The drizzle of rain drove away the summer heat, the ground temperature in Rotterdam dropped to the mid-20s, and a cool sea breeze blew, leaving people feeling refreshed.

In order to coincide with the Schneider Aircraft Race, the authorities in Rotterdam have set aside a dock in the port for the airships to dock on the water supply, and several large grassy areas to the south of the city have also been used for land-based aircraft. In the light rain, the planes parked in the harbor were covered in canvas, and since the first round of seaplane racing had ended before the light rain began, most of the participants went to the port area to relax.

At the same time, on the airstrip in Shinan, there are various planes parked irregularly on the grass, and some people who are sure that they will not make the cut have begun to disassemble their planes and put them into large wooden boxes, and those who have been postponed due to weather conditions are hurrying to overhaul their planes, and their results will affect the fate of others.

In these meadows, white and other colored tents stand out, some of them still empty, some of which have already been "occupied" by planes. It is not entirely unreasonable to say that the Dutch are businessmen by nature, and that even a rain can be used as an opportunity for them to make money, and these tents are rented out by the locals to the contestants.

Of course, not all contestants will pay for one of these tents for their planes. A little north of the meadow, three big men were busy shirtless next to their planes.

"Hey, guys, let's have a big tent that promises to get your plane without a drop of rain! Cheap, only 10 DM a day! ”

A Dutchman in a poncho took turns recommending his tent in English, French, and German, but the other party still didn't have the slightest intention of renting a tent, and after a while, the man left in a huff.

"What was that guy nagging about?" The bearded man with a wrench and a greasy face spoke Russian, while the tall, thin man next to him just shook his head, "I don't understand either!" ”

"He wants us to rent his tent for 5 euromarks a day!" The sound came from under the aircraft engine, where a young man was holding a part with a screwdriver.

"5 marks? How much is it in rubles? The bearded man asked again.

The young man who was still twisting the snail mantis below replied: "20 gold rubles!" ”

The bearded man stuck out his tongue with the tall, thin man out. Under the gold standard, the ruble was still relatively valuable, and an average Russian worker could earn 3 or 4 gold rubles a month, which was very good, and even a high-ranking maintenance mechanic like the bearded man and a pilot like the tall and thin man were paid only 10 to 15 gold rubles a month.

When the two of them were still staggering at such a high tent rent, the young man below stood up from below with a tired face, "It's finally good!" If only I had found out about this problem earlier, it would have been a problem to win the top three in the first round! ”

"Boss, are you so confident? In the first round, we were almost 40 kilometers slower than the first-place plane! "It was the bearded man who spoke.

"Nonsense. In the first round, we almost quit the race because of this failure, and the speed was naturally greatly affected, so let's see, in the next round I will fly at 190 kilometers per hour! The tall and thin man waved his fists in indignation, and it was clear that he was the one who flew the plane in the competition.

"Yes, not to mention that some people still have reservations in the first round, if you don't believe it, just look at the second round, the best result can be at least 20 kilometers per hour!" The young man below held out two fingers.

"You mean the Dutchman's plane! Looks amazing! The bearded man sighed and praised.

"Yes! The Fokker F monoplane, how fast it can fly will be the biggest attraction of the second round! The tall and thin man looked like he was expecting.

"Alright. Hurry up and cover the plane with canvas. Then let's go eat together, I'm hungry! The young man clapped his hands and said.

"Good persuasion!" When he heard about eating, the bearded man was suddenly full of energy.

A quarter of an hour later. The trio went to a makeshift restaurant next to the airport, where the food was simple, but after all, it was provided free of charge by the organizers, and the contestants who were not too wealthy generally chose to eat here, and the trio from Russia was no exception.

But the three of them had just started their meal when two men in tawny khaki shirts sat down uninvited. One of them, a little older, was the first to say in standard Russian:

"Mr. Taras Niklov?"

The young man stopped his knife and fork, "It's me, ...... are you?" ”

"I'm very sorry to bother you at this time, this is Mr. Fokker from the Fokker aircraft factory in the Netherlands, and I am his full-time translator! Mr. Fokker has seen how you and your plane performed in the first round. Very impressed with your aircraft! ”

The translator's words made this Niklov can't help but look at the young man next to him, he looks very young, even two years younger than himself, but who would have thought that he is the owner and chief designer of the Fokker aircraft factory, and his plane has just won the first round of the land-based aircraft race a few days ago and set a new world flight record.

Falk didn't say anything, but smiled politely and nodded at him.

"Oh, it's a great honor! Are you Mr. Fokker from the Fokker Aircraft Factory? The Fokker F, who won the first place in the first round of the land-based aircraft race, is your plane! Niklov replied with the same politeness.

After the translator conveyed the original words, Falk muttered:

"Yes, thanks to Lady Luck. Our pilots flew not bad! Of course, your plane was also great, flying a good score of 176.81! ”

Niklov shrugged his shoulders very self-knowingly, "You're still far away!" ”

Next, Fokker went straight to the point and stated his intentions:

"We sincerely invite you to join, although the scale of our company is not very large, but we already have several very good designers, if you help, I think the future of the company will be limitless!"

Despite Faulk's sincere gaze, Niklov politely refused:

"Mr. Falk, I'm sorry! We are not here to look for a job, but to fulfill our dreams and prove what we are capable of! If one day I want to live in the Netherlands, I will come to you as soon as possible! ”

It can be seen that Fokker is very disappointed, and many of the best aircraft designers in Europe and even in the world have been hired by the German government with high salaries. And those designers are also willing to go to Germany, which has the highest level of aviation. That's why he was so eager to come to this nameless Russian, and if he had been a little late, the Germans might have taken the lead again.

Despite hitting a wall, Fokker smiled and stretched out his right hand, "Mr. Niklov, you are welcome to come to me at any time!" ”

Looking at the departing figure of Fokker, there was an incomprehensible look in the eyes of the Russians. He was impressed by Faulk's confident and talented face and straightforwardness, and he knew that he might not be able to surpass Fokker in the design of racing planes, but his mission did not allow him to have any other choice.

That evening, Niklov was approached by two men claiming to be from the German Gigi Aviation Group, offering his boss to sponsor him and buy the product he had designed at a good price. Out of his own considerations, Niklov rejected the German proposal, but he did not say anything to death. He just repeatedly said that he wanted to "concentrate on this competition." ”

August 7. Storm. The organizers announced that the competition would continue, and the Knife Mount, which had not yet completed the first round of the competition, began its journey, but the results were somewhat disappointing. The Fokker F ground record was not broken, with the best time of the day being 171.23 km/h, and a total of three competitors earned their tickets to the second round.

On August 8, the second round of the Schneider Cup Aircraft Racing began, and the competition was still divided into seaplane racing and land-based aircraft racing, the first of which was the seaplane race, and only six national teams participated in the competition: Germany, the United States, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

In terms of seaplanes, the German national delegation, which won the first round by a large margin, was the favourite, while the Germans still fielded the improved Exocet DV seaplane, rather than the mysterious new aircraft as a reserve aircraft. This couldn't help but disappoint the insiders who came to watch the game. Second Lieutenant Joseph Grande, the ace pilot of the Navy in the Great War, took to the battlefield again, successfully completing a 150-nautical-mile journey on his first flight, and the aircraft reached a top speed of 193.40 kilometers per hour, setting a new event record in one fell swoop. After the plane landed, the ace, who had shot down nine British planes, frequently made a V gesture to the audience, as if the championship had been firmly won by him.

However, the subsequent appearance of the Italian team made the German ace pilot go from full confidence to full seriousness. The Italians had been working hard for two days to modify their Savoy seaplane, and sure enough, today they were speeding up as soon as the plane departed. The roar of the engine is also telling people that it is already running at maximum power, and that for the first 50 nautical miles, experts and veteran pilots estimate that the plane is already traveling close to 200 kilometers per hour, and if it can successfully complete the flight at its current speed, the championship may slip away from the Germans. Unfortunately, after trying to reduce its weight and accelerate strongly, the "Savoy" finally failed at 100 nautical miles, only to see it fall headlong from the sky, and the pilot survived, but unfortunately the plane he was flying was reimbursed.

The Italians then fielded their spare planes and spare pilots and were overtaken by German Heinz Meyer with 180.29 km/h, while the Dutch national team's Jane, Deng, Van Reis and their 175.78 km/h were in third place and locked up a top-three spot with the German. Italy, Japan, Turkey and Turkey are fourth, sixth, ninth and 10th respectively, while the U.S. team is disappointing at 14th.

The Seaplane Race was followed by the more anticipated second round of the Land-Based Aircraft Race, which was introduced for the first time in the Schneider Cup, and was so popular because there were more participants than the Seaplane Race, and secondly, the land-based aircraft had a higher absolute speed than the seaplane in the first round, making it the best choice for those who were looking for excitement and speed.

According to the rules of the competition, the order of appearance in the second round of the competition was determined according to the ranking of the previous round, and the first to appear was the Fokker F-type monoplane of the Fokker aircraft factory in the Netherlands, and six days ago it was this simple and even somewhat thin aircraft that set the fastest flight speed recorded on various formal occasions, and also made the Germans who took the lead in the seaplane racing feel ashamed. This time, Jeffrey Sapon once again broke the 200 km/h mark in his plane, and after careful calculations by the organizers, its effective time was 203.08 km/h.

The Germans who appeared later unexpectedly sent their spare planes and spare pilots, Luftwaffe Lieutenant Ken, Rechar and his triplane were dazzling as soon as they appeared, its stubby round fuselage gave people a sense of smooth lines, the pure black fuselage and wings emitted a terrifying glow in the sun, and the big metal fairing in the nose, in the eyes of insiders, its whole body was full of mystery and allure far greater than that of Oriental beauties.

This is the latest Tornado triplane fighter launched by the German Gigiel Aviation Group, with a metal skeleton and a wooden skin fuselage, which abandons the complex tension structure of the previous biplane, and its upper, middle and lower wings are made of a pillar, which greatly reduces flight resistance. The original weapon is a 4-collar 7.92mm air-cooled machine gun with a 250 hp engine designed for a top speed of 210 km/h, which is even more desirable when the weapon is removed.

Eventually, Ken. Lieutenant Rechar and his plane successfully completed his flight, and the result that followed made countless people scream: 217.33 km/h, a new world record was born!

Stay. As a result of the sensational result of the German team, the contestants who came out behind quickly found themselves in an embarrassing situation where no one paid attention to them, even if their performance was just as wonderful. In the end, the biplane designed by the Russian Niklov caused a big upset - winning third place with a time of 197.39 km/h. Fourth place went to the American team, and the biplane designed and built by Boeing (founded in 1916) reached a speed of 188.91 kilometers per hour.

The German delegation, which lifted the Schneider Cup, was the biggest winner of the race, demonstrating their technological superiority and winning large orders for the German aircraft industry. After learning that the German government had allowed the German government to export its Tornado fighters, various countries had ordered more than 400 of these aircraft from the air, and nearly 200 Exocet DV seaplanes had been ordered. Behind the full capacity of the aircraft factory at Gigie, the Dutch Fokker aircraft factory has lost a large number of potential customers, and even as they repeatedly cut prices and lobby, governments are willing to buy the aircraft that won the championship rather than the second place.

In addition, when the representative of Djibj Air once again approached the Russian Taras Niklov, who had won the third place in the competition for land-based aircraft, he finally accepted the offer of the Germans, which was to join Djigie-Air with an annual salary of 1 million Euromarks, and at the same time to become German citizens and swear allegiance to the Kaiser.