Chapter 323 - 316 Venus Project_1

"Eastern Airlines has taken delivery of its first domestic narrow-body aircraft, the C919; the company expects to commence official operations next month."

During a lull in the many meetings in the Capital, Lin Ju’s attention was suddenly drawn by a trending search that spiked.

Three months after the initial flight, COMAC managed to produce the first mass-production version of the C919 at breakneck speed, and this aircraft, belonging to Eastern Airlines, was put through a joint test flight at Modu Hongqiao Airport by pilots they had dispatched.

If the 100 hours of flight testing were problem-free, that would mean the aircraft could officially be handed over to the airline to start selling tickets for commercial operations.

Watching the bright blue and green livery of the C919 undergoing extensive test flights in public, Lin Ju couldn’t help but think of the C822 and the C832.

Interestingly, although the two projects were being carried out concurrently, and even though the C832 was the more technologically advanced wide-body airliner, the progress on the C832 had, as of now, ironically outpaced the other.

In these two projects, the C822—New Yuan—had less research influence, whereas the C832 was almost entirely under their dominion, with key design personnel, engineers, and part manufacturing all leaning heavily towards the New Yuan Base.

With the research institute ’cheating’ and the team from An-1250 participating, the progress of the C832 was astoundingly rapid. As a large passenger jet with a take-off weight of 250 tons, the C832 had completed all major structural trials and prototype fuselage mechanics tests before the Spring Festival.

The next step was waiting for various manufacturers to hasten production of the prototype parts for the first test flight, then ship them over for assembly, followed by ground checks before they could be sent into the skies.

And these manufacturers were almost all involved in the production stages of the C919, C822, and the like—even Boeing and Airbus’s supply chains included them.

The purpose of the C832 and its sibling C822 was different from that of the An-1250: while addressing demand, they were more importantly designed to forge a modernized, integrated industry chain for the research, production, and assembly of passenger aircraft, which required coordination across various enterprises and inevitably slowed down the process.

The initial manufacture of An-1250 outsourced only certain parts with "lower" technological content, as most were made at the base—at a cost that would be unaffordable for a commercial jet.

Unlike the C822, the C832 team was very experienced, and since New Yuan was responsible for supplying subsystems that didn’t require further research and testing, the savings were distributed as profits to other suppliers. As a result, domestic supporting companies were more willing to invest their efforts into the C832.

The C822 was estimated to be ready for its maiden flight in October, while the C832 was scheduled for May... This was outrageous!

The higher-ups were closely monitoring the progress of both aircraft and were naturally delighted by the swift pace of the C832.

Leaders often inspected the C832 project group whenever they passed by Sichuan, and Air China was keeping a close eye on the C832’s body design to plan ahead for the special plane’s interior layout, since they didn’t have much experience in this area.

Last century, the nation initially purchased a Boeing 707 for use as a special plane, but upon its return, the cabin was found to be filled with bugging devices. It was promptly handed over to civil aviation for use in regular flights.

The leaders henceforth traveled on temporary modifications of 747s taken from regular flight operations—it certainly wasn’t as comfortable as having a plane designed specifically for such use from the get-go. Air Force One, the American president’s 747, had far superior internal functions than the temporarily allocated Air China ones.

New Yuan’s research personnel took note of all Air China’s schemes because they, too, might opt to purchase a C832 for the base’s VIP aircraft, which might indeed be put to use.

Lin Ju imagined himself aboard a VIP aircraft with the same model and interior as his superiors... Heh.

"Commissioner Lin, Commissioner Lin!"

A quiet reminder from Wu Wenren snapped him out of his fantasy, and he realized that the photo session had already begun. Lin quickly adjusted his posture and took his seat, simultaneously whispering his thanks.

Wu Wenren, noticing that Lin Ju’s attention had wandered due to the C919 news, whispered with a twinkle:

"Commissioner Lin, everyone is waiting for your C822 and C832. Then you won’t have to fly here in a fighter jet."

"Actually, I think it’s quite nice, much faster than a passenger jet."

"Still, it’s not exactly by the book..."

Seeing Wu Wenren’s expression made Lin Ju somewhat uncomfortable, as he had grown weary of the three-hour flights between Beijing and the base, even though there was a VIP aircraft for transfers.

Then, on one occasion, he simply climbed into the rear seat of a base GJ-21 "Meteor" advanced trainer, loaded it up with two auxiliary fuel tanks, flew supersonic for the second half of the trip, declared a military route, and shaved an hour and a half off the journey.

Afterward, he discovered a whole new world. Leveraging the close relationship between New Yuan and the Air Force, they modified an advanced trainer with conformal fuel tanks, enabling it to fly 1,700 kilometers at speeds of Mach 1.5, enough to go straight to Beijing and cut the flight time to one hour.

Even though no one made a fuss about this, as the Meteor’s flying altitude was over 18,000 meters and didn’t interfere with civilian flights, Lin Ju still faced snide comments like, "Having your own plane must be great."

This move even set a trend among others; the base’s senior management all flew the GJ-21 for its speed and safety. The ejection seats could be life-saving at any moment, and you could even evade a missile or two. Cities frequently traversed by their regular routes often heard the familiar roar of the engines...

All this didn’t escape notice, and surely, this situation wouldn’t be left unchecked indefinitely, which was something even Wu Wenren could see.

...

"First? If they want it, they can have it."

At the B-level Base, Xie Liaofu was unconcerned with the American media’s hype about the BE4 becoming the world’s first methane-powered engine.

For traditional liquid rocket engines—whether they used liquid hydrogen, methane, or kerosene—New Yuan had comprehensive data across all types and thrust ranges, nearly enabling them to easily design any conventional engine.

The base was now focused on the A100 and the NAPE, which could shred any of the past engines into fragments; fretting over who was first was pointless, as nuclear power was the groundbreaking technology.

However, something that dampened Xie Liaofu’s spirits was that Guo Shen had recently been researching large-thrust, highly toxic rocket engines!

The classic combination of hydrazine compounds and nitrogen tetroxide offered a range of thrust from 10 to 150 tons, internally codenamed the "C" series, alluding to the engines being storable at room temperature, despite being highly toxic and heavily polluting.

The C series engines, having lower specific impulse and creating more pollution, were not being developed for a regressive approach to rocketry; instead, their scope of application was for Venus.

After completing the "Departing Fire" project, Xiao Okada had set his sights on Venus, aiming to leapfrog straight to the objective by launching satellites as well as atmospheric probes for Venus as soon as possible.

The satellite probe was named "Tai Bai," and like "Departing Fire," was based on the same platform. However, to reduce costs, it opted for solar cells, tipping the scales at around 7 tons, with solar panels capable of generating 55KW of power.

The "Tai Bai" was primarily focused on probing Venus’s atmosphere, magnetic field, and geology, its atmosphere being of particular interest.

As another Earth-like planet in the Solar System closest to the Sun and of similar size and mass to Earth, featuring a dense atmosphere, Venus, next to Mars, is another potential colonization target that has garnered significant attention.