Air supremacy. As the war progressed, even those who were still living in the Napoleonic era could realize the importance of air supremacy. After all, the Ming Empire had told the world time and again how important air supremacy was.
With air superiority, you can... do whatever you want!
This is also well known.
It is precisely because of this that the military of various countries in the world invested a lot of financial, material and human resources in aircraft research after the outbreak of the war. Driven by the military of various countries, aircraft technology achieved some breakthroughs in a short period of time.
"If last year, Britain, the United States and other countries were still copying the Empire's aircraft and developing aircraft based on the Holly, then now... aviation engineers in Britain, the United States and other countries have developed a variety of new aircraft models. They have more powerful engines and more flexible fuselages. According to intelligence, the British have not only built a 200-kilowatt high-power engine, they have even begun to consider using aluminum or steel pipes to reinforce the fuselage..."
In the emperor's study, Li Du, the empire's "Viscount Versailles", former head of the early airship force and current deputy commander of the Imperial Air Force, introduced to His Majesty the development of aviation technology in various countries.
After Li Du's introduction, Emperor Zhu nodded slightly and said.
"The future development direction of aircraft is the metalization of fuselage structure and high-power engines. This is an indisputable fact. We should also speed up research in this area, especially..."
After a pause, Emperor Zhu once again used his "golden finger".
"Monoplanes are more authentic than biplanes. In the past, we developed biplanes because they could effectively increase lift when the material strength was insufficient. This reduced the design difficulty. However, as the speed of the aircraft continued to increase, the resistance generated by the biplane's struts and tension wires became greater and greater."
Even though he had never studied aviation, Emperor Zhu was still able to point out the various shortcomings of biplanes, but anyone who knew a little about aviation also knew the various shortcomings of biplanes.
"Compared with biplanes, monoplanes have the advantages of low flight resistance and simple structure. However, due to material limitations, monoplanes generally have various shortcomings. Currently, they are mostly used in gliders. However, I think that with the application of aluminum alloys, monoplanes will quickly replace biplanes and become the mainstream model. Therefore, the military should increase its research efforts in this area."
Although he had no notebook and no need to write down the emperor's instructions, Li Du still silently wrote them down in his heart and answered respectfully.
"Your Majesty is right. Although I am still a layman in the field of airplanes, I know that the most important thing for an airplane is speed. A monoplane has less flight resistance and is naturally faster. Even a small engine can provide a faster speed."
Nodding slightly, Emperor Zhu said.
"It's not just about speed. Maneuverability is also important. This is a balance. You are half an expert in aviation, and I only know a little bit. Although I can give some guidance, in the final analysis, it still depends on the efforts of the Imperial Aviation Industry. Our current leading edge..."
How many years of lead does Empire have now?
Five years? Ten years?
In fact, in the aviation industry, especially in the early aviation industry, there are not too many leading advantages. After all, any mechanical thing can be directly imitated by an industrial power, and the technological gap can be shortened by imitation. In another world, the most typical example is Russia. Since the 1920s, it first introduced the engine and aircraft technology of companies such as Wright to solve the weakness of basic aviation technology. After the basic technology was consolidated, there were more technological breakthroughs. The I15 is the best biplane fighter in the world, and the I16 is the world's first monoplane with folding landing gear. Relying on the technology introduced in the 1920s and 1930s, Russia established a huge aviation industry. In the late 1940s, it achieved a leapfrog development of the aviation industry by imitating the B29, and eventually became an aviation power on par with the United States.
This is just a country like Russia with backward basic industry and science. In traditional industrial powers like Britain and the United States, they skipped the first stage, solved some problems through imitation, and absorbed the rest.
To some extent, Ming Dynasty’s technological advantage now is at most 5 years.
"Your Majesty, perhaps the Americans and the British are absorbing our aviation technology, and have even launched radial engines with greater power and more cylinders. However, our lead in aviation technology is not just in engine technology, but in the entire system. This system is not the manufacturing design of a radial engine, but the design and production of the engine from basic materials. Our lead over Britain and the United States in this field is about 10-15 years. Although Britain, the United States, Germany and other countries can catch up with us in some areas, the technological gap is still inevitable..."
With the reorganization of the floating force, Li Du, the former commander, has been learning about aircraft after entering the Imperial Air Force. After returning from Cuba, he has been running between universities and companies. Now he not only has a basic understanding of aviation technology, but also has his own unique insights.
“Leading the entire industrial system…”
Emperor Zhu was quite pleased with Li Du's insights, and he even nodded approvingly.
"That's right. This is the fundamental reason why the Empire is leading. We are not just leading in one aspect, but in the entire industrial science system. The reliance on the entire system is what other countries look up to!"
"Leading in industrial system". In another world, this is exactly what China has been dreaming of and striving to catch up with. China has made a century of efforts. Although it has made up for the gap with developed countries in many aspects, the leading advantages of Europe, the United States and other countries in the industrial system cannot be ignored. How many years will it take China to catch up with their leading advantages?
This question still had no answer until Emperor Zhu traveled through time. European and American countries were still choking them. But in this world? It was a matter of time, and this year it was my turn...
"In the past thirty years, we have always firmly grasped science, especially the nodes of the Second Industrial Revolution, and achieved breakthrough and leapfrog development of the empire. This is also the fundamental reason why the empire has been able to go from being poor to becoming the world's science and technology center..."
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