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

Chapter 88 The problem with the J-8 fighter jet needs to be solved by Northwestern Polytechnical University!
In the far north, at Shenyang.

"We have completed the mapping of the MiG-23's nose section. Its structural frame is completely different from that of our J-8 fuselage. There is not a single main beam that can be connected." Engineer Zhao Guangming frowned. "This means that we can only use the shape of the nose. The overall structural frame has to be redesigned."

"This is a real problem! The front half of the fuselage has to be redesigned, all sorts of work processes have to be re-run, static tests have to be done, flutter tests have to be done... It's almost like developing a completely new system. There are still so many problems with the J-8's test flights, and the nose radar hasn't been properly matched yet..."

"Do you think we could collaborate with Northwestern Polytechnical University? By the way, didn't Lao Huang just come back from Factory 132 and meet with that young man Qin Liang? Lao Huang, what do you think?"

Engineer Huang's expression was complicated: "Yes, it's possible to cooperate with them, but they're too greedy. I asked them to help transplant the flap technology, and they actually asked us for millions, millions!"

Speaking of this, Engineer Huang gritted his teeth: "Their computers were a gift from the Americans; they're just wasting some electricity! Of course, we're not stingy either. I offered them tens of thousands of yuan as a reward for their hard work, but they wouldn't take it..."

"Is that so? I think we should just have the higher-ups issue an administrative order!"

“Northwestern Polytechnical University is a university, we are a research institute,” Professor Gu began. “As mentioned in the meeting a few days ago, we need to follow the path of a market economy. We can’t simply measure their contribution by electricity fees. Since they want millions, then we…”

Boom!
Before he could finish speaking, the door was pushed open, and a voice shouted in a panic, "President Gu, President Gu, something terrible has happened! The J-1 fighter jet caught fire during ground testing!"

What?
Old Gu suddenly stood up: "Let's go to Factory 112!"

Similar to the configuration in Chengdu, the Northern Institute was responsible for designing the fighter jets, while production was carried out at Factory 112 in the same city.

In 1930, Zhang Xueliang not only built Beiling Airport, but also communicated with the Dutch Focke & Co. aircraft manufacturing company to build an aircraft factory in Northeast China. Unfortunately, the September 18 Incident occurred, and the plan for the Northeast Aircraft Factory was thwarted.

After liberation, Beiling Airport returned to the hands of the people, and Beiling Air Force Station became the Fifth Factory of the Northeast Aviation School's Maintenance Department, beginning its history of aircraft maintenance. Later, when the Far East War broke out, Beiling Airport was responsible for assembling and repairing aircraft, and subsequently produced a large number of auxiliary fuel tanks, which strongly supported the front-line battles.

Once the war ended, building an aviation industry became an urgent matter. Shenyang had an airport, factories, and a highly skilled workforce. With expansion, it could become a complete aircraft manufacturing plant. Although it was somewhat close to the national border, the plan was still approved.

Thus, on April 17, 1951, State-owned Factory No. 112 was officially established, which is also the birth date of the later famous Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. Factory No. 112 became the largest factory in China's aviation industry. Other factories, such as Factory No. 113 and Factory No. 132, were all formed by employees who were separated from Factory No. 112.

Therefore, the development of the most advanced J-8 fighter jet in China fell to the Northern Institute, and production naturally took place at Factory 112.

The first J-8 developed was the daytime version, which lacked radar and had outdated performance. Therefore, in March 1976, the J-81, which had all-weather combat capability, began development, equipped with the SL-4 fire control radar, the 8-8 modified aiming device, fire control computer, missile fire control device, and so on.

The first J-1 had already taken to the skies for radar testing, but the results were far from ideal. The technicians at Institute 607 were still working day and night to develop improvement plans. The second J-2 had an improved engine system, hoping to achieve better performance, but unexpectedly, it caught fire!
The fighter jet was destroyed; this is a Class A incident!
The tarmac was a complete mess.

The fire has been extinguished, but the fighter jet was burned to a skeleton. Fortunately, the surrounding area was open, otherwise, if the fire had spread in the fierce northwest wind, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
"This is really strange. Our last all-weather fighter jet flew perfectly fine!" Zhao Guangming frowned. "Could it be that there was a problem during the assembly of this second one?" "That's impossible. We've mobilized our best and most experienced personnel. There's no way there could have been a problem during assembly!" Factory Director Tang shook his head. "I can guarantee it with my life!"

"It must be caused by our improvements to the power system." Old Gu frowned. "We need to carefully disassemble the engine compartment to determine the source of the fault."

"it is good!"

The location of the wreckage couldn't be moved, so a shed could only be set up on site. Although it could block the wind, it couldn't keep out the cold. When you spoke, your breath would turn white, and sometimes your words would freeze. You had to stir-fry them in a pan to understand what the other person was saying...

Despite the cold and hardships, everyone worked hard. In many places, they couldn't work with gloves on, so they had to work barehanded. Within minutes, their hands would turn red from the cold, and the next day they would swell up like steamed buns. But they still didn't back down and continued to work diligently.

"The fire likely started on a newly replaced oil pipe in the engine." Finally, Zhao Guangming, holding the oil pipe that had been burned into a twisted shape, said, "It might not have been tightened properly."

"Impossible! It's definitely not because it wasn't tightened properly. Our workers wouldn't make such a basic mistake!" Factory Director Tang shook his head repeatedly. "It must be something else!"

"Others? An oil pipe leak, what else could it be but a loose connection?" Zhao Guangming said, "In previous years, this kind of thing happened quite often..."

"The past is the past, the present is the present! If there are still irresponsible workers like this now, we'll fire them without you even having to tell them! If it causes serious consequences, we'll lock them up! We might even feed them peanuts!"

"Alright, stop arguing," Old Gu said. "We need to find the cause as soon as possible; arguing won't solve anything."

"Do you think it could be resonance?" Engineer Huang suddenly asked.

In ancient times, there were instances where soldiers marched across bridges and caused them to collapse. This was because the frequency of their marching was close to the natural frequency of the bridge, causing the bridge to resonate. The same thing happens now. When an engine starts, it vibrates. If the vibration frequency matches the natural frequency of the oil pipe, the oil pipe will resonate!

This has never happened on the test bench because the engine vibrates along with the engine block when it starts. In other words, to solve this problem, the rear engine block also needs to be modified.

Modifying the forward fuselage, modifying the rear fuselage, what's the difference between modifying the entire fighter jet and starting from scratch?
Accelerating research and development isn't so easy, unless...

President Gu took a deep breath: "Next, for the resonance experiment, I... will personally go to Northwestern Polytechnical University!"

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(End of this chapter)