Chapter 766: The Silence Takes Off
"Passengers, please follow the instructions of the staff, find a nearby safe place to sit down, and put on your seat belts. The Silence is about to take off in tour mode... Passengers, please follow the instructions of the staff..."
The announcement of the Silence was repeated over and over again, and the guests who participated in the tour also followed the instructions and sat down at the corresponding positions.
But before they sat down, they had already found the most suitable location for sightseeing.
The Ellis family found that the staff did not ask them to go back indoors, so they stayed on the first deck.
Alice's wife and daughter looked around expectantly, wondering how the Silence would fly.
And Alice, in fact, has been thinking, is there any way to make a ship more than 140 meters long fly?
The first part of the promotional video "how·we·do" released by the Lazy God Department only talked about the weight loss part, and didn't mention a word about the other part of "engineering".
But the Silence is, after all, a gigantic monster of thousands of tons. Ellis estimated with his own professional vision that the current Silence has a net weight of about 2,000 tons.
So, what kind of engineering marvel would it take to make a 2,000-ton behemoth fly?
"Dad, how will the Silence fly?" Ellis's daughter looked around excitedly, and asked Ellis's arm, grabbing her.
Ever since she was a child, Alice's daughter has always worshiped her father as an idol, because since she was a child, she seems to have never encountered anything her father did not understand.
At this time, Alice did not let her down.
Science is all connected. If you want to make something fly, there are only a few solutions.
Ellis thinks two of them are most likely:
One is to use air buoyancy, such as airships and hot air balloons.
One is to use aerodynamics, such as airplanes and rockets.
If it uses air buoyancy, the largest aircraft that humans have ever built is the Hindenburg airship. This airship is 248.6 meters long, with a maximum diameter of 41.4 meters and a maximum take-off weight of 463 tons.
How big is it? Even the famous Titanic is only eighteen meters longer than it.
Since the crash of the Hindenburg airship, which declared the end of the era of human airship aviation and the rise of airplanes, the largest aircraft manufactured by humans is only one-third of its length.
If the Silence wants to fly, the airbags it uses are at least four to five times larger, and it needs at least 2 million cubic meters of hydrogen. If its length is comparable to that of a Zeppelin airship, its maximum diameter must exceed 100 meters!
It's like a flying football!
But this is the easiest, because if the Silence wants to fly aerodynamically, it needs at least 30 Airbus 380 engines! Its wing area must also be several times that of Airbus, and the rigidity requirement for the wing is more than twenty times that of Airbus 380!
Either of these two methods is beyond the current technical level, but if Ellis is allowed to choose a direction to break through, the only direction he can choose may be to use the buoyancy of the air.
Because of the former, it is still possible to invest billions of dollars and study for a few years or more, but the latter is... completely impossible.
The air transport capacity of the kiloton level is completely unimaginable for human beings.
"So, I guess that Lanshen Technology uses the principle of airship to fly." Ellis said, "Of course, I believe that Lanshen Technology is bragging. Because using air buoyancy to fly thousands of tons of things is almost impossible."
"If it's bragging, I'm afraid it's too late to brag now." Alice's daughter said, her eyes were shining brightly: "Speaking of which, Lazy Technology is really powerful!"
"Your erudition is amazing." Ellis' words also attracted the attention of several tourists nearby. These guests probably came from the Middle East, with turbans on their heads and beards, but they spoke English very fluently. It is an American accent with a correct accent.
Alice couldn't laugh or cry, his original intention was not to praise the Silence!
Anger! Who wants to advertise for Lanshen Technology!
But even the crew members who were standing with their hands behind their backs looked at him with admiration, and said, "You must be a knowledgeable professor. You are right, we really use the buoyancy of the air to fly."
"I don't believe it." Although Alice thought of the principle, he couldn't believe the result.
Since the wreck of the Zeppelin airship Hindenburg, the airship withdrew from the stage of history, and all technologies and related research have been sealed up and stagnated.
All the creations in this world beyond the ability of a single person are, in the final analysis, the crystallization of the industrial chain.
Even with decades or hundreds of years of technological accumulation, without an industrial chain at all, it is impossible to create better products.
The best example is that there is a company that is cooperating with the U.S. Army and is developing a new generation of airships. Its length is only more than 70 meters, only one-third of the Hindenburg, but it is the world's longest airship. Huge flying objects!
Moreover, because of its ugly appearance, it looks like a butt, so this airship is jokingly called the flying butt.
History is advancing, but certain technologies are not necessarily improving, and may still be regressing.
After all, strictly speaking, basic science has not improved much in this century. For example, as early as the beginning of the last century, quantum mechanics and relativity were born, but now, quantum mechanics and relativity are still high-end theories that ordinary people cannot understand.
In Germany at that time, there were a lot of black-tech-level technologies, such as the Zeppelin airship mounted with aircraft, flying as a real aircraft carrier...
As for Lazy God Technology, it only took a week to transform the Silence into this way, but it can also create an airship that can fly?
This is impossible!
Under the constraints of the basic laws of physics and the industrial chain, how can Lanshen Technology do this?
Hearing what Ellis said, the crew member laughed. He pointed to the top of his head, and saw something white appeared on the top of the Silence, gradually expanding, like a huge balloon.
With the sound of a slight airflow, the balloon grew bigger and bigger, gradually covering the entire hull.
A few kilometers behind the Silence, several planes were chasing the Silence. Some journalists who did not board the Silence rented some private jets at a high price. At this time, they were overlooking the Silence from the window of the plane, and they saw the Silence The top of the ship, like a giant blowing bubble gum, gradually blows out an air bag.
Seeing the airbag, Alice's eyes widened, and he asked in surprise, "So...soft airbag?"
The speed of airship development is very fast. In the Zeppelin era, airbags have become hard. Such airbags can withstand higher speeds, are stronger and safer, and have directly eliminated soft airbags.
If it is a soft airbag, how can it be possible to lift the 2,000-ton Silence!
But the truth never changes for someone's disbelief.
The huge airbag on the top of the Silence rapidly inflated and expanded at an alarming speed. The Alice family and more guests stared at the huge balloon that was gradually expanding in the sky, and then unconsciously, suddenly realized that, The sound of water when the Silence was driving began to gradually disappear.
"Slow down...or...fly...fly up?" Alice looked up at the airbag in the sky, lost his mind.
At this moment, the whole ship burst into cheers almost at the same time: "It's about to fly!
And on the planes that were chasing after the Silence, some reporters also cheered: "It's about to fly!"
At this moment, all kinds of cheers came from the broadcast screens all over the world.
Not only because the take-off of the Silence is a technical subversion, but also because this scene is really beautiful.
This is the southern hemisphere, and the Silence is traveling from south to north, just facing the direction of the sun, photographed from the plane behind, and the Silence is bathed in golden sunlight.
A huge, cigar-shaped airbag gradually opened, suspended above the Silence, connected to the upper part of the Silence through several thick metal support structures, the pure white airbag showed a transparent crystal color, not even It can completely block the line of sight, and through the airbag, you can see the Silence and the sea below.
In the sunlight, it looks like a huge soap bubble blown by the Silence.
The silver-gray Silence, with white edges and a huge transparent airbag in the center, looks like it came out of a fairy tale.
Driven by the airbag, the Silence became farther and farther away from the water surface, and the entire Silence was slowly lifted out of the water.
The rushing water flowed down from the bottom of the Silence, and the sea seemed reluctant to leave the Silence just like that. The surrounding sea was surging, trying to wrap the Silence in it again.
But the Silence was still rising steadily, revealing the nozzle hole below the waterline, the stern rudder at the tail, the graceful keel, the smooth bow and the bulbous bow.
The Silence, which is soaked in sea water all over, reflects the sunlight and shines brightly.
At this moment, I don't know how many people couldn't help sighing: "It's so beautiful..."
The Silence is not like a ship driving in the sea. Its arc below the waterline is still beautiful and smooth. When it flies up, it looks like a leaf flying in the sky from below.
A silvery leaf encased in soap bubbles.
"It's flying! It's really flying!" Alice opened his mouth wide, half shocked, half relieved after being unable to understand.
Sure enough, Lazy God Technology is Lazy God Technology, and they have made it possible for them to do this kind of near impossible thing.
And he, too, was desperate.
Although Ellis hated and resented Lanshen Technology, it has faded a lot at this time. The Land Warrior has received an order from the United States, and he has already received his own reward, but he is still not convinced. He held back all his strength, exhausted his ability, and posed a problem for the Silence.
But now, Lazy Technology threw the answer in his face.
"You are Mr. Ellis? The Mr. Ellis who got this legendary ticket?" The two Middle Easterners sitting across from each other exchanged something in a low voice, and suddenly showed a dazed look. One of them said: "I I would also like to thank you, Mr. Ellis, if it weren't for your persistence, I'm afraid we would have missed this miracle."
Ellis didn't know what to say, he just felt his face hurt and he was slapped.
"Of course, my dad is the best." His daughter didn't understand his embarrassment at all, and was still proud.
Alice could only smile wryly.
"I'm going to bid for the next legendary boat ticket for the legendary journey. Where do you think I should aim?" The Middle Eastern man was very polite and asked Ellis for advice in a very low profile, "The Silence They can all fly, it seems that nothing can stop them?"
Ellis didn't know what to say anymore, yes, the Silence even flew, so what could stop them?
"Dear passengers, I am the captain of the Silence, Lu Xingcheng. The Silence is about to start accelerating. Please stay seated. If you can, please hold on to the armrests of the seats. The Silence is about to accelerate. Three...two... ...one..." A steady male voice sounded on the radio.
The uppermost floor of the Silence is a place that only important personnel of the Silence can go to. This is the center of the entire ship—the bridge.
Standing in front of the huge glass curtain wall, Lu Xingcheng couldn't hide his excitement. All the crew members took a deep breath and waited for Lu Xingcheng's order.
After Lu Xingcheng counted to one, a crew member suddenly pushed down another putter at hand.
The push rod on the left controls the underwater propulsion system of the Silence, while the one on the right is the air propulsion system.
"Boom!" A deep roar sounded, and four thick flames suddenly spewed out from the rear of the Silence, driving the Silence to fly forward wildly.
"Dear passengers, the Silence has taken off, you can leave your seat and move around freely, but please don't stick any part of your body out of the hull..."
Silence's flight was very steady.
Flying using air buoyancy is the most stable way.
Stable as if parked on land.
In fact, ships with thousands of tons are no longer afraid of storms, and those giant ships of tens of thousands of tons of human beings can calm down tropical storms like gentle wind and light rain.
Not to mention, today's weather is very good.
From Madagascar, Dar es Salaam, to Mount Kilimanjaro, the Silence has been advancing at a constant speed almost all the time.
The Silence didn't fly very high, it seemed to deliberately keep it at an altitude of about 1,000 meters.
Sometimes the Silence would break through some of the underlying clouds, and whenever that happened, Alice's daughter would cheer and stand up and run around.
At this time, the Silence is semi-enclosed, and there are transparent glass curtain wall baffles around the hull to block the howling wind.
Even using the engine to accelerate, the speed of the Silence is still not too fast, probably only a little faster than the speed in the water, about four to five hundred kilometers per hour. (To be continued.)