Although there have been successes and failures in the research of airships, this is also normal. In this era of rapid technological change, testing of various new technologies is part of the military's daily work.

When it comes to new technologies, not only the military is interested, but also the government and the Italian private sector.

As early as 1890, the government introduced a new patent law, which not only provided for the extension of patent rights to 30 years for new technologies researched by institutions and individuals, but also reorganized the patent office.

In addition to granting patents, the bureau also has the power to enforce patent misappropriation cases.

In addition to this, the penalties for patent misappropriation have also been increased, in addition to the confiscation of illegal gains, the fine has also been increased from a maximum of 1 million lire to 5 million lire for individuals and from a maximum of 3 million to 20 million lire for institutions.

At the same time, the intensity of inspections has also increased, and in the past two decades, the number of cases of patent infringement penalties has increased from 317 in 1890 to 429 now. Don't think it's too little, but in the first five years after the bill was enacted, there were thousands of such cases every year. Basically, three or four patent prosecutions are filed by domestic and foreign institutions and individuals every day.

After nearly 20 years of rectification, patent rights have been recognized by all sectors of society, and everyone else will think twice about patent infringement except for those who are eager to get rich overnight.

Of course, the patent bill is not only beneficial but also harmful, and many of Italy's weak industrial links need to import technology from abroad, and the cost of this is not low.

However, in general, it is also good for Italy that the government attaches importance to the patent law, which allows institutions and individuals to invest in the research and development of various technologies, and under the impetus of the patent law, Italy has been researching new technologies in an endless stream in the past two decades, among which electricity, petrochemical, and internal combustion engine technologies are the most outstanding.

The internal combustion engine technology has been introduced by the Milan Power Laboratory the most.

Over the years, the Milan Power Laboratory has been a leader in the research of internal combustion engines in the world, and the new internal combustion engines it launches every year are a model of leading the trend.

At present, the Milan Power Laboratory has nearly 2,000 employees, including more than 20 well-known power scientists, more than 40 professors, hundreds of doctors and masters, and the minimum formal employees are bachelor's degrees.

And not only has the number of people increased, but even the research on internal combustion engines has been subdivided. Just take the gasoline engine as an example, because of the cooperation with Fiat and other automobile companies, the power laboratory is currently carrying out the research and development of several gasoline engines, some require fuel efficiency, some require horsepower, some require not only large horsepower but also not easy to fail, and gasoline engines that can save fuel and horsepower are good, etc., various requirements.

The research of these gasoline engines not only benefited the car company, but also further expanded the Milan Power Laboratory. This is a win-win result, and it also allows the Milan laboratory to get a virtuous circle, and has always maintained the title of the world's most advanced power laboratory.

This is also the result of the split of the Milan power laboratory, the current Milan power experiment is basically based on the research of gasoline engines, and other power studies have been scattered.

In the case of the steam engine, the current research site has been transferred to Taranto, where it merged with the Naval Power Research Institute, which has become the largest and most advanced steam engine research institute in Italy. Research on various steam engines is carried out in the research institute.

Research on electric motors moved to Rome, where one of the world's leading electric power research institutes was conducted. The Marino Electric Power Research Institute has always been one of the world's research centers on the use of electricity, and it has been supplemented by personnel and materials in Milan, and has been even more powerful in the study of electric motors.

The research of diesel engines, currently the Naples Diesel Power Institute, is also the authority of the industry. Just recently, the Naples Institute of Diesel Power developed the world's first practical diesel locomotive.

The car is driven by a diesel engine, which is far more than the railway locomotive driven by the steam engine, both in terms of efficiency and power.

The Italian railway company, on the other hand, is very interested in the diesel locomotive developed by the Naples Diesel Research Institute, and intends to purchase a batch for transportation work in Libya.

Even if other power research institutes are doing well, the Milan Power Laboratory is still the most well-known power research unit in Italy. Because the direction of its research is currently the most adopted and known.

In fact, many people don't know that in addition to its outstanding performance in automobile power, the Milan Power Laboratory is also outstanding in the research of another power, that is, the research of aircraft power.

That's right, most of the power engines used by flying enthusiasts from all over the world are from the Milan laboratory or imitation engines.

However, because aircraft engines are too niche and people who are not engaged in flying hobbies, they basically don't know how much the Milan laboratory has promoted aircraft flight.

According to the words of a famous aviator, what kind of aircraft engine the Milan laboratory launched determines the progress of aircraft development.

Although this sounds a bit too absolute, judging from the fact that no one has come forward to refute it, this is really the result in the aviation industry at present.

Some people may ask, why is the Milan laboratory responsible for determining the power level of the aircraft in so many power research institutes. That's a good question, because the power research institute costs money, and the engine demand for airplanes, which seems to be a well-known but extremely niche game, leads to very low demand for engines. The global demand may be more than 100 units a year.

With such a low demand, is there any institute that is willing to spend a lot of effort on research, is it because it wants to do charity?

The Milan lab, on the other hand, has the support of major car companies, so it doesn't have a lot of money for a small amount of money (with someone intervening), which is basically about two million lira a year.

Volk McGee is one of the few experts in the Milan laboratory who specializes in aerodynamics, and he launches an aero engine almost every year. The engine he developed is light in weight and good in power, and has a good reputation among aviation enthusiasts, so more than a dozen units are sold every year.

While this doesn't make up for the cost of aerodynamic research, it does reduce some of the pressure. It's nice to have his own research place in the power lab and to have several assistants working on his favorite technology.

Last year, however, Dr. McGee was absent and he did not launch a new aero engine. So what is this doctor doing?

"Doctor, can we get started?"

An assistant asked McGee for his opinion.

McGee looked at the engine in front of him and hesitated. "Did you do the pre-test checks?"

"Doctor, we've done it three times."

"Check again, I don't want to see this machine go on strike because of parts."

Some of the assistants couldn't help but roll their eyes at the doctor's words, but they had to do it, because McGee was the person in charge of their project.

And the engine they are going to test looks odd, not at all like the mainstream aero engines of today. Most of the mainstream aero engines now have a similar structure to automobile engines, and the huge engines are filled with radiators, making the engines look bulky.

The developers of aero engines are mainly trying to reduce the weight of aero engines as much as possible while retaining or even expanding the power.

McGee did the same before, and he was very good at weight loss, so he was able to launch an aero engine a year.

But last year, McGee suddenly got tired of the weight-loss work, and he didn't think there was any point in continuing his research. He wanted to completely redesign an engine that was different from the current mainstream engines.

After countless thoughts and tests, McGee and his assistants developed this star engine, which is different from the current mainstream one.

That's right, this engine is what he named the star engine. It is an internal combustion engine in which the cylinders are arranged around the crankshaft for reciprocating motion.

In the engine, McGee attaches the piston to the crankshaft via a main linkage. The connecting rod connected to the top piston is the main connecting rod. The connecting rods of the other pistons are called jointed linkages, which are connected to the ring in the center of the main linkage by means of a pin hole. By working sequentially with each cylinder, the spindle in the middle is pushed to rotate rapidly.

It sounds simple, but the hardships are not as good as outsiders. There are hundreds of kilograms of drawings for design failures alone, not to mention the processing and development of various parts.

Now that it's finally time to produce results, it's normal for McGee to be a little overly nervous.

"Doctor, we've inspected it, and the parts are intact."

After receiving a reply from her assistant, McGee took a deep breath and spoke. "The tests begin, the engine starts."

As he spoke, an assistant took out the starting link and began to start by hand.

You read that right, all kinds of aero engines are hand-cranked, not to mention this kind of test model that has not yet been finalized.

As the assistant turned faster and faster, I heard the engine start to rumble, and a stream of exhaust gas came out, representing the complete start of the engine.

At this time, everyone's eyes were on the operation of the engine, for fear of any abnormal noise. But luckily, everything is so smooth. This made those present a little surprised. This first experiment went so smoothly that it was a little unaccustomed.

"Why are you stunned, immediately test all the data."

With the release of one data after another, the faces of the people present could no longer hold back.

"Doctor, we succeeded, we succeeded!"

An assistant excitedly hugged McGee's arms and screamed excitedly.

And McGee wasn't bad, her flushed cheeks left tears of joy that said it all.

The data was far better than expected, which fully showed that the hard work of the past two years was worth it, and a new structure of aero engine was born.

Then, news of McGee's development of a new engine spread in the Milan laboratory.