Daming 1805

Chapter 84 This is already the fastest in the world
In a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, the test aircraft in the sky also completed the test flight.

It circled the test field twice, flew two 8s, and finally landed according to the process.

The craftsmen on the runway immediately greeted them and carefully checked the state of the aircraft.

As a flight tester, "Old Zhao" ran over quickly after getting off the plane and excitedly reported to Zhu Jingyuan and Li Rui:

"His Royal Highness, Mr. Li, I haven't found any major problems, only a few minor problems that don't get in the way. We should take it apart and adjust it later..."

Zhu Jingyuan nodded lightly, and Li Rui continued to ask about the situation:

"Evaluate yourself, can you continue to do the flight speed and distance test?"

After thinking for a while, Lao Zhao nodded:

"I think so."

Zhu Jingyuan listened next to him, suddenly realized some possible situations, and forced it to show himself:
"Don't worry about me, I can come back at any time, I now regard the Ministry of Work as my own department.

"So don't force the test just because I'm here. If something goes wrong, it won't be worth the loss."

Lao Zhao couldn't help laughing immediately:
"Your Highness, you really don't have to worry, it's just that a few functional parts are inappropriately installed, which will have no effect on safety."

Only then did Zhu Jingyuan feel relieved:
"That's good……"

The test aircraft was inspected and briefly maintained. After it had cooled down completely, the range test officially began.

Lao Zhao boarded the plane again, took off again and flew straight north.

At this time, over the two star-shaped fortresses in the northwest corner and northeast corner of the capital, a rigid airship was already waiting in the air.

In the surrounding area of ​​the old capital of the capital, to test the flying machine in a large range, it is definitely necessary to report to the garrison guarding the capital.

The Ministry of Industry itself also needs their cooperation to help mark and measure the data of the aircraft, and now the aircraft itself has no such thing as a speedometer.

After the test plane arrived at the northwest corner of the old city, it took the airship above the star-shaped fortress as the center mark, turned east and continued to fly.

At the same time, adjust the power of the aircraft engine to keep it near the upper limit of the optimal working range, and the aircraft enters the maximum stable cruising speed.

This morning, in addition to the old emperor, flying machines finally appeared in front of non-designers.

Although the soldiers on the airship knew today's mission in advance, when they looked at the plane that appeared in their field of vision, their expressions and mood were hard to calm down for a long time.

If it wasn't for the officers watching from the airship, it might have been noisy by now.

In fact, the captain of the airship who came out to cooperate with the aircraft test now has his eyes widened, staring at the gradually receding aircraft.

The wings of the plane could not flap, and it could fly stably and continuously, which was subversive to ordinary people at that time.

However, the current Jingshi garrison troops are true elite divisions, and they did not forget to record the data and time while being amazed.

The mood of Lao Zhao on the plane was very simple, it was pure excitement and excitement.

Especially when I went around the airship and continued to accelerate to the east, I couldn't help shouting:
"This tnd is called flying! Those airships and balloons are just floating!"

"The cruising speed of the machines I use in this experiment is estimated to be more than [-] kilometers per hour."

"The maximum speed of those airships is only eighty!"

"And the planes are much more flexible than them, and they can be stunned by turning around, and on the battlefield..."

"Um...the question is...on the battlefield, how should I attack them?"

"Are you putting a machine gun on a plane? The question is how, how to aim and fire..."

Lao Zhao's mood suddenly became confused again, but this did not affect his flying.

Ten minutes later, the plane passed the northeast corner of the old city, passing by the airship over the star-shaped fortress here.

While Lao Zhao wrote down the time, he kept the plane without any movement and continued to fly eastward at a speed.

However, I began to pay attention to the fuel balance of the aircraft. When the fuel remained at 60%, the aircraft came to the boundary of Tongzhou.

Lao Zhao couldn't help but marveled for a while again, and at the same time he immediately turned around and returned to the original path.

Passing through the two fortresses outside the old city again, flying towards the south at the northwest corner of the city, and finally returning to the west test site of the Ministry of Industry.

The two airships of the two fortresses landed successively, and the officers who cooperated with the test will record the time point of the plane passing by, and notify the personnel of the test site of the Ministry of Works by telegram and telephone.

The craftsmen at the Ministry of Engineering's testing ground got these two times, and then calculated the distance between the two fortresses to know the relatively accurate speed of the aircraft.

These data are very simple, Li Rui directly calculated the result in his head, and immediately reported to Zhu Jingyuan excitedly:
"Your Highness, the cruising speed of the plane was 82 kilometers per hour when it departed, and it reached 90 kilometers per hour when it returned.

"The error may be that the fuel in the second half is less, the body becomes lighter, or it may be caused by the wind direction.

"However, even at this slower speed, it is already faster than the cruising speed of the airship, and it can be faster if the power is increased to the maximum.

"According to the plan I booked to return with 60% of the fuel, if the two cruise speeds are averaged, the maximum range can reach [-] kilometers!"

Li Rui was quite excited about the data, but Zhu Jingyuan's eyes twitched slightly.

Going up and down at [-] kilometers per hour, in my previous life, I would have been annoyed when I was on the highway.

One hundred kilometers of battery life is the level of a better electric vehicle.

But you must hold back, never show an expression of disgust, and quickly adjust your mentality.

It cannot be demanded by the standards of the new century, its speed is already the fastest in the world.

This thing appeared 120 years earlier than Swordfish, even 30 years earlier in terms of technological level.

It can be said that it is very good to be able to have such a level as it is in the aircraft before World War I.

Zhu Jingyuan quickly sorted out his mentality, and nodded solemnly with approval:

"Yes, very good. In the future, we will replace the larger engine and prepare to turn the body into all-metal, including the skin, which can be made of aluminum."

Li Rui and the craftsmen nodded in succession, this direction is actually the direction they thought.

The primary optimization direction in the future is to have faster speed, greater range, and a stronger fuselage.

Li Rui and Zhu Jingyuan had a conversation here, and Lao Zhao over there also landed in a plane.

After handing over the plane to the maintenance staff, Lao Zhao trotted all the way to Zhu Jingyuan's side, and he was excited to report that the superiority was looking forward to it again:

"His Royal Highness, Director Li, everything was normal during the test, the remaining fuel was 23% when landing, and the estimated maximum range is over [-] kilometers.

"But I have a question, can we have weapons on our planes?"

Li Rui, Wang Zhenyi, and the craftsmen suddenly came to the spirit.

The aircraft must be equipped with weapons to be considered weapons, otherwise it can only be used for reconnaissance, which is obviously not what the aircraft design craftsmen want.

Of course Zhu Jingyuan knew it, but he didn't explain it directly. Instead, he learned the old emperor's way of doing things, and first asked and guided them:

"That's a good question, do you have any ideas of your own?"

Lao Zhao immediately said:
"I thought I could put a machine gun on it, or throw a bomb on the ground, but I don't know how.

"The machine gun is best installed on the nose, but now there is a propeller on the nose, can you install it on the back and find someone to shoot?
"I think bombs can be hung next to the body, where they can be picked up and dropped."

The idea is so simple and crude, but this idea is already very "advanced".

Aircraft in history were first used for reconnaissance.

At the beginning of World War I, the pilots on both sides had no weapons, so that they would meet each other in the sky and greet each other.

Humans seem to become more friendly when everyone can't threaten each other.

Until the French put light machine guns on the plane.

The Germans at that time had no defense at all, and the French suddenly opened fire when the planes approached each other.

German pilot Aviatik became the first hapless man to be shot down.

Then came the age of air combat.

Many pilots instinctively hit each other with pistols, only to find that they can't hit at all.

Later, someone took a brick to get on the plane, not to hit the opponent's pilot with the brick, but to smash the opponent's aircraft propeller, which is more effective than hitting people with a pistol.

Some people put bombs in the cockpit, fly to places and drop them manually. This is the earliest bomber.

As for the rear-seat machine gunner, it has been standard on aircraft for a long time.

(End of this chapter)