Xinhua News Agency, Shenyang, April 30, by wire, title: Wang Lulu: the surgeon of the plane's "small heart"

Ding Feibai, reporter of Xinhua News Agency

She is a "versatile" female aircraft maintenance certified by CAAC, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States, the European Aviation Safety Administration and other multiple maintenance qualifications; She led the team to realize the maintenance project from scratch over 15 years, and accumulated more than 2000 devices with the team, creating an output value of more than 4 billion yuan

Her name is Wang Lulu. She is the deputy manager of the accessory department of Shenyang base of the Engineering Technology Branch of China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd. She has worked hard in the front line of civil aviation maintenance for more than 20 years in a row, and has won honors such as the National May 1st Women's Pacesetter, the National Civil Aviation May 1st Labor Medal, and the National Traffic Technology Expert.

Wang Lulu (former) studies and works with colleagues (shot on April 22). Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Gang

In 2000, Wang Lulu, who graduated from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, came to the civil aviation maintenance base in Shenyang. "At that time, I liked to watch the masters working on the spot. When I was free, I asked the masters to teach me how to identify various parts and work overtime with them," said Wang Lulu. The next year, she applied for a front line job. "I felt that I had never worked in the front line, and I was not sure."

APU (Auxiliary Power Unit), located at the tail end of the aircraft, is known as the "little heart" of the aircraft and plays an important role in flight comfort and safety. It is the component with the highest maintenance accuracy and output value except for the engine. The speed of the rotor per minute is up to 49000 revolutions, and the output value of a single unit is more than 200000 dollars. Because of its complex structure, great difficulty in maintenance and high cost of repair, whether it has the capability of in-depth repair of the device is an important symbol to evaluate the competitiveness of an aviation maintenance enterprise.

Wang Lulu (middle) studies and works with her colleagues (shot on April 22). Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Gang

In 2004, the base decided to explore APU in-depth repair, and Wang Lulu became the team leader.

"Everything starts from scratch. We have no experience to learn from, only two simple manuals." Wang Lulu led the two people in the workshop technical team to study the process, prepare work cards, from bolts and gaskets to large equipment, and prepare various products for APU in-depth repair, starting from self-learning manuals.

To save money, all APU repair tooling is processed locally. They have studied more than 100 technical drawings of tooling, repeatedly studied each key dimension, and completed all tooling processing with less money. Without funds to build a vehicle platform, they refit a portable mobile test platform; Without automatic recording test equipment, they did it manually

July 8, 2006 is the most unforgettable day for Wang Lulu. The first repaired APU is connected to the test bench, waiting for the final inspection. When she pressed the start button, everyone held their breath and stared at the monitor screen, where various data were constantly changing.

"Successful startup! It shows that the lubricating oil pressure is normal and the spindle vibration is normal..." Wang Lulu reported a series of monitoring results. "We succeeded!" The test room burst into warm applause.

This scene is still fresh in the memory of the team members many years later, who have fulfilled the dream of several generations of maintenance personnel.

Subsequently, Wang Lulu's team completed the refurbishment of the APU of the first A320 aircraft and obtained the refurbishment qualification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States. Later, it gradually possessed the deep repair capability of six types of APU, including the domestic ARJ21 aircraft. Its repair of the wide body Boeing 787 successfully filled the gap in the field of civil aviation maintenance in China.

The engineering technology research center established by China Southern Airlines in 2018 became the only engineering center in the field of civil aviation maintenance recognized by the Civil Aviation Administration in the first batch. Wang Lulu became one of the directors of the four research rooms of the engineering center. Wang Lulu proved herself with practical actions. Her team has 14 patents and published more than 20 papers in various core journals.

"Keep curiosity and dare to try things that others have not done. I will continue to ask myself like this," said Wang Lulu.