Chapter 160: 159, D332 Test Flight, Major Design Flaw At Dewoitine Company, Fang Wen Can Solve It
Seeing Lin Shuiwang, Fang Wen felt a strong sense of closeness.
He and Lin Shuiwang had experienced danger together. During the trip to Britain, France, and Germany, without Lin Shuiwang accompanying him, he really couldn’t have done those things.
Fang Wen quickly walked over, shook hands with him, and forcefully patted his shoulder.
“Have you finished handling things here in Europe? I’m waiting for you to come to my company to help. The Asia-Europe route is about to start.”
From Fang Wen’s tone, Lin Shuiwang could tell that he valued him, and he felt warmth in his heart.
“Everything is done. I don’t plan to look for that woman; if she left, so be it. Originally, I wanted to take the ship to bring my mother back, but after receiving your telegram, I stayed to wait for you.”
“I see. I’ll arrange a task for you to do, and after it’s done, you can go back with your mother.”
“What task?”
“This flight brought a flight attendant who needs to stay here for 80 days. He can’t just do nothing, so I’m planning to arrange for him to learn at an airline company here. Do you have a way to get him into Air France? After he learns, he can go back and pass it on to other flight attendants.”
“Getting into Air France for training might not be easy, but I know Air France has a flight school that specializes in this. As long as the expenses are sufficient, he can get in and learn.”
“That’s good.” Fang Wen turned around and looked at Cheng Dayou: “Cheng Dayou, while you’re in Paris, follow Lin Shuiwang’s arrangements. Besides studying, don’t wander around. Wait for me to return.”
“Yes, General Manager. I will definitely study well.” Cheng Dayou cherished this opportunity and was resolute in attitude.
Fang Wen looked at Gu Xingzuo and Dai Shimiao. “You two can stay in Europe for 80 days and then meet up. My suggestion is to keep an eye on your passports so they don’t get lost. Also, don’t show your money; there are many pickpockets here, some of whom just rob outright.”
The two were also prepared. Gu Xingzuo said: “General Manager Fang, rest assured. See you in 80 days. We both have relatives here.”
It turned out the two had some connections in Europe, so Fang Wen said no more.
He watched Gu Xingzuo and Dai Shimiao leave.
Now only Bai Zeshan was left.
Fang Wen asked with concern: “Bai Zeshan, which school are you planning to attend? I can help arrange it for you.”
For this genius who had already grasped some electronic logic and would come to Taishan Airlines after graduation, Fang Wen felt he must take good care of him.
“I don’t know.” Bai Zeshan had never been abroad and had no friends in this area; he had only heard that the best electrical engineering knowledge could be learned in Europe.
It seemed he needed to help inquire about it.
Fang Wen got in the car and instinctively chose the driver’s seat. When there was a car, he would subconsciously take control himself.
Lin Shuiwang had no objection and was already used to it.
He sat directly in the co-pilot seat, with the other two in the back.
The car started, and under Lin Shuiwang’s guidance, Fang Wen drove it to the urban area and checked into a hotel.
After the rooms were arranged, Lin Shuiwang went out to inquire about the situation, while the others waited in the room.
It was not until evening that Lin Shuiwang returned.
He explained the situation.
“I’ve already contacted Air France’s school. Cheng Dayou, come here.”
Cheng Dayou stood nervously beside Lin Shuiwang awaiting instructions. Seeing Lin Shuiwang’s mature, capable, and efficient demeanor, who could imagine their ages were actually quite close.
“Come with me tomorrow. I’ve found you a place to stay, not far from the school. The host family is Chinese people and can teach you French. In your first month, you must learn basic communication in French with him, otherwise you won’t be able to communicate with the teacher. Understand?”
“Understood.”
“Good. Tomorrow I’ll drive you there, and we’ll talk about other things when we get there.”
After talking with Cheng Dayou, Lin Shuiwang reported the school situation to Fang Wen.
According to what he had inquired, there were four good schools in Europe.
Technical University of Munich in Germany, ETH Zurich in Switzerland, École Polytechnique in Paris, France, Imperial College London in the United Kingdom.
Technical University of Munich is one of Germany’s top technical universities, and its electrical engineering department enjoys a high reputation in Europe and even globally.
ETH Zurich also excels in electrical engineering, electronic engineering, and related fields.
École Polytechnique in Paris is one of France’s top engineering schools, and its electrical engineering department also has high teaching standards and research strength.
Imperial College London has a long history and outstanding contributions in electrical engineering and was one of the earliest schools to offer electrical engineering education.
After hearing Lin Shuiwang’s introduction, Fang Wen looked at Bai Zeshan: “Which one do you choose? My personal suggestion is not to choose Technical University of Munich; the situation there is a bit unstable, and I’m afraid something might happen to you.”
Hearing this from Fang Wen, Bai Zeshan thought about it and replied: “I think since they are all good schools, the difference in theory shouldn’t be too big, so I’ll choose École Polytechnique in Paris.”
Fang Wen nodded: “Lin Shuiwang can’t make you a formal student at École Polytechnique in Paris, but I can pay for you to audit classes and have the school’s teachers answer your questions. The rest is up to you. But I have one requirement: while studying, think more about that vacuum tube adder. I hope you can make that device in the future and further optimize it.”
Bai Zeshan nodded solemnly: “I will make the adder.”
“Do your best. I’m optimistic about you and hope you’ll achieve something in the future.” Fang Wen smiled in response, making Bai Zeshan a bit excited.
Even if Bai Zeshan couldn’t make the adder for now, so what.
Things that will appear in the future will eventually appear, but people who haven’t existed in the future have more possibilities.
June 25, 1933.
Zhao Jiu had taken a ship to the United States ahead of time; he needed to pay respects in advance to some Green Gang predecessors who had gone from Shanghai to New York to make their mark.
Lin Shuiwang was still arranging things for Bai Zeshan and Cheng Dayou; enrolling in a foreign country was not as simple as just saying it.
But with money, it could still be done.
Meanwhile, Fang Wen went to southwestern France, the capital city of Haute-Garonne Province in the Occitanie region, Toulouse.
Toulouse is the future headquarters of Airbus, and now it also has an aircraft manufacturing company: Dewoitine Company in France.
Fang Wen came here not by car, but by piloting the Boeing 247.
The airplane arrived over Toulouse, and Fang Wen overlooked the entire city. In the suburbs west of the city, he found the not-too-large Dewoitine Company.
There was a very striking runway, very easy to identify.
Fang Wen turned on the radio device.
“Taishan Airlines Flight 02 calling ground, requesting landing.”
There was an immediate response from below.
“Hello Fang Wen, this is Emile Devatine. It’s an honor that you came to my company.”
The other party completely ignored air-ground communication rules. From his words, Fang Wen could tell he was a casual person; perhaps it was this personality that made him unique in aircraft research and development.
Fang Wen replied: “Can I land then?”
“Ha, of course, the runway below is clear.”
Under this strange air-ground communication, Fang Wen controlled the airplane to land on the runway.
Once the airplane was steady, Fang Wen opened the cabin door to get out.
Outside, an elder was waiting eagerly.
He spoke right away.
“Hello Fang Wen, I’m Emile Devatine. Can I take a look at Boeing’s passenger aircraft?”
“No problem, please feel free.” Fang Wen stepped aside.
After the elder entered the cabin, he observed very carefully.
When he saw the two horizontal obstacles in the middle of the cabin, he showed a knowing smile: “Boeing’s engineers are too lazy; they even unwilling to make the wing connection rods into an up-and-down curved structure.”
Fang Wen agreed: “Yeah, every time I step over, I want to complain. This is a passenger aircraft; if a passenger trips over it, should I go to Boeing Company for compensation?”
“Hahaha.” Emile Devatine burst out laughing.
He carefully examined the aircraft structure and asked Fang Wen about the aircraft’s performance and equipment models.
These were all public information, and Fang Wen had no intention of covering for Boeing, so he told everything.
Afterward, Fang Wen piloted the airplane to take off and circled in the air a few times, allowing Emile Devatine to understand it even better.
When the airplane landed again, Emile Devatine was no longer smiling.
He asked seriously: “Mr. Fang, I want to know your evaluation of the Boeing 247.”
Fang Wen thought for a moment and replied: “Using our Chinese vocabulary, it should be called the Doctrine of the Mean. All performance aspects seek stability, with no particularly outstanding points.”
Emile Devatine nodded in strong agreement: “Indeed ‘the Doctrine of the Mean’. In some aspects, it’s not as good as my d.332, but overall, it’s not inferior to the d.332.”
Fang Wen was somewhat surprised by Emile Devatine’s words.
His tone was somewhat dejected, making Fang Wen suspect: could there be a design flaw in the d.332?
He had planned so much for so long and didn’t want it to end because of a problem with the d.332.
In any case, it had to be flown to make a judgment.
So Fang Wen asked: “Can I start test flight training now?”
“No problem at all, follow me.”
Emile Devatine led Fang Wen to another hangar, where the d.332 passenger aircraft was parked.
A test pilot was waiting.
After a brief introduction, Emile Devatine left, and the test pilot conducted the test flight training.
It only took one day for Fang Wen to complete the test flight training and perform independent piloting.
In independent piloting mode, Fang Wen fully activated his mechanical perception ability and gained a comprehensive understanding of the airplane.
After merging with the airplane as one, Fang Wen gained a whole new perception.
He was the airplane, the airplane was him, and through this, he discovered the airplane’s problems.
No wonder after fully understanding the Boeing 247, Emile Devatine showed a sense of frustration.
Fang Wen already understood.
Compared to the Boeing 247, from an engineering institution perspective, the d.332 appeared crude.
The Boeing 247 had a modern streamlined fuselage, while the d.332’s fuselage was a polyhedral structure.
Under the same air resistance, the Boeing 247 would experience less drag.
The cause of this result was the aircraft fuselage’s manufacturing process.
Clearly, Boeing Company had a team of more professional aircraft engineers, while Dewoitine Company’s aircraft engineers couldn’t achieve that smooth streamlined fuselage and could only weld with sheet metal.
If it were just the streamlined fuselage, it wouldn’t be a big deal; after all, both airplanes had a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, so the impact wasn’t too great.
But there were other problems.
The wing structure was unstable.
This was a big problem.
If an airplane’s wing structure was unstable, it would easily have accidents.
Fang Wen was puzzled: why would this happen?
He compared the data of the two airplanes.
Boeing 247: wingspan 22.6 meters, length 15.7 meters, wing area 78.0 square meters.
d.332: wingspan 29.4 meters, length 22.1 meters, wing area 99.0 square meters.
Boeing 247’s wingspan-to-length ratio was 1.3, d.332’s was 1.4. Both ratios were normal.
But the d.332’s wing area was only 99 square meters, just 21 square meters more than the Boeing 247.
This was not right.
The d.332’s range was 2000 kilometers, 40% more than the Boeing 247, and its payload was twice as much（2 tons）. How could the wing area only be this much more?
Fang Wen, with mechanical perception and rich piloting experience, was very clear about the importance of wing area to an airplane.
First, wing area is an important parameter for calculating an airplane’s lift. Lift generation is directly related to wing area; larger wing area usually means greater lift generated. This is especially important for large airplanes that need to carry heavy cargo or passengers.
Second, wing area has a significant impact on flight speed. In high-speed flight, if the wing area is too large, it will increase the wing’s drag, thus affecting flight speed. Therefore, for high-speed airplanes like fighter jets, the wing area is usually smaller to reduce drag and increase flight speed.
Third, increasing wing area also means increased structural weight. Therefore, in airplane design, a balance must be struck between lift and weight to ensure overall performance.
When determining wing area, multiple factors need to be considered comprehensively, including flight speed, lift demand, drag, structural weight, and stress distribution at the wing root. These factors are interrelated and together affect the airplane’s overall performance.
In future airplane design processes, wing performance is typically evaluated and optimized through wind tunnel tests, numerical simulations, actual test flights, and other means. Only the wing area determined after comprehensively considering all factors is the optimal design for that airplane.
But now, without these things, Emile Devatine had unleashed his imaginative design ability but misjudged the airplane’s basic data.
Thinking of this, Fang Wen roughly understood Emile Devatine’s design thinking.
He wanted to design a civil airliner that flew far, had high payload, and was fuel-efficient.
But combining these requirements created huge hidden dangers.
Fang Wen immediately landed the airplane and went straight to Emile Devatine after leaving it.
Emile Devatine was in the office.
After entering the office, Fang Wen had a stern expression and was direct.
“Emile Devatine, your airplane has major hidden dangers. If not resolved, Taishan Airlines won’t purchase it, and transatlantic flights won’t proceed.”
Emile Devatine looked at Fang Wen in surprise. “What did you find?”
“The wings. The wings are too narrow and can’t bear the airplane’s weight; they’ll become fragile. Once bad weather hits, it will…”
At this point, Fang Wen picked up the quill pen on the desk and snapped it.
“…become like this.”
Emile Devatine nodded: “It is indeed so. In normal weather, there’s no issue, but in airborne airflow convection, the wings become very fragile. But if we increase the wing area, its speed will drop significantly. A long-range airplane with a flight speed of only over 200 kilometers has no commercial value.”
After speaking, Emile Devatine leaned back in the chair, feeling utterly drained. His carefully crafted airplane had this problem, and it was discovered by an outsider—truly a blow.
But Fang Wen felt he could solve Emile Devatine’s problem.
With his understanding of airplanes, he could easily point out the data differences and provide the best optimization plan.
But to do this, it couldn’t be for free.
Fang Wen smiled and looked at Emile Devatine.
“We can talk. This problem might not be hard to solve.”
（d.332）
（Boeing 247）
