Translator:
Henyee Translations
Editor:
Henyee Translations
The projects team did not mention any plans for new planes. Under the circumstance where electronic components were absent, the upper bounds of a monoplane were higher than a biplane. Even so, the final Annual Plan remained focused on enhancements.
The final decision maker was the Technology Department’s overall-in-charge, President Wu.
Roland also learned a new concept from the meetings: time efficiency.
All manufacturing projects focusing on streamlining will improve in efficiency with time. Even if few changes happened, this was a natural phenomenon bound to occur. The reason lies in the process—workers would gradually familiarize themselves with the production line which included the interaction between man and machine as well as the teamwork between the workers themselves. This was completely unrelated to one’s upbringing, but more of an innate laziness in the workers that made them find the easiest ways and shortcuts to complete their work, to the point that they themselves would voluntarily sort out the imperfections to the process.
As a result, the efficiency of production at its later stages not only exceeded the early phases but manufacturing costs would decrease.
To form up a team of Aerial Knights, the production line that had started up with much difficulty had to maintain the status quo. This helped in familiarizing the workers with the further processing of the machines and the workflow processes so as to prevent the equipment from hindering the war effort.
The improvisation towards the ‘Fire of Heaven’ was mainly geared towards improving the engine and weapon systems.
The first point spoke for itself; the ‘Fire of Heaven’ was a complete masterpiece created completely from antique blueprints Roland obtained in the Dream World and a product of trial and error. Although aerodynamics was not an issue to a biplane that had a peak speed of less than 150 km/h, it did not mean that there were no benefits for having an improved engine. On the contrary, it was the easiest and cheapest to improve with the support of wind tunnels and simulations.
The engine was obviously the most important part of the biplane. As the saying goes, as long as you have sufficient power, even a brick can fly. With an upgrade in power ratio, the rest would fall into place. But under the most miserable of conditions, it was not simple to even design a durable and functional basic piston engine. It was reported that the relevant department produced seven to eight prototypes at one go, but time was required to run tests for all the prototypes so as to choose the most optimal design.
For the weapon systems, there were not many considerations.
In truth, the technological skills were insufficient; the military had plenty of matured yet phased out plans, for example the 20mm autocannons, removable bomb racks, etc. The questions were what weapons to install and how to install them. With these two questions in mind, the relevant department was able to provide these addons as and when they liked.
According to the technical specifications provided by the team, the Mark II biplanes were capable of 250 km/h cruise speeds and carry two additional 100kg oil tanks while being capable of sustaining flights over a thousand kilometers. It also boasted a much higher climbing speed compared to the ‘Fire of Heaven.’
The significance of this biplane was the ability to travel from the rear to the frontlines in a day, or to fly from the frontlines to the great rupture at the ridge of the continent. Taking into consideration the rugged topography of the Impassable Mountain Range that prevented ordinary troops from passing, this parameter was definitely an important feature.
The last were the bombers.
It cost the most and was the most controversial project.
It took half a day just discussing over whether the bombers were required to handle the inferior Fallen Evils. The reason for those against it was simple—the bombers’ targets were on the ground that biplanes were capable of hitting as well, only that more fuel was required. But a large-scale bomber required specialized taking off and landing, more protection, and therefore, bound to bring about more pressure for the logistics team.
Although a bomber was capable of bringing about greater destruction, it required a fighter for escort and would instead lower the advantage of the aerial units. Flying Devilbeasts were weak against agile and mobile flying units, but a clumsy bomber could be considered a double-edged sword as long as a single Devilbeast disregarded its life to ram into one.
Besides, the enemies possessed unique Fallen Evils that were similar to martial artists that added to the indeterminable risk.
After all, the price of losing a single bomber far surpassed that of a single biplane.
And the resources left for the survivors was an unknown factor as to how many bombers they would be able to produce.
In the end, it was still the research subject Roland insisted on preserving.
Under the circumstances of having low technology, it was definitely lacking. It could not deliver the goal of coming and going without a trace while being both capable of offense and defense. However, he had his own considerations.
It was an entity required by Neverwinter for long and difficult journeys, and was essential for the attack on the Bottomless Land.
No one knew how far the Dream World was separated from the Erosion, and God probably would no longer remain passive. According to Lan’s words, Roland needed to take action at the time when both worlds entered the Divine Domain. In the event that Dream World suddenly opened the passageway to Erosion, he would have no other means to quickly reach the Bottomless Land, then all the efforts from before would be for naught.
Of course, being subjected to the demons’ attack while charging into enemy territory could be considered a last resort, but having a choice was better than having none, and bombers were the only possible answer for the present technological conditions.
The other was Project Glory of the Sun.
With ‘Fire of Heaven’s load capacity, it was impossible for them to shoulder such a huge responsibility even after improvements. Even if they were able to produce a detonator, without the means to drop the Glory of the Sun, its usage was still limited. Of course, the Seagull coupled with the Hummingbird’s reduction in weight could cause the drop to happen from high altitudes, but even so, the bomb could not be fitted with a God’s Stone of Retaliation. In that long and arduous journey, it could easily be destroyed by Senior Demons.
If the Skylord Hackzord knew about it and used his ability to transport the Glory of the Sun elsewhere, that would be troublesome.
Therefore, the most reliable method was to directly build a strong anti-demon body and rely on the Aerial Knights to drop the Glory of the Sun.
This meant that they had to build an even bigger plane.
The project department’s initial plan was to build a single bomber with four engines. The team responsible for manufacturing the engines had to build four units for redundancy. In the event that one or two planes were malfunctioning, the plane would still have the ability to make a safe return. Just based on visuals, the bomber would look like a behemoth, with over 30m long wingspans. Its rear tail were divided into twintails to stabilize the aerodynamic design of the entire plane. Although the design reduced the nimbleness of the bomber, it increased the plane’s ability to travel further and provide for easier controls.
Flying with full tanks, the bomber would have the ability to carry an estimated four tons worth of ammunition for more than two thousand kilometers. Without considering the return flight, this number could double, enough to satisfy Roland’s requirements for the battle at the ridge of the continent. But, with its complexity far surpassing that of the ‘Fire of Heaven’, it could not be produced in the production line even with expert guidance.
In other words, its production output would definitely be low.
But at least, it gave humanity the capital to use the Glory of the Sun.
