Munitions Empire-Chapter 1199: Let’s build it ourselves 1119

"Taking off planes is relatively easy. If it’s not working, just have the aircraft carrier sail into the wind. This is equivalent to giving the planes a positive wind boost." A naval expert adjusted the glasses on his nose and said to a group of engineers nearby.

"Write it down! Quickly write it down!" A few engineers responsible for recording hurriedly lowered their heads, jotting this crucial suggestion into their notebooks.

This was a technical discussion hosted by the naval powerhouse, Dorne Empire. Ever since the Great Tang Empire revealed the price of one of their aircraft carriers - 190 million - Dorne began envisioning what their navy could accomplish with such a revolutionary piece of weaponry.

If they could build a decent aircraft carrier on their own, the money saved would be enough to build an enormous fleet of such carriers!

Facing this temptation, everyone felt compelled to try. Everyone had the same thought, and everyone acted accordingly.

"Sailing into the wind certainly seems like a good solution. I wonder if the Great Tang Empire’s aircraft carriers do the same." Without any references to rely on, they could only speculate about the various issues concerning aircraft carriers.

In the beginning, everyone thought that saving the 190 million would be effortless. After all, wasn’t an aircraft carrier just a big ship with a runway for planes? How hard could it be?

But when it came to actual implementation, challenges began to appear one after another. Soon, they realized that creating an aircraft carrier wasn’t as simple as adding a runway on a large ship.

After all, not everyone has someone like Tang Mo, with a combat-tested, logically sound, and finely polished mature aircraft carrier design.

The problem was, the world’s navies lacked the time to slowly explore on their own. With the Great Tang Empire already producing mature aircraft carriers and deploying them in combat, the room for trial and error was almost non-existent.

"Takeoff can rely on the deck wind… But what about landing?" After solving one issue, they were immediately stumped by another problem.

Deck wind was something sharp-minded naval personnel could deduce based on experience. The runway length needed for planes to take off was still within a reasonable range; under normal circumstances, a propeller plane’s takeoff distance could indeed be reduced to something comparable to the length of a warship.

But the problem lay in the landing. The runway required for landing is far longer! If the runway on the aircraft carrier is too short, wouldn’t the landing planes inevitably overshoot straight into the sea?

How do you stop planes and shorten their landing distance? Everyone started brainstorming again.

Someone suggested using a net to intercept the planes, like catching fish. But doing so would likely damage the planes. Surely, a plane couldn’t be rendered combat-unworthy after each takeoff and landing?

The idea of arresting wires seemed simple, but it wasn’t easy for a group with no prior experience with aircraft carriers to guess such a solution.

Moreover, this was just one relatively minor issue among countless problems in aircraft carrier design and construction.

Can you guess where the fuel storage for aircraft is located on an aircraft carrier? How much space does it require? How should fuel pipelines be laid out?

Now imagine the aerial bombs, torpedoes, and ammunition. Where should these be stored? How much space is needed? How do you retrieve these items and resupply the planes efficiently?

You might think simply designating a storage area and laying some pipelines is enough. But it’s not! Is the fuel pressure sufficient? Are fire safety measures adequate? How should ammunition be stored to ensure safety? How can transportation logistics be simplified? These are all significant technical challenges.

Continuing further, would it end there? With pilots and sailors numbering in the thousands crammed into a single warship, where do they sleep? Where do they work? Where do they eat? How much space is required, and how should it be designed?

Arranging dormitories between fuel tanks, boilers, shells, and toilets… All these seemingly trivial details can become lethal flaws that impact the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier.

Consider those aircraft carriers like Moss’s and Japan’s that self-detonated after being hit by one, two, or three aerial bombs. Think about their fate, and you’ll realize the complexity of the subject.

Take the optical landing system on the Great Tang Empire’s aircraft carriers, for instance. If you asked the technical personnel from other nations without prior exposure to conceive of it on their own, they might need ten years or more.

Not to mention… Do you think these brilliant designers would create an aircraft carrier with a functional and iconic island structure?

Or would they imitate Japan’s old navy, designing bizarre ships without bridges and crosswise smokestacks?

Back then, when Huaxia insisted on purchasing the Varyag, what was the reason? It wasn’t for an inability to build their own. It was to acquire Maoxiong’s detailed experiences with aircraft carriers. The issue wasn’t technical capability but an absence of polished details gained through practice. Without refinement, problems are inevitable.

How do you avoid the waste of time and energy? You bring the Varyag back, examine it thoroughly. Its cabin structure alone allowed Huaxia to eliminate 25 years of research and development lag in aircraft carriers! This was the primary reason for insisting on acquiring the Varyag. It wasn’t due to a lack of technology—it was the need for the small details honed by actual usage. These can only be discovered in practice, and Huaxia lacked the time!

The Varyag represented Maoxiong’s accumulated experience from Moscow-class, Kiev-class, and Kuznetsov-class carriers! Decades of operational experience condensed into one. That knowledge transcended technology.

Even so, Huaxia found plenty of areas needing improvement on the Varyag. Through their own explorations and modifications came the Shandong Ship—a true "Huaxia aircraft carrier."

A group of people continued brainstorming for Dorne’s aircraft carriers, each racking their brains: "Let’s not worry about landing for now. I’ve calculated that an aircraft carrier can only carry a maximum of 20 planes. This falls far short of the Great Tang Empire’s claim of accommodating 70 aircraft."

The Tang Country’s aircraft carriers offered a conservative estimate of their carrier-based airplane numbers. In reality, each aircraft carrier could accommodate more than 75 planes.

Even the conservative figure of 70 left many baffled. No matter how they calculated, they could only park about twenty planes on the deck. Any more would obstruct takeoff.

An elderly engineer looked at the design drafts and voiced his opinion: "The data provided by the other party must be correct. After all, they are sellers. As long as we pay them, we can buy the product. They wouldn’t lie! So the problem must lie in our design!"

"Could it be that their aircraft carriers have designated internal storage space for planes?" Another engineer gestured at the side profile of the blueprint and added a hangar layer.

Others nodded in agreement: "That’s very likely! But… there’s no way to fit 40 extra planes even with that!"

"Two-tiered storage?" The engineer hesitantly proposed, unfamiliar with the concept of hangars.

Others shook their heads again: "Two tiers… Then how do you accommodate personnel, equipment, ammunition, and fuel?"

Soon, a clever mind hit upon another key point: "Unless the planes themselves are folded…"

"That’s not very likely, is it?" Some engineers more familiar with planes felt conflicted.

However, others supported the idea of folded planes: "Why not? I think folding the planes makes sense—it saves space."

Quickly, the discussion shifted toward folding plane designs: "If calculated this way, folding the planes indeed seems viable. But doesn’t that add extra weight to the aircraft?"

Aircraft engineers shook their heads furiously in disapproval: "That would significantly increase the plane’s dead weight, reduce maneuverability, and limit range."

"The Great Tang Empire can rely on their damned engine technology to maintain aircraft combat performance. If we modify our planes… it’d be tantamount to sending pilots to their deaths." Someone followed up with a sharp complaint.

The lead engineer turned to a somewhat authoritative "aircraft designer" and asked, "In your opinion, how much dead weight would folding wing structures add to a plane?"

The so-called designer was mostly someone who adjusted existing aircraft designs. After giving the question some thought, he answered, "Not less than 150 kilograms."

This was roughly equivalent to equipping an aircraft with bombs and engaging enemy fighters in combat. The lead engineer let out a sigh: "It’s utterly discouraging to think about."

At this point, another engineer walked in holding a stack of documents, shouting gloomily to everyone, "Take a look! These are data from Brunas’s field airport. We now have an additional topic to discuss."

"What do you mean?" Upon hearing the shout, someone immediately became unsettled.

The newcomer sighed and, with a downcast expression, said, "Planes stationed at Brunas’s field airport experience faster corrosion due to higher salt content by the sea… This is based on maintenance guidance from the Great Tang Empire’s ground crew. We paid for these lessons learned."

This maintenance process, purchased from the Great Tang Empire, proved effective in practice. If planes stationed by the coast require extra care, wouldn’t the planes on warships also need maintenance?

Furthermore…

At this moment, a haunting voice emerged from a corner. Someone asked, "Storing planes below the deck is fine, but how do you move them onto the deck? Using cranes at sea—isn’t that risky?"

Hundreds of problems flooded in, leaving everyone with an urge to flip the table in frustration. Not long ago, someone even proposed that launching planes from aircraft carriers didn’t have to rely on runways. Rockets or explosives could be used for propulsion... freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Using the deck solely as a runway was merely one of many conceivable options. Other possibilities couldn’t be entirely ruled out!

These people were essentially trying to reconstruct a prehistoric Tyrannosaurus Rex from a handful of descriptive adjectives...