Chapter 822 The Right Direction
Knowing that Germany had produced a tri-wing aircraft, Charles felt some pressure.
The reason is that air supremacy is too important. Air supremacy is indispensable whether it is fighting on land or at sea, or blocking the English Channel, etc.
Without air superiority, the army cannot obtain information in a timely manner, armored forces cannot accurately penetrate the enemy's weaknesses, and may even be bombed by enemy aircraft.
The navy can only passively take attacks, and this becomes more and more so as it develops further.
So the next day, Charles took some time to visit the aircraft factory.
But after arriving here, Charles found that his worries were unnecessary.
…
At this time, the aircraft manufacturer's research institute had been split into several departments, including the design department, manufacturing department, assembly department, etc., as well as an independent research and development department specifically for improving engine power.
The former R&D director, Dorn, seemed to be omnipotent. He ran back and forth between several departments to guide and promote the synchronous development of the entire R&D institute.
However, during this period, he was more busy in the design department.
Charles walked into the office filled with blueprints and models, and immediately saw Dorn, who was absorbed in drawing.
His hair was long and dirty, and his beard had not been shaved for a long time, making him look like a homeless person on the street.
"Is everything all right?" Charles asked.
"Very good." Dawn replied without looking up.
After a while, I realized that the voice was a little different. I looked up and found it was Charles. I was surprised and stepped forward to shake his hand: "It's you, General. Nice to meet you!"
"I'll come and see what's going on," said Charles.
He couldn't say anything about the Germans producing the Fokker Triplane. Otherwise, after the war, the British would come to trouble the Shire.
"It's going well, General." Dorn nodded confidently and half-jokingly said, "We won't give you the chance to fire us. The money you spent on us is worth it!"
"Of course," Charles admitted. "It's always been like this."
Dorn handed Ciel a document and said, "Look at this. The engine power has successfully exceeded 300 horsepower."
Charles praised, he remembered that during World War I, only Rolls-Royce pushed the power of aircraft engines to 322 horsepower in 18 years.
Dorne's research and development team has now reached 300 horsepower, and is undoubtedly at the forefront of the world.
"And this." Dorn proudly handed Charles a drawing and a photo.
Charles was stunned: "Is this a new fighter? I thought it was a 'Camel'."
"Good eyesight, General." Dorn laughed, with pride on his face. "Many people thought it was a 'Camel' at first glance, but it's not. It's a new aircraft that we improved with a 250-horsepower engine."
(The upper one is the "Camel", the lower one is the improved version of the "Snipe". The main improvements are the replacement of a more powerful engine, a slim fuselage, an increased wingspan, and a "skylight" on the upper wing to expand the pilot's observation range)
Without waiting for Charles to ask, Dorn introduced them one by one:
"Considering the Camel's sensitivity, many pilots on the battlefield reported that it was prone to gyroscopic effects."
“So we redesigned the shape and increased the wingspan, which makes it more stable in flight.”
“In addition, we also replaced some wooden parts with metal parts to give them greater strength.”
Ciel looked at the data and nodded.
The overall performance improvement is significant.
For example, the increased strength allows this fighter to carry four 9-kg bombs, allowing it to perform air combat missions while also carrying out bombing missions.
For example, the new design increases the range.
The original maximum range was only 400 kilometers, but now it is 600 kilometers. This is a very important indicator in air combat and can almost determine life and death at critical moments.
The biggest advantage is that the Camel fighter is not friendly to novice pilots because it is too sensitive and can cause the plane to crash and people to die if they are not careful.
The improved version does not have this problem and is more suitable for mass production and mass equipment, reducing pilot training cycles and training losses.
If there is any shortcoming, it is that the top speed has hardly increased from 190 kilometers to 195 kilometers.
Charles believed that this was related to the increased weight of the reinforced fuselage.
But it doesn't matter. The performance of this fighter is superior to that of the German Fokker triplane in all aspects, which has enabled the French army to once again distance itself from the German army in air supremacy.
"You did a great job." Charles gave a positive reply: "This solves a lot of problems. On behalf of the pilots and all those who hope to stop the war, I would like to thank you."
Charles was even more satisfied that the institute had its own ideas and directions. It no longer needed Charles to provide drawings and have them produce passively as before.
After being praised by Charles, Dorn grinned happily like a child.
Then he seemed to remember something:
"We have come to a point of inconsistency in increasing the strength of the fuselage, General."
"Once you replace the engine with a more powerful one to increase the speed, you will need a higher fuselage strength, otherwise the wings will easily break, snap, or even disintegrate during flight."
"And increasing the strength of the fuselage would increase weight, which in turn would limit the speed and make it impossible to increase it."
"So, some people think that increasing engine power is no longer meaningful."
This is the same as adding more water and more flour. No matter how you make changes, the maximum speed of the aircraft remains similar, and the overall performance can never be improved.
"It will be useful." Charles said confidently: "This is just a flat period. Once the engine power is increased to a certain level, the speed of the fighter will leap forward."
"That's what I thought." Dorn said hesitantly, "But can a fighter plane with such a high speed be effective in actual combat? I mean, the pilot's reaction ability may not be able to keep up with the changes in the target."
Charles thought about it for a while and decided that he should set a more understandable goal for his research.
He took a piece of paper and a pen, and while drawing, he explained: "The new fighter planes can carry bombs, which is good, but you should know that it is difficult for bombs to hit the target in actual combat."
"Yes, of course." Dorn nodded. "Fighters are moving at high speeds, and the bombs they drop have an initial velocity. They are also affected by wind speed, wind direction, altitude, and other factors, so most of the time it's a matter of luck."
"Yes." Charles drew the dive trajectory of the fighter plane on the paper: "But there is a different way of dropping bombs. It doesn't need to consider these issues."
Dorn looked at the blueprint and immediately realized, "You mean, if the fighter plane dives at high speed toward the target..."
"Yes." Charles nodded: "At this time, the speed of the bomb is basically pointing to the target. As long as its speed is much greater than the wind speed and wind force, the impact will be very small."
Don understood:
"So the chance of hitting the target will be greatly increased, so it makes sense to increase the strength and speed of the fuselage!"
"Great, General, you have solved another problem for us."
"No, you pointed us in the right direction!"
(End of this chapter)
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