On November 8, 1982, the third day after receiving the news, I took a plane to Chengdu early in the morning, accompanied by leaders from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
At present, my country's civil aviation aircraft are the Soviet Il-14 and Li-II types, which can carry only more than 20 or 40 passengers, and there are only 17 medium and large aircraft with a passenger capacity of more than 100 people. In 1980, the annual passenger transport volume was only 3.43 million, ranking 35th in the world's civil aviation after Singapore, India, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries.
This information reflects the current backwardness of my country's air transportation industry and aviation manufacturing industry. From the perspective of passenger volume, it reflects the fact that our people are not wealthy, and it also reflects the characteristics of my country's poor economic activity.
This can also be a good explanation for why the leader of the Civil Aviation Administration of China who was traveling with Zhao Yi was so excited. He pulled Zhao Yi and said, "If your plane succeeds in its first flight, it will be a major event in the history of my country's civil aviation. It will definitely It will leave a lasting mark in the history of our country.”
After hearing the leader's generous words of praise, Zhao Yi said: "This is just a regional aircraft, and its main purpose is to fly between various domestic airports."
"Is this just a regional aircraft? I saw in your report that it has 150 to 180 seats, which is almost the same as a mainline aircraft." The leader looked at Zhao Yi in disbelief and said.
"It is indeed a regional passenger aircraft with a range of only 5,000 kilometers. It is still a little insufficient for international routes, but it is sufficient for domestic use and can fly between any two domestic airports." Zhao Yi said.
"We developed and manufactured this regional airliner mainly because the domestic industrial chain was not good before and we needed to establish an industrial chain ourselves. Moreover, our country currently has more domestic routes, and the demand for international routes is not large for the time being. In addition, in addition to the previous domestic Without proof, it will be difficult to sell internationally. If this regional aircraft can prove its reliability and economy in the domestic aviation market, the international sales will be much better."
"If this aircraft proves to be successful, what are your next steps?" the leader asked.
"Our next step is to develop a mainline aircraft with a passenger capacity of 350 seats. First, the current regional airliners have proven the reliability of some technologies, and we are more confident. Second, as my country's exchanges with the outside world become more and more frequent, we need to have Such a mainline passenger aircraft is used to fly international routes." Zhao Yi said.
Hearing Zhao Yi's words, the leader was a little shocked by his ambition. This allowed his country's aviation industry to catch up with the technical level of foreign countries that had been developed for decades in just a few years. At the same time, he felt a sense of confidence in his technology. A sense of trust.
Regardless of whether the Star Express Company is public or private, this technology is always controlled by our own people, and our own lifeline is in our own hands more than anything else.
Another point is that the leaders of the Civil Aviation Administration have also thought in their hearts that civilian technology can sometimes be transformed into military technology, especially Star Dynamics. This company has been established for a short time. It has not only developed domestically but also internationally advanced technologies. It has developed a car engine and even an aircraft engine. Judging from the technical data reported, the level is no worse than the international aircraft engines of the same level, and even slightly better in terms of fuel efficiency indicators.
With this technical strength, don’t you believe that he can’t develop a military engine? Even ghosts might not believe it.
Since everyone on the plane was our own people and Zhao Yi chartered the plane, everyone talked freely, but they all talked about aviation topics, and other topics were not covered.
At present, the Civil Aviation Administration of China is a combination of government and enterprise. It is not only a government department in charge of civil aviation affairs, but also a national enterprise directly operating air transportation and general aviation business under the name of "Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC)". This is very different from later generations. It is a real monopoly department, exactly the same as the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Ministry of Railways at that time.
So in this chat topic, Zhao Yi tentatively asked them how much demand they would have if the test flight was successful. The result was not optimistic. After all, an aircraft costs about 100 million yuan, and the national fiscal revenue is only more than 200 billion yuan. , there really is not much money left to buy new aircraft.
If it cannot open up the international market, Star Express will still be in a state of loss, and the international market is not so easy to open up. Boeing and Airbus have already proven themselves. Why should people trust your aircraft? No matter how cheap it is, it is probably It is difficult to gain the trust of international buyers. After all, this is flying in the sky, and problems can be a fatal blow to the airline.
Moreover, when entering countries such as Europe and the United States, you also need to obtain the corresponding European and American airworthiness certificates. As its competitor, you can imagine how difficult it is for Star Express to obtain European and American airworthiness certificates. Without an airworthiness certificate, you cannot enter. these markets.
Zhao Yi, who is at a loss what to do, is now considering whether to propose reforming the Civil Aviation Administration of China, just like the China Electric Power Company, by separating management and operations, and then setting up an airline himself, using all his own aircraft. This seems to be a feasible approach. Let's try submitting a proposal later.
When the plane arrived in Chengdu, it was 10 o'clock in the morning. The group did not go to the hotel to rest, but went directly to the Star Express Company. They arrived at the company at 11 o'clock, rested at the company for half an hour, and then had lunch.
At 1:30 in the afternoon, all the company leaders, Zhao Yi, and the leaders of the Civil Aviation Administration came to the starting point of the runway inside the company, where a temporary ceremony stage was set up.
As a result, when we first arrived at the ceremony stage, someone came to report that the first and second leaders in the province and the first and second leaders in the city were here, which showed that they also attached great importance to this first flight.
After Zhao heard this, he and the person in charge of the company went to greet them and led them here. It was already two o'clock sharp and the first flight ceremony officially began.
Since the leaders are all here, first these leaders will go up to the stage to deliver speeches, then Zhao Yi will go up and say a few words, and finally Su Miao will go up and say a few words, and the ceremony will be over.
Then a brand-new aircraft slowly drove out of the hangar. The test pilot was a retired member of the Air Force. He is now a full-time test pilot for Star Express Company and is a very outstanding pilot.
Then followed a military fighter plane. This one was applied by Star Express Company to the military to serve as a companion aircraft. The purpose of the accompanying aircraft is to follow and observe the aircraft. Its mission is to conduct real-time observations of the first flight in the air, record flight data, take photos and videos, and make every effort to ensure the safety of the aircraft during its first flight.
Once any problem occurs, the crew of the accompanying aircraft will immediately issue a warning to the crew of the first flight, report to ground control personnel, and guide the first flight to land safely.
In addition, the accompanying aircraft will also monitor the air environment of the first flight to ensure that no other aircraft will intrude on the flight route of the first flight and eliminate any hidden dangers of secret theft.
Since the first flight of the aircraft had previously undergone full static ground testing and runway taxiing testing, these tests will not be conducted this time.
When the plane reached one end of the runway, it stopped, and the ground commander was heard saying on the intercom: "The first flight has begun!"
The plane began to move slowly again, getting faster and faster. This time it was not like retracting the bracket like normal flights. First-flight aircraft generally do not put the bracket away. In the event of an emergency, they can land at any time. , reduce the losses caused by accidents.
The runway phase went smoothly. After the aircraft slowly took off, the accompanying aircraft also entered the runway and then followed the first aircraft into the sky.
The first flight will take two hours. The people on the ground were waiting patiently, while the command staff kept abreast of the flight status of the first flight.
This is a major event in the history of Chinese aviation. None of the leaders who came were impatient. They were all quietly waiting for the arrival of the first flight.
Two hours later, there was a roar in the sky, and then a small black dot appeared in the sky. After a while, a plane flew towards the runway, and finally landed safely on the runway, and then completely stopped at the other end of the runway. Stop.
At this time, there was warm applause. Zhao Yi quickly picked up the flowers and walked towards the crew members who came down, hugged them tightly, and then the leaders shook hands with the crew members one by one to express their congratulations.
It was still the original ceremony stage. The first person to take the stage was the protagonist this time, the test pilot, asking him to talk about his feelings about this first flight. Then the leader came on stage to express congratulations, and finally Zhao Yi came on stage.
He said: "We were confident in our design from the beginning. Before the first flight, all test data were in line with the design expectations. Now that the first flight is successful, it proves that there is no problem with our aircraft design. We have successfully completed the first flight." One step. Later, we need to go through tests in various climates, weather, and terrain environments, and we will travel to many airports in our country. Only after all tests are passed can we finally prove that our aircraft is successful, and we will continue to refuel." ( End of this chapter)