Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 109, Section 108: Selling the Same Item for Two, A Bomber Worth 480 Million Francs

"Uncle Chen, I've come to see you." Lin Shuiwang said with a smile to the old man sitting in the shop.

"You little devil, trying to freeload off me?" The old man got up and chatted with Lin Shuiwang, they seemed to have a good relationship.

"I'm not here to freeload this time. I have something important to tell you," Lin Shuiwang said, his face turning serious.

His attitude puzzled the old man.

"what's up?"

"What I, Lin Shuiwang, am doing this time is a matter of great importance to the country," Lin Shuiwang replied proudly.

This made the old man even more curious, and the two of them started talking in Hokkien, a language that no one else could understand except the two of them.

After a conversation, the old man was persuaded and took the initiative to go out and contact people.

Not long after, he brought back a large group of people and temporarily closed the shop.

Inside the closed shop, Lin Shuiwang explained to everyone:
"I'm accompanying a pilot from China on a business trip to Europe. He's incredibly capable; he sank a Japanese warship in Shanghai and even runs an airline in China. Despite his abilities, he never forgets his country and is willing to use his savings to buy weapons and medicine in Europe to support the war effort back home. I admire him and am willing to work for him. Now, he's planning a banquet to invite French businesspeople but is worried about the cost. He'd like to ask for everyone's help in organizing the event so that the money saved can be used to buy more bullets to fight the Japanese."

Some people believe Lin Shuiwang's explanation, while others do not.

Lin Shuiwang added, "Your money won't be less; we're just inviting you to host the banquet so the French won't make a profit."

He meant that by handling the banquets themselves instead of through a Parisian agent, they could save a significant amount of money.

However, his communication skills were still somewhat lacking; he didn't fully express what he wanted to say, which made the others lose interest.

Paul Lin quickly added to the explanation.

"Gentlemen, war is a contest of equipment and firepower. This time, Mr. Fang wants to buy the French's large bombers. With those things, we can also drop bombs on the Japanese."

This question was even more intriguing, and someone immediately asked, "How powerful are large bombers?"

Paul Lin didn't know either, but he would boast: "One bomb will wipe out half the city, and I guarantee that no matter how many Japanese come, they will all die."

His words were incredibly inspiring. Putting aside everything else, for years Chinese people have been unable to hold their heads high abroad because of the weakness of their motherland.

The nation reflects the people; who wouldn't want their country to stand up? Paul Lin's words inspired them.

"That's amazing. I wish we could really bring it back to China. I'll participate in this scheme."

"Me too, it's just a job, right? I'd do it even if it was free."

Everyone enthusiastically signed up, and in the end, Uncle Chen, who owns a restaurant, took the lead and the banquet was finally organized.

1933 1 Month 6 Day.

Fang Wen went to the tailor shop to pick up the clothes and then brought Lin Shuiwang to the consulate.

The banquet invitations have been sent out, and the venue is inside the consulate, but the banquet is being organized by the Chinese community in Rue au Maire.

Fang Wen interacted with them without any distinction of status, and they quickly became one of them.

During the conversation, some people became curious.

"Mr. Fang, I heard that the plane is as big as a house, is that true?"

“I’ve never seen the actual thing either.” Fang Wen looked at the roof and made a comparison: “It’s over 5 meters high, about the height of two stories. The wings are 36 meters long. The area of ​​just the two wings is 180 square meters, which is four times the size of our current room. It can hold 8 tons of bombs.”

His words were described in a more vivid way.

It was certainly exhilarating to see such a massive plane, laden with bombs, bombing the Japanese.

Someone else asked, "Where did those bombs come from? You've thrown out 8 tons this time; I'm afraid even domestic weapons factories can't keep up with the demand."

This question left Fang Wen speechless, because through Huo Duanyang, Fang Wen knew some information about domestic arms factories.

Take the Jinling Arsenal where Huo Duanyang works as an example. Currently, it can produce 35 Maxim water-cooled heavy machine guns, 80 rounds of ammunition, 136 kilograms of smokeless gunpowder, and 9 kilograms of yellow explosives every month.

This production capacity is insufficient to meet the needs of the Farman F.220 bomber, which requires 8 tons of bombs for a single bombing run.

The enormous industrial gap frustrated Fang Wen; China was truly far behind at that time.

His silence made the questioner realize how inappropriate his words were, and he immediately changed his tune.

"It doesn't matter. As long as the plane is transported back, at least we'll have a powerful weapon. Even if we bomb fewer planes, it's still bombing."

Fang Wen nodded, but in his heart he was thinking, should I set up another bomb production line when I go back this time?
At this moment, a consulate staff member walked in from outside the kitchen door: "Mr. Fang, you need to get ready, the guests have arrived."

The kitchen immediately became busy, and Fang Wen quickly left.

Guests were already arriving at the consulate's banquet hall.

Fang Wen adjusted his attire in front of the mirror before stepping inside.

The consulate's master of ceremonies whispered to Fang Wen, "Look to your right, that group of people are the senior managers of the Farman Company."

Fang Wen looked over and saw five men chatting together.

Instead of approaching him rashly, he followed the consulate's master of ceremonies to the small stage.

The emcee announced to the guests.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the host of this banquet, Mr. Fang Wen from China. He is a brave pilot who once sank a cruiser in your French Potez 25 fighter jet. His current position is our country's military supplies procurement specialist."

This presentation attracted a variety of people. Everyone applauded in welcome.

Fang Wen also noticed that the five people were watching him and whispering to each other.

The story of using the Potez 25 to bomb warships is a good starting point, and it's likely that a group of executives from aircraft manufacturing companies are very interested in it.

As expected, they walked over together and asked Fang Wen a question.

"Hello, Mr. Fang, why did you fly the Potez 25 to carry out the bombing?"

They were speaking in French, and Lin Shuiwang was translating from the side.

After listening to Lin Shuiwang's translation, Fang Wen began to communicate with them.

"Because there was no alternative, we modified the Potez 25, removed the excess weight, and then mounted an 800-kilogram bomb."

The more detailed Fang Wen's explanation, the more interested these people became.

"I remember the Potez 25 couldn't carry this kind of heavy bomb, did you modify it?"

"Yes, the belly of the aircraft was modified into a simple telescopic hook-type bomb rack, and then the opening device was installed in the cockpit."

Fang Wen gestured as he finished speaking. "Fly to target, pull the lever, the bomb falls, bang!"

After listening to Lin Shuiwang's translation, the five of them burst into laughter.

"This is brilliant; it's like converting a biplane into a bomber."

"A brilliant idea! If you were in our company, Valmont, you would definitely be an outstanding designer."

This was the perfect opportunity, and Fang Wen immediately spoke up: "Does Farman also manufacture airplanes? I've flown Potez planes before, but unfortunately I haven't had the chance to fly yours."

"Potez can't compare to us. They can only produce small planes, while we can build large planes."

"Could you tell me about your planes? I'm very interested in all kinds of aircraft."

A pilot and five executives from the aircraft manufacturing company had common topics to discuss.

Fang Wen became the listener, while the five people became the storytellers.

They seemed to be introducing their products to customers, very meticulously and earnestly.

They are dedicated to the F-series models.

From the F-4 trainer aircraft that began in World War I, to the F-20, F-30, and F-40 reconnaissance aircraft.

But what made Farman famous was the F-50 bomber, which was widely used during World War I.

When it comes to the F-50 bomber, they recount many fascinating stories from its past.

"At the time, the Germans had built a war airship, and the military wanted a countermeasure."

"They are preparing to form a strategic bomber force of 30 bomber squadrons, capable of bombing German cities, transportation hubs and military installations."

"Our company took on this project to develop a bomber capable of dropping 500 kilograms of bombs." "We ultimately succeeded. The F-50 bombers entered German airspace and carried out numerous bombing raids, playing a significant role in the victory of the war."

As he spoke, a Farman executive took out his wallet and showed Fang Wen a black and white photo inside.

The F-50 bomber in the photo was considered a large biplane at the time, with a closed fuselage.

Fang Wen had been listening attentively until this point when he asked, "How fast can it fly?"

150 kilometers per hour.

After the other party finished speaking, they put the photo away.

This was a glorious moment from long ago, and bringing it up now feels like a hero not dwelling on past glories.

Fang Wen pretended not to know and continued to ask, "I recently flew a Boeing P-26 from Asia to Europe. That kind of plane is fast, but it's too small. Do you have any better planes? If it's better than the P-26, I can buy it."

These words left the five senior executives of the Farman Company somewhat embarrassed.

Boeing's monoplane fighter jet has become a signature product, prompting aircraft manufacturers from around the world to follow suit.

Farman's current fighter jet lineup consists of biplanes, which are simply not competitive.

But they still have a trump card.

A senior official said, "We have shifted our focus to large transport aircraft and bombers. The aircraft we are currently developing are strategically superior to Boeing's P-26."

"As for bombers, Boeing seems to be developing a new one as well," Fang Wen continued to provoke.

This kind of comparison within the industry is the best way to inspire fighting spirit.

Can't stop.

The executives at Farmand were like excited Gallic roosters.

"I know about Boeing's new bomber, the B-17. Our two companies were developing it almost at the same time, but I can guarantee that our aircraft is absolutely no worse than the B-17."

(B-17)

"Really? Could you elaborate?"

Fang Wen also became interested; this was a professional analyzing two different heavy strategic bombers from the same period.

The two heavy bombers differ significantly in several aspects.

The only similarity might be that they both have four engines.

Regarding the wings:

The F.220 bomber uses a high-wing configuration with struts.

The B-17, however, features a conventional low-wing aerodynamic layout.

One above the other, the design concepts are completely different.

Clearly, the F.220 bomber prioritizes payload capacity, while the B-17 aims to balance speed.

Interestingly, both sides emphasized autonomous defense in their machine gun configurations.

The F.220 bomber has four machine guns, while the B-17 has a whopping 13 heavy machine guns.

This surprised Fang Wen. What was the point of installing so many heavy machine guns on a heavy bomber? Was it meant to be an aerial fortress?
As for other performance aspects, Farman executives did not elaborate.

Even so, Fang Wen, who had some knowledge of Boeing, was able to guess some of the data comparisons.

The B-17 should be faster than the F.220.
In terms of ammunition capacity, the two should be about the same.

Overall, the B-17's overall performance should be better than the F.220's.

After all, they were using it as a daytime bomber.

But they couldn't get their hands on the B-17; the F.220 was Fang Wen's real target.

After talking with the executives at Farman for more than an hour, Fang Wen successfully established a relationship with them.

For people with shared interests, many topics can easily be discussed.

Fang Wen asked, "Can you sell your F.220s?"

After listening to Lin Shuiwang's translation, the five people fell silent.

They exchanged glances, and then an older executive spoke up.

"The Air Force requested that a prototype be built, which we completed. However, they felt that the engine of this prototype was not performing well and requested that it be replaced with a different engine model. Since the aircraft structure was designed based on the engine, we could not make any changes to it, so we had to produce a second prototype to meet the military's requirements."

After listening to Lin Shuiwang's translation, Fang Wen understood.

I was immediately overjoyed, as if a stroke of good fortune had fallen from the sky.

This is practically a carbon copy of the Shrike.

This is yet another prototype that was abandoned due to military requirements.

This type of aircraft cannot be mass-produced and is not even on the list of military procurement.

However, this gave Fang Wen the opportunity to obtain it under the best conditions.

Fang Wen was overjoyed inside, but on the surface he appeared completely unhurried.

He replied:
"I see. A failed prototype is just scrap if no one buys it, right?"

The other person nodded subconsciously.

Fang Wen continued:
“I’ve encountered the same thing before. It was Boeing. When they were developing the P-26, one of their P-26-B prototypes was forced to be abandoned because the U.S. Army rejected it. That prototype was originally going to be destroyed and written off as a cost. Later, I bought it, and Boeing reduced its losses and made a profit.”

Fang Wen's words made the five people interested.

However, no response was given.

Fang Wen was well aware of this situation. After all, it involved the company's interests, and without adding some other incentives, the deal wouldn't go through.

He lowered his voice: "I have a good suggestion, but this isn't the right place. Let's go inside and talk."

Lin Shuiwang also subconsciously lowered his voice to translate.

The five people vaguely guessed what was going on and their expressions became clear.

Then, the group left through another door of the banquet hall and went up to a small reception room on the second floor of the consulate.

At the new meeting location, Fang Wen was very direct.

"Through my dealings with Boeing, I discovered a very good business opportunity. We can cooperate."

"How do we cooperate?" one of the five executives asked.

"The first F.220 prototype was abandoned by the military; it was a failure. What would you do with it?"

"Keep it in the warehouse, rewrite it in the accounts later, and then destroy it."

Listening to Lin Shuiwang's translation, Fang Wen waved his hand: "This method can be slightly adjusted. You can write it off in the accounts, turning it into scrap, and then resell it to me. I'm willing to pay the cost price of this F.220 prototype. As for how you and the company will split the profits after receiving the transaction payment, I don't care."

The five executives could hardly believe that such generous terms were available.

The cost of the F.220 prototype was originally included in the development expenses. If they were to sell it to this Eastern businessman at cost, they could make a huge profit.

Moreover, this profit doesn't even need to be included in the financial statements; it can flow directly into their private pockets.

With such enormous profits at stake, who could resist?

Therefore, they need to go back immediately and explain the matter to the key supervisors in order to complete everything Fang Wen said.

Before they left, Fang Wen specifically asked.

What was the cost of this F.220 prototype?

The other party hesitated before replying: "Four million eight hundred thousand francs."

After seeing the five people off, Fang Wen was lost in thought.

How much is 4.8 million francs in US dollars?
(End of this chapter)