we rashly change the width of the passenger plane, then..."

He wanted to say how much McDonnell Douglas would have to invest, but then changed his mind: "That would increase air resistance and be bad for fuel economy!"

"Fuel economy should of course be addressed through advanced design, not by sacrificing the comfort of our aircraft. Users do like fuel-efficient planes, but wouldn't it be even better if they were both fuel-efficient and spacious?"

McDormand's facial muscles twitched slightly: "How...how is it possible to take care of both?"

"Why can't we have both?" Qin Liang rolled his eyes at the other person. "If you want an airplane to be fuel-efficient, the first thing you need is an advanced engine. Professor Liu, how's our research on advanced aero-engines going?"

"It's already being tested." Professor Liu Songling of the Department of Engine Engineering at Northwestern Polytechnical University, who is in charge of the Shanghai engine plant, said calmly: "After the test run on the test stand is over, it will be transferred to the C919."

The C919 will finally have an advanced aero-engine that rivals the world's best!

"How does this engine compare to the JT8D engine?" McDonnell Douglas engineer Edgar asked.

"How can Pratt & Whitney's old-fashioned engine compare to ours?" Professor Liu said with a look of disdain: "The JT8D was put into commercial operation in 1964. At that time, with the level of technology, the bypass ratio was only 1.04, the fuel consumption was high, the thrust was low, and the pressure ratio was low... This kind of thing should have been thrown away long ago."

This is the confidence of Northwestern Polytechnical University students!

Aero engines, once our weakest area of ​​technology, have now caught up! Through cooperation with Rolls-Royce, we have even surpassed them!
"However, this type of engine has a mature structure and a small size, making it most suitable for a rear-mounted layout."

McDonnell Douglas's passenger planes have many unique designs. For example, the two engines are placed close to the tail, which is the most common way for regional jets to operate.

In contrast, Boeing and Airbus prefer to suspend the fuselage under the wings.

"But McDonnell Douglas's tradition is a tail-mounted layout!"

"The tail-mounted engine is outdated. We can see that the current mainstream international aircraft, such as Airbus and Boeing, use an underwing engine layout."

Boeing's success began with the 707, which featured engines mounted under the wings. Later, the Boeing 727 briefly used a tail-mounted engine configuration, but this was quickly phased out.

Later Boeing and Airbus all used wing-mounted pylons, while McDonnell Douglas stuck to the old tradition and was eventually phased out.

Upon hearing that McDonnell Douglas still insisted on upholding tradition, Qin Liang couldn't help but criticize.

"This is an era of constant change. If you can't have an innovative spirit, you'll be eliminated sooner or later! Early aircraft engines even had wing root air intake layouts, but what happened in the end? They were still eliminated. Now, since mainstream manufacturers have all chosen the slatted engine layout, it means that this layout has great advantages. If McDonnell Douglas wants to go down the old path, then forget it!"

Forget it? What does that mean?
Of course, it's a clean break, and I'm not going to involve them anymore!

"Qin, aren't we McDonnell Douglas a mainstream manufacturer?"

"In terms of sales volume and market share, can you compare to Boeing? In terms of the number of orders you have, can you compare to Airbus? You may be considered an established manufacturer, but you can't be considered a mainstream manufacturer!"

Teng!
Edgar stood up: "Mr. President, this person is looking down on us. We... we cannot tolerate such an insult. Let's leave."

"Really? Saying a few harsh words is considered contempt?" Qin Liang rolled his eyes at the other person: "Are you with McDonald's or Douglas?"

"Does it matter?"

"Important! If it's McDonnell's, I can still respect them a bit more. After all, you and Boeing are both technical experts. But if it's Douglas's... Hmph, they're just a bunch of businessmen who only care about profits. McDonnell Douglas will be ruined by these people sooner or later."

Michar Hills' expression was complicated.

Qin Liang actually hit the nail on the head.

McDonnell Douglas started out manufacturing military aircraft; they never needed to consider the market, as long as they kept their mouths shut for their clients.

Douglas manufactures passenger aircraft, and they need to cater to market demands. Over time, they set higher standards for themselves, all for the sake of making money! Making money is their sole objective!
They spend all their time watching the stock price and financial statements. Every year, the board of directors looks at how high the profits are and how much dividends can be distributed.

To make a profit, you have to reduce research and development.

From the DC-9 to the McDonnell Douglas-80, and then to the McDonnell Douglas-90, they were all simple upgrades, just different names for the same product! Consumers will naturally vote with their feet.

Look at the Airbus A320; when it first appeared, it was leading in many technologies.

With a fuselage width of 3.95 meters, it was the largest among regional jets at the time, featuring wing-mounted engines and an advanced redundant fly-by-wire flight control system…

The decline of established manufacturers is not without reason; they were once industry leaders, but then they became complacent and stopped striving for progress...

Qin Liang wanted to get them to cooperate, but it was just a whim. If they didn't want to, we could do it ourselves. Our products are more advanced than the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737!
Edgar's face flushed red and then turned pale. He shouted, "President, let's go!"

"Hmph, good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the disease, and honest advice is unpleasant to the ear but is beneficial to conduct. If you want to leave, then leave. This is the best chance to save McDonnell Douglas. If you miss it, you can just wait to go bankrupt!"

Hills did not move.

"President!"

“Qin, you’re right.” Hills took a deep breath before speaking, “Since acquiring Douglas, our company’s situation has indeed changed a lot… This brand-new passenger plane can certainly be seen as a new beginning for McDonnell Douglas’s rebirth, but I still want to know, how is the wing-mounted layout more advanced than the tail-mounted layout?” “Professor Liu, explain it to him!”

Professor Liu began, “The advantages of the tail layout are that there are no rigid space requirements under the wings, the landing gear can be shortened, the wings do not need to be reinforced, which can save weight. At the same time, the engines are close together, so if one engine fails, the yaw moment is much smaller. However, there are also quite a few disadvantages.”

No solution is perfect; the choice requires a comprehensive consideration of various advantages and disadvantages.

"The wings don't need to be reinforced, but the only thing that needs to be reinforced is the high-mounted tail. When designing, the vertical structure needs to be strengthened. Moreover, more importantly, the torsional effect of the wings cannot be neutralized, resulting in a small wing area. Compared with other similar passenger aircraft, the McDonnell Douglas-82 is more difficult to handle because the wing area is not large enough. This is a critical defect."

During flight, the wings generate lift, while the fuselage generates gravity. Thus, at the wing root, these two forces compete with each other, creating a large torque.

This means the wing root area needs to be reinforced, and the wing area can't be too large.

On an airplane, the engine is a very heavy component. Hanging the engine on the wing means that some of the weight of the fuselage is distributed to the wing, and the balance at the wing root is the most favorable.

"At the same time, by placing the engines on the wings, the engines will be far away from the nacelle, which reduces noise transmission. Since the fuel tanks are also on the wings, the fuel lines can be designed to be as short as possible..."

The reason why the wing-mounted engine solution has become the main solution is naturally due to the result of comparing various advantages and disadvantages.

McDonnell Douglas's adherence to tradition resulted in its inability to choose the optimal aerodynamic layout!

This is our first time doing this in the East, so we'll just do whatever works best for us!
The McDonnell Douglas team fell silent, deep in thought, and it seemed... this plan had many advantages!

“Qin, McDonnell Douglas needs to study these plans. Please give us some time,” said Michar-Hills.

"Are you going back to persuade the board to increase R&D investment?" Qin Liang glanced at him. "Tell those profit-driven guys that if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it. Only short-sighted people care only about immediate profits!"

Michar Hills' body jolted, then he nodded vigorously.

After the McDonnell Douglas team left, everyone relaxed.

"Comrade Qin Liang, since you're here, let's hear our report. After the C929 passenger plane made its debut in the United States last time, it received a strong international response, and we've already received orders for more than fifty aircraft..."

Qin Liang's eyes lit up: "So many?"

It should be noted that China's civil aviation passenger aircraft industry has only been established for less than five years. Although it has obtained airworthiness certificates from Europe and the United States, it still mainly serves domestic users. After all, the civil aviation authorities are already very satisfied that they do not have to spend precious foreign exchange to purchase foreign passenger aircraft.

Under Mr. Cheng's leadership, all civil aviation departments in China had to purchase passenger planes from the Shanghai aircraft factory!

Now, they've actually started exporting again?

More than fifty aircraft!
According to international standards, the C929, a large passenger aircraft, is at the point where it breaks even after selling 300 units. However, for China Eastern Airlines, which is booming, the domestic market can absorb the demand. More importantly, the research and development funding comes from Boeing, so we make a profit on every aircraft we sell!
"Great, fantastic! Our civil aviation industry is truly alive and well!"

“Yes, but… this also means that we have officially begun to compete with Boeing,” said Mr. Ma.

If domestically produced passenger planes are sold domestically, Boeing can't say anything. But if they are sold internationally, it's practically equivalent to taking Boeing's business away!

Qin Liang nodded: "Sooner or later we'll have to compete. Right now, we're cooperating with Boeing. Even if we're competing, Boeing can't do anything underhanded to us, let alone slander us. We should take this opportunity to promote the name of our Eastern Passenger Aircraft, which will be of great benefit to our future development!"

"Yes, with that in mind, we can rest assured. Let's talk about the 909 passenger plane again. If we're going to produce this plane, our factory..."

"If we don't have enough factory space, we'll expand it; if we don't have enough workers, we'll hire more." Qin Liang's attitude was clear: "Development is the only way forward. Don't be afraid of debt. Our current investments are all for future development!"

“Okay, then let’s expand the factory.” Old Ma nodded.

Thump thump thump... Just then, someone ran in.

"Report! Mr. Sha has arrived and wishes to inspect our C929 passenger aircraft!"

"Great! Business with that big dog is the easiest thing to do!" Qin Liang nodded, "I'll go check it out too!"

Prince Fahd, now king, would not come easily; instead, his most trusted subordinate, Khalifa, came instead.

"Lord Khalifa, welcome, welcome!"

"Qin! I never expected to see you here!" Khalifa's eyes lit up.

"Yes, Lord Khalifa, my friend, it's a pleasure doing business with you!"

In the past, Sha purchased ten early warning aircraft and two hundred JF-17 Thunder fighter jets. One hundred of them were to be produced by Sha. The entire project was worth tens of billions of yuan!

Now they're back! And it's bound to be a big deal again!

"Your C929 passenger plane is truly advanced! We're here today to discuss purchasing this type of aircraft. Please build us one royal private jet first, and once it proves to be reliable, our civil aviation department will also purchase it in large quantities!"

"Great, of course! The private jet we'll give you will be absolutely top-notch and classy!"

"If we make large-scale purchases... could we set up an assembly plant in my area later?"

"Of course, no problem!"

It just so happens that there is insufficient production capacity here, and Sha's side... can't produce even a single rivet. It's all about assembling parts from scratch, and because of issues like wages, the production cost is even higher than in the East. If they want to do it, let them mess around.

Across the ocean, Boeing.

"Damn it, those Easterners betrayed us! They chose to jointly develop passenger planes with us, but now they've gone and partnered with McDonnell Douglas!"

"Yes, they flew the C929 passenger plane over and stole our thunder. Now the whole world thinks that our 7E7 was designed by an Asian!"

Faced with countless doubts, Steiner was somewhat troubled.

He had just returned from the East and finalized a spaceplane development project, believing it would be a future profit growth point for Boeing. Unexpectedly, the people from the East turned around and went on to work on regional jets!
With the cost control capabilities of the East... this passenger plane is definitely the strongest competitor to the Boeing 737!
These Easterners are indeed quite detestable!

Creak... The door opened.

Steiner looked toward the doorway and saw a familiar face.

"Shiryu Ts, what...did you hear some bad news again?"

Lionel nodded: "The sales staff in the Middle East reported that Mr. Sha went to the East, probably to purchase C929 passenger planes."

Sha!
They are wealthy and never short of money, nor do they care about prices. Previously, they were Boeing's most loyal customer. Now, they actually want to purchase C929s from the East.

Frank-Schruntz, a high-achieving student in law and business administration, unfortunately found himself at Boeing, a company that prides itself on engineers and does not welcome businessmen.

So, after working for many years, Lionel Scherenz only managed to climb to the position of sales manager. However, due to his outstanding performance, he was still chosen by Steiner as his successor. Historically, he became president in 85, CEO in 86, and chairman in 88.

During his tenure at Boeing, he witnessed market booms, economic recessions, and restructuring, merged with McDonnell Douglas, and transformed Boeing from an engineering company into a business company…

Boeing is now facing challenges, both commercial and technological!
"We absolutely cannot lose our business in the Middle East, Shilonts. You need to go to the Middle East immediately and sell our 7E7 passenger plane to them!"

(End of this chapter)