Chapter 852 Refueling in the Air

It is impossible for any kind of technology to be in the lead all the time, so it must be continuously improved, and the same is true for the Atlantic airliner.

At the beginning, after the completion of the development of the Atlantic passenger plane, it became the only passenger plane that could fly across the ocean without stopping. This kind of passenger plane has advanced performance and immediately opened up transoceanic routes.

The Hughes company also made enough money.

However, other airlines, of course, are not far behind. There are already many companies planning to develop this kind of passenger aircraft. So, if Hughes wants to continue to maintain its advanced nature, it is natural to have new aircraft plans.

Hughes has always cooperated with Junkers. The Atlantic 1 passenger plane is their masterpiece, and now, what Howard is about to inspect is the Atlantic 2 cargo plane.

In addition to transporting passengers, transporting goods is also an important aspect. After all, some goods want to be transshipped as soon as possible, which is also the original intention of postal aircraft.

This aircraft is not simply a modification on the basis of the Atlantic No. 1 passenger aircraft. The important airframes are almost completely newly developed.

For cargo planes, you need to find a way to increase the volume of the cargo compartment, especially the width and height, so that large items can be transported.

When Howard came to the company, he saw a large cargo plane on the runway, preparing to take off.

This plane is completely developed according to the needs of freight transportation. The fuselage is very wide. It seems that it is no problem to put several trucks in it. Moreover, the hatch at the rear is opened downwards, which can be used as a slope for unloading. , which are of trans-generational significance.

Four engines, rumbling about to take off from the runway, were stopped by a team of guards as Howard's car tried to approach.

"Graff? Is the Fuhrer Cyric here?" Howard asked quite excitedly. He didn't expect to meet the Fuhrer's captain here.

"The head of state is right in front." After seeing Howard, Graff also expressed his friendliness, checked Howard, and let him go.

"Führer Cyric, it's a pleasure to see you." Howard ran to Cyric, stood beside him, and said.

"Well, Howard, it's just in time. Come and see our cargo plane, this time there's an important experiment going on," Cyric said.

On the runway, this specially modified cargo plane was built in full accordance with the requirements put forward by the German military. For example, the carrying capacity is ten tons, just enough to fit an amphibious tank. Inside the cargo compartment of a cargo plane, there is a large oil tank!

Sitting on the little Maza next to Cyric, Howard watched the cargo plane take off slowly. With the improvement of technology, the engines on both sides have been increased to 1800 horsepower, and even further increased to 2100 horsepower. Ability, however, the plane is still slowly, almost until the end of the runway, it can be regarded as pulling up.

In addition to the heavy load, the increase in wind resistance due to the thick shape has a great relationship.

Watching the plane take off slowly, Howard couldn't help but say: "It seems that four engines are no longer suitable, I think, we can insert a section inside the wing of the plane, add two more, become Six engines, that's more appropriate."

Howard's words made the Air Force Commander Richthofen nervous for a while. This Howard is simply a genius. His idea is actually a project that Junkers is secretly researching, code-named Junkers-390!

After all, the power of the propeller engine is limited. If you increase the power, the heat dissipation problem is not easy to solve. Therefore, it is a good idea to increase the number of engines. After calculation, if you add two more engines, the carrying capacity of the aircraft can be increased to 20. Tons of orders of magnitude!

At the same time, the flight range of the aircraft will also be greatly increased. Such Junkers-390 will meet the heavy task of traveling to and from Europe and the United States.

With the deterioration of relations between the United States and Germany, this project, which was not told to Hughes, was a self-developed project of Junkers.

"Howard, your idea is good." Cyric said: "Now, there are a lot of large aircraft developed in the United States, right?"

Howard nodded: "Yes, especially Boeing, they are developing an airliner, which is almost identical to our Atlantic One airliner. We also planned to sue them on the patent, but it was rejected."

Boeing? In Cyric's mind, the last incident, the German bomber's sneak attack on New York, USA suddenly appeared.

At that time, all witnesses confirmed that it was the German Junker-290 bomber, which of course Germany would not admit.

This incident completely ignited the fuse of the American people, making the Americans begin to hate Germany and support the United Kingdom. After that, Germany investigated all Atlantic passenger planes and proved that they did not participate in the operation at that time.

Since it is not disguised as an Atlantic airliner, it must be another bomber! Now that I think about it, the facts are very clear, but I was kept in the dark at the time!

This Boeing aircraft will get the title of B-29 in the future, Cyric is very sure of this, that is to say, this kind of aircraft is doing the trick!

Let Reinhardt investigate secretly, and Roosevelt must be discredited!

As he was talking, he heard a deafening sound in the sky in the distance, that was the plane returning!

Everyone's eyes turned to the sky, and they saw that the cargo plane that took off just now had a pipe sticking out from the middle and rear of the fuselage. At the tail of the pipe, there was a conical thing. , it was shaking back and forth.

Howard took two glances and saw the name: "Air refueling? Yes, if we have this technology, we can extend the flight range of the plane! When the opportunity arises, we can conduct a global non-stop flight. !"

Yes, refueling in the air! Cyric was here, of course, to inspect the technology.

At this time, in the back, an Atlantic passenger plane was also flying over. The two planes were cruising back and forth, and the plane behind them kept getting closer and closer.

In later generations, aerial refueling is a very difficult technology. In the airflow, the cone sleeve is constantly shaking, and it is very difficult to align the refueling pipe of the oil receiver.

It is also shaking now, but there is an advantage now that the flight speed of the propeller plane can be very low. For example, now, the two planes almost maintain a speed of 200 kilometers per hour.

At this speed, it is not difficult to adjust. After the oil receiver has been slightly adjusted several times, the pilot pushed the control lever forward decisively, only to see that the tapered sleeve stably covers the front of the passenger plane's nose. on that expansion tube.

The connection is successful!