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

Chapter 98 Sixth Master's Engine is Here Too!
"We haven't even mastered it, so how come yours is?" Schroeder's tone was tinged with doubt and disbelief.

"The biggest challenge with composite blades is the weaving technique. How long have you been in Dongfang? Have you gone out to see the world? Especially in the villages, many people go to the market carrying baskets woven from bamboo strips or willow branches. This might be incredibly difficult for you, but for us, it's an ancestral craft. Never mind, I won't say any more. Anyway, you don't have this kind of technique."

Standing to the side, Old Wu had mixed feelings. Did Qin Liang really understand, or was he just fooling the British? Whatever it was, the British had taken the bait!
"What's the deal with that sweeping, high-flow-rate, wide-chord blade?"

"Well, to put it simply, without changing the fan size, it can increase airflow by 15%. What, you want it?"

Generally speaking, as long as the fan diameter is the same, the airflow will be fixed. However, by using special designs and improving the shape of the fan, more air can be generated. In later generations, the fans of passenger plane engines all look like the shape of a large knife, which is thanks to the sweeping high-flow blades.

Back then, this technology wouldn't be fully developed until after the 1990s, so the British certainly hadn't heard of it yet. But when they heard about 15% of airflow, they were intrigued!

This means that without changing the basic structure and parameters of the engine, the thrust can be increased by a lot!
The Spey engine comes in many models. The military Spey has an afterburner and a maximum afterburning thrust of over eight tons. Later improvements have resulted in versions with thrusts of over nine tons. The civilian Spey, however, removes the afterburner, reducing its thrust to 5.17 tons. If the fan blades are replaced with this type, the engine's thrust can be increased to over 5.5 tons.

Don't underestimate this thrust; it means that commercial airliners using Spey can be faster and more fuel-efficient!

Schroeder nodded: "We'd like to hear about this design proposal!"

"I can't say anything about that casually, since it involves a third party's patent."

Schroeder's expression changed, while the others looked radiant.

Hmph, you British guys have been trying to shut us up with third-party patents all this time. Once we fall for it, we'll have to keep spending money. Now it's our turn to use this against us.

Actually, the idea of ​​third-party patents is complete nonsense. After all, the East doesn't even have a patent law right now, but foreigners don't know that.

"Can we buy this patent? Money is not a problem!"

“We’re all good friends, talking about money would be too formal,” Qin Liang said. “If you want it, I have a solution: you license all the third-party patents for the Spey engine to us, and we’ll license those third-party patents to you. What do you think?”

All the Eastern technicians present were filled with gratitude. Although this young man was visiting them for the first time, he seemed to understand their difficulties. Moreover, he even offered solutions!
Old Wu nodded. At this moment, Qin Liang seemed incredibly tall and imposing in his eyes. This young man is quite something! He's a talent, and we should nurture him properly in the future!

“You’re offering one patent in exchange for a whole host of our patents? There are 218 third-party patents on the Spey engine!” A British engineer standing next to Schroeder couldn’t help but speak up.

Everyone gasped in shock. So much? That's outrageous! We never imagined there was such a huge trap inside when we were negotiating!

If we bought them one by one, how much money would it cost!
“Your 218 patents are all outdated. Our patent, on the other hand, is world-class. Mr. Schroeder, your Rolls-Royce has abandoned the development of composite fan blades, but your competitors haven’t. For example, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney are both working on it. Do you believe that in a few years, the United States will have civil aircraft engines using this kind of fan blade?” Schroeder took a deep breath: “Okay, we need to report this to our country. Moreover, we also hope to see a prototype of your fan material.”

Of course, they wouldn't be fooled by Qin Liang's few fancy terms; they had to see the real thing!

"Of course, but..."

"But what?"

"The Spey's bypass ratio is too low! Even with these fan blades, the thrust increase is limited. If we're modifying the Spey, I'd like to increase the bypass ratio, say to 2.4, so the engine's thrust can be increased to around ten tons..."

Swish!
Old Wu's face flushed instantly, his head started to throb with blood, and his heart pounded wildly. Qin Liang's proposal was practically tailor-made for the H-6 bomber!

The Spey was an early turbofan engine, and its various specifications were quite conservative. For example, its bypass ratio was only 0.62!

It should be suitable for use in fighter jets, but for some reason, the Spey engine suffers from high-altitude weakness, making it unsuitable for high-altitude, high-speed fighter jets. When used in civilian airliners, its bypass ratio is too small, resulting in low engine thrust and poor fuel economy.

A turbofan engine is essentially a turbojet engine with an external bypass duct, using an additional fan to blow air directly backward. The larger the diameter of this fan, the more air it blows, and the larger its frontal area.

To achieve high-speed flight capabilities, fighter jets generally do not have a bypass ratio exceeding 1. However, bombers, transport aircraft, and passenger planes, in order to achieve high thrust, have a bypass ratio that is as high as possible. In the 1980s, the standard was above 2, in the 1990s it was above 5, and in the new millennium it even exceeded 9.
At this point, the core machine hardly outputs any thrust, using it all to drive the fan. This results in extremely low fuel consumption. However, the large diameter of the fan makes production difficult. Therefore, the R&D engineers turned to composite materials and developed the fan into a swept-out, high-flow, wide-chord structure.

The most important thing Spey needs to change is its bypass ratio!
By increasing the bypass ratio and boosting the thrust to around ten tons, it can become the most suitable engine for the H-6 bomber!
The H-6 is a legend in the international military aircraft community. It has been used since the 1950s and 1960s into the new century, and even in 2024, it is still the main force of strategic deterrence. However, by then, it had been replaced with a new H-6 equipped with the D-30K engine.

The original H-6 was equipped with the WP-8 turbojet engine, which has a thrust of 9.5 tons, a lifespan of 800 hours, and high fuel consumption, resulting in a short range for the H-6. Therefore, after Dongfang acquired the Spey engine, it began to study how to use the Spey to improve the H-6.

The Spey engine has a thrust of only 5.17 tons, so two engines were needed to replace the original single WP-8 turbojet engine. Thus, this H-6 modification became a unique layout with engines on both sides and engines mounted on the wings.

After the modifications, the performance of the H-6 was greatly improved!

Engine life has been increased from 800 hours to 6,000 hours, range from over 5,000 kilometers to 8,000 kilometers, and conventional payload from three tons to six tons.

But... when it got into the hands of the Air Force, they actually... thought it was too expensive!
(End of this chapter)