I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 918 Junkers Transport Plane

There is only one chapter today, I will make up for it tomorrow, sorry!
……

Charles was in no hurry to go to the Toulon shipyard.

Things have their priorities. There is no rush for aircraft carriers, but matters related to warships often take months or even years, so a few days late is not a big deal.

Charles believed that what was always important was airplanes. Even aircraft carriers served airplanes. Without the development of airplanes, everything else would lose its meaning.

As soon as Charles entered the aircraft manufacturing plant's research institute, he was surrounded by a group of researchers:

"Hey, Boss, tell us about the front line?"

"I heard that you won another victory at the Meuse River. Did our planes perform any more missions?"

"Yes. I heard that our planes are better than those of the British Expeditionary Force?"

……

"Yes, of course," Charles replied. "The Snipe played an important role. They were the basis of our victory, there is no doubt about that."

Then he asked with interest: "Are you very interested in this? I mean, wouldn't it embarrass you to compare with the British Expeditionary Force?"

Most of the technicians in the institute are British, and what they are doing now seems to be helping Charles help France defeat their homeland.

I didn't expect the technicians to be so open-minded:
"It was a little weird at first, but only a little."

"We soon realised that it was you, Boss, who actually defeated the British Expeditionary Force, not us."

"Yes, we are very clear about that and we are moving in the direction the boss wants us to go and that has always been the case."

……

Dorn came up to them in his work clothes with holes and oil stains. He took off his gloves and shook hands with Charles: "They are right, boss. Don't worry that we will have psychological barriers to defeating the British army. This will be our goal!"

The technicians laughed and some nodded in agreement.

Dorn stepped aside and led Ciel towards the airport. As they walked, he spoke with emotion in his voice:

“If it weren’t for you, it wouldn’t just be the funding you provided, it would be more important to have your ideas.”

"Then we wouldn't have achieved what we have now."

"A year ago we were a car company on the verge of bankruptcy, still thinking about how to win races and get funding and sponsorship."

"No one would have thought that one year later our 'car' would fly into the sky and become the fastest thing in the world..."

As he spoke, Dorn pulled open the door of the institute, and an all-metal plane appeared in Charles' sight.

She was covered in the sunset, like a golden coat, standing quietly at the door. Several ground staff were busy doing routine checks on her.

She stands like an isolated island in the ocean, or like a crane among chickens. She seems out of place among the wooden machines, but she is as dazzling as a rising star.

Charles' eyes were completely attracted by it, and he didn't want to look away for a moment. He blurted out a cry of praise: "You made it, you really made it! Incredible!"

This was something that would only be available a dozen years later, when Dorn and the others brought her to the Charles with their own hands.

"Yes!" Dawn nodded proudly, "She's beautiful, isn't she? We call her 'Jenny'." There was a hint of sadness in Dawn's smile as he said this.

Charles noticed something, but didn't ask any more questions.

Later, Charles learned that "Jenny" was Dawn's lover, who died in a car accident the year before.

When Ciel heard the news, his first reaction was "Great".

This shows that the emotions that Dawn invested in the plane went beyond his career, money and research itself; she became Dawn's spiritual sustenance.

This is the kind of obsession Charles wants.

"Would you like to introduce her?" asked Charles.

"Oh, yes." Dorn seemed to wake up from his memories. He stepped forward and patted the aluminum plate of the aircraft, as if stroking his lover's hair:
"After your reminder, we tried to build a full metal shell for the aircraft."

“Then we heard that the Germans had tried it, but it wasn’t very successful.”

"The reason is that their engines only have 120 horsepower and they use iron plates, steel pipes and forgings which are too heavy."

(The two pictures above show the first all-metal aircraft, the J-1, and its inventor, Junkers. It was successfully tested in 1915, but because of insufficient engine horsepower and a heavy fuselage, its flight altitude could only barely reach 900 meters, and its payload was only 110 kilograms. Its performance was not as good as that of wooden aircraft, so it was not optimistic.)

Donne continued:
“We improved the German version and used corrugated sheets to increase the strength of the structure.”

"The engine horsepower has been further increased and now reaches 390 horsepower. This has made the test flight of 'Jenny' very successful, with a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour."

"The only drawback is that it is too large for a dive bomber. Next we will further reduce its weight and size."

(The picture above shows the corrugated plate commonly used in low-speed aircraft with a speed of less than 300 kilometers per hour. This concave and convex structure can enhance its own strength and can be made thinner, and the support frame can be used as little as possible)
Charles circled "Jenny" half a circle. He looked at the plane and felt that it looked familiar, but he couldn't tell what model it was.

When he stood in front of the nose of the plane, Charles suddenly remembered that this was a German "Junkers 52" transport plane, but the "Jenny" in front of him was a single-engine and smaller in size than the "Junkers 52".

(The picture above shows the Junkers 1930 transport aircraft that first flew in Germany in 52.)
Without giving it much thought, Ciel turned to Dorn and said, "One direction is to reduce the size and develop it into a dive bomber. Another direction is to increase the size and use it as a transport aircraft."

"Transport plane?" Dorn looked at Charles in confusion. "But now the weight has almost reached the limit of the engine. If it is enlarged, even if it can take off, I am afraid it can't carry many people or things."

Charles' answer was straightforward: "Change it to a three-engine aircraft and add another engine on each wing."

Dawn was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

It seemed like a good layout, he thought, but the demand for transport planes during wartime did not seem so urgent. He didn't understand why the boss put it at the same level as the "dive bomber".

Charles didn't think so.

Transport aircraft are no less important than fighter jets and bombers on the battlefield.

Fighters are used to gain air superiority, and bombers are used to destroy important targets.

Transport aircraft are not just used to transport supplies or people as most people imagine.

It could take warfare to another stage: infantrymen transformed into paratroopers, who suddenly appeared behind enemy lines from the air to launch an attack.

If such a force could be developed in this era, and combined with armored and mechanized forces to attack, the German "Fortress of Liege" and "Hindenburg Line" would collapse like dominoes!
Ciel can't wait to put on a show!

(End of this chapter)