(Now)

“…… I must explain that despite the initial success of the test flight, the flight distance of the Flyer 1 was less than two thousand yards and the flight altitude was only one hundred feet, so we cannot yet consider such a machine, an airplane, to have practical application value. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 After a pause of a few seconds, Duncan finally announced, "That's all I have to say. ”

All eyes returned to Qin Lang, it was time for him to speak, and it could only be him.

"From a technical point of view, this test flight was an unsuccessful experiment." He saw a hint of surprise in the faces of Rachel, O'Connor, and Duncan. Apparently, they didn't expect him to say this about a research project in which he had invested a lot of money, and anyway, the plane did fly to meet his requirements - unless his request was more than that.

But that's really how he thinks about it right now. The test flight did not achieve the desired results, although no one knew, but Qin Lang knew very well that Wilbur. Wright and Orwell. Wright's Flyer One had a higher technical grade than the one that was supposed to make its maiden flight three years later: a thirty-five-horsepower engine, propellers driven by propellers driven by propellers rather than chains, a full fuselage skin, well-designed rectangular wings, and wheeled landing gear, which in theory was a 1910s-caliber aircraft that should have gone higher and farther, not a hundred feet and two thousand yards.

Wilbur and Orwell still lacked basic theoretical knowledge and design experience, although, of course, it was a matter of course, and as pioneers in aviation, their starting point was too low. Qin Lang could only attribute the problem to himself: the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, and he was a little in a hurry.

A minor mistake. He commented, and then said to the three friends who were listening carefully: "But we still have to admit that this is a far-reaching and important achievement, a small step for us, a giant leap for humanity." ”

He misappropriately appropriated Neil. Alden. Armstrong's famous quote, fortunately, no one has ever heard this phrase and no one realizes that now it is a false metaphor.

They are only concerned with the more relevant issues, especially the most basic ones.

Rachel would never be vague on that kind of issue. "Maybe it's a historic leap, a big leap for humanity, but I'm more concerned about, what is the commercial value of that machine, that airplane?"

"What's the use of it?" That's another way of saying that.

What is the commercial value of the aircraft? Good question. Qin Lang smiled. "It is a war machine with great potential, which can be developed in a variety of models with different uses, and it is also a fast civilian vehicle."

"Can you be specific?"

"Of course, ma'am." He made a false gesture of grace, "A humble aircraft small enough to carry one or two pilots can be used for general tactical reconnaissance missions, and if a two-seater is equipped with a transmitter, it can become a calibrator for artillery and the navy, providing more reliable firing parameters for long-range artillery fire—"

"What advantages does it have over observation balloons?" O'Connor couldn't help but interject.

"It is more convenient and flexible to use, it is possible to reach a predetermined position faster, it is possible to penetrate deep into enemy positions, to reach the rear area that cannot be reached by observation balloons, and it is not easy to be shot down by anti-aircraft fire."

"Anti-aircraft fire?"

"Some countries are designing balloon cannons to deal with enemy observation balloons, but it is difficult for this weapon to keep up with high-speed moving aircraft."

"So airplanes will completely replace balloons as the main reconnaissance tool for the army and navy? This is indeed a good prospect. Rachel smelled the commercial value, and she was starting to rejoice.

She could wait a while and start rejoicing.

"The reconnaissance plane is just the beginning, Rachel." Qin Lang smiled and said, "When aviation technology advances a little further, we can equip single-seat and two-seater aircraft with machine guns and turn them into fighters, or hang bombs on them and turn them into bombers, and at the same time, the generals will also feel that they need an air weapon to bomb the enemy, as well as an air weapon to intercept the enemy's bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, so they will buy our fighters and bombers, and then ask for research and manufacture of more advanced models." ”

"The army will—"

"Wait until I'm done, Rachel." He motioned for her to wait a moment, then continued: "After that, the generals will further discover that small bombers are not fully sufficient, and they need large bombers that can carry more bombs and fly farther, two-engined, three-engined, four-engined, capable of carrying a thousand to several thousand pounds of bombs against targets hundreds or even thousands of miles away from airfields." Of course, such a large bomber is necessarily expensive, but the generals will still purchase it in large quantities, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands. For us, there is only one question, whether we can design and manufacture such weapons. ”

"We ......"

"Wait......"

Rachel and O'Connor spoke and stopped at the same time. The two exchanged glances for a moment, and then the word was given to O'Connor.

"Do you think the army will accept a new weapon so quickly, Qin?" "You know, generals are usually very conservative," he said worriedly. ”

"No leader of an army can resist the temptation to strike an enemy from the air, and as soon as a country begins to equip its aircraft in large numbers, its enemies will have to do the same, otherwise they will be left in a situation where they will be beaten passively in the war." After a pause, Qin Lang added, "Of course, there will be fierce debates within the army, but these debates will focus on two aspects, whether the troops equipped with combat aircraft should be a separate branch of the army, or a vassal of the army and navy, whether it should be a decisive strategic strike force, or a long-range artillery of the army and navy, or just an umbrella to protect one's ground forces from enemy air strikes." These debates will go on for a long time, decades, but during this period, the army will still purchase aircraft in large quantities. ”

"So will we be able to build the planes that the army needs?" Rachel asked.

"Whether or not we can build an aircraft that meets the needs of the army, and when we can build an aircraft that the army needs -- this determines the speed of the army's acceptance of this new weapon, and ultimately depends only on two points: first, our aviation technology reserves, and second, our basic manufacturing level." Qin Lang made another gesture, "And these two points only depend on one factor, our investment." ”

"How much do you need?"

"Only God knows."

"What the hell!" Rachel cursed under his breath. She doesn't like to invest endlessly in a project, but she can't immediately refuse the bright prospects that Qin Lang has shown her. After thinking about it for a while, she decided to get around the headache that was giving her - after all, there were other issues that deserved her attention.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"I'm going to give Wilbur and Orwell some time to gain experience, but within five years, I'm going to ask them to build an airplane that can fly 100 miles per hour and have a range of more than 200 miles, and get it to a mass-production level." "During this time, our focus will be on finding and training new aircraft designers, as well as building various supporting infrastructures." ”

"What facilities?"

"Large wind tunnels, flight test centers, etc." Qin Lang didn't go into too much detail, because he didn't know much more than Rachel, and there were only a few related items that he could clearly put forward. "And the aero-engine plant."

Rachel immediately questioned. "But we already have Ford."

"No, aero engines need to be separated from car engines."

"Because Henry. . . Ford? ”

That's an unreliable person, ambitious, always trying to get out of control. Qin Lang admits that he is one of the influencing factors, but it is not the main one. "It must be said that although there is still a commonality between aero engines and car engines, sooner or later they will be completely separated, so I hope that the two divisions will operate independently from the beginning."

O'Connor thought for a moment. "Are you going to merge it with the aircraft manufacturing plant?"

"My vision is for the aero-engine plant and the aircraft manufacturing plant to become two subsidiaries of the group."

United Technology Company, Qin Lang has long had this intention. In another timeline, the company used to be William. Edward. Boeing built an integral part of the vast Boeing empire, but in 1935, in the name of antitrust, Franklin. President Roosevelt split the empire into three companies, Boeing, United Aviation, and United Aircraft, which would in the future evolve into United Technologies, a large aviation enterprise that included Pratt-Whitney, Sikorsky, and Hamilton Propellers.

An ambitious goal - this is his plan. Qin Lang doesn't want to repeat Boeing's mistakes, but he does intend to build a new United Technologies company, including Wright-Curtis, Sikorsky, Hamilton and Pratt-Whitney, and perhaps Boeing and other aircraft manufacturers. The plan was undoubtedly ambitious and daunting, but he thought it was worth trying.

And he has a plan. "In addition, we are going to open a flight school."

"Flight school?"

"A school for training pilots. You know, no one really knows how to fly yet, and if we open a flight school in advance, then when the military starts buying planes in large quantities, we can get a new business of training pilots. Not only that, but we can teach more than flying. Qin Lang sighed happily, "UMBRELLA will hold tactical training courses in air combat and ground attack. ”

"That means ......"

"Mercenaries need to form air units." (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )