Lawrence Bell was overjoyed when he heard this, and realized that this was Fang Lang fulfilling his promise. It seemed that it was a good idea for him to agree to Harvard University to authorize him.
As a businessman, the higher the sales of his Bell Aircraft Manufacturing Company, the happier he is. He would not refuse at this time, and directly said to the middle-aged white man who was in charge of arranging the test flight:
"Arthur, how many Bell 47s do we have in stock right now?"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged white man named Arthur walked up quickly, opened a folder in his hand, glanced at the two people, and saw that Lawrence Bell had no intention of hiding it, so he said directly to the two people:
"Boss, our Bell 47 has obtained the airworthiness certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration, but its use still needs further development. The factory does not dare to mass-produce it. The entire company only has 20 units in stock."
When Lawrence Bell heard what this guy said, he felt a little regretful. If he had known earlier, he should have asked him to count directly. Why did he say so much?
Fang Lang, who was standing by, just smiled when he heard this. Planes are not like cars. Not every individual would buy one as a means of transportation. There are many aviation clubs in the United States. Helicopters, as a new type of aircraft, may interest many clubs and they may buy them to train pilots or attract club members, but large-scale purchases are obviously unlikely.
This meant that the production volume would not be very high. Similarly, things are valuable because they are rare, so Fang Lang could almost predict that the price of this aircraft would definitely not be cheap.
So, he spoke directly:
...
...
"If I take over all this inventory, I wonder how much Mr. Bell will sell it to me?"
Lawrence Bell, who was complaining about his men being too talkative, turned to look at Fang Lang with surprise and said eagerly:
“Fang, are you serious?
Our Bell 47 is priced at $50,000 each. If you are really interested in buying my entire inventory, I can give you a 20% discount. What do you think?"
Upon hearing the offer, Fang Lang couldn't help but gasp. Fifty thousand dollars is not a small amount. In this era when you can buy a car for two thousand dollars, fifty thousand dollars is probably not much different from two or three million dollars in later generations!
This made Fang Lang, who was prepared to be slaughtered, secretly smack his lips in amazement.
However, he knew in his heart that the price was not deliberately high by the other party, but must be a normal market price. After all, this was the world's first civilian helicopter to obtain an airworthiness certificate.
Since the R&D costs have not been recovered yet, it is normal to set a high price.
In fact, according to the information I found, in 1959, in order to broadcast real-time traffic conditions on American highways, the American radio station purchased a Bell 47 to monitor highway conditions. The purchase price at the time was US$50,000.
However, the falsification of this aircraft can be calculated at a glance. The entire aircraft has a simple structure and the engine used is also a piston engine. According to Fang Lang's estimation, the production cost will definitely not exceed that of a car.
This means that the cost of this aircraft will not exceed two thousand US dollars, and the gross profit margin is as high as over 960%. No wonder it is said that the aircraft manufacturing industry is a high value-added industry. At this moment, Fang Lang has a deep understanding of this.
"Mr. Bell, I have an unwelcome request. Is it appropriate to ask?"
Lawrence Bell understood that Fang Lang wanted to negotiate terms. He thought Fang Lang wanted to continue bargaining. As business was business, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. He just nodded slightly and said:
"Fang, if you have something to say, please speak up!"
Fang Lang hesitated for a moment before speaking directly:
"If I purchase fifty at a time, can I obtain your company's production authorization?"
This request obviously caught Lawrence Bell by surprise. He frowned slightly and looked at Fang Lang with burning eyes. He didn't quite understand why Fang Lang wanted to obtain the production authorization for Bell 47.
In fact, although this helicopter has obtained the civil aviation airworthiness certificate, the aircraft has not been sold well, mainly because its practical prospects are still unclear, and even they themselves have not figured out what this aircraft can be used for.
After the U.S. military purchased 28 aircraft for evaluation, there has been no news until now, although the company has been trying every possible way to conduct public relations.
But the Bell 47 is not a fighter jet and cannot cause direct damage to the enemy. The military does not have a clear idea about how to use it. Therefore, the efficiency of the military's evaluation is very low and their company's public relations is also progressing slowly.
"It seems that Mr. Fang is very optimistic about the prospects of Bell 47, right?"
Of course Fang Lang would not deny this. After all, he still wanted to get the other party's support in the authorization matter of Harvard University.
Therefore, he said without hesitation:
"Yes, Mr. Bell, I am very optimistic about your company's product. Since it has obtained the civil aviation airworthiness certificate, it means that it has the opportunity to have broad prospects in the civil market.
Our family has an aircraft manufacturing company in Brazil, and we have been engaged in aircraft modification business, and we really want to get the opportunity to enter the civil aviation field."
Lawrence Bell did not expect that Fang Lang came prepared. His family had a factory engaged in aircraft modification business. No wonder he wanted to obtain production authorization from his company.
It seems that this guy is quite ambitious! However, he did not directly reject Fang Lang's request. Instead, after thinking for a while, he slowly said:
“It’s not impossible to authorize your company to produce it, but you have to understand that since the Bell 47 project was launched in 1941, it has gone through nearly six years of research and development before finally having the current finished product.
Our company has invested a lot of energy and cost in it, and we haven't recovered the cost yet, so we won't easily authorize other companies to produce it.
Therefore, you must be able to show enough sincerity to impress me. "
Seeing that the other party did not reject him directly at the first time, Fang Lang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he was not rejected directly, it meant that there was still hope.
“Of course, I have always respected the value of intellectual property, which is why I contacted Harvard University through you.
Knowledge is wealth, and I can feel the efforts your company has made in developing the Bell 47.
I am also willing to pay for knowledge, but I don’t know how sincere I can be to impress Mr. Bell.”
Lawrence Bell burst into laughter upon hearing this. He felt that Fang Lang was speaking very frankly. He really enjoyed communicating with him. He did not beat around the bush and said directly:
"To be honest, we are a little confused about the future prospects of Bell 47. As we said before, although it is very suitable for aerial reconnaissance, its zero protection capability makes it difficult for it to adapt to the battlefield environment.
In the civilian field, its short range, small payload and high price make it impossible to compete with fixed-wing aircraft.
So, up to now our Bell 47 sales have not been good.
I am very curious why you are optimistic about his prospects. I wonder if you can tell me what practical areas you have arranged for him.
If your proposal can open up a new practical idea for my product, I am willing to authorize your factory to produce this Bell 47."
From Lawrence Bell's words, Fang Lang could feel the pressure that the other party was under. Obviously, he had invested a lot in the research and development of this product, but now he has not achieved the success he wanted.
It made him feel a little impatient.
This time, I just proposed to visit his helicopter factory, and he agreed to Harvard University's authorization without hesitation, which shows that the sales pressure of Bell 47 is very huge now.
In fact, the financial situation of Bell Aircraft Company was not ideal. If it were not for the sudden outbreak of the Peninsular War, which allowed them to obtain a large number of orders, it would have been difficult for their company to survive.
Later, even though the Korean War boosted their sales and slightly improved their financial situation, they did not last long. In 1960, they were eventually acquired by Textron, also a Boston consortium.
Of course, Fang Lang didn't know about this, but he could sense the pressure from Lawrence Bell's attitude. Obviously, if the other party couldn't expand the sales of the product immediately, his company might not be able to make ends meet.
This was obviously an opportunity for Fang Lang. As for the practical aspects that the other party wanted to know about him, Fang Lang didn't mind telling him directly.
“If Mr. Bell is interested, I can certainly tell you!
Our group has a grain group in Brazil that is conducting large-scale mechanized agricultural experiments. It was originally planning to modify some fixed-wing aircraft to carry out pesticide spraying operations.
But you also know that the flight altitude and speed of fixed-wing aircraft are limited, and the spraying effect on farmland is not particularly ideal.
After seeing this helicopter today, I thought of modifying it and installing a spray nozzle in front of the nose. The 400 kg load capacity is also very suitable for loading pesticides for spraying operations. "
Lawrence Bell's eyes lit up when he heard this. The United States is the biggest player in large-scale agriculture! Since Fang Lang can promote it in Brazil, he can certainly promote it in the United States as well.
If they can really open up this market, they won't have to worry about the sales of their products.
Moreover, not only farms that grow crops can purchase helicopters for operations, but large cattle farms can also purchase helicopters for grazing!
I didn’t expect that the products we produce have the potential to become agricultural machinery. Doesn’t this open up new ideas?
“It’s a good direction. If it can be realized, it will definitely open up sales for our products.
In this case, I agree to your request for production authorization, but the prerequisite is that your company must purchase at least 30 more Bell 47s from our company, that is, a total of 50, before we can authorize you to produce, and the products you produce cannot be sold in the United States. "
Fang Lang was overjoyed when he heard this. This was truly an unexpected gain. He had not expected that he had originally been discussing the matter of joint school-running with the other party, but unexpectedly he had negotiated two authorizations, one of which was to authorize the replication of Harvard University's way of running a school.
I unexpectedly got a ticket to the helicopter industry that I had always wanted to enter. This trip was really worthwhile!
"No problem, but of the thirty newly purchased helicopters, ten must be produced by your company's technicians in our factory in Brazil."
For Lawrence Bell, the production authorization had already been agreed, so producing the last ten aircraft in Brazil was not an excessive request. The most he could do was to ship the parts to Brazil and then assemble them locally.
You can also save your own labor costs, which is of course nothing wrong with that.
The two then returned to the office and discussed some details of the authorized production. They signed a letter of intent on the spot and only waited for Fangyuan Aircraft Manufacturing Company's general manager, Paulman, to return to Brazil to send a professional negotiation team to Bell Aircraft for further negotiations and to sign a formal purchase and authorization agreement.
This practice of authorized production is actually very common. Historically, Bell Aircraft Company authorized Italy's Agusta to produce the Bell 47. This Italian helicopter manufacturer, by digesting and absorbing the technology of the Bell 47, eventually became a world-renowned helicopter manufacturer.
What Fang Lang has chosen now is actually not much different from the path of this company.
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