Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 489 Reconnaissance Aircraft and Fighter Jets

As it turns out, history really can be changed.

Although no world war broke out in 1913, European countries were already familiar with airplanes and tanks were in their infancy, which is why Britain was able to use tanks in World War I.

However, now, due to interference from Spain, European countries are generally prioritizing airships over airplanes.

Although airplanes were also developed in various European countries, such products, which were extremely unstable in flight, could not compare with airships in terms of either function or potential.

Airships can do the same reconnaissance work that airplanes can do, and they can even be used to transport supplies, which is something that modern airplanes cannot do at all.

Airplanes have an advantage in speed, but because European countries are not enthusiastic about developing airplanes, the finished airplanes developed by European countries are not much faster than airships.

In comparison, airships naturally received more attention from European countries.

Military observer groups from many European countries, including Spain and the United Kingdom, also used airships to observe the battle situation on the front lines.

These neutral countries' airships have brightly colored coatings so that participating countries can better identify them and avoid accidental damage.

The Spanish military observer mission has now been divided into three parts, stationed on the western front, the eastern front, and the Balkan front, respectively.

After several months of detailed observation, it can now be almost confirmed that European countries, including Germany and France, only have air force units composed of airships and do not have any military aircraft.

Judging from the intensity of the fighting on the front lines, if these participating countries had developed combat-capable aircraft, they would have deployed them to the battlefield long ago.

After all, the daily casualties on the battlefield are enormous. If we can gain air superiority, we can at least reduce the losses of our troops.

The only uncertainty lies with the UK, but according to information from the Royal Security Intelligence Service in the UK, it is highly likely that the UK has not placed too much emphasis on aircraft development.

With Spanish interference, the British government focused most of its attention on naval development. Having already lost its naval supremacy, they naturally had little interest in developing aircraft, something whose immediate practical applications were not yet apparent.

This is the best news for Spain. Currently, Spain's achievements in tanks and aircraft are absolutely leading, and it has already widened the gap with other European countries.

As February 1913 arrived, the Spanish aircraft development project team finally reported good news to Carlo: Spain's new generation of aircraft now possessed the capability to surpass airships.

Carlo took airplanes very seriously. When he learned that Spain had already produced a very good airplane, he did not hesitate and immediately went to the suburban laboratory where the airplane development project team was located to personally see Spain's first practical airplane.

The entire aircraft laboratory was extremely excited about His Majesty the King's personal arrival.

This means that their experimental results have been recognized by the king, and they will not have to worry about future research funding.

As the head of the aircraft development project team, Francisco Lawson Hellick and his team of researchers were waiting at the entrance of the laboratory early in the morning. Carlo also arrived with several high-ranking military officials amidst the respectful gazes of the crowd.

Without much small talk, the group immediately entered the laboratory's runway area, where two completely different aircraft were already parked, waiting for their appreciation.

"Your Majesty, please look, these are the two new types of aircraft we have developed, which we have named the combat aircraft and the reconnaissance aircraft respectively."

The reconnaissance aircraft you see is named the Imperial Eagle, after a large raptor from Spain. This aircraft is 5.78 meters long, 2.62 meters high, and has a wingspan of 8.56 meters. It uses our latest rotary-type air-cooled engine and weighs 428 kilograms.

Our tests show that the maximum takeoff weight of this Emperor Eagle reconnaissance aircraft can reach 677 kg, and its payload can reach 249 kg.

To facilitate reconnaissance, we only mounted a modified Maxim heavy machine gun in the nose direction and carried only 632 rounds of ammunition.

Our tests show that this reconnaissance aircraft has an average speed of 185 kilometers per hour, a service ceiling of 5775 meters, a maximum rate of climb of 4.7 meters per second, and a maximum range of 375 kilometers.

Considering the issue of insufficient range, we installed an external fuel tank on each side of the aircraft. With two external fuel tanks, the maximum range of this reconnaissance aircraft can reach 570 kilometers.

The external fuel tanks can also be detached at any time, ensuring that in dangerous situations, our pilots can abandon the weight provided by the external fuel tanks and escape the enemy at a faster speed.

Upon hearing Francisco Lawson Hellick's introduction, Carlo nodded, seemingly quite satisfied with the current specifications of the aircraft.

The airplanes of this era were certainly inferior to those of later generations. Whether it was flight stability and safety, or flight speed and range, they were only a fraction of what later airplanes could achieve.

Fortunately, other countries did not have aircraft of the same level at that time. Even though the aircraft developed by Spain was somewhat rudimentary, it was enough to overwhelm the air forces of other countries by virtue of the generational difference in technology.

Other European countries generally equipped themselves with airships, and these bulky airships were completely helpless against airplanes in the sky.

Carlo had no questions, but several military generals were puzzled. Looking at the strangely shaped aircraft in front of them, they asked, "Mr. Francisco, the machine guns on this aircraft are located in the nose. Won't that cause a conflict with the propeller in the nose?"

If machine gun bullets hit the propeller, wouldn't that mean our pilots would face suicide?

When asked by high-ranking military officials, Francisco Lawson Herik was prepared and smiled as he said, "We will indeed face such problems, but we have already prepared for them."

We have developed a component called a firing coordinator, which, through a propeller shaft linkage mechanism, allows us to prevent machine gun bullets from hitting the propeller blades.

The specific method is that when the blades are aligned with the barrel, the gear cam or cam triggers the linkage mechanism to pause firing, allowing the bullet to pass through the gap between the blades.

Once the propeller leaves the aiming range of the gun barrel, the device returns to its original position, and the machine gun can continue firing.

In this way, our pilots will not have to worry about hitting the propeller blades and can deal with the enemy more easily.

Another fighter jet was also equipped with similar equipment to ensure that our bullets would not cause any damage to our own aircraft.

Upon hearing Francisco Lawson Herik's answer, the military generals nodded, indicating that they had no further questions.

The main reason is that the Spanish military has little experience with new weapons like airplanes. Apart from the obvious problems, they don't really know what functions and roles this strangely shaped thing has.

Seeing that Carlo and the accompanying high-ranking military officers were all fine, Francisco Lawson Hellick continued, "As for the other combat aircraft, its code name is Bullfighting."

We mounted two machine guns on this fighter jet, one on each side of the nose. This made the plane look like it had two bull horns, which is why we named it Bullfighting.

Unlike reconnaissance aircraft that can only carry one person, the Bull fighter can carry two pilots, and the entire aircraft is also a whole size larger than the Eagle reconnaissance aircraft.

This fighter jet was 6.28 meters long, 2.65 meters high, and had a wingspan of 9.17 meters. Due to its larger size and the installation of two machine guns, the entire aircraft weighed 542 kilograms.

We equipped this fighter jet with a more powerful engine, which increased its maximum takeoff weight to 771 kg and its payload to 229 kg.

Even with two pilots on board, this fighter jet can still be equipped with at least 1500 rounds of machine gun ammunition. The downside is that the fighter jet itself is already extremely heavy, making it impossible to carry external fuel tanks.

This also results in the fighter jet having a maximum range of only 350 kilometers, an average speed of 154 kilometers per hour, a service ceiling of 5255 meters, and a maximum climb rate of 4.1 meters per second.

Although slower, it still has a significant advantage over airships. Whether facing enemy aircraft or airships, our fighters can handle them with ease, quickly destroying enemy flying objects with powerful firepower.” Francisco Lawson Herik explained to Carlo and other high-ranking military officials with a smile.

After introducing the two aircraft, it was time for the test flight.

Test flights are a dangerous job, and those who conduct test flights are all professional pilots who have undergone extensive training.

Carlo and several high-ranking military officials carefully observed the test flights of the two aircraft and ultimately agreed that the two aircraft fully met the requirements of the Spanish military.

In fact, let alone the Bull fighter equipped with two machine guns, even the Eagle reconnaissance aircraft with only one machine gun was definitely not something that European airships could easily mess with.

If they encounter enemy airships on the main battlefield, both aircraft can easily shoot them down.

Even if other European countries are also developing aircraft, Spain's two planes are fully capable of competing. It is certain that even if the UK or other countries have private aircraft development projects, their progress will absolutely not match that of Spain.

These two Spanish aircraft are arguably the most advanced in the world, which is why Carlo is so satisfied with them.

“Excellent, this is exactly what I envisioned an aircraft to look like. Mr. Francisco, has the aircraft development project team built a corresponding aircraft factory?”

"If the military makes a large-scale purchase of these two aircraft, can you guarantee a production volume of thousands of them per year?" Carlo nodded in satisfaction, then inquired about the aircraft production capacity.

No matter how fiercely Germany and France fought, this war was destined not to last long. Based on historical experience, Spain's intervention in the war occurred around 1914.

By then, Germany and France will have been severely weakened, and Spain will have made a fortune through trade with other European countries. It will be time for Spain to enter the market.

With Spain's large arsenal of aircraft and tanks, Carlo was confident of quickly ending the World War. As the greatest contributor to the war, Spain would then be entitled to the largest share of the spoils and become the dominant power in Europe after World War I.

Upon hearing Carlo's question, Francisco Lawson Hellick did not hesitate and directly stated the current situation of the aircraft development project team: "Your Majesty, although we have not yet built an aircraft factory, the production line for building these two aircraft is readily available. We only need to set up the production line in the workshop to start production."

Given that the process of producing aircraft was relatively unfamiliar at the beginning, I could not guarantee the production of thousands of aircraft per year.

But I can assure you that in a year, our aircraft factory will definitely be able to produce thousands of aircraft per year, or even more.

Upon hearing Francisco Lawson Hellick's reply, Carlo nodded, quite satisfied with the preparations made by the aircraft development project team.

No matter how powerful an aircraft is, its production capacity must keep up with the military's requirements. If production capacity cannot keep up, the military can only watch helplessly.

Only by equipping the military with a large number of aircraft can their true value be realized. Before that, no matter how excellent the aircraft's specifications are, it is ultimately just theoretical, a product that can be seen but not touched.

"I will instruct Butler Laurent to continue increasing investment and ensure the aircraft factory is completed within two months," Carlo instructed. "These two aircraft are already of practical combat significance, and considering the ongoing war in Europe, Spain cannot be entirely spared from its demise."

We must equip ourselves with more aircraft to prepare for a potential war in Europe that could affect us. Any problems encountered during the construction of the aircraft factory can be reported to Steward Laurent, and I will have him prioritize helping to resolve them.

My only requirement is that the new aircraft factory must produce more than a thousand aircraft per year after one year.

If you can do that, I will not only increase the budget for the aircraft R&D project team again, but I will also appoint you as the factory manager of the aircraft factory and give you 5% of the aircraft factory's equity.

The other researchers on the project team also received rewards. As long as you meet my requirements, you are all heroes of Spain, and Spain will certainly not treat you unfairly.

Upon hearing Carlo's words, many experimental staff members from the aircraft development project team, including Francisco Lawson Hellick, nodded excitedly. They had long heard of Carlo's generosity.

When the airship development project team achieved results, Carlo rewarded all the experimental personnel in the project team with a large bonus.

Ordinary researchers can receive bonuses of tens of thousands of pesetas, while experts who make outstanding contributions can receive bonuses of hundreds of thousands of pesetas.

Such rewards are not few even by European standards. When combined with other rewards including land and titles, it can be said that Spanish researchers enjoy treatment that is first-class or even top-tier in Europe.

After offering encouragement to the experimental staff of the aircraft development project team, Carlo left the aircraft laboratory.

As for how many aircraft the military plans to order next, that's not Carlo's concern. The number of aircraft to be ordered and the specific price need to be negotiated between the military and the aircraft factory. The aircraft development project team is responsible for the construction of the aircraft factory, and the project leader, Francisco Lawson Herik, is likely to become the factory manager in the future, so it's more appropriate for them to handle the negotiations.

Carlo was only concerned with one thing: when and how many aircraft the Spanish army would acquire.

As long as he could equip himself with a thousand aircraft by 1914, everything else was acceptable to Carlo.

Upon returning to the palace, Carlo immediately instructed Butler Lauren to allocate an additional sum of money to the aircraft development project team to build an aircraft factory.

The skilled workers needed by the factory were prioritized for transfer from various factories in Spain, with the goal of establishing the basic framework of the factory first.

In any case, the production lines for both aircraft are complete; all that's needed is to install them in the factory to start production.

This also means that the establishment of the aircraft factory will save a lot of time. If things go smoothly, aircraft production could even begin within two months.

Carlo couldn't wait to see the Spanish Air Force equipped with a large number of aircraft, with hundreds and thousands of planes flying overhead in a spectacular display that no airship could match.

Although airships are larger, their flight speed is also much slower. The effect of an airship flying overhead is not good; without any buildings to obstruct the view, it takes a very long time for an airship to appear on one side and completely disappear on the other.

In contrast, airplanes, due to their increased speed (several times greater), can quickly fly overhead, resulting in a completely different effect.

The Spanish government did not object to the military's large-scale ordering of aircraft. After the outbreak of the European war, Spain's domestic industry and economy were not affected in any way; on the contrary, they prospered even more under the stimulus of the world war.

Spain's fiscal revenue increased rather than decreased in 1912, which led to a significant increase in fiscal expenditure in 1913.

Carlo had previously emphasized the importance of military spending and specifically ordered that annual military spending must increase by one-third.

This also means that the military budget is still quite sufficient. After all, the Spanish army and navy are being built at the usual pace, without any additional expansion plans, so the increase in military spending will not be too rapid.

This is the advantage of being neutral during wartime. The income earned through trade cooperation with both sides in a conflict is unimaginable.

Despite a significant increase in military spending, Spain was still able to achieve a fiscal surplus, and its economic situation was significantly better than that of the other European countries that participated in the war.

(End of this chapter)