Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 399 1899 and the Airship Experiments

The Colombian Civil War drew to a close in 1898, and as 1899 approached, good news came one after another for Spain.

The first flight experiment was conducted at the end of 1897, and another one was conducted at the end of 1898.

At this time, the Eagle test aircraft had reached its third generation, namely the Eagle III aircraft.

The reason why the Eagle II was not mentioned much was mainly because the interval was too short and there was not much improvement compared to the Eagle I aircraft. Therefore, the Sky Project team did not report the test results to Carlo.

Compared to the Eagle II aircraft, the Eagle III aircraft has undergone much more significant improvements.

Firstly, to increase the aircraft's lift, the new Eagle III aircraft has much larger wings than the original Eagle I and Eagle II aircraft.

The wing area is more than double that of the Hsiung Ying-1 aircraft, with a total wing area exceeding 41 square meters.

Increasing the wing area is just one aspect of the aircraft's improvements. The new Eagle III aircraft uses a more powerful gasoline engine, a product of the latest development from the National Power Laboratory.

With improvements in both power and lift, it's only natural that the aircraft's flight time and distance would see a significant increase.

According to the Sky Project team's report, the Eagle III aircraft has a flight range of over 30 kilometers and has stayed in the air for more than 20 minutes on multiple occasions.

Compared to the less than one minute of flight time of the Hsiung Ying-1 aircraft, the achievements of the Hsiung Ying-3 aircraft represent a significant improvement.

If the Hsiung Ying I aircraft only demonstrated the aircraft's powerful potential, then the Hsiung Ying III aircraft has infinitely enhanced the aircraft's capabilities.

As aircraft increase their flight time and distance, it means that we are not far from the emergence of truly combat-capable military aircraft.

The third flight experiment, which took place at the end of 1898, was kept highly secret in Spain.

Meanwhile, Spain's first airship experiment was also in full swing.

Compared to the slow progress of airplanes, airships demonstrated extremely strong combat capabilities from the very beginning of their experiments.

Currently, aircraft can only fly a maximum distance of 30 kilometers, and even then, successful takeoff and landing cannot be guaranteed.

But airships are different. The first generation of airships produced by the Spanish airship laboratory were already capable of free navigation within a range of tens of kilometers.

The reason why it can only fly a distance of tens of kilometers is mainly because, in the first experiment, the researchers set the flight distance of the airship to be relatively short in order to ensure safety.

Airships are much safer to take off and land than airplanes. As long as the airship itself does not experience any accidents, the flight process is quite safe.

According to the report from the airship development project team, their next experiment will consider flights over distances of hundreds of kilometers, and they will strive to improve the airship's safety as much as possible.

If safe flight over distances of several hundred kilometers can truly be achieved, it would mean that the commercialization of airships is not far off. After all, the land area of ​​Spain is not large, with its widest point only slightly over 1000 kilometers from east to west.

If an airship can fly hundreds of kilometers, it means it can easily take off and land in any city in Spain, something that airplanes currently cannot achieve.

In contrast to Spain's meticulous efforts to conceal its aircraft development achievements, it made no attempt to hide its airship development achievements, even publicizing them through news reports.

When news reports from Spain reached European countries, they were astonished by Spain's airship technology.

Because based on current Spanish airship technology, it is already possible to carry two people or an equivalent weight into the sky and fly a distance of tens of kilometers.

Flying is not unfamiliar to European countries. As early as the American Civil War, there was a position called military observer, whose task was to take to the air in balloons to observe the deployment of troops on both sides.

Of course, the position of a military observer is just as unreliable as his mission, and the probability of being killed is very high.

However, it cannot be denied that there were already methods at that time to briefly lift people into the sky, which was not an unattainable goal that seemed like science fiction.

Taking off into the sky is not difficult, but flying dozens of kilometers in the sky and landing safely seems to be quite difficult to do in European countries.

This is why when Spain announced its research and development results on airships, it caused an immediate sensation across Europe. Dozens of newspapers and media outlets from all over Europe rushed to Spain to report on the news related to airships.

Carlo's goal was to get European countries and media to focus on the development of airships, so he did not obstruct the European newspapers that flocked to Spain.

It was for this reason that in early 1899, the Spanish airship successfully conducted its second flight test, recorded by cameras from dozens of newspapers in more than ten European countries.

Compared to the first conservative experiment, which only involved flying for tens of kilometers, the second flight experiment was much bolder.

The second flight test started in Madrid, the capital of Spain, and ended in Valladolid, a major city north of Madrid.

Valladolid is the capital of the state of Castile and León, separated from Madrid by the Central Mountain Range.

The reason this location was chosen as the endpoint of the flight experiment is that the straight-line distance between Valladolid and Madrid is 162 kilometers, which is a reasonable experimental range that is neither too close nor too far.

On the other hand, the central mountain range between Valladolid and Madrid also provides an opportunity to demonstrate the airship's ability to traverse mountains and plateaus.

Spain also wanted to use this experiment to show the world that airships are not limited by terrain and can fly a distance of nearly 200 kilometers within Spain, as well as more than 200 kilometers in other European countries.

If the previous flight experiment, in which the airship could fly tens of kilometers, only shocked European newspapers and media, then the flight distance of this experiment was enough to make newspapers and media from various European countries express their doubts.

This is not just a few dozen kilometers; the straight-line distance alone is as high as 162 kilometers.

Even when an airship is flying in the sky, it cannot maintain a perfectly straight path. This means that if an airship wants to fly from Madrid to Valladolid, the distance it would have to travel would be close to 200 kilometers.

The idea that an airship could carry people or hundreds of kilograms of weight for nearly 200 kilometers is simply unbelievable to reporters from these newspapers and media outlets. It's important to understand that most European countries are not large in land area, and a flight distance of 200 kilometers is more than sufficient for them.

Even the distance between London, the capital of the British Empire, and Paris, the capital of France, is only 343 kilometers. This means that if Spain's airship flight experiment is successful, and as long as the safety of the airship can be ensured, the airship product can basically enter the commercialization stage.

In addition to being concerned about the airship's flight distance and safety, these media outlets from various European countries also expressed interest in the airship's speed.

It's important to know that by this time, train speeds in European countries had increased to around 30 kilometers per hour, which greatly facilitated travel for Europeans.

Whether traveling between cities within Europe or to other countries, the increased speed of trains has saved Europeans a great deal of time.

If the speed of an airship is not significantly improved compared to that of a train, then the importance of the airship will be greatly reduced.

The distance between Madrid and Valladolid is 162 kilometers. At current train speeds, even including the time spent stopping at other stations, the train can still reach its destination in just over 6 hours.

If airships cannot reduce the required travel time to less than four hours, their appeal will be greatly diminished, at least until their speed is increased.

Amid the varied attention of numerous reporters, this flight experiment, already renowned in Europe, officially began.

The technology airship involved in the experiment was codenamed VL-2, with VL derived from the Spanish word volar, meaning flight.

Compared to its predecessor, the VL-2 airship was much larger. The entire airship was an astonishing 133 meters long and 11.9 meters wide, and could hold 1.27 cubic meters of hydrogen.

Two external pods are suspended below the airship, each containing an engine with a power output of up to 15 horsepower.

These two engines are the power source of the airship and are responsible for controlling its flight and turning.

Witnessing this behemoth slowly take off, even the Spanish journalists who had personally experienced the previous flight test couldn't help but feel excited and thrilled.

Foreign journalists who did not personally experience the first flight test were even more excited than the Spanish journalists that such a seemingly enormous creature could take off so smoothly.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it, such a huge thing was able to take to the sky so smoothly." A French journalist couldn't help but exclaim from the group of reporters outside the test site.

"Damn it, who says otherwise? Did you take a picture of the moment the airship took off? If you don't have a picture, the exclusive story won't be ours, and I'll have made a wasted trip," a British reporter said hastily.

These journalists traveled thousands of miles to Spain not only to witness the flight experiment firsthand, but also to operate bulky cameras to take photos of the airship and then write news reports based on those photos.

Without photographs, no matter how well they write, they still cannot convince the public that this flight experiment was real.

The authenticity represented by the photos is everything for news reporting; without photos, the interview can almost be considered a failure.

Upon hearing the question from the British journalists beside him, several other journalists shook their heads.

Although they had already taken the photos, they wouldn't so easily lend them to the British people around them.

First of all, the photos they took were extremely important news evidence for their newspaper, and it was impossible for them to be leaked so easily.

Secondly, the British's misdeeds in the Boer War significantly diminished its international prestige. Moreover, this British journalist was surrounded by either British or French people; the French were unlikely to aid the British, and a British journalist was unlikely to help his rival.

Seeing the amused looks on the faces of the other reporters around him, the British reporter who spoke first knew exactly what they were thinking.

Fortunately, the airship hadn't flown too high yet, so there was still plenty of time to take a few more photos.

While the reporters were making a ruckus taking photos, the airship had already successfully taken to the sky above the test site.

To ensure the airship doesn't go astray, it doesn't fly too high. There are two crew members on board; one carries a detailed map and binoculars, specifically to ensure they don't lose their way.

Airships are inherently a mode of transportation with uncertain safety; if they get lost, it will inevitably reduce the success rate of this flight experiment.

For Carlo and all the experimenters involved in the airship experiment, their ultimate goal was the complete success of this flight test.

Only a successful flight test of the airship can attract the attention of more European countries, allowing them to abandon aircraft development and focus on airship research and development.

For the airship's experimental personnel, only a complete success in this experiment would allow them to obtain sufficient research and development funds to continue investing in the airship's development.

Although the airship experiments were intended to deceive others, the time and effort invested by the airship experimenters were genuine, and they naturally wanted the experiments to continue rather than be abandoned halfway due to various reasons.

"Ready, buddy? We're about to embark on a great flight, a flight that will go down in history." On the airship above the experimental site, a researcher excitedly said to his colleague beside him.

“Of course I’m ready, Klein. I can’t wait. Last time the flight experiment only covered a few dozen kilometers, this time I’m going to fly as much as I want.” Klein’s colleague next to him said with a smile.

With the two pilots at their feet, the airship stopped ascending after reaching a certain altitude and instead began to fly north towards Valladolid, accompanied by the roar of its engines.

The airship's change from ascending to flying north quickly attracted the excited attention of a group of reporters outside the test site.

With the airship officially taking off, their mission was essentially complete. At the destination, in Valladolid, the newspaper had other reporters and cameras on standby.

Once the airship officially arrives in Valladolid, the task of filming and interviewing will be handed over to the local journalists.

Meanwhile, the journalists in Madrid had their most important task: to meticulously record all the key moments of the flight experiment and then, based on the photos they had taken, write a news report that would be sure to grab attention.

Of course, there's no need to come up with any eye-catching topics. Flight experiments are inherently fascinating, especially long-distance ones involving nearly 200 kilometers. This is unprecedented in human history, meaning that linguistic embellishment isn't necessary. The most basic news reporting alone is enough to attract a large number of people who wouldn't normally be interested in everyday news to buy the newspaper.

(End of this chapter)