Faster! Faster!

Humans always want to run faster, faster than others, faster than themselves! In any way, anywhere. feet, whips, oars, sails; On land, on rivers, on the sea. It seems that he never knows what contentment is, as if he never knows where to stop.

Everything was already predestined, and with the invention of the first flying machine, a whole new field was revealed to the world. And so, a new race began......

Since the 10s of the 20th century, many European countries have begun to hold various air competitions for civilian, advertising, hobby or military purposes, most of which are international competitions for participants from all over the world. From the earliest "Flying International Cup" to the later "Schneider Cup", these competitions have become a place for countless young people to realize their dreams of flying.

In 1911, when the French Undersecretary of Aviation, Jacques Schneider, announced the design of a 1,000-pound prize for a seaplane competition, it was only to encourage the development of civil aviation, which was interrupted by the war and changed "new owners" after the war, but the huge prize money that climbed year by year and the new records that were enough to subvert people's conventional thinking made it quickly become the number one flying race in Europe and even the world, and became a stage for countries to show their aviation strength at sheer speed.

In 1913, the first "Schneider Cup" was held in Monte Carlo, Morocco, and the Frenchman Prevos won the championship with a speed of 73.6 kilometers per hour, in 1914, the Australian Howard Pigston, who represented Great Britain, won the championship, and his flight speed almost doubled to 139.66 kilometers per hour, and in the third "Schneider Cup", which was also the first competition after the war, the German became the biggest winner. German pilot Lieutenant Kenrechar and his plane set a new record at a speed of 217.33 km/h, which was an astonishing number at the time!

Beginning in 1919, the "Schneider Cup" began the journey around Europe, from Hamburg in Germany and Lisbon in Portugal to Demalaga, Spain, and Genoa in Italy. Each class was held in a different country and city, and in addition to the host city, what attracted more attention was the increasing speed of the flying champions, although the trend of "doubling" the speed of new championships since 1919 did not continue, but each breakthrough was so expected.

In 1926, 1927 and 1928, the Germans won two of the championships with undisputed technical superiority, and the other by the Dutchman, who owned the world's top aircraft factory, Fokker, but the speed of the aircraft that won the three championships was not very different. Its speeds are 642.7 km/h, 653.4 km/h and 655.9 km/h, respectively, and although the numbers are constantly improving, people can't help but ask, has the speed of human flight reached the limit? Isn't it impossible to break through a speed of 700 kilometers per hour?

Not only the audience, but even aviation experts, aircraft designers, and pilots from various countries are speculating - what will be the ultimate speed of human flight, 700? 800？ Or is it never-ending?

In the autumn of 1928, the German-Russian and German-Japanese wars broke out one after another, and in the splendid but brutal battlefield, people found that the number and quality of the aircraft used by the belligerents greatly exceeded the previous ones, and the Germans were in the leading position with strong aviation strength. Its large fleet of strategic bombers quickly destroyed the only industry that the Russians had. Even the Japanese Empire, which was militarily powerful, was helpless in the face of these terrifying flying monsters. In addition, in the technology of fighters, reconnaissance planes, and tactical bombers, people gradually appreciated the advanced points of the Germans.

The rumored German reconnaissance plane, which can easily throw off the Japanese Type 89 fighter with a maximum speed of 600 kilometers per hour, has brought people infinite reverie.

Against this backdrop, the 13th Schneider Cup held in Dublin, Ireland in 1929 became the focus of the world's attention, with the exception of Japan, which was struggling with the war, and the world's major aviation powers teamed up to participate, aircraft designers and pilots wanted to be the ones who pushed the limits of flight, and spectators wanted to see a historic moment born.

Sure enough, on the first day of the individual competition, the Wellington brothers of the United States, which received government funding, achieved a top speed of 702.55 kilometers per hour with a single-wing, twin-engine land-based aircraft, and this sensational news immediately spread throughout the world through the airwaves. 29-year-old Kavin Wellington and 25-year-old Git, Wellington suddenly became the focus of media attention in various countries, and even the aviation departments of various countries couldn't wait to throw an olive branch to the Wellington brothers who designed and built the aircraft. In this war for talent, the U.S. government won by a landslide, but the Wellington brothers were both killed in a traffic accident a few days later, thus becoming the top ten accidents in the world that year, and sparking a diplomatic dispute between the United States and Ireland.

Perhaps stimulated by the individual competition, two days later in the national competition, the pilots of the national teams and their planes were holding their back to break the record set by the Americans, and Germany, the Netherlands and Italy came up with their "reserves". Fokker's F30 fighter jet caught up with a speed of 701.79, and the Italians swept away the decline of previous competitions and flew a good score of 699.10, but the final winner was still the Germans, who defended their position in the world of flying with their latest fighter, the Henkel-Messerschmidt 303, a "twin demon" that flew a staggering 720.09 kilometers per hour!

A year later, Chicago, USA.

"In terms of speed alone, it is difficult for any other aircraft in the world today to surpass our Henkel-Messerschmidt 303, which is very, very close to the limit of propeller aircraft!"

Looking at the participating planes outside the window one after another, Chen Tian said confidently.

"Oh? Why is Your Majesty so sure? Two years ago, didn't everyone think that it was impossible for any aircraft to reach speeds of more than 700 kilometers per hour? ”

Like most women, the queen of Rupresit did not know much about the steel machinery of airplanes, cars and ships, although they often had the opportunity to fly them.

"Just like a man can't run faster than an arrow, a fish can't swim faster than a bird, everything has a limit, and airplanes are no exception!" Chen Tian made an analogy, "In fact, there are a lot of technical things involved. For example, how the aircraft engine works, how efficient it works, and the structure of the aircraft itself! ”

Antoinette looked like she wanted to refute, but she couldn't find the words for a while, after all, she was talking about machinery instead of jewels and jade or anecdotes. And her husband Rupresit, one sentence broke the implicit meaning of Chentian:

"His Majesty the Emperor said that there are propeller planes that can't reach it now, which means that there will be other flying machines that fly faster in the future, or there are already them!"

"His Majesty is right!" Chen Tian frankly admitted this, "The propeller plane can't do it, it doesn't mean that other aircraft can't either!" For example, hollowing out a large cannonball and getting people to sit in it. Then launch, this speed is definitely over 2000 kilometers per hour! ”

Seeing Chentian stretch out two fingers, Antoinette covered her mouth with her hand in surprise, but Juliana chuckled.

"Your Majesty is really joking, if you put a person in a cannonball, will that person come back alive? I'm afraid this can't be called an aircraft, it's more appropriate to call it a human cannonball! ”

When Chen Tian laughed, Antoinette reacted, and she blushed and muttered in a low voice, "How can Your Majesty make such a joke?" It's too much! ”

After laughing, Chen Tian turned his gaze back to the front. About 3,000 meters outside the window is the race site.

It's still crowded. Suddenly, a red shadow soared into the air at an angle of about 30 degrees to the ground, not as fast as an airplane. And like an arrow, an arrow with a fire burning at its tail. The arrow was gone, and the large puff of black smoke left behind quickly spread in all directions.

Rupresit and the two ladies apparently saw the startling scene as well, but before they could express their opinions, there was a loud bang from the other side of the race, followed by a chaotic crowd of people running in the direction where the planes had left.

"What happened?" The two ladies asked, somewhat surprised.

"We'll find out soon!" Tatsuten seems very calm, and there are accidents in almost every flying competition, and there are many works of fanatics who are whimsical, and those flying machines that are beyond the norm always attract people's attention. But very little succeeds.

After a while, the door to the room was pushed open, and the person who came in was Chentian's attendant. He walked quickly to Chentian's side, whispered a little and waited for instructions.

"One of the participating planes crashed into the lake, the one that just took off!" Chen Tian announced the news in a small voice, and the two ladies covered their mouths with their hands in unison.

"In a way, it was an advanced aircraft that broke through conventional thinking, but its designer made a fatal mistake by trying to control a force that he simply had no control over! It's like an ancient magician manipulated something his magic couldn't control. The end result ......" Chen Tian took the lead and drew a cross on his chest, "Let's pray for that warrior on the plane!" ”

"God willing!" The ladies whispered silently.

At this time, Chen Tian couldn't help but think of Germany's research on new engines and new aircraft. In the other world, he was only a moderate military enthusiast, and he only knew some basic principles about mechanical things, and as for how to build various engines, it was by no means within his competence. Regarding non-propeller aircraft, he knows that HE178 is the world's first jet aircraft, ME163 is Germany's first rocket aircraft that did not die young, ME262 is the first military jet aircraft to be put into actual combat in World War II, and von Ochen and Alexander Lipisch are their main designers, but these are not enough to bring too much help to the German aviation industry in this world. From solid rocket engines to liquid rocket engines to real jet engines, everything is as full of bumps and setbacks as the real trajectory of history.

While Chen Tian and his technologists are working on jet aircraft, others around the world, both governmental and non-governmental, are also actively looking for new ways to push the limits of the speed of existing aircraft. Adding three or four engines to a modest aircraft is nothing new, but it quickly became clear that it didn't fundamentally solve the problem of aircraft's speed. As a result, people began to study technical approaches other than internal combustion engines and propellers.

As early as the Song Dynasty in China, people began to use the reaction force generated by gunpowder combustion to spew fire backwards to make arrows fly farther, and after entering the 20th century, people's interest in rocket research is still undiminished, and the Germans are the first to create multiple rocket launchers, anti-tank rocket launchers, air rockets and short-range missiles suitable for modern warfare. These weapons not only lamented the cruelty of war, but also inspired some engineers. At the 13th Schneider Cup in Dublin, the first aircraft to use a rocket engine as an auxiliary power was introduced, but due to the imperfection of technology, the aircraft did not make the final ranking, but it has already attracted a lot of attention. Before coming to Chicago, Chen Tian had already learned from his intelligence officer that someone would use a rocket engine as the main power vehicle in the Tour of Lake Michigan Air Competition.

In fact, as early as the early 20s, German rocket experts had tried to install the rocket engine on the aircraft when developing rocket technology, and then after a series of tests, the experts concluded that the rocket engine using solid fuel has a short working time, and the acceleration is large, resulting in thrust that is not easy to control, and it is difficult to repeat the start, which is not conducive to manned flight; Although rocket engines that use liquid fuel are easier to control, they also have problems such as complex structure, inconvenient storage of fuel, and difficulty in taking off and landing under their own power. Despite this, the Luftwaffe's research center in East Prussia built two test aircraft using rocket engines, and the results of several test flights confirmed the experts' inference that the Germans began to shift their research focus to turbine engines.

Soon, another attendant entered the room and reported to Chentian that the crashed plane was a British-American-made rocket plane, and that the plane took off from a long slide with an angle, probably because of some engine failure, and it exploded in the air less than 10 seconds after takeoff, and the poor pilot didn't even have time to parachute.

(PS: The world's first to put forward the theory of jet propulsion were France's Manique and Romania's Henry, Conda, and Conda also tried to produce the earliest jet aircraft around 1910, but it was unsuccessful; At the end of the 20s, British Air Force instructor Frank Whittle proposed the idea of a jet engine and applied for a patent, but due to lack of financial support, he and his assistants did not build the first turbojet engine until 1935. Almost at the same time as Whittle, the German von Ochen was also developing a turbojet engine, and in September 1937 the engine was successfully put into operation for the first time, and thanks to the support of the Heinkel Aircraft Company, the HE178 aircraft equipped with the turbojet engine developed by von Ochen made its first successful test flight on August 27, 1939. (Full Text)