The Rise of Australasia

A ladder was pushed over, and Ludwig Durrell climbed into the cockpit of the aircraft. After receiving Arthur’s permission, he began the final preparations for take-off.

With a roar from the petrol engine, the aircraft officially started, its propeller quickly spinning in front of it.

However, since the aircraft’s power wasn’t very strong yet, a longer runway was needed to aid in flight.

After taxiing close to 200 meters, the aircraft clumsily lifted off from the runway, successfully soaring into the sky.

This was done to prevent any accidental damage to the urban city and industrial area of the Capital Territory.

The flight test was conducted in the sparsely populated mountainous areas of the western suburbs of Sydney.

Ludwig Durrell’s mission was to pilot the aircraft to test its stable speed and maximum speed and to land on the original runway before the fuel tank ran out.

In this way, not only could the speed of the aircraft be tested, but also its actual flight distance.

As the first aircraft produced by Australia, it still had some differences compared to the aircraft from World War I.

Even though most of the aircraft in World War I were used for reconnaissance, they could already climb to altitudes of 6,000 to 7,000 meters, while this Australian model was expected to only reach a maximum height of about 1,000 meters.

Other than testing the aircraft’s speed and range, Ludwig Durrell was also responsible for using a simple camera installed in the aircraft to record the scenes from the sky.

This was to prepare for Arthur’s vision. If the current aircraft could already carry out reconnaissance tasks, then it could naturally be put into production.

Of course, even the first aircraft wouldn’t be produced in large amounts, but the importance of aircraft to Australia went without saying.

About three hours later, Ludwig Durrell brought the aircraft back into Arthur’s line of sight.

In these three hours, he had completed a flight over a range of several hundred kilometers within the mountains.

If it wasn’t for the fuel gauge showing that the fuel tank was nearly dry, Ludwig Durrell had planned to fly a little longer.

After all, before Ludwig Durrell, the one and only method humans had for reaching the sky was via airships.

But airships had significant limitations. Firstly, they were too heavy, unable to fly as flexibly as planes.

Secondly, airships were common among major European countries, and there were plenty of experts developing airships in Europe.

But planes were different. At least in terms of truly flying into the sky, Ludwig Durrell and the Australian lab could be considered the first in the world.

This historical achievement exhilarated Ludwig Durrell, even when he was high up in the sky.

Compared to normal flight, the take-off and landing of aircraft were the most dangerous parts.

Especially for an aircraft whose performance was still unstable, any minor mistake could lead to a malfunction and even total destruction.

Ludwig Durrell naturally understood the importance of the situation and focused all his attention on landing without any negligence.

Fortunately, perhaps due to German tradition, whether it was Disel, Theodore Korbel, or Ludwig Durrell, they were all very rigid and serious in their manufacturing approach. The parts they made had to be flawless, enabling the aircraft’s performance to be quite reliable.

Having successfully landed on the runway, Ludwig Durrell let out a sigh of relief, quietly wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and only descended clumsily after the assistants had brought back the ladder.

This clumsiness wasn’t due to nervousness or fear, but the excitement and thrill of having ascended to the sky.

Even though there had already been small-scale experiments before this, they had only stayed in the air for a few minutes at most before needing to quickly descend.

This feeling of fully soaring in the sky gave Ludwig Durrell an unprecedented thrill and excitement, which was precisely why he was trembling so much.

“How does it feel, Mr. Ludwig Durrell?” Arthur asked smilingly.

“Unprecedented, Your Highness! I even saw the entire Capital Territory, the feeling of soaring in the sky is too cool.” Even after quite a while, Ludwig Durrell was still unable to get over that feeling, still speaking with excitement on his face.

“How’s the flight data?” Theodore Korbel, perched next to him, voiced out.

Due to his lack of experience, Theodore Korbel was currently most concerned about the various data from the airplane during the experiment. Only with these data at hand, could the airplane be further improved.

“It completely met our expectations, Mr. Theodore Korbel. After initiating a smooth flight, our airplane can maintain at least a speed of one hundred and sixty kilometers, and the maximum speed can reach two hundred and ten kilometers or so. But this greatly consumes fuel, and I’ve only tried it for a few minutes before giving up,” Ludwig Durrell responded.

After inspecting various hardware components of the airplane and discovering no issues, Theodore Korbel nodded in approval, turning to Arthur, “Your Highness, if there are no problems with the airplane’s hardware, then our airplane can reach a minimum of 160 kilometers, and a maximum of 210 kilometers per hour. At the minimum speed, our airplane’s maximum range is about four hundred and thirty kilometers or so. While at maximum speed, our airplane’s range is about three hundred and sixty kilometers.”

Considering the data alone, at least in terms of speed, this airplane is already on par with those of World War I.

During World War I, the maximum speed of airplanes was approximately 180 to 220 kilometers per hour, with a range of about five hundred to seven hundred kilometers.

If the current airplane were equipped with two auxiliary fuel tanks, it could basically compete with airplanes of World War I in these two aspects.

However, this does not mean that the current airplane is very advanced. Quite the contrary, the current airplane still has a lot of shortcomings to be improved and a long way to go to catch up with the airplanes of World War I.

“Your Highness, our airplane can perform reconnaissance missions which are much harder than airships. In the airplane, we can clearly see the facilities and environments on the ground, especially if we use high-powered telescopes,” Ludwig Durrell spoke, “If we can add a seat to the rear of our airplane, with a pilot seat at the front and a reconnaissance seat at the back, this will be a perfect reconnaissance aircraft!”

Arthur nodded. The current camera technology, even if it could take aerial photographs, the photos would be very blurry, unable to discern the situation on the ground thousands of kilometers away.

A more reliable reconnaissance method is to use high-powered telescopes, manually observe the situation on the ground, and then report to the headquarters via wireless radios.

At present, with a little improvement, this airplane can become an excellent reconnaissance aircraft, worthy of trust in terms of performance.

“We can consider it as a prototype, Your Highness,” Theodore Korbel proposed a different idea.

“After adding seats, it will be a perfect reconnaissance airplane. But what if we equip it with some machine guns, small machine guns? Isn’t this a perfect airborne weapon?” Theodore Korbel questioned.

Theodore Korbel’s two conjectures were actually about the evolution of reconnaissance aircraft and fighter aircraft.

Although these ideas were only rudimentary versions, the development of reconnaissance aircraft and fighter aircraft indeed evolved in such a way, step by step.

“If that’s the case, can we develop a type of bomb that explodes on impact? These kinds of bombs installed on the airplane can be thrown, they would explode upon impact, turning the aircraft into an airborne artillery position, right?” Arthur, pretending to be inspired, smiled.

Seeing Theodore Korbel and Ludwig Durrell’s surprised expressions, Arthur nodded in satisfaction.

The introduction of these three ideas also marked the birth of ideas for reconnaissance aircraft, fighter aircraft, and bombers.

If they continued to develop according to these three ideas, Australia would be the first country to invent reconnaissance aircraft, fighter aircraft, and bombers.

“These three ideas still require you to conduct more experiments and improvements. But I believe that one day, these three ideas will become a reality,” Arthur, looking at the now inspired Theodore Korbel and Ludwig Durrell, handed out the pie, “If you can really develop three types of airplanes based on these three ideas, you all will become heroes in Australia, and I will personally award you medals!”

Each of the three types of medals in Australia come with very generous welfare benefits, which are the honor and rewards that anyone in Australia would not refuse.

Theodore Korbel and Ludwig Durrell were no exceptions, and after Arthur promised the rewards, apart from the joy of a successful airplane experiment, there was now an additional touch of ambition and expectations for the future in their faces.

“Your Highness, our airplane does not have a specific series or name yet. Even the three possible series in the future also need your naming,” Theodore Korbel and Ludwig Durrell looked at Arthur fervently, saying expectantly.

Arthur nodded in mild annoyance.

The new weapon series born in Australia was essentially named by Arthur.

But as a confounding irony, Arthur was terrible at naming. What names should these airplane series bear?

After much thought, Arthur finally spoke, “Since our current airplane is the first airplane in Australian history, therefore, I believe it’s the pioneer of Australian aviation history. We’ll call this airplane Pioneer-1, the first model of the Pioneer Series, and the beginning of the Australian dream of flying.”

Under the watchful eyes of Theodore Korbel and Ludwig Durrell, Arthur continued, “The envisioned reconnaissance aircraft we have, I’ll call the Eagle Series. I hope they’ll have the vision of an eagle, and make contributions to Australian intelligence at any time.”

“In comparison to the reconnaissance aircraft, the airplanes equipped with machine guns and firepower, I believe, are primarily meant for fighting enemy aircraft. Though just a concept at present, since no other countries possess airplanes capable of flying, I will call this type of aircraft, a fighter aircraft. Australia’s fighter aircraft will be named Bengal Tiger, and the Bengal Tiger Series will become one of the strongest fighting aircraft.”

“As for the last air artillery position-like airplane, its main purpose is to cause more effective bombings on the enemy. Therefore, I think this type of airplane is more aptly called a bomber, and Australia’s bomber will be named Phantom.”

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