Chapter 440 Passenger Aircraft and Aircraft Carriers
Arthur adhered to the principle that the European war was the best time for Australasia to develop. When the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme were launched in Europe, Australasia's development was not delayed.
First of all, the third phase of the Leonora Industrial Base has been fully completed and put into production, which is great news for Australasia.
The total construction area of the third phase of the entire Leonora Industrial Base is as high as tens of thousands of acres, which can accommodate more than 500 super-large factories, nearly 2,000 small and medium-sized factories and hundreds of large storage areas.
This industrial base alone will create at least 550,000 jobs for the country and promote the development of Australasia's industry, mining, economy, people's livelihood and other aspects.
With the support of the Australasia government, the factory buildings of the Leonora Industrial Base are basically full, and nearly 3,000 large and small factories have moved in.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Leonora Industrial Base is the Ruhr area of Australasia, and it is the focus and heart of Australasia's current industry.
According to the Australasian government's forecast, throughout 1916, the total production capacity of the Leonora Industrial Base will account for more than one-third of the Australasian industry, which is much more than the total industrial output value of all non-Australian regions.
Thanks to the completion of the third phase of the Leonora Industrial Base, the current total steel production in Australasia has reached nearly 7 million tons, and has grown rapidly in the past two years.
In addition to the growth in industry, the total cultivated land area in Australasia has reached 34.45 million acres, and the per capita cultivated land area has reached 2.09 acres, and has always remained above two acres.
Of the total cultivated land area of 34.45 million acres, Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) has a total of 31.13 million acres, and colonies and territories have 3.32 million acres.
The annual grain production in Australasia has reached more than 16 million tons, and the annual export grain has reached a terrifying 10 million tons.
This is not a small number. With the deepening of the war, the per capita food distribution in European countries has been greatly reduced.
If 10 million tons of food is saved, it is enough to feed 50 million people for a year. Even in the previous peacetime, it is enough for at least 40 million people to eat for a year.
The food of Australasia is exported to Western Europe and Eastern Europe. It is an important food supply area for Britain, France and Russia, and also a supply area for meat, cattle and sheep.
From the beginning of the war to the present, Australasia has been able to export more than two million cattle and sheep to Europe every year. In addition to canned food made from wild rabbit meat, camel meat, kangaroo meat, etc., Australasia's total meat exports to Europe have reached a terrifying million tons each year.
It is no exaggeration to say that Australasia is an important food and meat supply area in Europe, providing important supplies for millions of troops.
Arthur is very satisfied with the growth of Australasia's agriculture. If the newly acquired colonies are developed, Australasia's annual output will increase even more.
Not to mention the current population of more than 16 million, even if the population doubles, it is fully capable of feeding.
In addition to the development of industry and agriculture, Arthur was most satisfied with the transportation construction in Australasia.
After the industry, railways and northern railways, the construction of the eastern railway has been completed for the most part.
The Western Railway in Western Australia and the railways in the eastern region of Australia connecting Queensland, New South Wales, the Capital Territory and Victoria have all been completed.
Currently, the only remaining railway line in South Australia from Darwin to Port Augusta is expected to be completed by the end of 1917.
For Australasia, the most important railways in the western industrial zone and the eastern developed zone have been completed, and the total mileage of Australasia's railways has exceeded 30,000 kilometers.
In addition to the completion of the central railway, there is another more important thing for Australasia, that is, the increase in train speed.
Under the hard research of engine expert Diesel, the new locomotives adopted by the Australasia Transportation Department use the dual-power mode of steam and internal combustion engines to stabilize the speed at more than 62 miles (100 kilometers), and can exceed 70 miles (115 kilometers) during downhill periods.
After many tests, it has been determined that this type of locomotive has strong stability, and it was then purchased in large quantities by the transportation department and used in railway transportation.
The breakthrough in train speed is a very important achievement for Australasia. Australasia is a country with a very large land area, and the most important native Australia region is also very large.
Australia has a distance of thousands of kilometers both north-south and east-west.
This means that if you start from the westernmost part to the easternmost part, it will take at least a week to arrive at the previous train speed.
But after adopting the new locomotive, in theory, it only takes two days to get from the westernmost part to the easternmost part of Australia.
This can greatly facilitate exchanges between states and regions in Australia, and also facilitate the government's transportation of materials between regions in Australia.
After Australasia's total railway mileage has reached the top six in the world, Australasia's transportation capacity has become world-class and can properly deal with any accidents that break out in any region.
In the next construction plan of the transportation department, in addition to thoroughly improving the construction of the central railway, a large number of railways will be built in the newly occupied areas, including New Guinea Island, Sulawesi Island and the Persian Gulf coast, to strengthen the ruling power in these areas.
At the same time, Australasia, the Murray River coast, New Zealand, etc. will also further build railways to ensure that the army can quickly reach every inch of the country.
Of course, the major military factories in Australasia are not idle. The independent Royal Aircraft Factory can manufacture more than 500 aircraft each year, and the agricultural machinery factory has built more than 500 T-14 tanks.
Whether it is the fourth-generation military aircraft or the T-14 tank, it is the last trump card hidden in the dark by Australasia.
It also represents the top technology of Australasia's military technology and is an important guarantee for Australasia to safeguard its national interests.
Arthur does not plan to make the T-14 tank public for the time being. After all, this tank technology is at least ten years ahead of the British tank.
At most, when the third-generation tank is about to be born, the technology of the first-generation tank will be made public to the public in exchange for sufficient funds.
Such means are used by many countries now and in the future. Theoretically, no country will expose its latest technology unless it reaches the most critical moment.
As the saying goes, the trump card you think is just my conventional weapon, and my conventional weapon is your trump card.
In any case, it is necessary to ensure that military technology is ahead of most or even all countries before you can realize your plan unscrupulously.
There is also good news for Arthur, that is, in addition to military aircraft, the research of civil aircraft, that is, passenger aircraft, has also made considerable progress.
It has been six years since the successful development of the previous generation of passenger aircraft SF-1, which is jokingly called Big Belly No. 1 by researchers.
After the joint efforts of multiple factories such as the engine research room and the former aviation laboratory, Big Belly No. 2, a passenger aircraft officially code-named SF-2, was officially developed and has undergone preliminary tests.
When Arthur received the news, he immediately rushed to the current Royal Aircraft Construction Factory to check it out.
Compared with the less stable airship, the plane is undoubtedly a better choice for travel. Not only can it save more time than the airship, but it is also safer than the airship.
The maximum load-carrying weight of the SF-2 passenger aircraft is 3.7 tons. In addition to being able to carry 12 passengers including the pilot, it can also transport more than 500 kilograms of luggage.
After the engine upgrade, the average flight speed of the SF-2 has been able to reach 190 kilometers per hour, and the maximum flight speed can exceed 215 kilometers.
This speed is almost twice the speed of the improved train and more than three times the speed of the train before the improvement.
In addition, the fuel tank has been upgraded. The maximum range of the SF-2 equipped with a larger fuel tank has exceeded 1,700 kilometers, which can greatly facilitate people's daily travel.
If you take a train, it will take at least 2 to 3 days to get from the westernmost to the easternmost part of Australia.
But if you take a plane instead, it will take only a little more than a day to arrive.
If you are equipped with a few more auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum cruising distance can be expanded to more than 2,000 kilometers, saving refueling time on the way.
Of course, the current airplanes, like airships, are only a way for rich people to travel.
Because each plane has only 12 seats, excluding a pilot, the maximum number of passengers that can be carried is only 11 people.
This leads to the current passenger aircraft serving more governments and senior officials, and it is basically impossible to popularize it to the middle and low-income people in a short time.
Even in the future, there are still a large number of people who cannot afford to take a plane, let alone more than 100 years ago.
According to the aircraft manufacturer's estimate, the cost of a SF-2 passenger aircraft like this is at least 2,000 pounds.
This also means that even if it is just to share the cost, each of the 11 passengers will have to share nearly 200 pounds, 400 Australian dollars.
This is 7 to 8 times the average annual income of Australasia. It is impossible for the middle and low-income people to spend nearly ten years of salary to experience a flight.
Although it seems that the cost of an airplane is lower than that of an airship, it is actually the opposite.
At present, the ticket price for an airship around the world has been reduced to about 600 pounds, but if you use an airplane to travel around the world, it will cost at least 50,000 pounds, which is more than 4,700 pounds per seat.
Looking at the whole world, those who can spend nearly 5,000 pounds to travel around the world are definitely the top leaders of their countries.
If airplanes want to be truly popularized, they may have to wait until the end of World War II.
This does not prevent Arthur from planning to build airports in various parts of Australasia, which can facilitate his inspections in various parts of Australasia and facilitate domestic and foreign exchanges.
For Arthur, the royal family's special plane and his own special plane are indispensable. Arthur even has plans to build a special royal private airport near Sydney Palace to facilitate the royal family's daily travel.
The most obvious point is that the line distance between Sydney and Warrington is only more than 2,200 kilometers. Under the premise of being equipped with two auxiliary fuel tanks, the SF-2 passenger aircraft can already arrive in one trip, realizing twelve-hour mutual access between Australia and New Zealand.
As the two most important and core regions in Australasia, the distance of more than 2,000 kilometers makes the communication between the two regions slow.
With the technology of the second-generation passenger aircraft, it is helpful for the communication between the high-level officials of the two regions, and it can make the connection between Australia and New Zealand closer.
If we can wait for the faster and more convenient third-generation passenger aircraft in the future, I am afraid that it will no longer be a dream for New Zealanders to travel to Australia in ten hours.
Before that, because of the reason of crossing the ocean, the communication between the two regions can only choose ships or airships.
However, there are not many stops in New Zealand for international round-the-world voyages, resulting in most of the routes from Sydney to Wellington being Australasia's own.
First, there are fewer airship flights, and second, the price will be more expensive than the round-the-world voyage.
And it takes at least two days for a ship to go back and forth between the two places, and even three to four days.
It also makes the previous Australia and New Zealand regions always have a sense of estrangement, and there is a big gap in the development of the two regions.
Of course, Arthur will never take the second-generation passenger aircraft before it has been effectively tested.
This period will take at least a year. First, the Royal Aircraft Factory will build a special plane for Arthur and the royal family. Second, a large number of flights will be used to test the reliability of the aircraft and ensure the safety of the royal family members taking the plane.
In addition to the passenger aircraft of the Royal Aircraft Factory, there is also good news for the Sydney Royal Dockyard.
Six years have passed since Arthur proposed the theory of aircraft carriers. After many experiments and studies, the Sydney Royal Dockyard has also achieved certain results.
In fact, although there are no real aircraft carriers in the world at present, the British have achieved real carrier-based aircraft flight as early as four years ago.
In 1912, the British Charles Samson made a great attempt. He took off from the anchored "Africa" battleship in a Short S.27 biplane. The "runway" was a temporary deck.
Four months later, at the naval review held in Weymouth, England, Samson once again took off from the front deck of the sailing "Hibernia" battleship in a biplane at a speed of 15 knots.
This achievement shocked all the officers watching on the scene, and also made countries around the world begin to pay attention to the research of water take-off platforms, that is, aircraft carriers.
The Sydney Royal Dockyard also found inspiration from this example, and has now come up with two relatively mature aircraft carrier design plans.
The first aircraft carrier design plan is to refer to the British case, transform the battleship into an aircraft carrier, and use the front deck for upwind takeoff.
The advantage of this design is that it retains the combat effectiveness of the battleship. After all the aircraft have taken off completely, the aircraft carrier can immediately become a battleship and put into battle.
But the bad news is that because the aircraft carrier is transformed from the main body of the battleship, the length of the deck is not enough, and it needs to be upwind and have enough speed to allow the aircraft to take off.
Secondly, a deck that is too short can not accommodate many carrier-based aircraft, and the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier depends entirely on the number and performance of the carrier-based aircraft, which also dooms such an aircraft carrier to have low combat effectiveness.
The third is also a deck problem. Because the deck is too short, the landing of the aircraft is also a big problem.
Britain and France have done some research on such aircraft carriers, but they have never been able to solve the problem of aircraft takeoff and landing. Too short a deck will cause a certain probability of failure during takeoff and landing, and even the aircraft will slide into the sea uncontrollably.
The design of the second aircraft carrier completely abandoned the previous battleship design.
The aircraft carrier of the second option is mainly composed of a long deck, armor protection, anti-aircraft weapons, power system and aircraft carrier area.
Under the premise of a larger volume, it does not have the firepower of a battleship. Such an aircraft carrier relies entirely on the combat effectiveness of carrier-based aircraft. In addition to its own certain anti-aircraft firepower, it has no means of fighting the enemy.
But the good news is that an aircraft carrier designed in this way can carry more carrier-based aircraft, and because the deck is long enough, the aircraft can take off calmly under any circumstances.
There is also an interception device at the rear of the deck. Ensure that the aircraft glides for a distance after landing, and is then intercepted on the deck by the interception device and does not fall into the sea.
Because it has an independent aircraft carrier area, which is the so-called hangar, an aircraft carrier designed in this way can carry more than 20 carrier-based aircraft. From the perspective of aircraft carriers, the second design of aircraft carriers is far superior to the first in terms of combat effectiveness.
The two designs of aircraft carriers have their own advantages and disadvantages. The first design is more conservative and strikes a balance between aircraft carriers and battleships. Aircraft carriers can at least be used as battleships.
The second design is more extreme. It is a true aircraft carrier, and its combat effectiveness depends entirely on the 20 carrier-based aircraft.
The Sydney Royal Dockyard submitted both aircraft carrier designs to Arthur, who determined the development direction of the Australasian aircraft carrier.
If Arthur was not a time traveler, he might choose the first one. After all, even if the aircraft carrier is useless, it can be used as a battleship.
But Arthur understands that battleships will be replaced by aircraft carriers sooner or later. Even if the current battleships have powerful firepower and armor protection, their reconnaissance range and firepower coverage are far inferior to aircraft carriers.
Aircraft carriers can dispatch a large number of carrier-based aircraft to directly destroy battleships from tens of kilometers away.
Unless the battleship has excellent air defense capabilities, otherwise, facing these threats in the sky, the battleship really has no good way.
Without much hesitation, Arthur immediately determined the design of the second aircraft carrier, and named the design of this aircraft carrier the Giant-class aircraft carrier, and handed it over to the Sydney Royal Dockyard for construction.
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