vstars Chapter 704 Li Junhua and her J-5
Chapter 704 Li Junhua and her J-5
Taiyuan Airport.
Previously, during the battle to recapture Taiyuan, the independent regiment used 155mm howitzers to attack the airport runway and hangar, causing serious damage to the shells and hangar. The explosion of aviation kerosene even turned the entire airport into a sea of fire in an instant.
After we completely occupied Taiyuan, we began to rebuild these buildings, and even gathered all the aviation fuel seized from Jin and even Ji areas into the newly renovated Taiyuan hangar.
In the commander’s own words after he entered the city, “We must complete the restoration of Taiyuan Airport as soon as possible. Although we don’t have airplanes now, we will definitely have them in the future.
No, we will have it soon.”
I have to admire the commander's strategic vision and his optimism. Less than a year after the recovery of Taiyuan, we actually had a plane of our own parked on the runway of Taiyuan Airport.
In every sense, these are our own aircraft, not captured Japanese models.
Because this silver-gray plane looks like it is completely different from the Japanese's bloated propeller plane.
"A jet plane."
Chennault touched the outer shell of the J-5, as if he was feeling the powerful kinetic energy beneath its outstanding appearance.
"Compared to propeller planes, this is like a work of science fiction. It's really fascinating."
Regardless of other people's reactions, Chennault was deeply attracted by the plane.
Previously, during the transaction of the Dongfeng-1 missile, we had very in-depth exchanges and communication with the United States and had established a good relationship. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, our friendship with the Americans quickly heated up.
Because the Eighth Route Army, which was powerful enough to threaten the entire occupation army in North China and even the puppet Manchukuo, was an ally that the United States valued very much at this stage.
Chennault had been active in the southwest before, helping the southwest to establish China's first air force, but because the southwestern authorities did not pay much attention to this matter, the progress was very slow until the middle of 41.
Because our side had performed very well on the northern battlefield during this period, it attracted Chennault's attention. After the mediation of the US special envoy Davis, Chennault came to Taiyuan. He hoped to form another air force here.
Originally, he came to Taiyuan with a proud attitude, because according to his understanding, even though the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi had strong ground forces, their air forces were completely blank, and a senior pilot like himself would definitely become their guest of honor.
When he actually arrived, he found that he was indeed the guest of honor, but it seemed different from what he had imagined, because he found that he was not arrogant at all.
Because the jet in front of you looks like a sci-fi plane.
Two years ago, only the Germans could master jet aircraft, which was undoubtedly the most advanced technology at that time. However, Chennault did not expect to encounter a brand new and very mature jet fighter in the hands of the seemingly backward Eighth Route Army in Shanxi.
No, perhaps the backwardness of the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi only existed in his previous inherent impression of backwardness. Now Taiyuan can be said to be the city with the highest level of industrialization in the whole of China, and it is also the city with the highest production efficiency.
Passing through the industrial zone of Taiyuan City, Chennault saw almost all the heavy industrial sectors, as well as the secondary sectors derived from them, such as mechanical processing. It can be said that this visit refreshed his understanding of the Eighth Route Army.
He was not only shocked, but even a little frightened. He had a vague feeling that the person in charge of China in the future might be the Eighth Route Army in front of him.
"General Chennault, I am under the order of the Northwest Headquarters and the Commander to cooperate with you in the establishment of our Eighth Route Army Air Force. If you need anything during this process, you can contact me at any time."
The Chief of Staff stood next to Chennault and communicated with him.
Chennault responded: "Thank you, Chief of Staff. I am a little itchy after seeing such an excellent fighter plane. I really underestimated your strength before.
We Americans don’t even have new jet fighters, and I’m really shocked that you can come up with them.”
Chennault had the arrogance and directness that were unique to the United States, and he spoke frankly about his truest thoughts.
“General Chennault, our jet aircraft has only been tested in laboratories and workshops and has not yet been able to fly.
This time we hope to find an experienced pilot like you to give us some guidance."
A voice came.
Chennault looked in the direction of the voice and saw a female engineer standing next to the plane speaking loudly.
"Ms. Li Junhua, right?"
Chennault walked over to a very young R&D team standing not far from the J-5, and the female engineer was standing at the head.
"Yes, General Chennault."
Li Junhua was wearing work clothes and holding a sketchpad for taking notes, on which were pens and pencils. His intelligent temperament was evident.
If someone hadn't introduced her to him, it would have been difficult for Chennault to connect the twenty-something woman in front of him with the chief designer and engineer of the J-5 aircraft, which had a graceful appearance.
"General Chennault, before you conduct the test flight, let me first introduce to you the combat performance of our J-5 so that you can have an intuitive understanding.
最大升力系数可以达到1.65，起飞的设计时速是280-300km/h,最大速度可以达到0.994马赫，也就是1145km/h。”
Chennault was an excellent American pilot with more than 20 years of flying experience. He also previously commanded an aviation squadron. It can be said that he was familiar with the performance of all excellent fighter planes before 41.
However, when the young female engineer reported the performance of the new aircraft one by one in an understated tone, it was like a heavy hammer hitting his heart.
By the time Li Junhua finished reporting the basic performance of the aircraft, Chennault's mouth was open wide enough to fit an egg.
"Chief Engineer Li, I want to confirm whether the data you just reported is true. I can say that no one present knows more about fighter jets of various countries than I do, but this data can be said to exceed all the propeller fighters currently in service."
Chennault could hardly control his emotions. His hands shook back and forth like an accordion, trying to get an accurate answer from Li Junhua.
"Yes, General Chennault. These are the design parameters, which have been verified in the preliminary laboratory, but the specific actual combat data can only be determined after the test flight."
Li Junhua responded straightforwardly.