That's right, John didn't have a fancy to the military glider business in the first place, which was destined to last long. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info even if you can make a small profit by taking advantage of the east wind of World War II. With the current scale and development trend of Hughes Aircraft Company, the post-war layout is the focus of his attention.

In contrast, helicopters, a new type of aircraft with much broader market prospects in the future, are the target of John's coveting. Historically, the helicopter business has been one of the main businesses of Hughes Aircraft.

In 1955, Hughes Aircraft Company officially formed a helicopter division and launched the XH-17 "Aerial Crane". In the decades that followed, Hughes Aircraft Company was an important supplier of American military helicopters, and the famous AH-64 (Longbow Apache) was "produced by Hughes".

However, it is only 1940, and helicopters are still very cutting-edge "black technology". To what extent is it cutting-edge, not to mention William Lee, not even many people in the Army Air Corps have never heard of it, let alone know much about its characteristics. For this reason, John took a lot of trouble to give William Lee and them a science lesson first.

"You all played Chinese spinning tops (bamboo dragonflies) when you were kids, right?" John wrote on the paper: "The principle of the helicopter is similar to that of the Chinese spinning top. The blades are connected to the rotor shaft driven by the engine, the blades are round and blunt in front and sharp in the back, the upper surface is more round arch, and the lower surface is relatively straight. When the air flow passes through the upper surface of the round arch, its flow velocity is fast and the pressure is small; When the air flow passes over a straight lower surface, its flow velocity is slow and the pressure is high. This creates a pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces, creating an upward lift. ”

Although he is not a professional, William Lee's physics literacy can still understand what John meant. Gavin, who has a more flexible mind, was the first to reflect, he slapped excitedly and said, "In other words, this kind of aircraft does not need a runway, and can take off and land vertically, right?" ”

"That's right, the biggest advantage of a helicopter is that it can take off and land in most places, including the top of buildings and the decks of ships." John silently gave Gavin a thumbs up in his heart, which was too comfortable.

"Think about it, if our airborne troops could fly in and out of the battlefield and land wherever they need to...... John deliberately amplified the helicopter's capabilities as he fooled William Lee.

In fact, he himself knows very well that under the current technical conditions, helicopters are simply not suitable for performing combat missions. Historically, both the United States and Germany have installed helicopters in batches during World War II. However, whether it is the German FI-282 Hummingbird or the American R-4, R-5, and R-6, they can only be used to carry out tasks such as communication and liaison, sea rescue, emergency evacuation, and aerial observation, and do not have the ability to participate in combat.

Helicopters that were really used in combat did not appear until the time of the Korean War, and the technology was still not mature enough, and the combat effect was not very good. It wasn't until the battlefield in Vietnam that military helicopters began to really show their skills and exert their due power.

However, this did not prevent John from using the future US 101st Air Assault Division (the 101st Airborne Division was disbanded in 1945 and returned to combat in 1956 and was reorganized into an Air Assault Division, the only rapid reaction force in the US Army that mainly relied on helicopters for airmobile operations) as a model, to paint a broad picture of the broad prospects of helicopters in the field of airborne warfare for William Lee.

In his words, the future US airborne troops will be able to use hundreds of transport helicopters at a time to drop a large number of combat troops and materials behind enemy lines, carry out vertical encirclement and vertical detour combat missions, and carry out tactical encirclement of enemy forces at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary ground mechanized troops. As for the limitations of the helicopter, such as its slow speed, high influence by air currents, and its vulnerability to ground fire, he did not mention anything.

William Lee and the others were fooled by John's meal, and they all became excited. Soon, however, they came to their senses from the pie that John had drawn for them. "But I haven't heard the Army Air Corps mention this helicopter? Is there a prototype of this kind of aircraft? Is the performance up to the mark? Lieutenant Colonel Willis was the first to ask questions.

"You can rest assured that we have developed a light helicopter last year. It's just that the Army Air Corps hasn't realized the role of this kind of aircraft. What John is talking about is actually the VS-316 light helicopter (Army Air Corps number R-4) produced by Sikorsky last year, which is the first helicopter to be installed by the US military in the future.

"Of course, this is only a light helicopter and is not suitable for airborne missions. However, if you need it, Hughes Aircraft Company will be more than happy to develop a dedicated transport helicopter for you. John wasn't fooling them completely.

Already last year, Hughes Aircraft acquired some control of Sikorsky through a partnership with United Technologies (Sikorsky's parent company). And Hughes himself moved his interest to developing a heavy helicopter after John Strangled in his super water transport (the H-4 "Spruce Goose") project department.

Hughes Aircraft is working with Sikorsky to develop a new transport helicopter. John hopes to win support for the project through William Lee. In his opinion, the Airborne Forces are the largest customer of military helicopters in the future. If William Lee had been willing to cooperate with him, Hughes Aircraft's helicopter business would undoubtedly have gone much smoother. Perhaps, in addition to future orders, we can also get a research and development fund from the military.

"In other words, it is impossible to use helicopters for airborne missions in the short term?" Gavin said with some deflatment.

"If we work together, the process can be shortened." John was suggesting that William Lee should go back and report to the authorities that the military order authorities should pay more attention to helicopters.

"I see." General William Lee groaned for a moment, then finally nodded. Of course, he knew that John was using them, but he knew even better that if the helicopter was really what John said, it would undoubtedly be the most suitable weapon for the Airborne Forces. Even if it cannot be realized in the short term, it will be an important direction for the development of airborne operations in the future. In any case, he could not turn a blind eye.

"Well, I hope to be able to conduct an inspection of Hughes Aircraft's helicopter program as soon as possible. If it is indeed feasible, I will apply to the above. But before that, I hope that Hughes Aircraft will first participate in the tender for military gliders. ”

"It's a deal!" John readily agreed to William Lee's request. As long as William Lee can contribute to the helicopter project for Hughes Aircraft, let alone just participate in the bidding, he is willing to give away 80 gliders for nothing.

"I'll call in a moment and ask them to go to the right field base early tomorrow morning to sign up." John patted his chest and made a promise. "By the way, one more thing. I wonder what you guys think of the M1 rocket launcher that has been installed recently? ”