After hearing what Fang Lang said, John Kennedy realized that the other party was ready to fulfill his promise to Lawrence Bell.
He didn't want to participate, so he took the initiative to speak:
"I have something else to do, so I'll go back first. Fang, remember to come to my house when you have time. I'm very interested in your physiognomy!"
Fang Lang smiled when he heard this, stepped forward and shook hands with the other party again and said:
"No problem, but I may not have time recently. The next time you come to visit, you may already be a senator. By then, it will depend on whether you can spare the time to see me."
John Kennedy grabbed Fang Lang's right hand and laughed:
"Don't worry! Fang, you are my friend. No matter when, I will see you first!"
"It's a deal!"
Two big hands clasped tightly together.
...
...
The three of them went downstairs talking and laughing. Their guards and assistants had already started preparing.
After John Kennedy left, Fang Lang got into Lawrence Bell's car and, escorted by their guards and bodyguards, headed to a Bell showroom in the suburbs of Boston.
Bell Helicopter's headquarters is in Texas, far from Boston. But as the home base of the Lawrence family, Boston will certainly prepare a suitable showroom for its products.
This time, their destination was this showroom in the suburbs of Boston.
The two chatted and laughed all the way. The more they talked, the more they got along. It was not until this moment that Fang Lang realized that Lawrence Bell was not only the boss of Bell Helicopter Company, but also the founder of Bell Helicopter Company.
He is also a talented inventor and has presided over and participated in the research and development of many helicopter products under the company.
"Fang, this is the Bell B47 helicopter developed by our company."
Lawrence Bell pointed proudly at a helicopter that looked like a Lego toy and said to Fang Lang.
Fang Lang was stunned by the helicopter in front of him, because it looked too simple. There was a bubble-shaped cockpit at the nose, and behind the cockpit was the engine of the aircraft. Behind the engine was a tail strut made of steel pipes, similar to a tower crane.
The fixed skid landing gear already looks like the common helicopter landing gear in later generations, and both the rotor and tail rotor are two-blade structures.
It was such a crude thing that couldn't be any more crude, but Fang Lang's eyes began to light up as he looked at it, because he found that he seemed to have seen this thing in the future, especially the bubble-like glass cockpit and the tail strut made of steel pipes, which were so recognizable.
Many tourist attractions, helicopter pilot training schools, and even news and police agencies use this small helicopter that resembles a dragonfly. This makes Fang Lang certain that this is definitely a very successful helicopter product.
He nodded calmly and said:
"Mr. Bell, he looks like a very nice little guy. I wonder if you can arrange a test flight so that I can learn more about his performance parameters."
Upon hearing this, Lawrence Bell waved his hand and said to a middle-aged man in his thirties behind him:
"Arrange a test flight!"
Then he turned to Fang Lang and said:
"Of course, no problem, I'll explain it to you personally. Please follow me."
After saying that, he directly pulled Fang Lang towards the helicopter. Fang Lang didn't care and followed him directly into the cockpit of the helicopter. After entering the cockpit, Fang Lang found that this guy's vision was really good.
I couldn't help but let out an involuntary exclamation of "Wow!"
The bubble-type cockpit has almost no blind spots, and the three-seat design can carry two passengers in addition to the pilot. This type of aircraft is perfectly suitable for use as a reconnaissance aircraft.
Lawrence Bell heard Fang Lang's sigh and said proudly:
"How is it, isn't my little guy great?"
"That's right! Mr. Bell, his vision is so broad that I think we can try to use him for reconnaissance missions."
Fang Lang patted the glass cockpit that looked like a fish tank and said with emotion.
Hearing Fang Lang's sigh, Lawrence Bell smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits, and soon said with some regret:
"Yes! The military also thinks so. Unfortunately, the aircraft lacks basic bulletproof performance. The enemy can destroy the aircraft and kill the pilots with light weapons. Therefore, the military is unwilling to take risks with the lives of pilots."
Fang Lang nodded. Of course, he could spot this drawback at a glance. There was no bulletproof glass, so the cockpit had almost no protection.
“This makes sense. After all, a helicopter is not cheap. If it is easily shot down, the loss will be huge.
How's the handling of your helicopter?"
Upon hearing this, Lawrence Bell grabbed the joystick of the plane and laughed:
"Don't worry! Our Bell 47 is light and very maneuverable."
After the two studied in the cockpit for a while, they saw a showroom employee coming over and said to Lawrence Bell:
"Boss, are you ready for the test flight?"
Upon hearing this, the two men came down from the cabin and, accompanied by a group of staff, came to an open space outside the exhibition hall. There was a Bell 47 painted military green parked on the apron, and two ground crew members were surrounding the aircraft for the final inspection.
The driver has entered the cab and is ready to operate.
This is when Lawrence Bell pointed at the plane on the tarmac and said:
"This is the Bell 47B helicopter we produced to meet military tests. The fuselage is 8.43 meters long, 2.92 meters high, and the rotor diameter is 10.69 meters.
Using a Lycoming VO-435 engine, the maximum flight speed can reach 160 km/h, the maximum range is 382 km, and the maximum take-off weight can reach 1111 kg.
On March 8 last year, it received its airworthiness certificate from the U.S. Civil Aviation Administration.”
The last sentence pulled Fang Lang, who was watching the helicopter rotors slowly turning with great interest, back from the noisy roar of the engine. He looked at Lawrence Bell with some surprise and said:
"You already obtained the civil aviation airworthiness certificate last year?"
Seeing Fang Lang's surprised expression, Lawrence Bell said proudly:
"Of course, our Bell 47 is the first civilian helicopter in the United States and the first in the world to receive an airworthiness certificate."
At this moment Fang Lang was really shocked. It turned out that this aircraft had obtained the airworthiness certificate, which meant that it could be mass-produced. The Korean Peninsula War would break out in three years. He hoped that this guy would not appear on the battlefield.
In fact, Fang Lang's expectation is impossible to achieve. Historically, Bell 47 was used extensively by the US military in the Korean War. Fortunately, they were used as rescue helicopters. The dying US soldiers were continuously sent from the front line to the field hospital in the rear by the Bell 47 helicopters, which were code-named H-13 within the US military.
According to post-war statistics, the number of wounded American soldiers transported to the rear by Bell 47 was nearly 30,000.
This is a rather terrifying number, so after the war, this helicopter was purchased in large quantities by armies around the world. As late as 2011, there was still an order for five of these aircraft on the Royal New Zealand Navy's equipment list.
Fang Lang did not continue to speak, but began to think in his mind whether it was possible to obtain the production license for this aircraft from Bell. Since he knew it was an excellent helicopter, he would not give up.
As the propeller turned faster and faster, the roar of the helicopter became louder and louder, and the dust and grass on the ground were blown everywhere. No one could continue to speak, otherwise they would get a mouthful of sand.
Slowly, the helicopter began to leave the ground and slowly rose into the sky. Fang Lang stood there with a calm look and did not feel anything unusual.
But the guards who came with Fang Lang were already stunned. They were not unfamiliar with the world. They often followed Fang Lang around the world and were already nauseated from flying so many times.
But this kind of helicopter that could rise straight into the sky without a runway was the first time they had seen it, so they were all staring at the scene in amazement, not even noticing the mud and sand filling their open mouths.
The test pilot's skills were obviously very good. After the plane took off into the sky, he kept changing its position, trying his best to demonstrate the excellent performance of the plane.
Although it has not yet performed fancy stunts like later helicopters, it is enough to prove the excellent performance of this helicopter.
The helicopter flight show lasted for half an hour. Fang Lang stood motionless, staring at the plane in the sky.
This made Lawrence Bell, who was watching from the side, very happy. He was not afraid that you would stare at it, but that you would not look at it at all. The more seriously you looked at it, the more interested you were. As long as you were interested enough, I didn't believe that you would not buy it.
Finally, the show was over. As the plane's engine shut down, the noisy aircraft noise finally faded away.
Only after the environment had completely quieted down did Lawrence Bell slowly speak to Fang Lang beside him:
"Fang, how about it? Are you interested in ordering a few to play with?"
Fang Lang, who had been thinking, was brought back to reality by this question. He smiled and turned back to Lawrence Bell and said:
"Of course I am interested. I was just thinking about how to convince the logistics department to approve my purchase application."
After learning that Fang Lang was really interested, Lawrence Bell was relieved. He also understood Fang Lang's words about persuading the logistics department. After all, this thing was not a private toy, and the people who used it were never individual users.
The more the other party says this, the more it proves that the other party is really interested.
In fact, what Fang Lang was thinking was that if General Crook really convinced the Ministry of Defense to let his Marines participate in the operation to eliminate the Eddie brothers' anti-government armed forces, then this helicopter could play a certain role.
If we really wait for the Logistics Department to approve the purchase, it will take too long and we will definitely not be able to catch up with the combat operations. Even if we catch up, we probably won't be able to train qualified pilots to participate in this operation.
More importantly, if you just purchase, you cannot get the other party to authorize production. It is best to give a large order to directly stun the other party, just like some equipment in later generations. You have to purchase a certain amount from the other company first, and then you can produce a certain amount in your own factory under the guidance of the other party. Finally, you can achieve the ability of complete self-production.
After figuring this out, Fang Lang asked directly:
"Mr. Bell, how much did you say the plane's load was?"
Lawrence was stunned when he heard this. He had not said how much the plane could carry, only that the maximum take-off weight was 1,111 kilograms. Since Fang Lang asked, he certainly would not hide it and said directly:
"After our tests, the aircraft can carry a maximum load of 400 kilograms."
Hearing this, Fang Lang held his right hand with his left hand, and began to rub his chin with his right hand. He began to calculate in his mind that 400 kilograms is 800 pounds, and this load capacity is not low.
With a little modification, it can be used as a pesticide spraying aircraft, so that the Nice Company of the group can absorb some of it and lease it to farmers for spraying pesticides.
“Mr. Bell, if we purchase through the Brazilian military, the waiting time may be longer.
I promised you before that I would purchase a batch of helicopters from you, so now I plan to let our family's business in Brazil come forward to purchase from your company.
I don’t know how much stock you have.”
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