The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

In the afternoon of the same day, prototype No. 1121 conducted another long-distance taxiing test.

The final first flight was scheduled for the next day.

The test pilot was still an old acquaintance of Chang Haonan.

Fu Guoxiang.

Before boarding the plane, Chang Haonan went to the flight briefing room to chat with the other party.

Then it was discovered that the latter had been promoted to Air Force Colonel at this time.

For his age, he is definitely making rapid progress.

Seemingly noticing Chang Haonan's gaze staring at the military rank of training uniforms on the hanger next to him, Fu Guoxiang said while arranging his flying equipment:

"It is my turn to be promoted this time because I have participated in enough test flights in recent years. I have flown almost half of the new model prototypes and verification aircraft in the army."

Chang Haonan has never joined the military in his two lifetimes, so this is an area he has never understood before, so he asked curiously:

"I know that flight time is very important to pilots, but do you also have assessment standards based on the number of aircraft types?"

"Of course,"

Fu Guoxiang nodded and began to fill in the flight plan form as he answered:

"As for test pilots, those who can be selected are actually experienced veterans. There may not be much difference between 4000 hours and 3000 hours, but flying one more type of aircraft or one less type of aircraft often makes a difference. It’s completely different.”

"For example, I have flown the J-8C, J-8IIACT, J-11A, J-11AM in the past four years alone, not to mention earlier times, as well as the F14, which has only been flown by less than five people in the entire army. I have experienced domestically produced, Soviet-made and American-made aircraft. Even in the test pilot profession, there are very few people who have this kind of experience..."

When talking about this matter, Fu Guoxiang's tone was full of pride and excitement.

In fact, in terms of model alone, there are quite a few Chinese test pilots who have flown aircraft from three countries.

It's just that the third type is, in most cases, the legal model.

In the 80s, when relations with the West were good, many pilots participated in training provided by the French Air Force and considered purchasing French aircraft.

Therefore, many people have flown Alpha Jet, Mirage 2000 and Mirage F1.

But F14, that is a rare thing.

In other words, very few Chinese pilots have ever come into contact with variable-sweep wing aircraft.

……

At ten o'clock in the morning, Fu Guoxiang got into the cabin of prototype No. 1121 and began the final inspection before takeoff.

Next to it, a specially modified J-11AS fighter jet was also being prepared to launch under the waiting of a group of ground crew.

According to the plan, this aircraft will undertake flight companionship and optical observation missions.

"This is a shotgun exchange for a cannon..."

Inside the command center, Chang Haonan put his hands into the sleeves of his cotton-padded coat and said while looking at the busy people and vehicles on the tarmac in the distance.

He Ming naturally knew that this sentence referred to the plane used as a companion flight.

"There is no way. After all, the performance of the test aircraft models is getting better and better, and the old models often cannot keep up with the requirements."

He Ming replied:

"For example, during the first flight of the J-8C, it was accompanied by a J-6. Not only was the speed slow and the field of view was poor, but the key was that the range was too short. Now that this heavy-duty aircraft is on test flight, it is normal for two or three hours at a time. Damn The old models just can’t keep up, and sometimes they have to be replaced.”

"So we just kept doing it. After the 03 batch of J-11AS, we arranged an extra one and kept it in the factory. In addition to being a companion flight, it can also be used to help our brother units test some new equipment and so on. After all, the aircraft It’s big enough and easy to change.”

With a large number of orders from the Chinese Air Force and two big jobs from the Persian Air Force, Factory 112 is now fully worthy of being rich and powerful.

Moreover, this is also considered a long-term investment.

Although He Ming said he was "helping" test new equipment.

But if you put it into practice, it will definitely not be in vain.

Especially in the past year or two, perhaps inspired by the continuous success of several self-funded projects from the J-7F, many factories have begun to figure out how to use their own initiative without military orders and develop some for the international market. product.

And these things are obviously impossible to test using Air Force platforms.

Then, Factory 112 can make a fortune from it.

Moreover, the harvest is guaranteed despite droughts and floods——

It's like during the gold rush, the gold diggers may not make money, but the people who make the gold diggers' money will definitely get rich.

"So...has anyone approached you for testing?"

Chang Haonan asked curiously.

The question elicited a moment of silence.

"Well... not yet."

He Ming sighed first.

But he soon regained his composure:

"However, I think there will definitely be some in the future."

While the two were chatting, the No. 1121 aircraft driven by Fu Guoxiang had already moved along the taxiway to the take-off preparation position.

"Prototype No. 1121 has been inspected and can take off..."

"..."

Day after day, there is almost no difference in the conversation between the pilot and the tower. It is so dull that it even makes people feel boring.

But for the staff here, they would rather stay bored like this for their entire careers.

After all, if test flight work becomes exciting, it is generally not a good thing...

From the perspective of the tower, Chang Haonan could see that equidistant horizontal lines were drawn on the side of the runway, which should be to visually see the takeoff or landing distance of the aircraft.

A row of people standing in front of the window almost invariably stared at the rear wheel of No. 1121.

Just after crossing the sixth line, the plane lifted off the ground lightly.

"it is good!"

He Ming held a telescope in one hand and waved his fist in the air with the other hand.

"This line is 50 meters?"

Chang Haonan probably had a guess.

The structural weight of the new airframe is inherently low, and coupled with the replacement of the original N001 radar, which was earth-shattering in size, the empty weight of the J-11B that actually rolled off the production line is a full 800kg lighter than the old model.

Even with the size of a twin-engine heavy fighter, this is not a negligible number.

Therefore, the take-off distance will definitely be improved compared to the J-11WS verification aircraft that just changed its engine.

"Yes."

He Ming nodded.

At this time, aircraft No. 1121, which was off the ground, had already begun a nearly vertical climb.

Of course, even the old Su 27SK can complete the vertical climb itself.

but.

The plane's process from nearly horizontal to vertically pointing its nose upward was extremely rapid.

It even gave Chang Haonan the feeling of watching the first flight of the J-10.

You must know that the latter is an aircraft with a canard layout and is inherently equipped with a head-up moment.

If the J-11 with a conventional structure wants to raise its head, it essentially needs to act like a seesaw, allowing negative lift to push the horizontal tail downwards.

Considering the issue of total lift, this efficiency is generally designed to be conservative.

The larger the aircraft, the more obvious this situation will be.

This is why heavy fighter jets like the F15, Su-27, and F14 still feel a bit bulky despite their stronger thrust-to-weight ratio.

Because mobility and agility are two levels of performance.

After using the new body, agility, the original biggest shortcoming, has obviously been strengthened to a certain extent.

Even Fu Guoxiang in the cockpit was shocked by the exaggerated speed of raising his head just now.

"interesting……"

He stared at the altimeter in front of him until the number on it read 02500, and then leveled the plane.

About 20 seconds later, the J-11AS responsible for accompanying the flight also climbed to the same position.

"Prepare to perform test flight subjects."

Fu Guoxiang reported on the radio.

According to the test flight plan, more than a dozen conventional projects will be carried out first, mainly testing the basic flight capabilities of the aircraft.

However, thanks to the J-11's ultra-long range, there is no need to return immediately after this process.

Instead, you can continue with other subjects.

Of course, after all, it was the first flight after a major structural change, so it was impossible to go directly to a particularly high intensity.

But there is one item that Fu Guoxiang is very interested in.

……

Half an hour later, Fu Guoxiang, who had completed a circular flight, set up the plane again and returned to the sky above Beiling Airport.

He leveled the plane completely, then pushed the throttle slightly, gradually accumulating the speed to a high subsonic speed of 950km/h.

On the oldest model of the Su-27SK, due to structural strength issues, the flight performance in the entire transonic range will be limited to a low level by the flight control.

The J-11AM modified the flight control to accurately limit the speed range to two 50km ranges.

But since the hardware hasn’t changed much, it still has flaws.

However, the second-stage upgraded airframe used by the J-11B/Su-27SM plans to completely eliminate this hidden danger from the hardware.

After confirming that the speed reached the test standard, Fu Guoxiang jerked the lever to the right——

The familiar feeling of spinning around came.

The aircraft began to roll.

As a test pilot, Fu Guoxiang can still remain absolutely awake even in this environment.

"7.6 seconds."

After three consecutive turns, Fu Guoxiang looked at the timer.

7.6 seconds, three laps, 1080°.

A roll rate of almost 140°/s.

It is clear.

Upgrade, effective!