The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1198 - 895 Carrier Pigeon Helicopter_2

Chapter 1198: Chapter 895: Carrier Pigeon Helicopter_2

Chapter 1198: Chapter 895: Carrier Pigeon Helicopter_2

The most critical thing was the promise from the British. Compared to Australasia, Britain was the country truly capable of assisting France at the moment.

After brief discussions with France, the British promised that the military forces withdrawn from Dunkirk would return to France within 30 days to help protect Paris.

Furthermore, Britain would form an alliance with the military forces of India, South Africa, and Egypt to open a front in East Africa, with the aim of eliminating Italian colonial rule in both East and North Africa.

In addition, after the war was won, the Italian-occupied Libyan Colony would be ceded to France, expanding France’s colonial reach in Africa.

Continuous promises from Britain and Australasia successfully convinced President Wegang and the French Provisional Military Government to decisively choose to continue the fight against Germany.

After settling matters with the French government, both Britain and Australasia breathed a sigh of relief.

Britain could keep the war away from its native land, only needing to continuously deploy troops and supplies to France in order to win the war at a small cost.

Australasia need not worry that Germany would go beyond its control. With the British and French forces being stronger than they were in history, it wouldn’t be easy for Germany to win against the British-French alliance.

Moreover, there was a powerful nation to the east of Germany eyeing them covetously, which was also a concern for the Germans.

Once the battles on the Westline came to a standstill, would the German government choose to continue the stalemate with Britain and France, competing in national power, or would they seek new opportunities to the east?

For Arthur, if Russia could be dragged into this war, it would definitely be a very cost-effective move.

After this war, almost all the Powers would suffer significant reductions in strength, but Russia, which had not yet entered the war, clearly would not be among them.

If Russia did not weaken, it would become Australasia’s greatest enemy after the war; even the post-World War II order could be a struggle for dominance between Australia and Russia.

If it were possible to exhaust Russia in this war so that Russia would lose its power to dominate, at the very least, Australasia could gain an advantage in the struggle for supremacy.

Just like the United States in actual history, as long as Australasia gained an advantage, even a war of attrition could wear Russia down to death.

Shifting perspective back to Australasia Domestic, aside from resolving matters with the French government, Arthur also received another piece of good news: the research on helicopter technology by Douglas Aircraft Company.

The so-called helicopter is a variant of the airplane that can achieve vertical takeoff and landing, a completely new type of aircraft.

Aircraft capable of vertical takeoffs and landings were unprecedented in airplane design, meaning that airplane manufacturers would have to discard all previous designs and concepts and begin anew, creating a truly innovative aircraft from scratch.

The research on helicopters in Australasia can be traced back to the development of the Jet Engine.

Indeed, it was the availability of more powerful engines that made the development of these vertical takeoff and landing aircraft feasible.

Now, after a long period of research and development, Douglas Aircraft Company’s first-generation helicopter finally had a test model.

Although Arthur had already witnessed the creation of many new weapons, the news of the successful development of the helicopter made him eager to personally inspect the progress at Douglas Aircraft Company.

Although Australasia was already leading the world in airplane technology, the helicopter represented a brand-new field and was equally important.

Because helicopters could achieve direct takeoff and landing, they also opened up a broader range of applications.

In certain circumstances, helicopters did not even need helipads and could land on any relatively flat surface at any time.

They could land not only on flat surfaces but also on the rooftops of buildings, on aircraft carriers, and other objects.

In various fields, helicopters serve irreplaceable roles that make them a significant asset for Australasia in its current state.

Soon after arriving at the Douglas Aircraft Company, Arthur formally saw Australasia’s first helicopter, a transport helicopter named Pigeon by Douglas.

In terms of overall design, it still bore a strong resemblance to the helicopters of later generations. The helicopter had a total of two sets of rotors, with the main rotor located directly above the cockpit, providing power for takeoff and descent, as well as being the source of power for the entire aircraft.

The tail rotor was located at the end of the helicopter, mainly to generate a reaction torque that could counteract the fuselage’s countering rotation caused by the main rotor’s spin.

“Your Majesty, please look, this is the specific attribute of our brand-new Pigeon helicopter,” Douglas said with a smile as he handed Arthur a set of detailed data about the helicopter and continued, “What you see here is our test vehicle, with a total length of 10.18 meters, a lateral axis distance of 3.07 meters, and a height of 3.82 meters.

The diameter of the main rotor reaches 11.6 meters, which is also the most suitable length after calculation.

In terms of power, we have adopted the latest Diesel Engine, and the maximum speed is expected to reach 185 kilometers per hour.

The test vehicle has a weight of 1.175 tons, and the maximum takeoff weight is expected to reach 1.825 tons.

As for the specific data in various aspects, we can only see the results after the actual tests of this test vehicle,” he added.

Arthur nodded and ordered with a calm expression, “Then let’s start the test.”

Today’s test drew the attention of many generals from the Australasian Military. With the prolonged development of airplanes, their crucial importance in both military and civilian fields had been well established.

Helicopters, being a rather special type of aircraft, were also given considerable importance by the upper echelons of the military.

Especially after learning that Arthur would be visiting the test site in person, the military became even more excited and frenzied. It was well known that any kind of weapon observed by Arthur in an experiment had been proven to be of vital importance to the war.

This also signified that, at least in Arthur’s mind, the role of helicopters was not inferior to those weapons.

Following Arthur’s order, the test of the new helicopter commenced quickly.

The test was simple again, testing the helicopter’s maximum takeoff weight and flight speed, and assessing its stability.

These essentially are the three key factors of an aircraft: load capacity, speed, and stability.

After several rounds of testing that seemed simple but were actually quite complex, the specific data of the test vehicle was finally handed over to Arthur.

In terms of load capacity, the performance of the test vehicle exceeded its expected data. It was predicted that the maximum takeoff weight of the helicopter would only be 1.825 tons, but in actual testing, it successfully flew with a weight of 1.915 tons.

Although it was just an additional 90 kilograms of load capacity, that extra weight meant that the helicopter could carry more supplies, thereby increasing its strategic significance.

In terms of speed, the maximum speed of this test vehicle had already surpassed 200 kilometers per hour, and its stable cruising speed could also reach more than 133 kilometers per hour.

Although its speed was far less than that of a normal airplane, no ground vehicle could match this helicopter, which already indicated its significance.

Moreover, this test vehicle was only the first generation, and there would be a lot of improvements and tests before it officially went into production.

This also meant that the performance of the Pigeon series helicopters could be further enhanced, and once it went into production, its speed would definitely be faster.

The test vehicle’s rate of climb could reach 3.4 meters per second, with a practical ceiling of about 2750 meters. The standard fuel tank held 127 liters, and the test vehicle with a full standard tank had a range of 145 kilometers, with a maximum range of 425 kilometers.

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If an auxiliary fuel tank were installed, the fuel capacity could reach 189 liters. On this basis, the full-load range could be increased to 227 kilometers, and the maximum range could be extended to 616 kilometers.

Although there were certain shortcomings in terms of range, considering the small size of the helicopter itself and the fact that it was newly developed, this flaw could be appropriately overlooked.