"How were they supposed to return it after taking it apart so thoroughly?"
Chen Yi raised a crucial question.
Although the Black Eagle had been shot down and recovered after entering their airspace,
the protests and demands for its return from the other side had probably already arrived.
According to certain unwritten rules between major powers,
unless they intended to completely tear relations apart, after a round of negotiations, the Black Eagle would still have to be returned.
The process could take as little as three to five months, or as long as half a year to a year.
No matter what, the other side would never allow a Black Eagle of such immense strategic significance to remain outside for too long and let others completely unravel its technology.
All they could do was gather as many researchers as possible before the return date arrived,
study and fully understand the technologies contained within the Black Eagle, while also securing more benefits at the negotiating table.
But now that the Black Eagle had been dissected like this, how were they supposed to return it?
"That's simple. The Black Eagle crashed into the sea from tens of thousands of meters up. Other than us, no one knows exactly how many fragments of it are left."
Professor Zhang smiled and explained from the side, "Getting there in time and helping a friendly nation recover some fragments and components would already be pretty good.
"But then again, maybe we didn't get there in time. Maybe even the Black Eagle's engine was lost and sank to the bottom of the sea."
"Exactly. The engine has already 'sunk into the sea.' If they speak politely, we can help 'salvage' the engine and return it to them.
"If they don't speak politely, forget the engine. Even the Black Eagle's main fuselage probably sank into the sea.
"We got there too slowly. By the time we arrived, only a few pieces of outer skin were left on the surface."
Several other professors nearby joined in, their faces full of knowing expressions.
"..."
Chen Yi was dazzled by this maneuver.
Sure enough, when it came to maneuvering,
the professionals were still the best.
A civilian player like him was clearly far behind.
After chatting for a while,
Chen Yi walked over to one side of the main fuselage and carefully examined its structural design and stealth design.
Small aircraft and large aircraft were both aircraft, but their structures and designs differed greatly.
The structural stresses involved, aerodynamic layouts, the loads borne by the fuselage during acceleration and maneuvers, and parameters such as the compression and injection structures inside the engine were not as simple as scaling everything up proportionally.
Some things scaled proportionally, some scaled exponentially, and some expanded in shape while requiring reduced or adjusted aerodynamic or combustion parameters.
The complexity of these differences was no less than redesigning an entire aircraft from scratch.
"So that's how it is. Because a large aircraft has a greater frontal area, not only are its material strength requirements higher, but its aerodynamic layout also requires higher lift and drag coefficients.
"Additionally, fuselage resonance, flutter, thermal expansion and contraction, and other factors all need to be tightly controlled."
After studying it for dozens of minutes, Chen Yi had roughly formed a concept of the structural design of large hypersonic aircraft.
To put it vividly, it was like a small iron sheet. Even if it accelerated to supersonic speed, its small size and simple structure meant the sheet would not be greatly affected.
But if that sheet were replaced by an iron-skinned aircraft, its increased size and more complex structure would mean every component endured different stresses and air resistance.
The moment it went supersonic, it could shatter in an instant.
It was like a rocket return capsule failing to reenter the ground from space. The entire capsule would only break apart into fragments of various sizes.
Yet after breaking apart, those fragments would not continue breaking into even smaller pieces.
That was because different sizes and structures endured different forces at high speed.
Thermal expansion and contraction, resonance, flutter, and the rest followed the same principle.
Chen Yi's drone was less than two meters in size. Whether at normal temperature or exposed to the thousands of degrees Celsius generated by hypersonic friction, the changes to its fuselage were minimal.
But if it were replaced with the eighteen-meter Big Black Eagle, then during hypersonic flight, the entire fuselage would expand by more than fifty centimeters compared with normal ground temperatures.
If the gaps and fuselage deformation caused by that expansion were not properly controlled, the entire aircraft could shatter at high speed.
"Little Chen, don't focus only on the fuselage.
"Take a look at the Black Eagle's true core: its triple-combination scramjet engine."
Seeing Chen Yi continuously studying the Black Eagle's fuselage structure, Professor Zhang walked over and led him to the scramjet engine that had been removed on the other side.
"What was there to study? Didn't I give you a better rotating detonation engine?"
Chen Yi walked over and looked at the scramjet engine. Its combustion chamber sidewall had been pierced by the battery, and a small section had melted under the chamber's extreme heat before solidifying again, leaving it completely ruined.
He lacked experience designing large aircraft.
Even though he possessed knowledge of aerodynamic layouts, engine manufacturing, and aircraft design, he still needed to study and research it all again.
But Professor Zhang and the others were all big names who had spent decades designing and researching aircraft.
They had led the country's aircraft development from imitation to surpassing others, from imports to exports.
They were intimately familiar with the characteristics of aircraft and engines of all sizes, and their experience was immense.
With the technical details of the rotating detonation engine Chen Yi had provided,
even if it was only a miniaturized rotating detonation engine, converting it into a super engine for large aircraft should not be difficult.
Under those circumstances, why study a scramjet?
Wouldn't it be better to directly use rotating detonation and accomplish everything in one step?
"The rotating detonation engine is an advanced version of a rocket engine.
"Although you added a turbojet structure when you designed it, making it a combined turbojet and rotating detonation engine,
"near the Karman line, in that critical airspace, it lacks ramjet and scramjet capabilities.
"In terms of performance, efficiency, and adaptability, it is still far inferior to the Black Eagle's triple-combination scramjet engine.
"Modern aerial warfare tactics and strategy are gradually developing toward higher altitudes, greater speeds, and near-space operations.
"Without scramjet engines, we will be at a severe disadvantage in the future."
Professor Zhang explained with a bitter smile.
"Then why not just deploy space fighters and occupy even higher airspace?" Chen Yi blurted out.
But after saying it, he realized something was wrong.
There was an obvious barrier between space and a planet's atmosphere.
—the atmosphere.
To return from space, one had to precisely control speed and angle, or the atmosphere would burn the craft apart.
When facing the atmospheric barrier of planetary reentry, no matter how impressive a space fighter looked, unless it used lasers or turned into a Gundam,
it would be difficult for it to pose much of a threat to combat aircraft inside the atmosphere.
Realizing his mistake, Chen Yi became serious as well. "What combination does the Black Eagle's engine use?"
"A triple combination of turbojet, ramjet, and scramjet. It possesses the characteristics and advantages of all three engine types."
"Let me take a look."
Chen Yi walked up to the Black Eagle's engine, which was much taller than he was. He put on a protective mask, took a flashlight, crawled inside, and began examining it carefully.
Professor Zhang, the other experts, and the senior engineers all waited outside, watching Chen Yi work within with expectant expressions.
They knew that Chen Yi had designed the rotating detonation engine himself, built a Lunar Lander Drone on his own, and even designed an ion-propulsion drone capable of operating within the atmosphere.
They all understood that Chen Yi's accomplishments in aircraft design and manufacturing, as well as engine design and manufacturing, were no lower than theirs.
Furthermore, young people had wild imaginations and more active thinking.
Perhaps he really would spot the secrets of the Black Eagle's scramjet engine and offer different inspiration and insights.
Chen Yi studied it for a while before walking out somewhat regretfully.
"The damage is too severe. I can't make out the key to how this engine achieves its triple-combination scramjet configuration—"
Before he could finish,
everyone was instantly disappointed.
Professor Zhang patted Chen Yi on the shoulder and comforted him. "It's fine. With scientific research, it doesn't matter if you can't figure it out immediately.
"Little Chen, if you have the time, stay here for a while with the benefits reserved for specially appointed experts."
"Before the Black Eagle is returned, let's strive to uncover as many key technologies as possible."
"That's right. Technology can't be broken through overnight. For something like scramjet technology, I'd already be happy if it became practical within three years."
"Take it slowly. The cafeteria food here at Rongfei tastes pretty good. We can enjoy good food while taking our time with the research."
Perhaps afraid Chen Yi would feel burdened, several other experts and senior engineers quickly joined in, smiling as they reassured him that this could not be rushed.
"Wait, I wasn't finished."
Looking at the people who were clearly suffering the most inside yet were comforting him, Chen Yi thought for a moment. "I don't know how the Black Eagle's engine achieves its triple-combination scramjet configuration.
"But as for a triple-combination engine combining turbojet, ramjet, and scramjet, I do have some feasible ideas.
"If the aircraft is large enough, a rotating detonation structure could be added to create a four-combination engine. Even adding a turbofan for a five-combination engine would be no problem."
"What!?"
"You're not joking?"
Professor Zhang and the others froze, staring at Chen Yi with disbelief.
PS: 2,600 words. I updated 6,000 words today. That might be relatively little during the free period, but after it goes premium, I'll guarantee at least 10,000 words a day. Finally, Esteemed Readers, please give me some follow-up reads, monthly votes, and recommendation votes.
Before you continue