Chapter 146

The footsteps of Spring Festival are drawing ever nearer, and everywhere across the country is filled with a strong festive atmosphere.

In the 1980s, firecrackers were not banned, neighbors got along well, every household smelled of food, and no matter how far away one was, one had to return home……

Yet some people are destined not to be able to go home for the New Year, for example…… Ha Gong Da.

Inside the school-run factory, a group of young faces busied themselves on the production line, operating various machinery and equipment, working hard to produce, while also combining the knowledge they had learned at school with that from the factory.

In the materials department's laboratory, a group of people were also busy, using the blanks provided by France to trial-produce advanced hollow air-cooled fan blades.

The occasional firecracker sounds outside reminded them that the year's end was approaching, yet not a single person spoke of going home; their eyes held only work.

"The fatigue test still has problems; our turbine blades have just endured five hundred hours of work and already show cracks—this won't do, we need further improvements!" Göbel frowned, looking at the latest results.

Beside him, the weary Eastern engineer couldn't help but interject: "Five hundred hours is already quite good, better than ours……"

It's far better than what we currently have! Even if it were only fifty hours, the Air Force would have to use it; now five hundred hours, and they still complain it's too little?

Shi Lao interrupted him: "Since the original design called for a thousand-hour overhaul life, our hollow blades must also meet that standard! We'll keep improving; next, I suggest using spectral analysis to locate the exact internal fracture points, then conduct stress analysis, and then reinforce the fractured parts……"

Originally solid material, now turned hollow with pores, strength will definitely drop, so next we must work on strength!

Göbel nodded: "Exactly, that's what we should do; we are now……"

He said this, lowered his head to glance at his watch—it was already five o'clock in the afternoon.

"Everyone, time's up, I'm leaving work." Göbel said, tidying his things, then walked out.

When he reached the door and looked back, not a single person was preparing to leave; everyone was busy with their own work. Göbel marveled at the Easterners' dedication, but…… he couldn't do the same—he wouldn't stay for overtime, even if paid, a habit formed over years of work.

"You've worked hard!" he left with those words, then departed.

Shi Lao continued toiling with his head down; as an Eastern engineer, such workload was nothing to him. When they first made the hollow cooled turbine blades, they were even busier beyond description. At that time, Shi Lao's lover was pregnant, he had to run between home and factory, even contracting a serious illness because of it, yet he still didn't let work slip.

It is precisely thanks to this spirit that we, in just a few years, traversed the industrialization path that took the West several centuries, and then pressed further, improving technology to catch up with and even surpass Western advanced technology!

Footsteps sounded from outside.

"Put the meal aside for now, we can't even……"

"Master Shi, you really are here!" the voice exclaimed excitedly.

Shi Lao had thought it was the cafeteria person delivering meals; hearing the voice, he lifted his head and looked at the excited middle-aged man.

"Little Guo?"

Guo Huabei nodded excitedly: "That's right, it's me. I came to Ha Gong Da to seek knowledge, never expecting to meet you—what a coincidence!"

"I recall you later went to Factory 420, right?"

"Yes, I came for our Factory 420's Turbojet-7 engine."

In 1951, the Aviation Industry Administration expanded the Air Force Northeastern Repair General Factory's Third Plant into the Aviation Jet Engine Repair and Production Plant, designated 111.

Not long after, the Far East War began; to protect the safety of Shenyang's military factories, Factory 111 was relocated to Chengdu's eastern suburbs, becoming the new Factory 420, dedicated to producing aircraft engines.

This was a massive relocation! Over 3,800 workers and staff, carrying three to four hundred pieces of production equipment, moved south in batches, crossing more than half of China, arriving in Chengdu; where the Shuangzi Bridge had once been a vegetable field, a huge aircraft engine factory was built.

At its peak, over twenty thousand workers labored here; each day, twenty thousand people in blue work clothes would exit the factory gates, cross the Second Ring Road, enter the dormitory area, and the entire Second Ring Road would be gridlocked—a spectacular sight.

Guo Huabei was one of those who went south that year; back then he was merely a young lad, now he has become a backbone of the factory.

"Turbojet-7? What's wrong?"

"Its overhaul life is only fifty hours; before, for our own use it wasn't a problem, but now we need to export it, so we must raise that life. I've heard Ha Gong Da has advanced technology, so we came here to learn."

"Well, the powder-metallurgy turbine disk we currently have can endure three thousand hours, and this hollow cooled blade can endure five hundred hours……"

"What?"

Guo Huabei widened his eyes: "That strong?"

"Alas, the French are still dissatisfied, demanding a blade life of one thousand hours……"

"We don't disdain it; forget five hundred hours, even two hundred would do. Master Shi, please give us this technical support for Factory 420!"

Shi Lao gave him a complex look: "No."

"Why?"

"Because this is Ha Gong Da's technology; you have to pay for it—now it's a market economy."

"What?"

Shi Lao smiled: "If you don't want to buy, then we'll produce it here and supply you as matching parts. This rule was set when I started working here."

"Ha Gong Da is really overdoing it…… All right, then produce two sets first; I'll take them back and install them on our engines—the sooner the better."

"Okay, then let's set aside our current work and produce two sets according to the Turbojet-7 data!"

Shi Lao was familiar with this engine; under his leadership, they produced it that very night. However…… they used a large batch of French blanks.

The next day at 8:30, Guo Huabei left with the parts, and Göbel arrived at the lab at nine o'clock; when he looked toward where the blanks were kept, he was greatly startled.

"Where are our blanks?"

"We trial-produced a batch last night, but they all failed. However, don't worry—our domestic blanks will be ready soon, cheaper than your French ones, and we can use them for our upcoming trial production."

"Oh oh, you're really dedicated!" Göbel exclaimed emotionally: "What did you achieve last night?"

"Nothing at all, all scrap, but we won't lose heart—we'll keep going!"

"Fine, I'll join you and analyze the causes together!"

Outside, the cold wind remained biting; inside the lab, research continued.

Shi Lao lifted his head, glanced out the window, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind: What is Qin Miao doing now? Surely he too is striving for the nation's scientific development!