The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1566 Flight Test (Part 2)

Franz smiled.

"Big things have their uses, and small things have their advantages. After all, we can't expect those large warships and cargo ships to navigate small canals. You should have noticed when you went to London that our ships simply couldn't sail on the Thames."

Similarly, we can't build a railway in every alley, so horse-drawn carriages remain the most common mode of transportation.

Olga nodded as if she understood, though she still had questions in her mind, since there were no terrain obstacles in the sky. But she was a smart woman and knew when to stop.

Franz offered a reward of 100,000 florins this time, believing that 17 minutes and 51 seconds was roughly the limit for Austrian Imperial aircraft at that time, and that there was probably a considerable element of luck involved.

In fact, Franz himself was already quite satisfied if the Austrian Empire could produce a truly practical aircraft within twenty years.

Test flights continued, and soon another prototype achieved an impressive time of 9 minutes and 52 seconds. This time, it was finally Vincent Augustin's turn, a result of research by the Austrian Imperial Arms Development Bureau.

Franz had to admit that the technology of this era was developing too fast, and if it continued to develop, his previous ideas would most likely become obsolete.

But this is also part of the surprise.
Testing of the fourteenth prototype began. This prototype did not use the safer drop hammer launch method, but instead used the more advanced catapult-gravity launch system.

Due to the intense friction, the aircraft even generated a burst of sparks as it accelerated through the track.

Although thirteen of the fourteen prototypes were biplanes, the number 14 had a significantly faster takeoff speed.

After climbing to its apex, prototype number 14 began its descent, attempting to pass over the podium. This put the security personnel on high alert, who immediately aimed their weapons at the diving prototype.

Wilhelm von Akengnitz, on the other hand, raised his hands and shouted.

"Don't fly this way!"

Fortunately, prototype number 14 did not head directly towards Franz's location, but instead temporarily changed course and flew towards Vienna.

Bordeaux immediately said.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, please move to another place. It is not safe here. We do not know if we can handle that thing in the sky."

Franz ignored Bordeaux's suggestion and was using his binoculars to track the movements of prototype number 14.

There was no doubt that the performance of this prototype and the pilot's skill level far surpassed all previous combinations, and Franz was eager to witness the miracle before him.

The prototype number 14 flew over Vienna, but the anticipated commotion did not occur, and it didn't even attract much attention. Only children pointed to the sky and exclaimed, "There's a big bird!"

"Nonsense! That's an eagle!"

Someone immediately corrected him.

"It's so big, it must be a mountain eagle from the Alps."

"Make a wish quickly!"

Prototype number 14 seemed to realize that she was being ignored, but the risk of low-altitude flight was too high, so she did not dare to try it recklessly and chose to fly over the Danube River.

At first, Dr. Milos was somewhat dismissive, but as time went by, Prototype 14 easily broke Prototype 9's record and was still making more attempts.

20 minutes, 25 minutes, 30 minutes, the record became more and more outrageous. At 33 minutes and 06 seconds, she had surpassed the Wright brothers' Flyer III, which made Franz clench his fist.

The final time was 39 minutes and 46 seconds. Number 14 completely lost power and plunged into the Danube River before it could even adjust its direction.

Fortunately, a ship happened to be passing by, and a group of sailors used fishing nets and ropes to pull out the prototype No. 14.

Franz then looked at the documents in his hand.

Designer: Countess Talia von Ossent; Test pilot: Countess Talia von Ossent.
Franz finally understood why number 14 had gone so crazy. Fortunately, Talia only choked on some water and was otherwise unharmed.

Franz looked at Talia, who had just been pulled out of the water, and said helplessly.

"Why are you still so crazy?"

"whee."

All the words are contained in these two words.

After a long silence, Franz finally spoke.

"You win. You'll get independent funding, are you satisfied?"

Talia nodded, and Franz continued.

"You're not young anymore, don't be so crazy. Are you trying to be like Icarus?"

(Icarus, the Greek mythological figure who flew towards the sun with wings made of candles.)
"I just wanted to see where this plane's limits were."

Talia countered with a question, then answered it herself.

"But in the pursuit, one forgets oneself."

"Okay. Take your money, go back and take a hot shower, don't catch a cold."

Talia picked up the box and threw the money and vouchers inside to her team.

At this time, Talia's team consisted of only two female members, with the rest being male.

This makes sense, since it would be a fantasy if a scientific team composed entirely of women were to emerge that could easily defeat everything.

It's not surprising that Talia became a pilot. In fact, it's somewhat counterintuitive that at that time, almost all the test pilots in the Austrian Empire were women.

It is well known that there are very few women among modern pilots, and there are almost no women in the high-risk profession of test pilot.

However, this was the 19th century, and the performance of aircraft could not compare with that of later second-, third-, and fourth-generation aircraft, so the body did not have to bear such a heavy load.

Moreover, at this point, the most important thing for these prototypes was that they could fly, so weight reduction was paramount.

At this time, there were almost no poor people among those who could participate in aircraft research. In an era when ordinary men considered a beer belly to be beautiful, one can imagine the weight of these rich young men.

Almost all advertisements recruiting test pilots require applicants to weigh less than 50 kilograms, be able to read basic watch faces, and have a certain learning ability.

In fact, according to some researchers who take a more extreme view, pilots are best suited to be children or dwarfs.

However, the largest group that actually meets the criteria is the female students of the Vienna Royal Women's Academy. In Vienna, where high-sugar and fried foods are prevalent, it is not easy to find a suitable male test pilot, but if women are included, there are plenty of people who meet the criteria.

On the other hand, Talia was probably the person in the world, besides Franz, who had the deepest understanding of airplanes at that time.

When Franz was little, he told Talia many stories. Some of them he himself had forgotten, but Talia remembered the descriptions clearly. After all, those stories were so wonderful to her that they even overturned her understanding.

Moreover, Thalia and her Royal Women's Academy were probably the world's first group to conduct large-scale research on aircraft, starting much earlier than other teams in the Austrian Empire and having access to far more resources.

Just as Talia finished scattering the money and was about to leave in style, she noticed that her prized student was staring intently at Franz.

"Let's go! Looks like I should give you a good wash!"

(End of this chapter)