"To lift an aircraft carrier weighing tens of thousands of tons into the sky, you designed its lift system to run on turbine engines? Aren't you worried that if the engines fail after it takes off, it'll come crashing down and become one giant coffin?" Once the technical discussion was over, Wei Xiuming and the technicians had moved on to topics within Nick Fury's range of knowledge. He edged closer to the group and heard Wei say this.
One of the technicians said, "We've already considered that. The ship undergoes rigorous inspections before every deployment, reducing the chance of failure to a minimum. We've also carefully calculated the stress distribution across the Helicarrier's structure. Even if one engine fails, the other three can take on its load and keep the Helicarrier at the same altitude."
As if he'd been talked into silence, Wei Xiuming didn't respond to that point. Instead, he asked, "Who designed the carrier's power source? The cold fusion reactor is about the only thing on the Helicarrier that meets acceptable standards."
A researcher said timidly, "It was Howard Stark's work. We just built a copy based on the blueprints he left behind."
"Good. Excellent." Wei Xiuming pointed to his head. "You have such a stable and abundant energy source. Why give it turbine engines that are decades behind the times? The output specified in the blueprints is more than enough to power antigravity engines."
He pressed his right index finger to his temple and twirled it, his voice verging on exasperation. "I'm not asking you to use a propulsion system capable of space travel. It's unrealistic to expect our current industrial base to make something this enormous break free of a planet's gravity, and it isn't necessary. But at the very least, equip it with a system