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

Chapter 919 Skydiving
After leaving the aircraft factory, Charles went to the flying club.

The car drove straight into the Flying Club without being questioned.

This was a unique treatment for Charles. As soon as the guard saw the license plate AM-0281, and then looked down to see that the driver was Colonel Laurent, he immediately lifted the barrier and let the car pass.

(Note: French license plates were not unified during World War I, but most government vehicles were numbered. Government and civilian license plates began with the area code, "75" for Paris, and "AM" for military vehicles, the first letters of Automobile Militaire, meaning military vehicles)

Through the car window, Charles discovered that the flying club was very different from before.

The previous dilapidated appearance has completely disappeared. The airport has been widened three times, and the dilapidated houses in the construction area have been demolished. In their place are small reinforced concrete buildings. The roofs are covered with camouflage nets, probably to avoid being bombed by the Germans.

An aircraft hangar was built on one side of the airport, with more than a dozen Camel and Snipe fighters parked there. Pilots and trainees gathered nearby, learning about fighter jets amid the roar of fighter jets on the runway.

The car slowly stopped next to the command building. The command building had three floors and the walls were as thick as a bunker. The cement layer on the top was roughly half a meter thick, and there was also a layer of soil and suspended wire mesh for cushioning.

If an aerial bomb were to fall on it, it would probably only create a white dot.

Charles led the guards up to the third floor. In the middle was the headquarters of Carter, the commander of the aviation regiment.

The documents were scattered around, some piled together to form a small mountain. Just a light touch of the finger would make them "collapse" like loose sand.

There were telephones here and there, with wires tangled like a spider web, all over the floor and ceiling. Many of them were broken and not cleaned up in time.

The unshaven-bearded Carter seemed to be surrounded by documents. When the phone rang, he actually had to rummage through the "garbage dump" for a while. He answered three calls before he finally found the right one.

"Hey, shot down two enemy planes in Area D?" Carter glanced at the map on the wall and cursed, "Who told you to shoot them down? That's none of your business, Lieutenant Colonel. Next time this happens, you will all come back to be instructors!"

With a bang, he hung up the phone angrily, cursing:

"These bastards can't stop themselves once they see their target."

"That's British airspace. Don't they know that it's easy to accidentally hit friendly aircraft by doing this?"

In fact, the key point is "British airspace", and the rest are excuses.

Carter's approach fully reflects Charles's combat thinking.

When Carter looked up, he saw Charles walking in. A look of surprise flashed across his face, then a smile instantly filled his face and he stood up to greet him.

"Lieutenant General, long time no see."

The staff officers who were busy around only then noticed the "little man" who came in. They all stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes to Charles.

"You guys continue." Ciel said calmly, "Keep doing what you have to do. This is a war."

The staff officers responded and became busy again as if they had pressed the play button.

Carter welcomed Ciel into the conference room, "They don't usually act like this, it's just because of you, Lieutenant General."

Ciel frowned again as he stepped through the door.

The conference room was just as messy, with chairs and cups lying freely in every corner, coffee residue in the cups, cigarette butts on the floor, and an unpleasant smell of tobacco in the air. Can't these guys who fly planes pay a little attention to the details of life?

Carter made Charles a cup of coffee and asked cautiously, "Lieutenant General, I heard that you hope to cease fire with the Germans?"

"Yes." Charles took a sip of coffee and asked, "Colonel, are you worried about not having a war?"

"No, no." Carter smiled and hesitated, "It's just that some people want to know, if the war is over, will we have to make a living by performing again? They want to be mentally prepared!"

Charles was so surprised that his mouth was wide open.

These guys have absolutely no idea how scarce pilots are. Do they think that once the war is over they'll just give them some money and send them off like they did with the Army?
"Don't worry about that." Charles said confidently: "France will support you for the rest of your lives and will need you at any time."

"Yes, Lieutenant General." Carter felt relieved. He quickly stood up and saluted, his eyes full of gratitude.

He felt relieved after hearing what Charles said. There is nothing happier than raising us for a lifetime!
"Can you parachute?" Charles asked.

"Yes, of course," Carter replied.

Charles asked again: "Are you using parachutes?"

He had no knowledge of it, there was no documentation of it, and it seemed as if the parachute didn't exist.

"No, Lieutenant General." At Charles's signal, Carter sat on the chair: "We learned parachuting before joining the army, in order to deal with emergencies. You know, various accidents often occur during flight."

"You mean, you won't need it after you join the army?" Charles was a little confused. Wouldn't it be more dangerous to join the army and participate in air combat?
"Because parachutes won't be of any use." Carter explained: "Air combat mostly takes place at low and medium altitudes, and the difference between life and death is often only a split second. By the time the pilot realizes that he should parachute, it is often too late."

Charles said "Oh" and understood the reason.

There are other reasons, such as if you open the parachute too quickly, you will easily be caught in the propeller, and if you open the parachute too late, it will not be effective.

On the other hand, carrying a parachute will take up the limited space in the cabin, making it difficult for pilots to move around. It will also prevent pilots from concentrating on combat because they are always thinking about how to parachute in case they are hit.

After comprehensive analysis, Carter believed that the survival rate would be higher without a parachute in combat than with a parachute, especially since French fighter planes had an overall advantage.

"Parachutes are for balloonists," Carter said. "They have a more stable platform to jump from, and if the balloon is hit by an enemy plane or if the balloon loses control, they can parachute out."

France's balloons have not been eliminated and artillery is still in large quantities because France has air superiority and the German army cannot hit the French balloons.

Then Carter asked curiously, "Why does the lieutenant general want to know this?"

This is the least important thing in the army. It only concerns the lives of a few soldiers and is not worth the lieutenant general's trip.

Charles replied: "I need a group of instructors who have proficient parachuting skills, and then you will be responsible for training a group of infantrymen to learn parachuting!"

"A group of infantrymen? Learned to parachute?" Carter looked at Charles in surprise.

What good is this?

Under what circumstances do they need to skydive?
And before they learn to skydive, don’t they need to learn to fly a plane first?!
(End of this chapter)