Chapter 1022: Doesn’t the role of Ciro Company become more prominent?
The news that Eleanor suddenly broke out was indeed completely beyond everyone’s psychological expectations.
There was a commotion in the room almost immediately.
The connection between Rolls-Royce and China in aviation technology actually started a long time ago.
Even the years when the Spey project was stalled, there was no interruption.
This also includes film cooling.
In fact, Rolls-Royce even provided several projects for the first research group at Hokyong University of Technology to study active cooling technology for aircraft engines.
Although it was only marginal research, for China, which was still in its infancy and facing tight financial constraints, it was definitely a timely help.
Later, the after-sales business of products exported to China was directly placed locally.
And all this is rewarded——
Relatively low after-sales costs and stable parts supply channels make China Airlines more likely to choose British products rather than American or Canadian products under the same circumstances.
Especially in the past five years, the market share has skyrocketed.
It’s a pity that they failed to get a share of the pie at the 737 and A320 levels, which affected their future growth potential.
But no matter what, at least my mouth is full of food now.
Luoluo’s mentality has always been:
No one understands the Chinese aviation market better than me.
Of course, China's progress in the field of aviation technology in recent years can be seen by those in the industry as long as they are not blind.
But whether judging from the information currently available or the external performance of the other party, this progress is mainly reflected in the fields of project management and engineering design.
In terms of manufacturing, considering that China still imports a lot of aviation base materials, components and processing equipment every year, it is generally believed that the speed of progress should be relatively slow.
This is also in line with the general industrial development logic.
As a result, now...
They find that they don’t seem to understand that much either.
"Professor, regarding this...is this a direct statement from Snecma?"
The corners of Tim Purdy's mouth that were raised just now drooped, and his expression changed accordingly. Be serious.
On the one hand, he felt a bit unreasonable.
On the other hand, as deputy director of the entire Trent series of engines, he must also consider everything.
If we really use Huaxia components on the Trent 900, it will be smooth sailing. But if something unexpected happens, even if the accident is not caused by production quality problems, we will definitely face huge difficulties. Impact of public opinion.
“No.”
Elinor gave a decisive negative answer:
“Actually, I didn’t ask just now.”
"Then..."
Podi did not expect that the other party would deny it so simply.
But Elinor did not give him a chance to question, but immediately explained:
“Look carefully, in that booklet, the last page about the turbine part is marked below A line of small words. "
Just in time, the brochure was also passed to Bodi.
Following Elinor's instructions, he quickly discovered the line:
"Due to the complex internal structure of the air film hole,... it will be handed over to a designated supplier for mid-term maintenance?"
After hearing this statement, the voices of discussion and questioning gradually subsided.
We are all insiders and can hear the hidden meaning——
SeA650 itself is a jointly developed model, but considering the convenience of promotion, in the early stage of publicity, regardless of the banner The promotional channels used are mainly Snecma.
Including future guarantee services for European users, they will definitely be contacted directly by the French.
In order to prevent some litigants from using the accusation of false propaganda to engage in legal blackmail, this disclaimer was added.
It means that the actual after-sales service for this part is another company, and we at Snecma only transfer it on your behalf.
There will definitely be relevant clauses in the contract in the future.
Since Snecma can’t even handle maintenance and guarantees, let alone production and processing...
It can only be the Chinese who are responsible.
For a while, everyone either lowered their heads in thought, or stared blankly, or paced back and forth...
In short, they all fell silent.
Especially Purdy and Lapworth.
For a major model like the Trent 900, the final decision must be made by the management team as a whole and then submitted to the board of directors for signature and approval.
However, as project executives and core technical personnel, the two of them undoubtedly have a high say in this.
Of course, it also means taking reciprocal responsibilities.
“Professor.”
After struggling for a while to no avail, Bodi turned to look at Elinor who was watching the excitement on the sofa:
“SeA650 engine, progress now To what extent?”
"I mean... when will it be delivered to users?"
The latter raised his head slightly and recalled the conversation at the exhibition:
"If you mean If it is delivered to the airline together with the Falcon 8Z, it should wait until early 2004... Of course, this is just their statement. "
"Let me estimate... probably before 2005." Professor Linuo followed the "common sense" here in Europe and gave some extra margin on the basis of the delivery time given by Liu Yongquan.
Then, perhaps in order to improve the credibility of his statement, he added:
"After all, there are many new technologies on their aircraft engine. In addition to the three-dimensional special-shaped air film hole, there is also a replacement Permanent magnet fault-tolerant power generation system with traditional rotor bearings..."
Lapworth on the other side is not engaged in the overall design of aviation engines, and did not give much reaction to this permanent magnet fault-tolerant power generation system.
But Bodie suddenly stopped, his face showing almost the same shocked expression as Elinor before.
However, the Trent 900 never considered using magnetic bearings from the beginning, and it is impossible to make major changes to the overall design at this juncture.
So he just opened his mouth, but in the end he did not change the topic, but began to silently calculate the development cycles of the Trent 900 and A380
In any case, let's solve the most important thing at hand first.
But the calculation results are not very optimistic:
“I originally thought that after the SeA650 is delivered to users, I will observe it for a year or two to make sure there are no fatal reliability issues. We’ll make a decision later.”
At this point, he sighed with regret:
"But the A380 plan is to start test flights in 2005. If we want to catch up with the prototype competition stage, there will not be enough time anyway..."
"Can we consider using engines with the current technical status first? Test flight, and then change it when the mass production model is delivered..."
Someone came up with a new idea.
“It’s difficult.”
Podi immediately shook his head:
"Actually, there is no technical problem, but the temporary upgrade will definitely affect the psychology of customers, and considering that testing is required in the middle, it will also delay the delivery time of the whole machine. In the end, it will only make more people choose GP7200."
“If you obviously suffer a loss in the first batch of orders for a model, based on past experience, it will be difficult to turn around unless you wait for a new generation of products.”
“…”
Seeing that the discussion could not produce a result in a short period of time, Lapworth, who had not expressed his position just now, decided to do the next best thing:
“Now, the Trent 900 at least has an advantage over its competitors. possibility, so anyway, I think we should contact China first, purchase a batch of sample parts, and at least bring them back for testing first.”
Among all people, as the developer of new air film cooling technology, he undoubtedly has the most positive attitude:
“If the component level test can be passed and the installation test is carried out later, the resistance from the board of directors will be reduced. "
"This is not entirely a matter of purchasing quantity..."
Bodi said helplessly:
"Since we have to find someone else to produce it, we should at least do it. Provide some parameters related to turbine design and base material, so even if it is a sample piece, you have to prove that it is necessary enough to get the superior to agree to give out these data..."
In fact, although he did not say it explicitly, this is a matter of prejudice-
Even for professional and technical personnel like them, China's development speed in the aviation field is somewhat difficult to understand and accept.
Not to mention the people above who make decisions.
So, even if you are looking for someone to do the work, "finding someone from France to do it" is more likely to be accepted than "finding someone from China to do it for".
The reason why he wanted to observe the situation of SeA650 for two years just now was based on this consideration.
At that time, we can say that the reliability of Huaxia products has been verified on other models. Now there is no second option before us. If we don’t choose, we have to choose this.
It’s a pity that time waits for no one.
"Let me tell you..."
Suddenly, a weak voice came from the corner of the room, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.
It's Luke Norris.
It is said that he actually belongs to the middle level of the Luoluo Group, but he does seem to have no status among this group of people...
Therefore, being stared at by so many eyes suddenly almost made him forget how to breathe.
"Uh...I want to say that if it is only a small amount of samples, maybe we can use Siro Company to make this matter less sensitive..."
"Siro Company ..."
A trace of confusion appeared in Lapworth's eyes:
"Aren't they only responsible for maintenance, training and liaison?"
"That was indeed the case at the beginning."
Norris replied:
"But I just remembered that they submitted a report two years ago, which mentioned the relationship between the Airbus A380 engine selection and the Chinese market..."
"Ah? "
Purdy and Lapworth looked at each other.
Logically speaking, if this kind of report is really important, then they both should have read it.
Norris continued to explain:
"I have read that report. It has nothing to do with technology or the Trent 900 engine itself. In fact, it is a roundabout way to expand the business scope of Ciro Company. , especially the addition of R&D and production functions, so I reported it directly to the administrative management..."
Lapworth immediately rolled his eyes:
"Are you kidding? They can develop..."
The words stopped abruptly in the middle of the sentence.
Siro Company may indeed not be able to develop anything.
But the Chinese can.
As Norris said just now, as long as the Ciro company is passed through, and the executives on the board of directors do not understand technology, who can tell what is going on?
"So... what was your response at that time?"
Bodi had obviously figured this out and quickly asked.
“We didn’t think they could research anything at the time.”
Norris shrugged:
“But the Chinese market is too important, and it’s not good to refuse it completely. Therefore, a few R&D positions were symbolically arranged, as well as tens of thousands of pounds of funding per year, allowing them to engage in technical cooperation in name only..."
(End of this chapter)