After eating, several people came to the balloon factory of 'Jupeng Bird Balloon' in Nope. Not to mention, although their sales store is not large, but this factory is quite large-scale, more than 10,000 square meters of factory land, more than 200 hot air balloon manufacturing employees, it can be said that 'Jupeng Bird Balloon' is the largest balloon manufacturing factory here.

In the open field, all kinds of steel and wood can be seen everywhere, and three or two formed hot air balloons are lying on the factory floor, as if waiting for various tests.

A few workers who had just finished eating were sitting lazily on the materials, smoking and drinking coffee, chatting from time to time, and some of them were playing cards.

Hoffman smiled awkwardly: "It's still lunch break, so they will be so leisurely." They are very hard working when they work, and I promise that they will be able to complete it on time and will not let your 170,000 gold coins be wasted. ”

"170,000? doesn't you mean 140,000?" asked Hurrington. (Author's note: Some time ago, I saw an airship, I felt so cool and liked, and I envied those rich people, which is why I wrote it into the novel.) In reality, the price of airships is also very expensive, although their use and maintenance costs are not very high, but the cost is quite high, just a small airship costs two or three million US dollars, and it may cost tens of millions to buy one with RMB, which is really something that only rich people can afford. ）

"Oh, because of the maximum speed required by Mr. Bingzhi, we had to abandon some relatively cheap but heavy steel materials and switch to lighter and more durable metal materials, and the price naturally increased. ”

"Another 30,000. Hurrington was heartbroken, but he thought that now he had a big man around him who could make millions of dollars anytime and anywhere, so he had to endure the pain.

Alice asked, "And where is our airship?"

"We're still working on the parts, but our workers have been doing it for many years. Coupled with the fact that we have ready-made molds for all our components, the keel and most of the components are now ready. In the past few days, we are three shifts of rushing work, stopping people without stopping work, we should start assembling tonight, tomorrow at the latest, and strive to assemble it in a day and a half and then test, and the test can be delivered to you without problems. Hoffman said, "Please come with me, and I'll show you your airship." ”

As she walked, Hurrington asked, "What if something goes wrong with the test?"

"We're still working on these issues for more than a day, and we'll be able to deliver them to you within seven days. Hoffman assured with confidence.

Follow Hoffman to the huge workshop where the assembly is made, and all kinds of molds and forming tools are placed on the ground in a chaotic but orderly manner. At this time, in the entire factory, there was only one teenager sorting out and measuring those utensils.

Hoffman shouted, "Kester, come here, I'll introduce you." ”

Kester didn't move, and after finishing the work in hand, he came over to look at the Ice Childish Evil Spirit.

Hoffman smiled: "I'm sorry, let me introduce you to Mr. Bingzhixi, he is the chief designer and chief engineer of your airship." ”

"Ah, isn't he?" cried Alice and Hurrington at the same time.

Hoffman affirmed, "That's right. ”

Alice said, "I thought he was your apprentice here." ”

"Hey, uncle, you're not teasing us, are you?" said Hurrington, "Do you think we're a bully because you see that we're not very old! Give our airship to a little kid to practice his skills, do you think we're here to shave our hair?"

"No, no, no, you misunderstood, he's really a very good engineer. Hoffman hurriedly explained: "Haven't you read the newspapers, magazines, haven't you heard of it? He has already won the first prize in the Shijie Airship Design Competition twice. ”

"Really?" and Herrington and Alice looked at the teenager who was not much older than Bing Childish in disbelief.

"Of course it's true. Hoffman said proudly, "Because he is my son." ”

"Ah, he's your son!"

Hoffman said to his son, "Kester, these are the buyers of the airship, Miss Alice, Mr. Ice, and Mr. Helrington. ”

"Hello, my name is Charlie Kester, and it's a pleasure to meet you. Kester retracted his dirty, oil-stained hands.

"Nice to meet you. Alice grabbed his hand and said, "Then, you can introduce us to this airship." ”

Kester was grabbed by Alice's soft hand, and her heart fluttered: "Uh...... Oh yes. He quickly withdrew his hand, his cheeks flushed.

Hoffman said: "Then you visit here, I have a little more business, and I will come back later." Kester, greet the customer. ”

"Yes. Kester said, "Come with me, and I'll show you the keel of your airship." ”

They followed Kester to an open space in the factory, where a large metal skeleton stood in front of everyone.

"Wow, this is the keel of the airship!" exclaimed Alice.

Brand-new shiny keels, these metal frames have been recently melted, and you can still see anti-rust oil stains on them.

Alice asked again, "What is the keel and what is it for?"

Everyone was stunned.

Kester explains: "The keel is like the main frame that supports a house, the main load-bearing part of a ship. If the keel breaks, the ship will fall apart and the house will collapse. The airship is like a ship flying in the air, if you want it to not fall apart completely in the air, you have to rely on it to support the connection. ”

"Oh, I see. Alice nodded incomprehensibly.

"Why is this keel so small, it seems to be just a part of a pod, a skeleton of a balloon?"

Kester said, "Haven't you seen the airship's catalog?"

"Nope. ”

Kester said, "Then I'll tell you about it." There are generally three types of airships: hard, semi-rigid, and soft. The first two have more or less metal keel to support the shape of the balloon, and the grade is relatively low, while our trading company's shark airship is a high-end soft airship, and the balloon part does not need a skeleton to support, which can greatly reduce the weight of the airship itself and increase the load capacity and speed of the airship. So in the album that Mr. Bingzhi looked at, this Shark airship was the fastest, because this one was the only one of the four that was a soft airship. ”

"I see. Hurrington laughed, "Worthy of an expert." ”

There are still a few trading companies in Shijie that can make hot air balloons, but there are very few that can build airships, and they are the only factories in the city that can build them.

Kester said, "In order to increase the speed as much as possible according to Mr. Bing's request, this pod will be made into a closed type, so it may be different from the atlas you have seen. After the pod is completed, it has a length of 5.9 meters, an inner compartment length of 4.6 meters, an outer width of 3.7 meters, an inner width of 3.2 meters, a height of 2.2 meters, and an inner height of 1.7 meters. ”

"Oh yes, driver. Alice said, "Master, Hurrington, do you know how to drive it?"

Bing Zhixiao shook his head.

Hurrington signaled no.

Kester said: "This can't be helped, it's easy to learn to fly an airship, just like a ship, but with an extra elevator, I can have someone teach you." ”

"Okay, I'm going to learn. Alice volunteered to be a driver.

Kester said, "Come with me again, and I'll take you to see the airship's airbags." ”