Genius is just the threshold for me!

Chapter 14 Promotion, Handcrafting the Aircraft Engine

Time flies; two weeks have passed since Lin Dong made the model airplane.

After two weeks of hard work, more than 95% of the mechanical parts of the model airplane have been completed.

Once Cai Wei's avionics hardware is in place and a few core components are completed, the model aircraft can be officially assembled and test-flown.

[Cai Wei]: Dong Shen, the avionics module you requested has arrived. I'm going over there now to inspect and sign for it!

[Lin Dong]: Okay, once you get it, send it directly to the lab.

Upon seeing Cai Wei's message, Lin Dong picked up a box from the table and prepared to head to the lab.

"Xiao Dong, come here for a second."

Lin Weiliang was chatting with Zhang Xiali in the living room, his phone screen still lit up. He waved to Lin Dong as soon as he saw him come out.

"Dad, Mom, is something the matter?" Lin Dong walked over curiously.

"It's nothing."

Lin Weiliang looked at Lin Dong, who had grown taller in the past six months, now standing at 143cm, and whose calm demeanor made him seem more like a young adult than a nine-year-old child.

"You said you were going to make a model airplane before summer vacation, and I heard these past few days that you're using a canard configuration and comparing it to a turbofan with a low-bypass duct?"

"Yes, ordinary flying model airplanes are boring. I want to build a dogfighting model airplane."

Lin Dong nodded and added, "It just so happens that Chief Engineer Wang's son is coming back for summer vacation and wants to make a model airplane to participate in the Northwestern Polytechnical University's model airplane competition. He's going to be my assistant now."

He also had a classmate who had connections in a military-industrial export team, and he got me a set of export-grade avionics hardware.

Lin Dong briefly explained the situation of Wang Rui and the other two.

"I see……"

Lin Weiliang and Zhang Xiali exchanged a glance, a hint of realization in their eyes.

The next second, Lin Weiliang took out a USB flash drive and a note from his pocket and handed them to Lin Dong: "Dad got promoted these past two days, he's now the deputy director."

I've also upgraded the lab level a bit. Now you can view non-core classified information from the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group base. If you need to study in the future, just take this USB drive with you.

Remember, these materials are for you only. The USB drive is not allowed to leave the base. Once you memorize the password on the note, burn it.

Ok?

Now it was Lin Dong's turn to be stunned.

As a military research institute, Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group relies on its capabilities and technology. His father was a student from a small town who excelled at taking exams. He was talented but not particularly strong, and he couldn't understand calculus until university.

If he remembered correctly, in his previous life, Lin Weiliang had to wait until he was forty-five years old to become the deputy director of an ordinary department based on his seniority.

How come my dad got promoted to deputy director before he was even thirty-five?

"Can I access the base's classified information?"

Thinking about this, Lin Dong asked thoughtfully, "Dad, won't you be breaking the rules by doing this?"

"Won't."

Lin Weiliang said with a smile, "It's not core learning material, so it's fine to study it."

"Yeah?"

Lin Dong was deeply suspicious of this, but he knew that asking further would not yield any results, so he took the USB drive and the note with the password written on it.

With a quick glance, he memorized the 36-digit password, then took a lighter, threw it into the ashtray, and burned it to destroy it.

"I'm going out to play."

Lin Dong crushed the ashes in the ashtray, put the USB drive in his pocket, and got up to leave the house.

"Weiliang, is your Lab 78 prepared for Xiaodong?"

The two watched Lin Dong leave. Zhang Xiali seemed to understand something at this moment and looked at Lin Weiliang with some worry.

She originally thought that the laser issue from last year was resolved with Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group's special project procurement.

As for Laboratory No. 78, since it was located on the outskirts of the base and not classified, Lin Weiliang allowed Lin Dong to go there to study and read books without violating any rules, and there was no danger involved.

But now that the lab has granted access to some classified information, and Lin Weiliang has even allowed Lin Dong to go there, the situation is different...

"Don't worry, this is a way to train Xiao Dong." Lin Weiliang didn't answer directly, but his words already implied it.

How could I not worry!

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiali immediately became anxious: "This is confidential information. Xiao Dong is so young, and he's already exposed to this kind of thing. Aren't you afraid he'll be targeted and something bad will happen to him?"

"Don't worry, as long as you're not on the research list and don't actually participate in the project's research activities, no one will care about this."

Lin Weiliang looked at the ashtray that had been shredded, picked up a water glass, poured in some water, and stirred it: "Besides, the laboratory is registered under my name."

If there are any real results, you can pin the credit on me.

"You can keep this from outsiders, but not from the people in the base. In a few years, rumors will spread from the base."

Zhang Xiali remained vigilant; Lin Dong's safety was at stake, and as his mother, she was more cautious than anyone else.

"We'll just have to deal with that as it comes."

"If rumors do circulate, they will say that I, Lin Weiliang, have changed my tune since becoming the director, and that I have been trying to pave the way for my son and attribute some technological achievements to him."

"Furthermore, Xiao Dong is more shrewd and farsighted than you think; he paved the way long ago..."

Lin Weiliang picked up a test paper from under the coffee table, with Lin Dong's name written crookedly and the handwriting messy, showing a score of only 63: "Look at Xiao Dong's score."

If such rumors were true, would you believe that a primary school student who has been barely passing exams for years is a genius?

I still believe this genius is fake, and that the elementary school student's father, who is also the school principal, is just paving the way for his son.

By the way, this summer, find a good writer to write a hundred poems for Xiaodong, and also find a few folk poetry associations to buy Xiaodong an award.

"Don't make a fuss about this prize. Wait until rumors start circulating, then bring it out; it might increase your odds a bit..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Lin Dong was unaware of the discussion his parents had had after he left. He went to Lab 78, but Cai Wei had not yet returned.

Upon seeing him, Zhang Yue immediately approached him with a stack of leaves that had just undergone preliminary processing.

"Dong Shen, there's a problem with the machining of the high-pressure turbine blades for this turbofan."

Five of Zhang Yue's ten fingers were wrapped with duct tape. Ignoring the machine oil on the parts, he picked up a rough blade and handed it to Lin Dong: "According to the design of the blueprints, the high-pressure turbine blades need to withstand the high temperature and ultra-high pressure of combustion, so nickel-based high-temperature alloys must be used."

However, this alloy is very strong. I've now roughly machined the blade blank, but I'm not confident I can complete the remaining finishing work. Forcing it might not guarantee the required precision.

After this period of study, Wang Rui, Cai Wei, and Zhang Yue were completely convinced of Lin Dong's abilities.

There's no way around it; if someone could complete a canard-layout, low-bypass turbofan fighter jet model from scratch in less than half a month right in front of them, including all the fuselage details and engine design, it would be impossible.

Moreover, if they could complete data verification using only a brain without relying on supercomputers and wind tunnel tests, they would be considered geniuses.

The latter, in particular.

To complete the data verification of a Mach 0.7 subsonic aircraft using only the brain is simply superhuman... supercomputing plus human.

"Is there any way to solve this?"

Lin Dong picked up the leaf, examined it, and asked with a serious expression.

Because of his age and safety concerns, Lin Weiliang kept a close eye on him regarding machining, and the laboratory did not have the relevant machine tool equipment.

He could only learn about the processes and situations from books, and he didn't really understand the problems that might be encountered in actual processing.

"If I had more material, I could practice for a while and determine the material's cutting coefficient and machining thermal failure parameters."

Zhang Yue said seriously, "But when I looked at it, there was only one piece of this nickel-based alloy, just enough for us to make turbine blades, and there was no extra material."

"This is military-grade nickel-based material, which is relatively rare and not available on the market. We don't have any extras."

Lin Dong thought for a moment: "Are there any other methods?"

"There's only one way then, and that's to rub it with your hands..." Zhang Yue's expression turned serious: "Rub it with your hands!"

"Hand-rubbed?"

Lin Dong paused for a moment, and the legends of those eighth-grade workers from the fiery era flashed through his mind.

It is said that a significant portion of the first and second generation industrial machinery of the Great Xia Dynasty was hand-crafted by these top workers.

With their decades of experience, they can detect even the slightest tolerance or defect by touching it with their fingers, glancing at it with their eyes, and listening with their ears.

"Will it work?"

After thinking for a while, Lin Dong asked the crucial question.

He wasn't doubting the precision of the hand-crafting process; he was doubting Zhang Yue's hand-crafting ability.

After all, being a level eight worker meant decades of experience, while Zhang Yue, even if he started practicing from the womb, has less than twenty years of experience.

"It's feasible. Our current measuring tools are more precise, which can compensate for a lack of experience. However, the problem with manual measurement is that the progress will be extremely slow..."

Zhang Yue understood Lin Dong's question: "Hand-crafting a turbine would conservatively take a month, and that's because our turbines are relatively small."