Never give up ambition
Yang Zibin became a designer by diligent self-study as a workshop worker, so he was highly appreciated by Wu, and they also established a profound friendship. With the deepening of understanding, Yang Zibin admired Wu Daguan more and more. "Wu Lao only focused on one thing in his life, that is, designing and developing aero engines." Yang Zibin praised. Although, this way he walked twists and turns and how difficult-
After graduating from the Aviation Department of Southwest Associated University in 1942, Wu Daguan got a job in Guizhou Dading Engine Factory opened by the Kuomintang, and was sent to the United States to study for three years. When he returned to China with great ambition to realize his dream of "saving the country by aviation", he hated the corruption and incompetence of the Kuomintang, and he resolutely chose to leave.
The Communist Party of China (CPC), a young man who is interested in serving the motherland and an advanced political party representing the people, fell in love at first sight in Peiping before liberation in 1949. The latter ignited the hope in the former’s heart, and the former devoted himself to it.
After the founding of New China, Wu Daguan organized and prepared the Aviation Industry Bureau as the director of the second production department. In 1956, he applied to be transferred from an institution to Shenyang Liming Aero-Engine Factory (hereinafter referred to as Liming Factory) and led the establishment of the first aero-engine design office in New China. In June 1958, the first jet trainer engine in China-Eruption 1A was successfully developed.
At that time, China was poor, and everything needed to be done, so it was difficult to develop aero-engines. Wu Daguan led the scientific and technical personnel to cut through the thorns. At that time, the employees of Liming Factory often saw such a scene: Wu and his comrades were sitting on the grass and discussing issues enthusiastically. In August, 1961, the Engine Design Institute of Aviation Research Institute was established, with Wu Daguan as the deputy director, and the first engine test base in China’s aviation history was established …
Wu Daguan said: "I will die unsatisfied if I can’t see the engine developed by our country." However, in the process of exploration and progress, he met unexpectedly during the ten-year Cultural Revolution. He was put in a bullpen, lost his freedom, and became blind in his left eye because of delayed treatment.
However, Wu Daguan always believed: "The Cultural Revolution does not represent the party, and the line of the party’s’ science and technology power’ will not change." He sealed foreign technical magazines in red and kept on studying.
At the end of 1977, shortly after the end of the Cultural Revolution, Wu Daguan was transferred to the position of deputy director of Xihang Airlines. "At the age of 62, he will be used at the age of 26." He led the scientific and technical personnel to master the advanced Spey engine technology in the world at that time and successfully developed the imitation. China’s aero-engine industry was about to turn a new page, but Wu Daguan was 66 years old at that time. In 1982, he was transferred to the Science and Technology Appointed Standing Committee of China Aviation Industry Corporation and retired to the second line.
In Wu Daguan’s 40-year first-line aviation career, he organized and developed five aero engines, only one of which was assembled on the plane after being finalized, but it was not mass-produced; And these five engines are all made by imitating and improving foreign engines. This is far from his original ideal of independent research and development-some conditions are hard to change in an era, such as weak basic industries and shortage of professionals … But Wu Daguan never flinched and worked tirelessly.
Today, China is one of the five countries in the world that can independently develop aero-engines, which is closely related to the persistence of Wu Daguan and many older generation scientists.
Everything revolves around work.
Liang Yan, Wu Daguan’s granddaughter, is a outspoken girl. In Liang Yan’s memory, the place where her grandfather played with her as a child was usually confined to his office. While Liang was playing, Wu buried himself in his work and sometimes looked up, instilling the concept of "aerodynamics" in her. Therefore, in the late autumn of 1982, my grandfather and her memory of flying kites in the rice fields outside the compound of the Science and Technology Commission was particularly precious and unforgettable.
At that time, Liang Yan felt that she had been playing for a long time, but she was definitely not satisfied. Before going home, she asked her grandfather when she would take her out to fly a kite again. Wu replied, "When grandpa stops working." In the end, this became an empty talk-it was not until 22 years later that Wu Daguan, 88, officially retired. At this time, Liang is no longer a little girl who cares about flying kites, and Wu is too old to run any longer.
In these 22 years, Wu Daguan worked almost every day. His daughter Wu Xiaoyun described her father’s simple life track every day: going to work at seven o’clock in the morning, returning to the office immediately after dinner, and not coming home until nine o’clock or ten o’clock. "He always feels that time is not enough, always works overtime, and works and studies in the office on Saturdays and Sundays."
Wu Daguan has his own considerations. He wants to do his best for the development of aero-engines in China. Although he has retired to the second line, "many comrades in the front line of information may not have time to read it, so I’ll look at it and sort it out".
"In the Science and Technology Commission, an advantage is that you can access a lot of information. After learning about the development of foreign engines, I feel more and more backward." Wu Daguan elaborated in his autobiography "My China Heart".
In 1983, he asked the Ministry to compile the specifications of China aero-engines. At that time, this proposal was considered by the design and process department as "putting a condom on your neck". However, Wu Daguan believes that he will do whatever is conducive to the development of China’s aviation power. He personally served as the editor-in-chief of the editorial board, leading and organizing the translation of the general specification for engines published in the United States at that time-5007d. Based on this, it took four years to compile the General Specification for Turbojet and Turbofan Engines and the General Specification for Turboprop and Turboshaft Engines, which are suitable for China’s national conditions, and then they were approved as national military standards.
"Now these two standards are still in use, which is the starting point for China’s aero-engine scientific research to move towards standardization. Later, engines such as Kunlun and Taihang, which made Chinese people proud, were developed on the basis of this specification. " Shi Yuanguang, former member of the Standing Committee of the Science and Technology Commission, commented.
Editor: Zhao Deli
