Life-saving straw: backup plan for the Z-8 helicopter.

 

 

In 1978, after the reform and opening up, China became friendly with the West. It was also in this year that China began to actively contact French helicopter companies and introduced the SA-321 "Super Hornet" helicopter in the same year.

 

The arrival of the SA321 helicopter brought the military into contact with advanced Western helicopters for the first time. Unlike the Russian-made helicopters used in the past, the "Super Hornet" changed the image of "dumb, big, black and rough" helicopters and became precise and practical. The lubricant it carried was the famous Mobil Pegasus II aviation lubricant. As the only Class II medium-viscosity aviation lubricant that had been tested in China at the time, the military also considered replacing Pegasus II as the lubricant for the domestically produced Z-8.

 

In 1982, 4050 oil passed the 626-hour test of the Turboshaft-6 engine, and was officially listed by the Chinese military as the main lubricant for the Super Hornet (spare) and Z-8 helicopter engines in 1988. Although the number of Super Hornet/Z-8 equipment in those years was still small (especially the Z-8, the localization was not smooth), and there was also the Pegasus II as an opponent, it still became the "life-saving straw" to save 4050 aviation lubricant, accompanying it through the long and painful years.

 

The Eve of Dawn: The Bumpy Journey of the Spey Engine in Service.

 

 

Like Esso/bp 2380 aviation lubricant, the Spey MK202 aircraft engine also originated in the UK. As an important technology introduction plan in the early 1970s, the project was personally proposed by Premier Zhou and Vice Chairman Ye Jianying.

 

In 1972, with Nixon's visit to China, Sino-Western relations improved significantly. It was at this time that Britain began to take the initiative to contact China. Stanley Hooker, chief engineer of Rolls-Royce, personally led a private team to visit China, hoping to seek cooperation in aviation engines. Then he found that China was actually very interested in its Spey aircraft engine! With the intersection of interests, the two sides contacted and negotiated back and forth. China hopes to obtain the production license and technical assistance of the Spey engine. This point has been negotiated with the British side for two years, and finally the British agreed to this request.

 

The "Spey" aircraft engine was an engine with international advanced level at that time, and its introduction was of great significance to the development of China's aviation industry. For this reason, the military also specially designated the newly born 4050 aviation lubricant as its standard aviation lubricant. It was first tried on the imported batch of "Spey" MK202 engines in the early stage, and used as the main lubricant after localization. However, contrary to the goal of localization within 5 years of introduction, due to the huge gap in the domestic aviation industry and material level, this localization lasted for 25 years! The localization of the Spey engine not only seriously affected the development and equipment progress of the "Flying Leopard" fighter-bomber, but also made the "Flying Leopard" face the risk of being discontinued (1985).

 

The 25-year development of the Flying Leopard and the localization of the Spey engine cost the already scarce Chinese Air Force a huge amount of money. It made Chinese aviation personnel once again see the huge gap between China and the world's advanced level, and also made the 4050 oil only look at the "aircraft" and sigh for a long time, unable to deploy equipment on a large scale.

 

Good things come to fruition after many trials.

 

 

After entering the new century, the size of the Army Aviation Force was officially expanded, and the number of Z-8 equipment increased dramatically. At the same time, the improved version of the "Flying Leopard" fighter-bomber was also gradually carried out. The production line of 4050 oil was finally "fully fired", making an indelible contribution to protecting the motherland's Great Wall of Steel!