Chapter 62 Seeing the Plane in the Sky The emperor visits the airport

The satisfied Emperor Chongzhen and others came to the train station to get on the train, and when they were talking and laughing, suddenly there was a roar in the sky. Emperor Chongzhen was so shocked that he stopped to look up to the sky, and the prince and the prince immediately gathered around Emperor Chongzhen, and at this time a plane flew low in the air.

Zhang Zhimu hurriedly said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, don't worry! This is a test flight of an aircraft developed by us. ”

"What?" Emperor Chongzhen pointed to the sky and asked, "This heavenly thing was developed by you?" ”

"That's right! This is the kind of delta wing you used to attack Jinzhou? ”

"It's not!" Zhang Zhimu replied, "The delta wing is a delta wing, an airplane that has just flown over." This plane flies much faster and higher than the delta wing. ”

"What is this?" Emperor Chongzhen's meaning, he didn't fly high.

"Huh! It could be that these bastards flew over to see the scenery, which was considered a low-altitude flight. Zhang Zhimu used the title of bastard. It seems that he is very fond of these pilots.

"What else do you have new? I'm going to see what this plane looks like when it flies into the sky. "Emperor Chongzhen has become interested in airplanes again.

"Good! When does the emperor want to go, I will accompany you! Zhang Zhimu said while gesturing to invite the emperor to get on the train.

"How's tomorrow?" Emperor Chongzhen is really anxious.

"Okay, tomorrow!" Zhang Zhimu replied.

When Emperor Chongzhen got into the car, Gonggong Li came over to help him. Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Gonggong Li, pushed his hand away, and said in his heart: "You don't know what is going on in Yaogang." People already have machines that fly into the sky, and you don't know about such a big thing. ”

Gonggong Li also saw dissatisfaction in Emperor Chongzhen's eyes, and he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

Zhang Zhimu also scolded secretly in his heart: Why do these bastards fly so low. It just flew to the emperor's head. In this way, tomorrow will accompany the emperor for another day! However, Zhang Zhimu felt that he should also go to see how the plane test flight was.

When he returned to Yaogang, Zhang Zhimu informed Li Yunhe to go to the airport with him tomorrow.

The next day.

Emperor Chongzhen's convoy was spectacular enough, with a large number of cars, many buses, and a large car pulling Jinyi Wei and Yaogang guards. Ahead of us was a string of powered cars.

However, the road in the direction of the shooting range and the airfield has been completely hardened to asphalt, and the road is very smooth. Emperor Chongzhen asked Zhang Zhimu to ride in the same car with him.

Obviously, Emperor Chongzhen enjoyed the feeling of galloping on this smooth road in a car, drank a sip of orange-flavored soda, and hit a partition, Emperor Chongzhen felt very cool, and asked: "Zhang Dongjia, this asphalt pavement, I look to the south has been paved to Taiyuan, where is it paved to the north?" ”

"To the north has been paved to Yanmen Pass, we are ready to pave to Datong first. And then spread it to kill the beard! Zhang Zhimu said, "You have also seen the refinery we have in the smelter!" The scale can't be expanded. A new refinery is being built on the Yanchang County side, so that the oil extracted there can be directly refined. In the future, the output of asphalt can also be greatly increased. I want to pave the asphalt pavement of the main roads in the southwest and north of the mountain, and then pave the Qinzhi Road with asphalt. In that way, the traffic from Hetao to Guanzhong will be more convenient. ”

"Great!" When Emperor Chongzhen arrived at the kiln, the most common word was "Great!" "However, I have heard that the bridges you have built in Baotou and Lanzhou are the same highway and railway bridges as Tongguan. Do you also want to build a railway through Baotou? ”

"The railway to Baotou must be repaired, and my idea is that it is better to build a railway along the Qinzhi Road from Xianyang to Baotou. From this line, it branches off all the way across the Yellow River to the meanders of the river, and connects with the railway here. There is a highway bridge on this side of the river, and a suspension bridge is being erected on the Baode side, both of which are open to people and vehicles, and there is no railway bridge yet. We'll just build another railway bridge. After speaking, Zhang Zhimu sighed and said, "Alas! There are so many things you want to do, take your time! ”

"Humph!" Emperor Chongzhen snorted dissatisfiedly and said, "I look at you! I didn't think about Beijing! ”

Zhang Zhimu hurriedly smiled and said, "Oops! Your Majesty, in the past, I didn't want to deal with those people in the court. I can't fight them! Now you see, the railway from Zhangjiakou to Beijing that you arranged, we will arrange for someone to start designing it in the spring of next year. The telephone line was immediately set up in Beijing. And this time, it is directly on the latest multi-modulated coaxial cable line. ”

"I have already issued an order to erect electric poles for these things, and I ask all local officials to cooperate, and you can leave them to do those things like digging pits." Emperor Chongzhen is very concerned about these things, and the holy decree has been issued.

"That's great!" Zhang Zhimu said, "This way the progress will be much faster." In the past, we decided on the location of the digging pit, and we went to dig the pit in various places, and we just went to erect electric poles. ”

At this time, there were suddenly several explosions outside the car. Emperor Chongzhen was so frightened that his face turned white, the explosion was too loud, and he felt that the glass of the car window was shaking.

Zhang Zhimu hurriedly said: "It's okay! It's okay! Your Majesty, this must be a shooting range to test shells again. "It turned out that the convoy happened to pass by the shooting range.

Emperor Chongzhen also quickly changed to a smiling face and said, "Hehe! I said Zhang Dongjia, I am either happy to die in Yaogang, or I have to be scared to death! ”

"Your Majesty! Check out the shooting range when you have time! Zhang Zhimu said, "Our guns will be tested here." However, next year we plan to move the artillery range to the Mongolian steppe. It's a wide area. The firing range of our artillery is already more than 20 kilometers at most, and without a more open shooting range, it is very difficult to calibrate the shooting table. ”

"Hmmm! I'd really like to take a good look at the shooting range. Let's see how your cannons are made. Emperor Chongzhen said, "Our Ministry of Industry has obtained your muskets, and we want to build them, but we can't make such a barrel." The three-eyed guns they made couldn't hit far. Twenty kilometers of artillery, it is not known where the shells can fly? Hehe! After speaking, Emperor Chongzhen also smiled bitterly.

"Needless to say, they can't do the workmanship, and neither can the steel they produce. If there is no good steel, it is barely made, and the barrel will be deformed after not many bullets. Zhang Zhimu said, "Our original automatic rifle barrel used manganese steel and tungsten, and now we start to add nickel and chromium, and the effect is much better." Even the steel rails we use to build the railway are also manganese steel. Otherwise, the heavy-haul train will soon deform the rails. ”

Emperor Chongzhen and Zhang Zhimu were together, as if they had endless words, and they felt that they would arrive at the airport in a while. However, Emperor Chongzhen also saw that they had gone through one checkpoint after another when they arrived at the airport. The heart said: No wonder they can't find out any news, at all checkpoints, there are soldiers with loaded guns, surrounded by barbed wire, ordinary people can't get close at all.

Since the airport had been notified in advance that the emperor was coming, preparations were also made at the airport. The pilots lined up on the runway next to the plane. Emperor Chongzhen and their convoys were also parked next to the runway.

Emperor Chongzhen and Zhang Zhimu got out of the car, pointed to the two planes parked side by side and asked, "Zhang Dongjia, are these two planes you are talking about?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, this is the first plane we have made. It is made of wood. Here's one made of alloy aluminum beams and frames. is the second aircraft made. Zhang Zhimu said while following the emperor to the plane.

"Oh!" Emperor Chongzhen walked to the front of the plane, saw two rows of strangely dressed soldiers standing next to the plane, knew that they were piloting the plane, and asked Zhang Zhimu: "Are these people piloting the plane?" ”

"Yes, they're all pilots." Zhang Zhimu said.

When the emperor and Zhang Zhimu approached the pilots, all the pilots raised their hands and saluted!

Although he did not kneel and bow, Emperor Chongzhen was still very happy and said: "You are all amazing people, and those who can fly to the sky are all great heroes!" I'm so glad to see you! After saying that, he said to the leading officer, "Today I want to take a good look at your plane, and then see how you flew into the sky." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "The emperor should take a look at the plane first!" ”

"Good! Take a look at the plane first! After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he turned around the plane carefully, and introduced Zhang Zhimu to the emperor while turning: "This is the front wing of the plane." "It's an airplane propeller!" "It's the landing gear!" "Rear wings of the plane!" "This is the tail rudder of the plane!" “……”

Emperor Chongzhen listened to Zhang Zhimu's introduction and carefully visited the plane. Then he climbed the ladder and sat in the cockpit. After coming out, as soon as he landed, he asked Zhang Zhimu: "Can this thing fly into the sky?" The tone was full of suspicion.

Zhang Zhimu smiled and said, "Today! I don't need to say it, let them fly and watch! Then he pointed to a row of tables and chairs set up next to him and said, "Let's sit over there and watch, and you'll know if you can fly in a moment!" ”

"Good!" Emperor Chongzhen nodded and walked towards the table and chairs that had been set up, and after the prince and princess and the ministers carefully watched the plane, they also came here to sit down. Zhang Zhimu said to Li Yunhe: "Today's air show begins!" ”

Li Yunhe muttered a few words to the flight captain in the past, and the flight captain came to everyone to salute and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang!" Let's go to the first item. Delta Wing Flight Show! ”

Only then did Zhang Zhimu notice that there was a row of delta wings next to the runway.

The delta wings suddenly started with a roar of blue-black smoke, and a row of ten delta wings launched in turn to run towards Emperor Chongzhen, and the runway in front of them just arrived at Emperor Chongzhen and flew off the ground. It seems that this was arranged in advance.

Emperor Chongzhen and the princesses couldn't help but applaud the etiquette of the kiln. After the ten delta wings were lifted into the air, after a circle, they flew in front of everyone at a low altitude.

After passing, some of them began to pull up high, and they did flight maneuvers such as formation in the air.

Zhang Zhimu said to Emperor Chongzhen, who applauded excitedly: "Your Majesty! It was this kind of delta-wing aircraft that was used to raid Jinzhou from the air. In addition to one pilot, a flying machine can also carry a member, and when we surrounded and suppressed Dolgon on the banks of the Liao River, we used these aircraft to attack them from the air. No matter how fast the horses are, they are not as fast as they are! ”

"Good!" Emperor Chongzhen couldn't stop saying yes.

"When we attacked the Korqin cavalry and the Dolgon cavalry with artillery fire on the outskirts of Jinzhou, they also indicated the target to the artillery in the air. That was the first time that the delta wing participated in real combat. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Zhang Dongjia, we must organize more such troops that can fly in the air. They don't have to fight from the air, they can scare the enemy away! Emperor Chongzhen said.

"Huh! Your Majesty, it's very simple for you to look at the delta wing! Zhang Zhimu smiled and said, "But the material used to make this thing is made of metal molybdenum." Now the price of this thing is probably much higher than silver! Besides, not all soldiers can become pilots. Selecting and training a qualified pilot is probably not easier than training a general. ”

"Really!" Emperor Chongzhen didn't expect this. Just now he said that everyone who flies into the sky is a hero, but in fact, he doesn't know the difficulty of training pilots.

After the delta wings landed one after another, the princes and princesses all left their seats and ran over to see the delta wings that were still sitting on the pilots, Zhang Zhimu said to Emperor Chongzhen, who was also a little excited: "Let's go over and see the delta wing after watching the plane show in a while!" ”

After those delta wings left the runway, the two planes took off in turn. Emperor Chongzhen and everyone stood up. The first to take off was the wooden plane, and the metal plane was the second. Both wood and metal airplanes did low-altitude through-field flights. And then there's Goofy. Emperor Chongzhen and the others could only use binoculars to look at the swallow-like plane. Then the metal plane did a dive-and-pull flight maneuver. When he came back, he did the movements of rolling in the air, and these thrilling movements caused an exclamation.

Zhang Zhimu said to Emperor Chongzhen: "This kind of swooping action will be very useful in the future. We are working on a machine gun that can be mounted on an airplane, and with a machine gun dive, it can fire at ground targets. In the future, the aircraft can also carry a large ** to be thrown from the air, and the power of the aircraft will be more visible at that time. ”

"How fast can such a plane fly?" Emperor Chongzhen finally asked a very critical question.

"Generally flying 200 kilometers per hour is no problem." Zhang Zhimu said, "Because, our aircraft is still in the verification stage. You see, the landing gear hasn't been retracted yet, and the speed is very fast, and the drag is very high, so you can't fly too fast. ”

"How long does it take to fly from here to Beijing?" Emperor Chongzhen asked again.

"If you have enough oil, you can get to Beijing in a few hours." Zhang Zhimu replied.

"I see that there is a seat in the back of the plane, if you sit on it and build an airport in Beijing, will you be able to fly to Beijing?" Emperor Chongzhen asked.

"Of course," Zhang Zhimu said, "this day will come sooner or later!" In fact, we are considering making a larger plane with two engines, with a few more seats in the back. When the plane is bigger, it will fly smoothly, and the more oil it will carry will fly far, so it can be used as an aircraft to transport guests. Don't worry, this day won't be too far away. We are still working on the weather forecast, flying to Beijing, it must not rain in Beijing, and we can see the airport, otherwise we can't fly over and fall! ”

"Zhang Dongjia, you have to hurry up with this kind of thing." Emperor Chongzhen was even more anxious, "With the plane, when do I want to come to Yaogang, won't it take half a day to arrive?" ”

"In the future, planes will be faster, and flying hundreds of kilometers an hour is not a problem. It is a matter of a few hours from Beijing to the kiln gang. Zhang Zhimu said.

After the two planes landed, Emperor Chongzhen and everyone surrounded them. When I looked at the plane again, everyone felt different.

Zhang Zhimu pulled Li Yunhe and asked, "How are the machine guns on your plane?" ”

"We'll have to wait a while," Mr. Li said, "and the difficulty is to synchronize with the propellers of the plane." In addition, we found problems with our aircraft, one is that the landing gear cannot be retracted, which affects the flight speed. The second is that the propeller somewhat affects the pilot's line of sight. That's all where we need to improve. However, Yang Chang's display is being tested. You'll see in a moment. ”

Seeing Emperor Chongzhen and they went to see the delta wing again, Zhang Zhimu and Li Yunhe came to the front of the metal plane, boarded the ladder, and saw that there was indeed a square monitor in the cockpit. Li Yunhe said to the pilot in the cabin: "You show Mr. Zhang the monitor!" ”

As soon as the driver pressed the switch, the display lit up. A horizontal line in the middle of the screen is displayed, and the pilot points to the horizontal line of the screen and says, "This line can indicate the pitch angle of our aircraft." As he spoke, he pressed a debug button, and the horizontal line representing the longitudinal horizontal angle of the aircraft was lower than the middle horizontal line on the display. The pilot said, "This reminds me that my plane is at a downward level." He pressed it again. The horizontal line representing the longitudinal horizontal angle of the aircraft is higher than the middle horizontal line on the display. The pilot said, "This reminds me that the horizontal angle of attack of my plane is up." We can also show it horizontally, but we haven't tried it yet. ”

"Isn't it easier to fly with this thing?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"Of course," said the pilot, "when I used to fly, I relied on my sense of experience, but now you can see that when you land, the angle is clear and you don't have to worry about it!" It would be more convenient if the horizontal one was also tried. ”

Zhang Zhimu suddenly thought of yesterday's incident and asked, "Why did you fly to the reservoir yesterday and fly so low?" ”

"Huh!" The pilot smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, we don't have the heart to see the scenery." We are testing whether the altimeter on the water is good or not. ”

"How's it going?"

"No problem, it's the same on land and water." Said the pilot.

Li Yunhe asked the pilot again: "How is the ** mount experiment?" ”

"I tried, no problem, but the speed should be a little higher when I take off."

Zhang Zhimu looked at Li Yunhe and asked, "What?" Do you specialize in the development of aircraft? ”

"Hey! Li Wei stared at this matter as soon as he came back, can I not hurry up and get it for him? Li Yunhe said, "But what they sent to experiment was an analog without a fuse." I wanted to try out how about flying with this guy? In the future, we will develop ***, air-burst bombs, etc. ”

"Li Wei came back from the battlefield, and his ideas were all thought up on the battlefield." Zhang Zhimu said approvingly.

"yes!" Li Yunhe said, "However, I think it is enough to develop one more such aircraft." They're pretty much done. I see the need to develop new and improved aircraft. The engine power needs to be increased a little bit, the landing gear needs to be recoverable, and the cockpit is a little bit higher. Do not obstruct the pilot's view from the propellers. The positions of the various instruments should also be set aside to make it easier for pilots to see. ”

"Yes, yes! That's the best! The pilot also agreed when he heard Li Yunhe say this.

"I'll see it!" Zhang Zhimu said, "When you develop a new aircraft, you can first build a simulated cockpit and let the pilot find faults. How convenient only the driver knows. ”

"Hmmm! It's a good idea! Li Yunhe also agreed with Zhang Zhimu's suggestion.

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New progress in "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty": the Battle of Yashan, the defeat of the Yuan army, the counterattack of the Song army, and the landing in Fuzhou.