This test had not been conducted because there was a problem with the engine. It was because the professors overseeing the tests simply could not hold back any longer. They wanted to see what condition the engine was actually in. They proactively shut down the engine while it was running at full afterburner, then inspected it.
The inspection results left them somewhat shocked. After three hours of full-afterburner operation, theoretically, none of the engine's structures had suffered any major problems! This proved one thing beyond doubt!
Its structural strength and material strength worked together so well that the engine's structure was extraordinarily stable. That was why it was so freakishly powerful.
Put simply, computers at the end of the last century had to be protected from dust and static electricity during installation. You even had to wear shoe covers and the like in computer class.
But what about computers now? You could leave the case uncleaned for years, with dust piled up inside, and the machine would still run steadily without any problems.
That was the result achieved when the structure of the components and the lifespan of the materials exceeded the damage inflicted by the environment. They did not know whether the Phantom Fighter Jet's engine could maintain this performance after breaking through the thermal barrier, but under normal atmospheric conditions and normal speeds, this meant that its structural and material stability had already surpassed every existing engine.
After obtaining this data, the professors immediately made another decision: they would put it directly on a high-altitude test stand for destructive testing, conducting full-afterburner tests there.
The previous standard test results from the high-altitude test stand had already far surpassed the data of every other domestic engine. They were so good it was almost absurd.
The full-afterburner tests on the