Start with a blacksmith shop.

Chapter 153 Modification

I spent three days in Hongdu and wrote down all the parts that needed to be replaced.

His business here was considered finished, and he returned home with the parts catalog to be manufactured and the flight data given to him by Cui Tianzhi.

This time when he came back, he had something to do again, and he was no longer the idle person he used to be.

The day after returning home, he set a plan for himself: his first priority was to manufacture all the replacement parts needed for the Suzaku 8.

Once all these things are ready, he will start thinking about what he should bring to the Xiangshan County Airshow.

He was already quite adept at manufacturing parts, and since there were still plenty of materials left from the previous smelting, there was no need to start from scratch with the materials.

The components that need to be replaced the most, and those that suffer the most wear, are the single-crystal metal blades.

This is the largest component he's making, followed by the air bearing.

It took him seven days to cushion and pack all the manufactured parts before calling Cui Tianzhi. Not long after, the military truck that was supposed to pick up the parts arrived.

At this point, all the parts needed for the Suzaku 8 were sent to Hongdu, and he didn't care how they got there.

During the week he was manufacturing parts, he was also thinking about what to make to participate in the air show.

After thinking it over, he still didn't have any ideas, so he decided to stop thinking about it.

So what if there are fewer products? It's not a big deal. The quality is there, so what if there are fewer products?

Anyway, this trip is just to gain experience; I don't expect to achieve any great results.

Thinking this way, I adjusted my mindset.

Once he adjusted his mindset, his mood improved, and his heart was no longer restless.

The products he brought to the exhibition were finalized: two original Suzaku 8 and Suzaku 3 aircraft.

Of course, we can't let the one that Cui Tianzhi has go there, and we don't even know where the other one is!

After he finishes working on the Vermilion Bird 8, he'll be very busy. He needs to manufacture at least four aircraft, two of each type.

One of them will be displayed as a model on the exhibition stand.

This can be replaced with a real model, that is, an airplane shell, as long as it doesn't look fake from the outside!

The other one is the real aircraft, which is what I take out to show off.

It needs to have all the necessary functions; this aircraft might even be used for performances.

Things have to be done one step at a time. Right now, let's focus on the major overhaul and reassembly of that Zhuque-8 aircraft at Hongdu Shipyard. One thing at a time.

Having planned his next move, he only stayed at home for seven days before returning to Hongdu.

In less than two weeks, he made two trips back and forth between Hongdu and his home.

Back at the Hongdu factory, he immediately threw himself into the intensive overhaul work, hoping to finish things here as soon as possible so he could go back to his own tasks.

Through his meticulous assembly and superb skills, Suzaku 8 was reassembled and restored to its original majestic appearance.

And this time, he didn't just give it a simple major overhaul; he also removed the pylons from the wings.

The removed weapon racks were then installed on the more robust and stationary receiver and on the fuselage.

Since Chief Cui wants combat effectiveness, it's best to keep these racks.

After assembling the Suzaku 8, he immediately returned home from Hongdu and then threw himself into the busy manufacturing work.

During the day, he assembles parts in the factory; when the night is quiet, he dives into a virtual laboratory to begin his research.

What was he going to study at this time? Of course, it was the thing he had promised Cui Tianzhi before: to redesign Suzaku 8 with the war as the starting point.

This will truly make the Suzaku 8 a combat aircraft capable of beyond-visual-range and close-quarters dogfighting.

The first problem to solve is the external weapon racks. As a stealth fighter, its shape must be guaranteed.

Therefore, the fuselage of this aircraft needs to be redesigned. The previous fuselage did not take into account the need to build internal missiles and cannons, so no space was reserved for these things.

His solution to this problem was to widen the fuselage as much as possible while maintaining the stealth shape, and to add a weapons bay to the fuselage.

And space was reserved for the machine gun, but changing the fuselage presented a problem.

That means the aerodynamic layout will inevitably change, and with the change in layout, the lift coefficient will certainly change as well.

Designing the fuselage shape and aerodynamic layout in this way is tantamount to creating a completely new aircraft.

But these challenges did not faze him; on the contrary, they made him even more determined.

Thus, he designed the new Suzaku fuselage shape, referencing the layout of the Buddha-22 image he saw online.

The bomb bay was placed in the belly of the fuselage and on the side of the air intakes, which made the fuselage several times bulkier.

Compared to the previous Suzaku 8, this aircraft is now much larger in appearance.

The nose of the aircraft was also enlarged, with two 20mm Gatling guns mounted on each side. Each magazine can hold 360 rounds of ammunition, for a total of 720 rounds on both sides.

Don't talk about insufficient ammunition; if a fighter jet has to resort to using its cannons, it means it's reached a life-or-death battle.

Given the maneuverability of his aircraft, it could probably shoot down the enemy with just a few machine gun shots; 720 rounds of ammunition is quite a lot.

For this much larger fuselage, he specifically recreated the supersonic wind tunnel that Hongdu had encountered in the virtual laboratory.

His eyes once again proved invaluable when blowing air holes into the fuselage.

His eyes could immediately provide data on any area that didn't conform to aerodynamics.

Based on the data provided by his eyes, he made minor improvements to the fuselage, then put it in the wind tunnel to air dry, and then made further modifications.

Through this repeated process, there was finally no room left to modify the aircraft's fuselage. Of course, all these improvements were made while maintaining its stealth capabilities.

After completing the fuselage, his redesigned aircraft also underwent performance changes.

It's a bit heavier, but it has undergone extensive wind tunnel testing and modifications, resulting in an excellent aerodynamic layout. Performance-wise, it hasn't changed much compared to the original.

On the contrary, due to its excellent aerodynamic design and significantly increased lift, its takeoff weight has actually increased.

These are the changes to the exterior. The biggest change, however, is the alteration to the generator installed on the engine.

This is an upgrade planned for the aircraft's radar. The previous generator was of very low power, and this aspect wasn't taken seriously.

But things are different now. Airplanes now have a high-power consumption active phased array radar that is said to be able to roast a chicken from a kilometer away.

This thing can't be used if it doesn't generate enough power; the electricity on the plane was just enough.

In order to ensure that the aircraft could use the radar with confidence, he specifically studied the generator.

The generator attached to the engine is powered by the high-temperature exhaust gases inside, while the generator attached to the top of the fuselage is powered by the wind generated during flight.

He installed five generators on the entire aircraft, two of which were thermal generators attached to the engines.

There are also three wind turbines, which are installed on the fuselage. Of course, these turbines will not have a significant impact on the aerodynamic layout.

In short, he put a lot of effort into modifying the aircraft in the virtual laboratory this time. Many things were considered from a combat perspective, and he also conducted countless simulations to prove that his designs were practical.

A month slowly passed, and during that month he had taken all the parts from the two real aircraft, and of course, he also took out the outer shell of the aircraft.

During that month, he indeed spent an endless amount of time in virtual experiments.

The flow of time is very fast now, and in this time, he has perfected the details of airplanes, or rather, fighter jets.

These things were all developed through his own experiments, and it can be said to be the product he has put the most effort into to date.

He had already designed the fighter jet in the virtual laboratory, so naturally he had to keep up in reality.

Using the same materials, he began assembling parts for the new aircraft all by himself in his workshop.

He had already planned that once he had collected all the parts and spare parts for the new aircraft, he would immediately take them to Hongdu.

As for why we went to Hongdu instead of assembling it at home, it's simple: our home conditions didn't allow it.

The factory in Shuzhen is almost finished, and the area there is large enough, but there is a problem: where will we take off?

If it can't take off, transporting that eight-meter wingspan will be a problem.

So he started to rely on Hongdu Factory, and Hongdu Factory treated him very well, not at all annoyed that he wanted to take up resources.

On the contrary, they were looking forward to his arrival, because being able to witness the birth of an aircraft firsthand would inspire their daily design work.

That day, he finally finished dismantling all the parts, sorted them out, loaded them onto the military truck, and then got on the truck himself, hitching a ride straight to Hongdu.

It's the same workshop as before, and the same technicians are still there.

On the day he arrived in Hongdu, he began directing the technicians to disassemble all the parts boxes of the Suzaku 8.

The parts box also contained his own assembly instructions, and so he sent these people aside to assemble the old Suzaku 8.

He then began unpacking all the boxes belonging to the new model, removing the outer packaging from the unique engine.

The engine, with its noticeably changed appearance, surprised Yan Hang, who was watching.

Upon discovering the changes to the engine, Yan Hang immediately went to the engine and carefully examined the altered parts.

After studying it, he discovered that only the generator had changed.

At this moment, Yan Hang also thought of the previous situation where the plane's battery was insufficient.

"Zhenhua, these boxes you're disassembling separately must be different, otherwise you wouldn't be personally packing them up!"

(End of this chapter)