Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 134, Section 133: From Security Gate to Radar, Tung Oil Replaces Aircraft, Rebooting, Hiring Pilots
November 1933, 3

Two days have passed since Liu Shijie's incident.

In the past two days, Fang Wen finally finished dealing with the company's complicated affairs.

Once he felt relieved, he immediately began to explore his mechanical perception abilities.

He had a premonition that if he could integrate his mechanical perception abilities with the security gate, there would be unexpected changes.

After all, that's electromagnetic force, the cornerstone of future technology.

After dinner, as night fell, Fang Wen went out to the airport across the street.

Everyone at the airport recognized him. The night guard at the entrance stepped aside with a smile: "General Manager Fang, you're here to inspect the work so late?"

“Yeah. I was free tonight, so I came over to check on things,” Fang Wen replied.

He walked into the airport and headed straight for the boarding area.

That entrance originally belonged to Taishan Airlines, but later China Airlines also leased it for passenger boarding security checks.

Because it contains security gates that are used every day, and there is a great fear that they might be stolen or damaged, two staff members are assigned to guard the boarding area at night.

China Airlines and Taishan Airlines each have one.

The two of them moved two chairs and sat down at the entrance, chatting idly.

Upon seeing Fang Wen arrive, the security guard from Taishan Aviation hurriedly stood up and stood at attention.

"Good morning, General Manager."

The person from China Airlines next to him was so startled that he quickly stood up as well.

Fang Wen nodded: "I'll go inside and take a look. You guys stay outside."

The two obeyed his words without hesitation and stood at the boarding gate entrance.

Fang Wen pushed open the door and entered the boarding hall. Two security gates were placed in the middle of the hall, with railings on both sides. Only by passing through the security gates could one get through.

The original unit was scrapped because the conductive coil melted; these two are newly made.

He pulled the switch, and the two security gates started up, with the light bulbs on top lighting up.

Fang Wen inserted a metal fork into the security gate; the light bulb at the top flickered and emitted a buzzing sound.

This is the alarm response of the original security gate.

After checking that the equipment was operating normally, Fang Wen placed his hand on the insulating wall on one side of the security gate and activated the mechanical sensor.

Without a doubt, it incorporates a security gate.

It felt strange to feel as if I had become a door.

How to use it?

Fang Wen turned around and said, "Zhao Shanhu, come in."

Zhao Shanhu is the name of a security guard from Taishan, and he is Fang Shouxin's nephew from his hometown.

Upon hearing that the general manager knew his name, Zhao Shanhu immediately felt valued.

So the general manager still remembers his name!

He ran in with an excited smile on his face.

"General Manager, why did you call me?"

"I want to try the security gate. Here's what I'll do: hide something in the security gate and walk through it. Let's see if they can find it."

"Absolutely." Zhao Shanhu suddenly shut up. Just do what the general manager says, why bother talking?

He took out a key and asked, "General Manager, is this alright?"

“Okay. Go over and try it.” Fang Wen nodded.

As Zhao Shanhu walked past, Fang Wen entered a state of mechanical perception.

He saw it the instant he passed through the security gate.

The moment Zhao Shanhu entered the security checkpoint, he transformed into a figure of light.

Different brightness levels, and even colors, appeared on its body.

This appears to be the effect of electromagnetic radiation encountering different materials on Zhao Shanhu's body.

The brightest thing was the bunch of keys that Zhao Shanhu put in his pocket.

The clothes had a faint halo, the muscle tissue had a clear outline, and the brightness of the bones was second only to that of the metal.

The internal organs weren't clearly visible, but there were some small black dots, which should be the location of the kidneys.

With just one observation, Fang Wen saw through Zhao Shanhu completely.

He asked aloud.

Do you often experience lower back pain?

Zhao Shanhu exclaimed in surprise, "General Manager, how did you know? That pain can be excruciating."

Those little black dots were very small. Fang Wen replied, "Drink more water every day and keep running."

"Thank you, General Manager." Zhao Shanhu took Fang Wen's words as a cure and decided to follow them every day.

"Let's continue, this time with something else." Fang Wen urged Zhao Shanhu to continue. He needed enough experience to understand what benefits the security gate could bring him.

For the next three consecutive nights, Fang Wen would go to the security gate every night to practice his new skills.

This ability allows one to see through objects and perceive many things without needing a light source.

However, its range is limited to within 2 meters of the security gate.

Therefore, Fang Wen telegraphed Liu, the shopkeeper in Beiping, asking him to inquire with the professors of the Physics Department at Tsinghua University if there was any way to expand the scope of the security gate.

In Beiping, Manager Liu arrived at Tsinghua University.

Having visited this place many times, he was quite familiar with Tsinghua University and headed straight for the Physics Department office building.

There, he took out the slip of paper containing the telegram, looked at it, and raised Fang Wen's question.

"Hello Professor, our general manager asked me to inquire whether the electromagnetic waves from security gates can expand their range."

"Why expand it?" the professor asked in surprise. "Once the strength of the electromagnetic field increases, it will harm the human body. Your security gate is exceptional. While a strong magnetic environment can expand the range, it will also attract metal, which is very dangerous for passengers."

Manager Liu didn't understand; he just needed to send the complete reply back.

That afternoon, he went to the physics department and raised new questions.

"The general manager asked me to ask, 'Have you ever heard of something called radar?'"

"What radar?" The professors in the physics department office became interested.

It seems that no one has ever heard of this.

Manager Liu read the note aloud.

"If security gates can obtain information about different objects passing through by emitting electromagnetic waves and receiving their reflections, this can be extended to other application areas. For example, we can emit electromagnetic waves and then create a special device to receive these electromagnetic waves and collect the reflected signals after they encounter a target."

A professor interrupted urgently: "The theory of electromagnetic wave reflection has existed for a long time, and we developed our security gate based on this theory. But what's the use of the device you're talking about?"

Manager Liu shook his head: "I don't know. I'll ask the general manager when I get back." "Your general manager isn't in Beiping. We understand you're contacting him via radio. Let's go together and hear what your general manager has to say."

Several professors who had become interested in the dialect traveled together with Manager Liu to his residence.

There, Manager Liu sent a telegram to Shanghai.

After a while, the telegram arrived.

He read it aloud.

"Suppose a continuous stream of radio waves is emitted. When these radio waves encounter an object during their propagation, they are reflected back. The reflected radio waves are captured by the receiving antenna of a radar, and then, through calculation and analysis, information such as the object's position and speed can be obtained."

The professors paused and then began their discussion.

"Hertz's experiment proved that the propagation speed of electromagnetic waves is the same as the speed of light. Cornu measured the speed of light using a rotating gear as c = 2.9999 × 10^8 m/s."

"If the speed is determined, the distance between the target and the radar can be calculated by measuring the time difference between the transmission and reception of the radio waves and combining it with the propagation speed of the radio waves."

"Then how do we determine the target's location?"

They looked at Manager Liu, and the question was sent to Shanghai via radio waves.

Outside Shanghai Airport.

Fang Wen was racking his brains to recall his memories of the future.

We should thank the era of information explosion, which allows even ordinary people to learn a lot of basic theoretical knowledge.

For example, radar; Fang Wen saw someone analyze it on a certain website.

How early radars determined target locations is a key point of analysis.

Fang Wen vaguely remembered what that content creator had said.

He compiled these fragments of memory into text and sent them to Beiping.

The professors were eagerly waiting for Manager Liu in his room at the Beiping Hotel.

They realized that a revolutionary electromagnetic application was about to be born, and as experts in the industry, they were very excited.

Manager Liu put down his headphones and pen, picked up a piece of paper, and read aloud:
"The general manager offered three suggestions. The first suggestion was that when using multiple receiving antennas, these antennas would receive the same echo at slightly different angles. Since the distance between the different receiving antennas is known, and combined with the time difference of the received signals, the direction of the target relative to the radar can be determined."

"Wait, don't mention the other two yet, let's discuss them," a professor stopped Manager Liu.

They began to discuss:

"This is to calculate mutual spatial positioning."

"This method relies on the speed at which electromagnetic waves propagate in space to calculate the precise distance between receiving antennas. The computational workload is enormous, and if there is a deviation in the computational workload, the resulting phase coordinates will be incorrect."

"Yes, with our current computing capabilities, it's difficult to get results in a timely manner. Manager Liu, do you have any other suggestions?"

Manager Liu continued reading:
"Recommendation 2: A mechanical rotation method could be used, causing the transmitting and receiving antennas to rotate around a central axis. The echo signal will be strongest when the antenna is pointed at the target. By recording the angle of the antenna rotation, the direction of the target can be determined."

A professor clapped his hands and said, "This method is brilliant!"

Another professor looked at Manager Liu and said, "There's a third one. Manager Liu, please continue."

Recommendation 3: Use an array of multiple fixed-directional antennas. Each antenna can receive echoes from different directions. By comparing the signal strengths received by different antennas, the direction of the target can be determined.

After discussion among the professors, three suggestions were made: the first was not feasible, the second was the simplest, and the third was more accurate than the second.

They asked what the three devices were called.

Manager Liu glanced at the paper and replied, "The first method is phase difference measurement, the second is mechanical rotation positioning, and the third is antenna array positioning. Please wait a moment while I send a message back to see what the general manager says."

Fang Wen received a reply from Manager Liu.

Looking at the contents of the telegram, I couldn't help but admire the professors' professionalism.

The second method is indeed the simplest, because the earliest radar used this method for positioning.

But from what he understands, it seems that lightning has not yet been invented in Europe, so let China invent radar equipment first.

He had an urgent need for radar.

Since electromagnetic waves can be detected through security gates.

If you install radar on an airplane, wouldn't it give you a thousand-mile eye?
This is a way to anticipate the enemy's moves, which is extremely important on the ever-changing battlefield.

Therefore, we must invest in research and development, no matter how difficult it may be.

Therefore, he called back Manager Liu, requesting that he establish a new collaborative research and development project with the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University to specifically develop a device for transmitting and receiving continuous radio waves.

It would have been best if it could have been invented before the outbreak of World War II.

Even if we don't have the necessary research foundation, we can still find a way to bring back the radar data and equipment and produce our own radar equipment.

The security gates and radar are significant discoveries, but they won't be of immediate use; they belong to the reserve of war technologies.

Fang Wen asked Manager Liu to invest 10000 silver dollars in the collaborative research and development project, to be paid in four installments.

The initial research project paid 3000 silver dollars for equipment purchases and personnel salaries.

The second payment was made upon the successful development of the radar continuous radio wave transmitting device, with 1000 silver dollars paid as a reward.

The third payment was made upon the successful development of the radar wave receiving device, with 1000 silver dollars paid as a reward.

The fourth time, if the radar ranging and positioning detection is passed, 5000 silver dollars will be paid as a reward.

The generous rewards and the exploration of science and technology were enough to support those professors in their research work.

After completing this task, Fang Wen took on the tung oil-for-airplane project this year.

In early November.

Fang Wen was extremely busy and overwhelmed.

Manager Liu is still in Beiping, while Fang Shouxin and Shunzi have arrived in western Hunan and completed the land acquisition. They are now recruiting local laborers to level the land and build houses. Sun Debiao has volunteered to stay and train the soldiers and assist in the airport construction.

With them gone, Fang Wen was busy. After finishing his work at the company, he had to take care of the tung oil-for-airplane project.

Fortunately, the family members that Kuang Mingzhu brought with them played a crucial role at this time, providing great assistance in various aspects.

In response, Fang Wen simply handed over the management of the company entirely to his wife.

He then went to handle the project of exchanging airplanes for tung oil.

Since we don't have any subordinates to command right now, let's get those young men from the security team to help.

He then led his security team to set up the trading venue.

Once the trading venue was set up, Fang Wen asked Neil to come over, since Neil was the main character in the transaction, and the aircraft leasing for Taishan Airlines would only take place after the transaction between the two parties was completed.

Neil arrived early, dressed in a neat suit, and accompanied by a middle-aged man.

He introduced Fang Wen: "This is Andrea Strong. He's a retired U.S. Army Air Corps pilot and also a test pilot and international salesman for Boeing."

The pilot he wanted had finally arrived. Fang Wen told Neil to go to the trade fair while he talked with Andrea.

“I have a P26-B, currently at a British naval base in Kolkata, South Asia. If you can safely fly it back, I can pay you $3000.”

Andrea Strong, undeterred by the hefty reward, inquired, "How do I get there? Will they allow me to take the plane? What's the flight path back? Who will be responsible for landing at any of the airports along the way?"

These are all problems that Andrea will encounter. Others may not understand them as well as he does, but Fang Wen flew from Asia to Europe and figured it out on his own the whole way. He knows what to do and has made arrangements.

(End of this chapter)