African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1497 Jet

1930 6 Month 7 Day.

Bulawayo, Lorraine Province.

Since 1896, when Bulawayo separated from the former Matabele Province and merged into the new Lorraine Province and became its capital, Bulawayo has become one of the centers of the Bohemian Industrial Zone in East Africa that can compete with the city of Harare. The relationship between the two is like that of Lubumbashi and Kitwe in the East African Copper Belt. They were originally within the industrial system and then separated.

Of course, unlike Kitwe which was incorporated into the Central Province, an important task of Bulawayo's separation from the former Matabele Industrial Zone is to drive the development of the regional economy, especially taking into account the economic development of the vast area of ​​the Kalahari Basin.

Therefore, the location of Lorraine Province is roughly the southwestern part of Zimbabwe in the past, as well as most of central and eastern Botswana.

By 1929, the population of Bulawayo had grown to , ranking among the upper-tier medium-sized cities in East Africa, and it also had strong industrial strength. In the last century, Bulawayo had become one of East Africa's industrial cities, especially its two traditional industries of textiles and steel, which were well-known throughout East Africa.

After becoming the capital of Lorraine Province, Bulawayo's industry took a further step towards all-round development, achieving remarkable results in both heavy and light industries.

In terms of heavy industry, Lorraine Province is very rich in coal resources. For example, the largest coal mines in Zimbabwe and Botswana in the past are all located in the current Lorraine Province in East Africa. At the same time, there are also certain iron mines distributed in the region, which is also the basis for the development of the early Bulawayo steel industry.

In addition, Lorraine is rich in chromite, manganese, nickel, etc., which makes Bulawayo an important production area of ​​special steel in East Africa. Therefore, the steel from Lorraine is very competitive in the international market. During World War I, it was exported in large quantities to Germany and other countries to meet their military needs.

In the field of light industry, the most representative industry in Bulawayo is the textile industry. Bulawayo was once one of the two major textile centers along with Nairobi. In 1929, Bulawayo's textile output reached a new high.

In terms of raw materials, due to the special environment of Lorraine Province, it is very suitable for cotton cultivation. Over the years, the Lorraine Provincial Government has continuously built new water conservancy facilities, developed more cotton fields in the west, and improved the level of mechanization to meet the needs of the Bulawayo textile industry.

In terms of the market, the population of East Africa has been growing rapidly in recent years, and with the improvement of living standards, the demand for textiles has also been rising.

With the full combination of raw materials and markets, and relying on Bulawayo's already strong mechanical manufacturing industry, by 1929, Bulawayo's textile industry had further consolidated its position in East Africa and surpassed Nairobi to become the largest cotton textile center in East Africa.

As for Nairobi, which was once the most important cotton textile center in East Africa, it has been relatively declining in recent years, with the rise of cotton textile industries in many regions such as Lorraine Province, Northern Province, Juba Province, Turkana Province, Nile Province, and West Coast Province.

Nairobi's textile industry has been greatly affected and is now transforming to develop the planting and processing of other cash crops such as tea and coffee, while vigorously developing the jewelry industry.

The textile industry, which Nairobi once prided itself on, has declined relatively, and in other industrial areas, Nairobi cannot even be compared with its old rival, Bulawayo.

The two once-famous textile centers of East Africa are now in completely different situations, largely because Bulawayo has become the capital of Lorraine Province.

In the past, Bulawayo was only the second largest city in Matabele Province in East Africa, and its comprehensive strength was comparable to that of Nairobi. However, with the status of provincial capital, it is no surprise that it has surpassed Nairobi.

In the future, it is unlikely that Nairobi will overtake Bulawayo, because Bulawayo is also ahead of Nairobi in emerging industries, the most famous of which is Bulawayo's aerospace industry.

Aviation and aerospace are two fields. To put it simply, the former is aircraft research and development, manufacturing and civil aviation, while the latter is the research and development and manufacturing of outer space vehicles. Bulawayo is not only the aircraft manufacturing center of East Africa, but also the aerospace industry center of East Africa.

Not only that, Bulawayo is also one of the important bases for nuclear energy research in East Africa. The nuclear test site in East Africa is built in the heart of the Kalahari Desert in the western part of Lorraine Province.

……

Bulawayo Flying Test Range.

This test site is built about seventeen kilometers northwest of Bulawayo and belongs to the East African Southern Flight Research Institute. Today, many people came to the Bulawayo Flight Test Site. They all came to visit a highly anticipated aircraft experiment.

Hai Nuoan, director of the Southern Flight Research Institute, stood outside and introduced to the crowd: "This is independently developed by my country and is also the world's first jet aircraft FT01 experimental aircraft. As you can see, this aircraft does not have propellers like traditional aircraft, but relies on turbine engines to provide power to the aircraft."

"If this flight test is successful, it will also mean that my country's aircraft manufacturing industry will enter a new stage. In the future, it will be able to further break through the limitations of aircraft range and flight speed and greatly improve aircraft performance."

The jet propulsion theory was first proposed by Captain Marconi of France and Henri Coanda of Romania. Coanda also tried to produce the earliest jet aircraft around 1910, but failed.

The research and development of jet aircraft in East Africa began in the 01s, and the FT experimental aircraft was produced in this context.

The FT01 experimental aircraft has a fuselage made of aluminum alloy and other materials, adopts a single-wing structure, and is equipped with a B2 turbo engine developed in East Africa. It can be said that it uses many of the more cutting-edge advanced technologies and materials in East Africa today.

Director Hai Nuoan said: "Whether it is the development of the military or civil aviation industry, jet aircraft have provided a new track for the aircraft industry. At present, the world's aircraft are still dominated by propeller aircraft, and only a few countries are conducting relevant research in the field of jet propulsion. However, we have not received any relevant successful cases for the time being."

East Africa did start developing jet aircraft much earlier than other countries, as early as the early 1920s. However, nearly a decade has passed now, and East Africa is no longer the only country developing jet aircraft.

For example, Britain, Austria-Hungary, Germany, etc. Among them, Britain and Austria-Hungary have made relatively outstanding progress in this field, but they mainly rely on private promotion. Governments, except for East Africa, are not very concerned about the research and development of jet aircraft, or simply do not invest at all.

This also led to the FT01 experimental aircraft becoming the world's first jet aircraft, and other countries have no successful cases at all. The flight test of the FT01 experimental aircraft at the Bulawayo Flight Test Site this time was not its first test flight. The main objects of this demonstration were colleagues from other research institutions and the military.

The most important is obviously the military, including the Air Force, Army and Navy. Needless to say, the Air Force also has its own aviation units. Therefore, the invited personnel this time cover the three major military services in East Africa.

Director Hai Nuoan stood next to Air Force Major General Tauplitz and others, introducing to them in detail the differences between the FT01 experimental aircraft and the current mainstream propeller aircraft.

He introduced the military with an eager look on his face, "Ladies and gentlemen, jet aircraft are particularly suitable for becoming the main development direction of future combat power, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Jet aircraft are equipped with turbine engines that inhale air, compress it and burn it, and then eject air at high speed to generate reaction force to propel the aircraft's navigation."

"Traditional propeller aircraft use engines to drive propellers to rotate and push airflow, which makes the two types of aircraft very different. The former not only has advantages in flight speed and range, but more importantly, it can greatly improve climbing performance and maneuverability. Therefore, jet aircraft are more suitable for use as military aircraft..."

For the current East African aircraft manufacturing industry, military orders are particularly important. After all, East Africa's civil aviation industry has just started, and the main orders still come from the military. Not to mention East Africa itself, there are quite a few airports built in East African colonies in recent years alone.

This is also the important reason why Hainuoan tried his best to sell it to the military. As long as he could get the support of the military, the Bulawayo Flight Research Institute would never lack funds in the future.

Major General Tauplitz didn't care too much about Hainuoan's description. He said, "Director Hainuoan, as the saying goes, seeing is believing, hearing is deceiving. As for the specific performance of the jet aircraft, I think you should demonstrate it first before we can talk about other things. If it is really as good as you say, then there will be room for cooperation."

For the military, Hainuoan is now a salesman, and every salesman they met in the past always only talked about the good things about their products. Therefore, he still doubted what Hainuoan said before and had to verify it with his own eyes before he could feel at ease.

Director Hai Nuoan didn't care at all about this, and said to the military personnel confidently: "Very good, next, we will start the flight test. Please be ready to witness the superior performance of the FT01 experimental aircraft."

The FT01 experimental aircraft has undergone many flight tests before, so the personnel of the Bulawayo Flight Test Range and the Flight Research Institute are full of confidence in it.

Then, at the wave of Director Hai Nuoan, the pilot received the instruction to start the aircraft engine, and the aircraft began to move slowly along the runway, then faster and faster, gradually rising, and with the roar of the engine, the FT01 experimental aircraft successfully took off.

Hai Nuoan explained to Major General Tauplitz and others: "Due to technical reasons, the noise of jet aircraft is much louder than that of propeller aircraft at present, but this does not affect its excellent flight performance."

The military personnel did not pay much attention to this point. After all, the noise of propeller aircraft is not very small, it is not that there is no noise, so the noise level of the FT01 experimental aircraft is within the acceptable range for everyone.

As the FT01 experimental aircraft moved farther and farther away from the crowd, Tauplitz picked up the telescope in his hand and began to stare closely at the jet flying in the clouds.

As experienced pilots, Toplitz and others easily discovered that the FT01 experimental aircraft was indeed flying faster than a propeller plane as Hainuoan said. Then, the plane began to perform in the air, like a dragon, moving swiftly and freely.

"Good, this mobility is quite good." Everyone praised.

After performing some simple moves, the FT01 experimental aircraft began to climb rapidly, and in a very short time, it rose an unknown number of meters.

Relying on his personal experience, Major General Tauplitz said: "The climbing ability is obviously much stronger than that of propeller aircraft. Director Hai Nuoan, I think your institute will be busy next!"

Hearing this, Hainoan was overjoyed. As a representative of the Air Force, Tauplitz's words basically meant that jet aircraft would be favored by the military in the future, and the status of the Bulawayo Flight Research Institute would also rise.

Representatives of the army and navy were not to be outdone. They also told Hainoan that the Army (Navy) Aviation Force is also willing to strengthen cooperation with the Bulawayo Flight Research Institute and the Bulawayo Aircraft Factory to develop new jet military aircraft.

In addition, some of Hainuoan’s peers and other aircraft research and development institutions in East Africa expressed their envy and congratulations to Hainuoan.

Kjodian, the representative of the Rhine Aircraft Research Institute, said to Hainuoan with a bit of bitterness: "Congratulations. This time our Rhine Aircraft Research Institute is one step behind, but our institute's project is not far from completion. I hope Director Hainuoan can come to Rhine City by then to guide our work."

There are three official aircraft research and development institutions in East Africa, each with its own jet aircraft research and development projects. Another one is the Mbeya Aircraft Research Institute. This time, the Bulawayo Flight Research Institute is ahead of them and became the first institution to develop a jet aircraft.

This is a great stimulus to the two aircraft research and development institutions in Rhine and Mbeya, because for a long time, Rhine and Mbeya have been the two most important scientific research centers in East Africa, while Dar es Salaam ranks third and Luanda ranks fourth.

The first three cities have many scientific research schools and institutions. Luanda also has a large number of universities, but it started relatively late and there are not many famous universities. However, the education and scientific research resources of these four cities are difficult for Bulawayo to achieve, especially Rhin and Mbeya.

Therefore, the Rhine Aircraft Research Institute was naturally very upset about Bulawayo's first breakthrough in jet aircraft development.

Hai Nuoan said to Kyodian with a smile: "Mr. Kyodian, I will go to Rhine City in person when the time comes. Although the conditions in Bulawayo are a little worse, in terms of the aircraft industry, it is definitely in the first echelon in the Empire. I also hope that we can make progress together."

Although the education in Bulawayo is not outstanding, it is definitely considered to be in the upper-middle level among East African cities. After all, in addition to aircraft research and development and manufacturing, there is also East Africa's aerospace test site and the country's only nuclear test site.

Therefore, the scientific research funding obtained by Bulawayo every year is firmly in the first tier among East African cities, and is not much worse than other cities. As for the shortcomings in educational resources, it depends on who it is compared with. Bulawayo cannot be compared with Rhine City, Mbeya, Dar es Salaam and Luanda, Cabinda, Mombasa, but this is not the case with other cities.

(End of this chapter)