Chapter 212 Light Vehicle Aircraft (Ⅱ)

Listening to Mr. Benny's idea of ​​"airdropping pesticides", everyone felt incredible!

can this work?

Joan recalled the sundries he saw on the carriage when he arrived, and asked Mr. Benny half-believingly: "The aircraft you mentioned was assembled from those things on the carriage?"

"That's right, but what you see is just the parts that assemble the aircraft. The power that actually makes it fly comes from a special gas, which I need to prepare temporarily."

"You mean a hot air balloon, don't you?"

Joan had seen this kind of device that uses heated gas to provide flight power in a book.

"My invention is very similar to a hot air balloon, but without the need for constant heating, wait until you see it for yourself."

Teacher Benny said confidently.

"Joan, Mr. Vasa, I have to advise you not to expect too much from Mr. Benny's invention, not to mention whether the thing can fly, if it doesn't explode before it leaves the ground, we must thank the gods for blessing!"

Ah Zhi couldn't help but pour a bucket of cold water on everyone.

"Just now you said that my alchemy bomb was useless, what happened? You short-sighted white mouse, when will you learn to respect science!"

Teacher Benny retorted angrily.

Ah Zhi shrugged, not daring to speak sarcasticly again.

Seeing that Mr. Benny is full of confidence and there is no safer way, Major Vassar might as well let him try, even if it ends in failure, the consequences will not be worse than arson. So the housekeeper Tobias was called, and he asked him to send someone to fetch the pile of parts used to assemble the aircraft on the newspaper carriage. In addition, he also found a group of careful maids to help Joan prepare insecticide.

With the help of Vassar's maid, Joan quickly prepared two barrels full of high-concentration "pesticide".

The maids scooped up the "insecticide" with water ladles, poured it into empty wine bottles, and tightly corked the corks. Within an hour, more than two hundred bottles of "insecticide" were prepared, enough to sprinkle the entire forest.

More critical than pesticides are the aerial vehicles used to deliver them. Joan was full of curiosity about Mr. Benny's invention. After preparing the pesticide, he went to watch him assemble the aircraft.

The structure of the aircraft is very simple, similar to the "hot air balloon" illustration in the book. The main structure is an inflatable skin bag and a large basket for carrying people.

Mr. Benny's balloon also has its own uniqueness. For example, a mast is erected in the center of the hanging basket, which is composed of nested steel pipes with threads at both ends. The lower end of the mast is firmly fixed in the hanging basket, and the upper end is connected to the balloon. After opening, it is a rectangular sail.

Seeing the assembled aircraft, Joan can roughly guess how it works.

Now the problem is how to inflate the air bag so that the gondola floats.

It is definitely not possible to inject air directly into the airbag, as this will not produce enough buoyancy at all.

The traditional method is to first inject air into the airbag, and then ignite and heat the air under the airbag, because the air in the airbag will become lighter after being heated, and the buoyancy generated will drive the gondola up into the sky—this is the so-called "hot air balloon".

In order to keep a hot air balloon flying, it must be heated continuously to keep the air in the skin at a high temperature.

Conversely, if you want the hot air balloon to land, you must weaken or extinguish the fire source, the gas in the bag will gradually cool down, and the balloon will slowly descend accordingly.

The biggest drawback of this flying device is that an open flame must be used to heat the air, and it is undoubtedly very dangerous to ignite a fire in a gondola.

Especially when the balloon rises to a certain height, if the hanging basket catches fire or the leather bag is ignited, it will inevitably lead to a tragic accident.

The new balloon invented by Mr. Benny uses a brand new gas instead of hot gas to provide buoyancy for the gondola.

The density of this gas is much lighter than that of air, and the alchemists of Vales call it "light gas".

Joan had seen the introduction of light gas in alchemy books, and knew that this gas is not only very light but also easy to explode, so it is not difficult to understand why Ah Zhi and Xiao Mao avoided the flying machine invented by Teacher Benny .

However, driven by curiosity and thirst for knowledge, he would rather take some risks and observe how Mr. Benny prepares light gas up close.

The raw materials Mr. Benny uses to prepare light gas are very common, mainly water and iron powder.

The container for preparing light gas - called "reactor" in alchemy - is the sealed iron bucket with a tap that Joan saw.

Teacher Benny unscrewed the palm-sized lid above the iron bucket, filled the bucket with clean water, and then sprinkled iron powder.

The weight of water and iron powder has been repeatedly weighed to ensure that the proportion is not bad.

According to the alchemical formula, iron powder and water vapor can react at high temperature to produce light gas and magnet.

Joan knows this formula, but he also knows that water will not automatically turn into steam, let alone alchemically react with iron easily.

In order to promote the rapid reaction of water and iron, Mr. Benny finally took out a small paper bag, poured out the brown-yellow powder from it, carefully weighed out half an ounce with a balance, then poured it into the reaction kettle, and tightened the lid as fast as possible .

Joan couldn't see the specific composition of the brown-yellow powder, but he knew that it was a "catalyst" that didn't participate in the alchemical reaction itself, but could accelerate the reaction between water and iron to form light gas.

Mr. Benny stared at the reactor, pricking up his ears to listen. Soon there was a crackling sound in the barrel, which sounded like beans were being fried. The temperature of the iron barrel rose sharply, and Joan felt scorching hot even two steps away.

"Joan, Joan!"

Xiao Miao's shout came from behind him, and when he looked back, both Catwoman and Ratman were lying in the grass, waving eagerly at him.

"What's the matter, Sister Meow?" Joan ran over and asked.

"Don't get close to that crackling vat, it might blow up with a 'bang' anytime!" Xiao Miao simulated an explosion with exaggerated gestures.

Joan thought about it for a while. Water and iron formed light gas in the sealed iron drum. The rapidly expanding gas would cause rising pressure on the iron drum. When the pressure exceeds the tolerance limit of the iron drum, an explosion may indeed occur.

Seeing that he was silent, Ah Zhi thought he didn't believe him, so he put away his smile and said seriously: "Mr. Benny used to prepare light gas in the basement of the newspaper office. Guess what happened?"

"Boom! Almost blown up the whole building. Since then, Sister Miranda has forbidden him to make inventions in the office."

"This time there shouldn't be an explosion." Qiao Anxin calculated the alchemy reaction formula, and said to Xiao Miao and Ah Zhi: "According to the amount of iron powder Mr. Benny put into the iron bucket, the light gas produced by the complete reaction is not enough Explode the barrel."

"Hope you're right, but there's nothing wrong with being careful."

Xiao Miao took his hand to prevent him from going back to the reactor.

Joan stood in the distance, silently watching the alchemical reaction continue in the iron barrel.

After about 15 minutes, the crackling sound in the iron barrel gradually subsided.

Mr. Benny dragged a hose made of leather, walked to the hanging basket, connected one end of the hose to the inflation port of the air bag, and put the other end on the faucet of the iron bucket, and wrapped it with iron wire to fix it firmly .

After getting ready, Teacher Benny stretched out his cotton-gloved right hand, intending to unscrew the scorching faucet.

Joan hurriedly stopped: "Mr. Benny, let me come!"

An iron drum filled with high-temperature and high-pressure gas is like a bomb. Since the gas has nowhere to drain, it is actually not as dangerous as it looks.

But when the faucet was turned on, the high-pressure gas could be discharged from the iron barrel through the narrow faucet opening, and this bomb ushered in the most dangerous moment, and the possibility of explosion was greater than before.

Rather than letting Mr. Benny risk getting close to the iron bucket to turn the faucet, it is undoubtedly safer for Joan to turn on the faucet remotely with the "hand of a high-level mage".

In case the iron barrel exploded, he would have time to lie down on the spot to avoid the splash of shrapnel.

Today's writing is relatively smooth, and there will be another chapter soon