In a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, the test aircraft in the sky also completed the test flight.

After circling twice over the test site, flying two more figure-eights, and finally landing according to the process.

The craftsmen on the runway immediately caught up with them and carefully checked the status of the aircraft.

As a flight tester, "Lao Zhao" ran over quickly after getting off the plane, and reported to Zhu Jingyuan and Li Rui excitedly:

"Your Highness, Director Li, I didn't find any major problems, only a few small problems that don't get in the way, let's just open it and adjust it again......"

Zhu Jingyuan nodded lightly, and Li Rui continued to inquire about the situation:

"Can you continue to do the speed and distance test yourself?"

Lao Zhao nodded after thinking about it for a while:

"I think so."

Zhu Jingyuan listened beside him, and suddenly realized something that might happen, and forcibly carried it out in order to show himself:

"Don't worry about me, I can come back at any time, I now treat the Ministry of Engineering as my own department.

"So don't force the test just because I'm here, if something goes wrong, it's worth the cost."

Lao Zhao immediately couldn't help laughing:

"Your Highness, you really don't have to worry, it's just that a few functional parts are not suitable, and there is no impact on safety."

Only then did Zhu Jingyuan put his mind at ease:

"That's good......"

The test aircraft was inspected, briefly maintained, and allowed to cool down completely, before the range tests began.

Lao Zhao boarded the plane again, and after taking off again, he flew in a straight line to the north.

At this time, above the two star-shaped fortresses in the northwest and northeast corners of the Beijing Division, there was already a hard airship waiting in the air.

In the area around the old city of the Beijing Division, it is definitely necessary to report to the garrison unit of the Beijing Division to test the flying machines in a large area.

The Ministry of Engineering itself also needs their cooperation to help label and measure the data of the aircraft, which now does not have such a thing as a speedometer on its own.

After the test plane reached the northwest corner of the old city, it turned to the east and continued to fly, marked by the airship over the Star Fortress.

At the same time, the power of the aircraft engine is adjusted, keeping it near the upper limit of the optimal operating range, and the aircraft enters the maximum stable cruise speed.

This morning, in addition to the old emperor, flying machines finally appeared in front of the eyes of non-design and manufacturing personnel.

Although the soldiers on the airship knew about today's mission in advance, when they looked at the plane that appeared in the field of vision, their expressions and mood were difficult to calm down for a long time.

If it weren't for the officers staring at the airship, it would have been noisy by now.

In fact, the captain of the airship who came out to cooperate with the aircraft test is now staring at the plane that is gradually moving away.

The wings of the plane could not wave, and it could fly steadily and continuously, which was subversive for ordinary people at that time.

However, the current Jingshi garrison is a real elite division, and while being amazed, they have not forgotten to record data and time.

Lao Zhao's mood on the plane was very simple, it was pure excitement and excitement.

Especially when he went around next to the airship and continued to accelerate to the east, he couldn't help but shout:

"This TND is called flying! Those airships and balloons are just floating! ”

"The cruising speed of the machine I used in this experiment is estimated to be more than 80 kilometers per hour."

"The maximum speed of those airships is only eighty!"

"And the planes are much more agile than them, they can stun them around the corner, and they ...... on the battlefield."

"Uh...... The question is...... How do I attack them on the battlefield? ”

"Machine guns on planes? The question is how to load, how to aim and shoot......"

Lao Zhao's mood suddenly became confused again, but this did not affect him to fly the plane.

Ten minutes later, the plane passed by the northeast corner of the Old Town, next to the airship above the Star Fortress here.

While Lao Zhao wrote down the time, he let the plane not make any movement and continued to maintain speed and fly eastward.

However, I began to pay attention to the fuel balance of the aircraft, and when there was still 60% of the fuel left, the plane came to the boundary of Tongzhou.

Lao Zhao couldn't help but marvel again, and at the same time immediately turned around and returned the same way.

Passing through the two fortresses outside the old castle again, flying south at the northwest corner of the castle and finally returning to the Chengxi test site of the Ministry of Industry.

The two airships of the two fortresses landed one after another, and the officers who cooperated with the test will record the time point of the passage of the aircraft, telegraph and telephone to inform the personnel of the Ministry of Engineering test site.

The craftsmen of the Ministry of Engineering Test Site got these two times, and then calculated the distance between the two fortresses, and they knew the relatively accurate speed of the aircraft.

These data are very simple, Li Rui directly mentally calculated and got the result, and immediately went to report to Zhu Jingyuan:

"Your Highness, the cruising speed of the plane on departure was 82 kilometers per hour, and the speed on return reached 90 kilometers per hour.

"The error may be caused by less fuel in the second half of the race, the body becomes lighter, or it may be caused by the direction of the wind.

"But in any case, even the slower speed is already faster than the cruise speed of the airship, and it can be even faster if the power is mentioned to the maximum.

"According to the plan I booked for 60% of the fuel to return home, the maximum range can reach 100 kilometers if calculated on average with two cruise speeds!"

Li Rui shouted these data quite excitedly, but the corners of Zhu Jingyuan's eyes twitched slightly when he heard this.

The speed is around 90 kilometers per hour, which is the level of annoyance on the highway in my previous life.

A range of 100 kilometers is the level of a good electric car.

But you must hold back, you must not show a disgusted expression, and quickly adjust your mentality.

It cannot be demanded by the standards of the new century, and its speed is already the fastest in the world.

This thing appeared one hundred and twenty years earlier than the swordfish, and thirty years earlier even according to the level of technology.

It can be said that it is very good to have the current level, which is placed in the aircraft before the First World War.

Zhu Jingyuan quickly sorted out his mentality, and nodded solemnly with approval:

"Yes, very good, in the future, it will be replaced with a larger engine, ready to turn the body into all-metal, including the skin, which can be made of aluminum."

Li Rui and the craftsmen nodded one after another, this direction was actually the direction they thought of themselves.

In the future, the first optimization direction is to have faster speed, longer range, and a stronger fuselage.

Li Rui and Zhu Jingyuan were talking here, and Lao Zhao over there also landed in a plane.

Handing over the plane to the maintenance personnel, Lao Zhao trotted all the way to Zhu Jingyuan's side, and it was a report that he was excited to look forward to:

"Your Highness, Chief Lee, the test process is normal, with 23% of fuel remaining at the time of landing, and the maximum range is expected to exceed 100 kilometers.

"But I have a question, can we have weapons on our planes?"

Li Rui, Wang Zhenyi, and the craftsmen suddenly came to the spirit.

An airplane must be equipped with weapons to be considered a weapon, otherwise it can only be used for reconnaissance, which is obviously not what the aircraft designers and craftsmen wanted.

Of course, Zhu Jingyuan knew it in his heart, but he didn't explain it directly immediately, but learned the old emperor's way of doing things, and first asked and guided them:

"That's a good question, do you have any ideas of your own?"

Lao Zhao immediately said:

"I think I can put a machine gun on it, or throw a bomb on the ground, but I don't know how to install it.

"It's better to have a machine gun on the nose, but now there are propellers on the nose, can you put it on the back and find someone to shoot?

"I think the bomb can be hung next to my body, where I can take it down and throw it down."

The idea is so simple and crude, but the idea is already very "advanced".

Aircraft in history were first used for reconnaissance.

At the beginning of World War I, the pilots of both warring sides were unarmed and would greet each other when they met each other in the sky.

When people can't threaten each other, humans seem to be more friendly.

Until the French put light machine guns on the planes.

The Germans at that time were not at all defenseless, and the French suddenly opened fire when the planes approached each other.

The German pilot Aviatic became the first unlucky guy in history to be shot down.

And then the era of air combat came.

Many pilots instinctively hit each other with pistols, only to find that they couldn't hit each other at all.

Later, someone took a brick to get on the plane, not to smash the opponent's pilot with a brick, but to smash the opponent's aircraft propeller, which was more effective than hitting people with a pistol.

Someone put a bomb in the cockpit and flew to the place to manually drop it, which is considered the first bomber.

As for the rear-seat machine gunner, it was standard on the aircraft for a long time.