Chapter 71: The Lifeline of the Air Force

  After becoming the director of the Air Force Economic Management Bureau, He Juncai's daily affairs increased, making him fly around like a bee every day, busy with no stop. Originally, the command of the 4th Flying Regiment was basically handed over to Deputy Regiment Commander Zheng Shaoyu. As for this secret member of the Communist Party, He Juncai could rest assured that he would hand over this core force to him. And Zheng Shaoyu, who was about the same age as He Juncai, did not disappoint his expectations. Originally, he was the commander of the 4th Squadron and completed the command task of air hunting very well, constantly harassing the enemy's rear and transportation lines, keeping considerable pressure on them.

  He Juncai now has two core powers in his hands, apart from military power. The first is intelligence and the second is economy. Intelligence goes without saying, this power must be held in one's own hands. The Intelligence Department of the General Staff is an important part of this force, which currently consists of three groups: External Group 1, Internal Group 2, and China Secret Room. Originally, the focus was on collecting external intelligence, but after the airport corruption case, it strengthened its internal intelligence collection. It was only through this collection that the corruption of the National Government was discovered, and He Juncai had already secretly known about it and required tracking. The economy is even more important, He Juncai from a later generation knows the importance of economy, so he insists on grasping this work in his own hands.

  It should be said that for He Juncai, an outsider, the Air Force internally should have been reserved, but from top to bottom, they were very supportive of his work. In name, Zhou Zhirou was the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, but he trusted this confidant of the Chairman unconditionally, and basically, He Juncai's opinions were all passed through without condition by Zhou Zhirou. Because after He Juncai had a heart-to-heart talk with the Chairman, the Chairman gave Zhou Zhirou a secret order, and it was only because of this order that Zhou Zhirou decided to delegate power.

  Another possible obstacle to He Juncai's control of economic power is Huang Guangyu. Because the original economic power was in the hands of this Air Force Equipment Department Minister, but Huang Guangyu is a very upright person. In He Juncai's history, Huang Guangyu voluntarily retreated to avoid internal war. Huang Guangyu realized that the equipment department had too much power and many corrupt situations, so he voluntarily divided the economic production function for the sake of the overall development of the Air Force and handed it over to his trusted deputy - He Juncai.

  So at this time, He Juncai grasped the core troops, intelligence and economic power of the air force, and became a central figure in the air force. Zhou Zhirou could only be considered a nominal commander-in-chief.

  At this time, He Juncai was very low-key and had no idea of using his power to seek personal gain. He came here without any foundation, with only one belief that China would become rich and strong, so at this time he could not afford to ruin things for himself. He Juncai worked hard day and night for the development of the air force from dawn till dusk every day.

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  Logically, after the Air Force Economic Management Bureau took over the Aviation Research Institute, He Juncai should have taken the post of president to show his importance. However, He Juncai directly promoted the original deputy dean Wang Zhuo to president, fully presiding over various work of the research institute. This trust made Wang Zhuo feel extremely encouraged and devoted himself wholeheartedly to his work, making the Aviation Research Institute a true innovation engine for the Air Force.

  Today, He Junkai came to Chengdu to preside over the first working meeting after taking over the Aviation Research Institute and various manufacturing plants. This meeting was not held in the office of the Aviation Research Institute located in the city, but was placed in a simple factory building of the Third Aircraft Manufacturing Factory located in the suburbs. In addition to the main researchers of the Aviation Research Institute and the directors of various equipment manufacturing plants, there were also two prototype aircraft. Before the meeting began, the participants gathered around the two prototype aircraft.

  A plane is a familiar Zero, this Zero was copied from the second aircraft manufacturing plant relocated to Nanchuan. Because Zhu Lin not only got the physical object of the Zero fighter, but also got the full set of design drawings, so he quickly copied out the body of the Zero fighter, of course, the engine, such a high-tech thing, has not been solved yet, waiting for the mold customized from the United States. The engine on this prototype is now equipped with an engine dismantled from a scrapped I-152, which led to adjustments in the machine head part. There is also an important issue that the Zero uses a new type of aluminum alloy to manufacture the body, although Zhu Lin also got the formula for this aluminum alloy, but China can not produce this alloy at present, so this prototype still has an iron shell. Based on these two reasons, this prototype now only has the shape of the Zero fighter, although it has not been verified by test flight, according to the evaluation of the design personnel, all aspects of performance will be greatly reduced.

  Another aircraft on display has a shape that is new to the experts present. The prototype of the J-3, with its pointed nose, clearly does not use the air-cooled engine familiar to Chinese people. The left and right wings are installed as a whole under the fuselage, with an upward angle from the middle line of the belly, and both the front and rear edges of the wing maintain a straight line as long as possible. These features not only simplify the manufacture of the aircraft but also make it have a good streamlined shape, reducing air resistance. The designers next to it explained: "The J-3 prototype uses a special laminar flow wing, so the maximum thickness position is farther back than ordinary wings. The wing section curve is very small, and the upper and lower surfaces are almost symmetrical. This type of wing is more 'smooth', with less air resistance at high speeds than traditional wings, but also has less lift at low speeds, so a large and powerful flap was specially designed to maintain a relatively low landing speed."

  "This aircraft seems to be a bit like the German BF109 and the British Spitfire," asked Zhu Jiarui, an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Aeronautical Engineering Department and a high-flying student at the First Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, who has made in-depth studies of the main fighter jets of various countries.

  "Yes, the BF109 and British Spitfire can be said to be the best fighters in the world using liquid-cooled engines. So we borrowed from their design." The designer explained, "Especially considering that the J-3 prototype will use a liquid-cooled engine like the Spitfire - the Greyback Vulture, so their head shapes are similar. Since the engine has not arrived yet, this fighter prototype has not been installed with an engine."

  In fact, it's not just that, this prototype is also very different from the P51 Mustang prototype currently being tested in the United States. The designers modified the most perfect aerodynamic shape of the Mustang fighter given by He Juncai.

  These two fighter jets were designed by the Second Aircraft Manufacturing Factory in Nanchang and the Third Aircraft Manufacturing Factory in Chengdu. They are here because of the two large wind tunnels installed at the Aviation Research Institute, which is located within the Third Aircraft Manufacturing Factory. The wind tunnel equipment secretly purchased from the United States is being urgently installed, and the two prototype aircraft will undergo wind tunnel testing in the next few days. The precious aerodynamic data will play a significant role not only for these aircraft themselves but also for future aircraft design and manufacturing.

  After reviewing the two prototype machines, He Junci felt secretly satisfied in his heart. It was not easy to achieve such efficiency during wartime, and the huge resources he had invested were worth it. To be sure, almost all of the Economic Management Bureau's profits were spent on manufacturing fighter jets, including those hidden income, such as printing counterfeit currency. Although none of their own fighter jets had been manufactured yet, they were one step closer to their dreams. Next, He Junci would spend a day discussing with these air force equipment research, design and manufacturing experts the next development focus. It had to be said that everything here cost money, which made He Junci, who had just become the director of the Economic Management Bureau, feel under great pressure.

  "I'll start by reporting on the work of the research institute. Recently, the research institute has been conducting research on materials and aerodynamics. The aluminum alloy material has been successfully tested, using high-quality aluminum from Guizhou Province. This material has a higher ignition point and is more durable than the material used in the Zero fighter plane. It's expected to be put into production soon.

  The second aircraft manufacturing plant in Nanchuan will soon be able to use this new aluminum alloy for its J-2 fighter planes (a copy of the Zero)."

  Wang Zhu said, "This news makes me very happy. Now we only need to solve the engine problem. If we can import a better air-cooled engine from the US, one that's even better than the Zero's, I'm confident that we can solve the problems of the Zero's flammability and lack of armor."

  "Two more wind tunnel labs have been set up in the cave and will be operational soon. I believe this will be of great help to aircraft design. Moreover, all aircraft manufacturers are now very proficient in using CAD software, which will greatly shorten the design time, and re-calculation after modification is also simplified. All this would not have been possible without General He's strong support!" Wang Zhu led the applause, followed by other factory directors and experts who stood up to thank General He. Indeed, they could hardly imagine that equipment and drawings that were previously thought impossible to obtain could be acquired so easily, which has greatly contributed to the growth of China's air force capabilities.

  "I'd like to say that the J-2 fighter we designed is a copy of the Zero fighter, but as everyone knows, the Zero has its inherent flaws. So next, after the J-2 goes into production, we plan to put some effort into improving our heavy fighter. We plan to produce the J-4 heavy fighter, which will be slightly larger than the J-2 and equipped with a more powerful engine." Zhu Lin stood up to report on the work of the Second Aircraft Manufacturing Factory. The Second Aircraft Manufacturing Factory in Nan Chuan mountainous area was also not easy, with most of its equipment in caves, originally it did not have production conditions, but a batch of engineering equipment sent by the floating air base quickly expanded the cave and built a batch of factory buildings, allowing the Second Aircraft Manufacturing Factory to greatly shorten its start-up time.

  Zhu Jiaran stood up, scratched his head and said awkwardly: "The progress of our first aircraft manufacturing plant is not as fast as everyone else's. The J-5 fighter we designed (based on the F8F Bearcat) has adopted many new aerodynamic features, some of which we have not fully grasped yet, so we are still exploring. In addition, Kunming is also a distance from Chengdu, and our design personnel spent some time traveling back and forth, so we haven't come up with a prototype yet."

  "What is currently being designed in Yunnan or Guizhou?" He Junci asked.

  "It is Yunnan Branch Factory, Guizhou Branch Factory personnel and equipment have not arrived yet."

  "Alright, let the Yunnan branch factory continue to research, with quality as the priority. I have another task for you at the Guizhou branch factory," He Junci said to Zhu Jiaren. The First Aircraft Manufacturing Factory had relatively advanced technology and equipment, so He Junci thought of another type of aircraft - a helicopter. It was unknown whether they could get this thing done before the end of World War II. To be sure, historically, Zhu Jiaren had already independently developed a prototype of a helicopter in the 1940s.

  Next is the engine manufacturing. The relocated large engine manufacturing plant has been divided into two new plants, one of which will directly install a gray-backed falcon liquid-cooled engine manufacturing equipment from the UK, and the other will introduce air-cooled engine manufacturing equipment from the US for production of J-2, 4 and 5 engines.

  Electronic equipment factories and weapons manufacturing factories also made reports, and He Junci finally summarized:

  "Your hard work is appreciated! I'm delighted to see that our air force equipment manufacturing has entered a new stage of development. The Economic Management Bureau will continue to support this effort, so please don't worry about the back-end work, I'll take care of it.

  I have two points to emphasize: first, standardization - the research institute should lead in establishing standards for all aspects, except for aircraft design, which should be achieved through standardized interfaces. Second, improve production efficiency and conduct scientific management. In the near future, the Economic Management Bureau will organize training on management, inviting American experts with rich enterprise management experience to give lectures, please participate personally.

  Please make another effort in the next few months, I think it won't be long before we start a large-scale air war with Japan! At that time, our brave air force pilots will need high-performance fighter jets!"

  The fifth day of National Day. Back to Beijing!

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