Chapter 736 The Leader of the New Era (Second update, please subscribe)
When Li Xingtang walked towards the boarding ramp, the camera carrying the movie camera followed him and the co-pilot. Under the gaze of people, Two pilots and a mechanic entered the C717 jetliner.
When the mechanic closed the hatch, the mechanic, who was a soldier, couldn't help but give a two-finger military salute to everyone, and then closed the hatch.
After a while, the roar of the WP100 turbofan engine came. The roar of this Conway engine from Rolls-Royce is extremely unique and will be unforgettable even if it is heard just once. , mixed with vicissitudes of life and slightly hoarse, and even a trace of shyness can be heard.
“The noise is a bit loud.”
Li Yian chuckled.
“Let BMW develop new engines back!”
In fact, this is also the biggest feature of the Conway engine - it is noisy. Before the Concorde was put into operation, it was equipped with a Conway engine The Boeing 707-420 is the noisiest aircraft at Heathrow Airport.
On January 16, 1952, with people watching, the test flight of the world's first turbofan jet airliner officially began.
The 17,500 pounds of thrust generated by the WP100 engine pushed the huge fuselage of the C717 passenger plane, slowly gliding on the runway. Its speed became faster and faster, until it suddenly rose from the ground, carrying A deafening roar rose into the sky.
"It's flying, it's flying..."
The airport was filled with cheers. According to the test flight subjects, today's test flight only needs to circle in the air for two times to be considered a success. Watching it pass by in the air C717, Li Yian's expression was not only happy, but also longing.
"As long as safety can be guaranteed, I believe that the C717 will definitely become the most dazzling aerial star in the 1950s."
Li Yian's eyes are full of expectations, after all, he has not yet interacted with it. Competing similar products, if we don’t take advantage of this moment to seize the market, when will we wait?
Ten minutes later, after the C717 landed and people celebrated the successful test flight, Li Yian called Shao Yunqin and learned that you had been watching the test flight nearby. Shao Yunqin was naturally frightened and thankful. What scares me is what if I fail? Fortunately, the test flight was successful.
"This test flight was a success! Please convey my congratulations to all the personnel on my behalf."
Li Yi'an said with a smile.
“In addition to continuing to conduct test flights, we must also prepare for mass production. I will ask the official residence to coordinate with banks to provide financing services to airlines to help you capture the market first. We will take advantage of this opportunity. When countries do not have similar products, they must first seize the market. Also, while occupying the market, they must improve after-sales service. This is the prerequisite for countries to choose passenger aircraft. If their people are not good, then we will train our own ground engineers. Dispatch in the company’s name can not only expand the company’s profits, but also relate to the safety of the aircraft. You must know that aviation safety is first based on aircraft maintenance.”
After-sales service in the sale of passenger aircraft. is the most important!
This is a lesson for the big guys. They are basically the kind who are in charge of sales but not repairs. They are only responsible for training a group of ground technicians. The rest, whether good or bad, is up to you. As a result, the passenger plane that directly caused Da Maozi became synonymous with air crashes.
There are even homophonic memes like "The picture wants me to die".
So, lessons must be learned. After all, those lessons are gained with bloody experience. Even Boeing only started to help customers train ground engineers after a setback. If the customer's ability is not good, they will be sent directly. Engineer, responsible for aircraft after-sales service. Thereby greatly reducing the occurrence of aircraft accidents, this rule has even become a basic rule of the international civil aviation industry.
In short, as I said before, taking advantage of the exclusivity period in the past few years, Nanyang will occupy as much of the civil aviation market as possible, and make use of them, so that it will be more advantageous in the competition with Boeing in the future.
“If necessary, we can set up maintenance centers in certain overseas areas, and we will be directly responsible for the maintenance to solve customers’ worries. In this case, perfect after-sales service is another business card of Nanyang Aviation Industry . ”
Although Shao Yunqin is not an aircraft engineer, he naturally understands the importance of after-sales service, especially for such large-scale technical equipment. It is even more inseparable from after-sales service
While expressing his agreement, he raised doubts.
"Your Excellency, if we expand production capacity and the sales of aircraft are not optimistic, it will have an impact on the company's funds."
As the manager of the Aviation Industry Company, Shao Yunqin knows very well that Nanyang's focus on passenger aircraft The demand is not much. For example, the C95 has only produced 27 aircraft so far. If it were not for official subsidies, just one C95 could bankrupt Nanyang Aviation Industries.
Having learned from his mistakes, Shao Yunqin said with some embarrassment,
“You must know that the C717 is not cheap. According to our preliminary estimate, the price will be more than 2.35 million yuan, which is about 1.59 million US dollars. , and Douglas’s DC6 only costs 800,000 US dollars. Even if there is a backlog of one, it will bring a certain burden to the company. “The price is high.
This is the biggest problem with jet airliners. Historically, when Boeing launched the 707 in 1958, the price of one was as high as US$5 million, while the latest DC7 at the same time was only US$1.66 million.
The biggest problem encountered when the "Comet" aircraft was put into commercial routes was that the price was too high.
In fact, if it were not for official investment, Nanyang Aviation Industries would not fully promote the two jet aircraft projects. After all, the market is there, but sometimes...official will is very important!
“There is no problem with the high price. Airlines will soon realize the advantages of jet aircraft. At the beginning, the price is high. We can make up for it through financial loans from banks, and the interest can be more favorable.”< br>
Then, Li Yian said directly.
“As for the market, let me find a way to solve this problem. Nanyang Airlines and Air Borneo will buy some aircraft. In addition, Air Medan and Air Surabaya will also buy some in the future. Airlines in Malaya will definitely follow suit..."
Li Nian is naturally confident about these airlines in Malaya, even if they are not yet in Malaya, they are definitely They will also be influenced by Nanyang. As for Mindanao and Surabaya, they are basically the biological sons of Nanyang, not to mention of course.
In fact, this is also the fundamental reason why it is difficult to kill Boeing - the United States can use their political influence to help Boeing sell aircraft. You can even turn Boeing aircraft into part of the US aid. In itself, the aid is conditional.
“In fact, overseas markets can also be won, not to mention Europe. I can help in embassies abroad. Jet airliners are the products of the new era.”
"Haha, Your Excellency, if this is the case, then our 717 will definitely be sold all over the world."
After hearing what you said, Shao Yunqin, who was originally worried about sales, immediately said that he would organize production immediately.
At the end, Li Yian did not forget to remind them that they must conduct a sufficient test flight to ensure the safety of the aircraft.
“In the final analysis, airplanes rely on market confidence. Safety must be guaranteed. No matter how much work is done, it is worth it. Otherwise, if it crashes, the result will most likely be catastrophic. Of course we must learn from the comet’s lesson!”
When leaving the airport, Li Yian's eyes were still directed towards the plane. At this time, the plane carried not only the dream of aviation, but an important link in the future industrial upgrading of Nanyang. It provided not only It is not just a market worth tens of billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs, but a sustainable aviation development prospect. By developing large aircraft, Nanyang’s aviation industry will gain good development prospects, and it can even feed back the military aviation industry. Eventually a virtuous cycle is formed.
It is precisely because of this that Li Yi'an ignored Comet's "square opportunity" many times. Sometimes, reality is so cruel. This is not a relationship between dead Taoist friends and poor Taoists.
Without the failure of "Comet", how can we set off the success of "717" and the future "707"?
After all, the market is so big. If the first-mover advantage is taken away by the British, where will Nanyang go to eat!
So...
"Epoch-making..."
Thinking of people's praise for "Comet", Li Yian sighed softly and said to himself.
"I leave it to you to be the founder of the epoch-making era. As for Nanyang, you only need to be the leader of the new era."
(End of this chapter)