Daming 1805

Chapter 27 Flight Experiments
A shield truck can be pulled with [-] horses, which is not a small force, and it also reflects the huge advantage of the industrial age compared with the agricultural age.

Just think of the "Broken Leg Maniac" swordfish with 750 horsepower, the "air tractor" Yunwu with 1000 horsepower, and the "Hellcat" F6F with 2000 horsepower.

Modern families all have mobility vehicles with more than 100 horsepower. Compared with them, the tanks at this time seem a bit shabby.

In fact, the internal combustion engine is just emerging, many technologies are still immature, and it is normal that the power does not go up.

In the history of the Marco 1 tank that appeared in the late World War I, the engine power was only a little over 100 horsepower.

The first aircraft equipped by the U.S. Army had a power of only 30 horsepower.

After a little thought, Zhu Jingyuan said:

"The aircraft used for testing, regardless of size or engine, should be of the middle grade."

According to Zhu Jingyuan's request, Li Rui selected a test machine with a wingspan of 12 meters, a total weight of 420 kilograms and an engine power of 32 horsepower.

When arranging the craftsman to pull the plane out, the upright Li Rui couldn't help reminding Zhu Jingyuan:
"His Royal Highness, the weight of this aircraft is already high, and we have to modify the wings and install the rudder. I suggest that lighter and smaller engines can be replaced."

However, Zhu Jingyuan didn't care:
"It's okay, I don't think it's a big problem. Let's try it first. If it doesn't work, let's change it..."

Zhu Jingyuan barely remembered the approximate parameters of the Wright Brothers' first plane.

It weighs 360 kilograms, has an engine power of 12 horsepower, and has a wingspan of just over 12 meters.

Although the test machine in front of Zhu Jingyuan was heavier, the engine power was nearly tripled, and the thrust-to-weight ratio was at least twice as high.

The first military aircraft officially equipped by the U.S. Army was at this level.

Moreover, the two Wright brothers are amateur inventors who repair bicycles, and their helpers are the top designers and craftsmen of the world empire.

It also directly provides a truly mature airfoil, and the lift is definitely much higher than that of the Wright brothers.

So as long as there is no accident, it is mostly able to fly.

Hearing that Zhu Jingyuan was so determined, Li Rui could only shake his head helplessly, and led the craftsmen to start remodeling.

The structure of the original test aircraft was very simple, and the retrofitting was equally simple, and the materials and tools for the proving ground were readily available.

Although the original wing is curved, there is also a support structure below the curved structure, and now it is enough to paste the skin.

Tie four steel pipes longitudinally to the middle frame of the wings, and use locks and steel wires to fix them, as a simple aircraft fuselage.

Two sets of movable wings are made separately with steel pipes, columns, skins and springs, which are used as rudder surfaces for left and right and up and down swings respectively, and the swing is controlled by wire pulling.

Two sets of movable wing rudder surfaces are respectively fixed on the front and rear of the steel tube fuselage.

Pull the wire to the middle of the two layers of wings, fix it on both sides of the pilot's seat, and use levers, pulleys, handles, and automatic buckles to make two simple rudder surface adjusters.

All the modifications took less than two hours in total, and when it was all completed, it was almost 11:50.

10 minutes left for dinner.

Craftsmen are not very enthusiastic about fixed-wing aircraft. Some of them don't think they can fly. Some of them have experienced too many failures, and people are already numb.

Now it's time for lunch, and the craftsmen subconsciously want to eat.

But now the prince is watching here, the time has not really come to the end of get off work, so he can only continue to be patient and prepare for the test.

Everyone's instinct is to think that it shouldn't take long to test once, and it usually fails very quickly.

On the contrary, if it is successful, then the time will not be counted, but it should not be so easy to succeed.

Two craftsmen dragged the remodeled plane to the middle of the test site and ran to the end.

The craftsman in charge of testing the plane looked at the sky, roughly estimated the wind direction and the angle of the sun, then climbed to the middle of the plane's wings and sat down to check the controls.

There were a few craftsmen around looking bored, looking back from time to time in the direction of the cafeteria.

After the flight tester completed the inspection, he shouted to Li Rui, who was in charge of the on-site command:

"All right—"

After Li Rui heard it, he looked at Zhu Jingyuan beside him and asked whether to start the test. Zhu Jingyuan nodded lightly, indicating that he could start.

Li Rui took a deep breath, held a thin iron roll horn, and started shouting loudly:
"Everyone's attention, the test of the fixed-wing flying machine is about to start, and no one is allowed to approach the test track-"

"Auxiliary group, prepare to start the engine!"

Li Rui shouted very serious and formal, but the situation at the scene was actually very casual, and there was no sense of seriousness at all.

Everyone didn't care much about this test. Zhu Jingyuan thought that most of them would be successful, while the others thought that they were mostly messing around.

The two craftsmen who were watching the cafeteria heard Li Rui's shouting. They carried something similar to cranking the handle of an old-fashioned tractor, and started shaking when they walked behind the wing.

A few seconds later, accompanied by a burst of violent black smoke, a harsh sound of "chu Chu Chu" sounded, and the aircraft's propeller also whimpered.

The craftsman responsible for starting the engine immediately ran away with the crank handle, and the plane began to slide forward slowly.

At this moment, a crisp bell rang, and everyone turned back subconsciously.

I saw a group of people came out one after another from other houses around, and the meal time of the test site finally arrived.

The two craftsmen carrying the handle subconsciously wanted to leave, but after looking at Zhu Jingyuan and his son, they forcibly resisted the urge to leave and waited patiently for the results of the plane test.

The other craftsmen who came out around also discovered the test here. Most of them shook their heads and left, and hurried to the cafeteria to eat.

A mess around.

Many craftsmen who just came out chatted with each other in twos and threes. They didn't hear what Li Rui said before, didn't pay attention to the planes on the runway, and walked to the runway unconsciously.

In fact, this runway is not a normal flight runway. After all, the aircraft has not yet succeeded. It is just a few lines drawn separately on the cement floor in the middle of the courtyard of the test site.

There were no clear obstacles on both sides of the runway, and it was very close to other surrounding test sites. Coupled with the continuous failure, the surrounding craftsmen had long since ignored it.

Li Rui could only continue to shout with a loudspeaker:
"Don't get close to the runway, don't get close to the runway...don't..."

And in this chaos, I don't know who suddenly screamed:

"Ah—flying!"

Everyone was stunned:
"what?"

"what happened?"

Then came the screams one after another.

"Fly! Fly!"

"Fuck!"

"That thing is flying!"

"The big kite is in the sky!"

"How is this possible, this is really flying!"

"This thing can really fly!"

Zhu Jingyuan immediately turned his face and found that the two large wings had slowly left the ground.

Then, amid the cheers, he continued to climb up slightly inclined.

As the plane got higher and higher, so did the surrounding cheers and the range.

Everyone stopped, looked up at the sky and shouted.

There was so much movement outside that people in the cafeteria also ran out, and then the cooks in the cafeteria followed, and no one went to eat at all.

Everyone couldn't control it, and they cheered loudly together, and the whole testing ground turned into a noisy ocean.

Humans really fly by themselves!

And this is not a little floating, but really flying in the sky.

Several minutes have passed since it left the ground, and the plane is still flying in the sky, and it is flying higher and higher.

Airships and hot air balloons finally float by reducing their specific gravity so that their overall specific gravity is smaller than that of air.

The specific gravity of the plane is heavier than that of the air. Like a bird, it uses its wings to cut through the airflow, and eventually it can fly by itself.

The principles of the two, and the feelings they give people, are completely different.

Li Rui's eyes widened completely, looking at the aircraft in the air, speechless.

It turned out to be so successful!
This Highness Jingyuan is really a genius...

　In the new month, ask for collection, ask for monthly pass, ask for recommendation, ask for reward, all kinds of requests.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)