If China manages to put maglev lines into operation that will likely increase train speed by another 200-300 kph. Making HSR even more competitive with airline travel. Speeds will likely go from the current 350 kph to 600 kph. But due to expense I expect these maglev lines to only be built for the more congested routes like Beijing - Shanghai, or Beijing - Guangzhou.I believe that air travel does have an important role for certain types of trips in China.
I also recently traveled from Shenzhen to northern China. The high-speed rail was an 8-hour trip. Tickets were uniformly sold out since it was the Chinese New Year. Tickets are commonly sold out during the holiday season.
In the end, I bought plane tickets. The plane ride was a 3-hour trip, and tickets were available - albeit expensive - during the Chinese New Year.
For certain trips, in my opinion, air travel is vital. This is especially the case for north-south voyages. For instance, the Guangzhou/Shenzhen <=> Beijing route is extremely common in China and essential for the economy. High-speed rail takes 9 hours or more, whereas planes take 3 hours. In this case, it is very important to have the flight option. Especially when it's a holiday season and the high-speed rail tickets are sold out, as they always are.
This is a pretty big deal.
China has put into service the world's largest vibration simulation system. The system can simulate vibration environments experienced by large turbofans, rocket engines, satellites, automotive and high-speed rail components, etc. Until now, vibration testing on oversized equipment had to be conducted at the component or sub-system level and on a piecemeal basis; this new simulation system can now test them in their fully assembled states.
A Google Earth image that allegedly shows a large wind tunnel under construction. Does anyone know where this is?
Coordinate: 31.42963, 104.66782
The 29th Experimental Training Base of the People's Liberation Army China Aerodynamic Research and Development Center (Unit 63820).
This place has been under construction for a long time, so it's not special news.
City of Mianyang, 100km North East of Chengdu city. Google image date is 2022, June 07th. They should have completed the construction by now.From @JosephWen___ on Twitter, a Taiwan-based PLA observer who can be considered reliable:
A Google Earth image that allegedly shows a large wind tunnel under construction. Does anyone know where this is?
The has successfully completed testing. It will be used in the upcoming high-altitude engine test bench. It's capable of moving air at 20,000 to 25,000 cubic meters per minute and has a pressure ratio of 8 to 9, which is the highest in the world among industrial axial compressors. The unit has a total length of 11.5 meters, a width of 5.7 meters, and a height of 4.5 meters; the total weight is more than 400 tons. The core component of the hollow rotor is nearly 11 meters in length, weighs nearly 70 tons, and the inner diameter of the rotor is 1.4 meters.
So basically, China is going for something similar to . It will be a critical piece of infrastructure for developing future military as well as civilian engines, especially high-bypass turbofans. Quite a few of these large axial compressors will be installed at the facility, divided among the test cells. And just like the ASTF, I'm sure it will come with an onsite supercomputer as well. A milestone development for sure.
ASTF facility from the outside:
View attachment 63112
One of the large ASTF test cells, large enough for testing high-bypass turbofans:
View attachment 63113
This one is existing High altitude test bench facility.. that PLA have been using for decades.This could be the high-altitude engine test bench project that was revealed back in 2020.
Previous posts on this subject:
The has successfully completed testing. It will be used in the upcoming high-altitude engine test bench. It's capable of moving air at 20,000 to 25,000 cubic meters per minute and has a pressure ratio of 8 to 9, which is the highest in the world among industrial axial compressors. The unit has a total length of 11.5 meters, a width of 5.7 meters, and a height of 4.5 meters; the total weight is more than 400 tons. The core component of the hollow rotor is nearly 11 meters in length, weighs nearly 70 tons, and the inner diameter of the rotor is 1.4 meters.