In front of the cabin door, there stood an air force colonel in charge of reception, facing Von Karman with a look of respect on his face.
Fon Karman smiled at the air force colonel and nodded. He looked around at the scene, looking at the grand and modern Nanyuan Airport. There was a trace of reminiscence in his eyes. It had been eight years since he last came to Peking, China.
, this is my second trip to China.
When I came last time, the scale and infrastructure of Nanyuan Airport had not reached this level.
The airport runway is crude, with hard pavement, and terminal buildings and other infrastructure are not available. Over the past eight years, the Nanyuan Airport runway has been turned into a cement pavement, and it has a sizable terminal building and other infrastructure.
This is progress.
A commendable progress.
After stopping to observe, Fon Karman suddenly saw a figure standing on the tarmac below. His eyes suddenly lit up. Without any delay, he went down the boarding stairs, followed by his assistants, Army Aviation Department officers and other entourage.
Arriving at the ground, von Karmen quickly stepped forward and headed towards the reception crowd.
Here, among the crowd, a young man with fair skin, blue eyes and glasses also left the team and came towards Von Karmen.
"Wadunde, I didn't expect you to be here."
"Teacher, of course I will be here. Long time no see."
Von Kármán and Wadunde both stayed in the middle, with bright and comfortable smiles on their faces. They hugged each other politely and extended their most sincere greetings like old friends they had not seen for a long time.
For von Karman, Frank Wartonde, as his first American graduate student, was not only his closest student, but also his most capable colleague and most trusted assistant.
The relationship between the two was both a teacher and a friend, and they were always inseparable at work. Whenever I saw von Karmen, I couldn't do without Walton De.
"How is the situation of the big thing you are building?" After hugging and greeting, von Karman took a step back and asked Wartonde.
Last year, after being recommended and introduced by von Kármán, Waltonde came to Beiping, China, and entered the National Tsinghua University as a professor of aerodynamics. He then proposed to Tsinghua University to build the largest large-scale wind tunnel in the Far East for the research and development of new aircraft.
test.
Subsequently, with the approval of Tsinghua University, the National Tsinghua University Institute of Aeronautics was established, with Professor Gu Yuxiu, dean of the School of Engineering, as the director, Professor Zhuang Qianding, director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, as the deputy director, and Dr. Hua Dunde as the most critical aerodynamics professor.
, the three presided over and designed the most advanced 15-foot wind tunnel in the Far East.
15 feet, approximately 4.572 meters in diameter.
Currently, the entire large-scale wind tunnel project is under construction in Nanchang secretly. Once completed, this large-scale wind tunnel in Nanchang will completely surpass the wind tunnels manufactured by the Japanese aviation industry, becoming the first in the Far East and ranking among the world's advanced levels.
The importance of the wind tunnel is self-evident. It is the most basic and important tool for studying aerodynamics. Any aircraft that wants to transition from drawings to the physical stage must go through wind tunnel experiments and obtain relevant data.
And this is the big guy at Fonka's door.
As a professor of aerodynamics at National Tsing Hua University, Dr. Hua Dunde has an extremely luxurious resume. He graduated from the Department of Aeronautics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1926, he studied turbulence with Prandtl in Göttingen. In 1927, he went to Aachen Institute of Technology to engage in air engineering.
Dynamics research, received a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology in 1933, focusing on wind tunnel and flight experiments.
This is a top genius in the field of wind tunnels. The fact that Wartonde became von Karman's most effective colleague is inseparable from this situation.
"The Nanchang wind tunnel project is nearing completion, and it will be completed in about three months." Hua Dunde did not hide it from von Kármán, truthfully informed him of the progress of the entire project, and said with a smile: "Teacher, it won't take long for you to be able to complete the project."
See it."
"Then I have to look forward to it. The diameter of this wind tunnel designed and built by you is more than 50% larger than that of our wind tunnel at Caltech." After hearing this, von Kármán showed a hint of expectation in his heart: "The test section
What is the range of airflow Mach number?”
"The internal structure is a return-flow wind tunnel design, using a three-stage pressurized axial flow fan. The airflow Mach number range in the test section is estimated to be about 0.4M-0.6M, which can meet the wind speed of aircraft in the maximum speed range of 489 kilometers per hour to 734 kilometers per hour.
Hole test." Wartonde responded.
"If the Nanchang large-scale wind tunnel is completed and tested, it will indeed be one of the most advanced large-scale wind tunnels in the world. Hua Dunde, you are indeed a genius in wind tunnel research and development." Fon Karman heard what Hua Dunde gave.
Answer, already having a specific concept in mind, he sighed softly.
The performance of the large-scale wind tunnel in Nanchang is undoubtedly top-notch. Its diameter is 50% larger than that of the wind tunnel manufactured by Caltech. The airflow Mach number index in the test section, which is the most important factor in determining the performance of the wind tunnel, is as high as 0.4M-0.6M, leading California.
Polytechnic wind tunnel is exactly 0.15M.
The airflow Mach number index of the test section generally means the wind speed performance of the wind tunnel. When converted, the 0.6M Mach wind speed is equal to 204 meters per second.
Hearing von Kármán's praise, Wartonde smiled sheepishly, and then asked with concern: "Teacher, as far as I know, you are supposed to be in Moscow for an academic visit now. How come you suddenly ended the visit and took a flight to Peking?"
"This is exactly what I'm confused about." Von Karman shook his head slightly, turned to look at the relevant personnel of the Army Aviation Administration slowly coming behind him, and said softly.
The academic visit to Moscow ended early because of the requirements of the Army Aviation Administration. He did not know the specific reason.
Watunde glanced at the colonel officer affiliated with the Army Aviation Administration, and knowing the seriousness of the situation, he did not continue talking and remained quiet.
The people who came to pick up the plane this time were not only people from the Chinese Air Force, but also Tian Hong, the head of the Blue Shirt Club in Peiping, and people from Nanjing. Soon, von Karmen and a colonel from the Army Aviation Administration and other people were received by the Chinese side.
, take a special car to leave Nanyuan Airport and go straight to the city.
"Professor Kamen, first of all, I'm sorry to have to interrupt your trip to Moscow. The reason why we did this is because we received a secret intelligence from China three days ago. This intelligence showed that the Japanese
We are preparing to launch a large-scale war or all-out war against China. This war will cause many people to die and our interests will be seriously damaged. In order to help China resist the Japanese attack, we need to help the Chinese Air Force become stronger." Special vehicle
Above, von Kármán and the accompanying Colonel of the Army Aviation Administration were sitting in the back row. Colonel George took out a highly confidential military document, handed it to von Kármán to read, and then revealed the purpose of the trip to China.
"So that's it..." Fon Karman took the military document, read the content carefully, and frowned: "Colonel George, how can we help the Chinese Air Force become stronger? You should understand that the Air Force cannot be built in a short time.
Become stronger."
"We have specific arrangements. What you have to do is to help the other party develop the aviation industry and aviation disciplines and put forward theoretical suggestions." Colonel George replied.