章節 152: Chapter 230 Improvements
Wilhelm convened engineers from the naval design department and aircraft design department to discuss improvements to the aircraft carrier.
"Today, I experienced the operations on the aircraft carrier and found many imperfections that need improvement.", he said, drawing two lines on a small blackboard representing the carrier deck. "Firstly, the carrier deck, which is our current straight-deck design, allowing for continuous operations from end to end. Under normal circumstances, it's almost impossible to conduct takeoff and landing operations simultaneously (though it's possible with some measures, like dividing the deck into forward and aft sections using arresting nets; the front for takeoffs and parking, and the rear for landings. However, in practice, various issues can make this challenging)."
"So, I'm thinking, what if we separate the takeoff and landing areas at certain angles, no longer sharing a common deck. Like this.", he drew angled deck lines. "Since this one is at an angle, let's call it an angled deck. This way, aircrafts can take off simultaneously from the straight deck and the angled deck, significantly improving takeoff efficiency. During landings, carrier-based aircraft can land on this angled deck, swiftly leave it to enter the parking area, allowing the next aircraft to land. This design enables the carrier to conduct takeoff and landing operations simultaneously."
Engineers from the naval design department nodded approvingly. "Your Highness has great insight. We'll start researching this immediately."
"After some rough calculations, an angle of around 9 degrees should be sufficient.", Wilhelm continued. "If the angle is too steep, it will affect the ship's center of gravity. However, this design shortens and narrows the landing area. Pilots may find it challenging to select the landing point. If it's too far forward, the aircraft may overshoot the deck, possibly falling into the sea; if too far back, the aircraft might collide with the stern."
He then introduced the widely used "Fresnel" optical landing aid system from the future. This system consisted of four sets of lights, with the central vertical array of five segmented light boxes emitting beams through Fresnel lenses, forming five sloping planes parallel to the landing runway and maintaining a certain angle with the sea surface.
When carrier-based landings were not allowed, the red lights on both sides flashed, and the green horizontal reference light was off. When carrier-based landings were permitted, the red lights were off, the green reference light emitted a fixed light, and the "Fresnel" lens also emitted light. It was brighter than the green reference light, and different positions of the lens emitted directional beams representing various glide slopes. Yellow light indicated a high glide slope, red light a low glide slope, and orange light the correct glide slope. Pilots, during descent, could accurately land if they saw orange light; if they saw yellow light, the glide slope was too steep; if they saw red light, the glide slope was too shallow, allowing pilots to make necessary adjustments conveniently.
After explaining the angled deck and "Fresnel" system, Wilhelm moved on to the steam catapult.
During this era, catapults were quite common for ships carrying seaplanes like cruisers and battleships. However, these seaplanes often didn't take off from the water's surface. To allow ships to launch planes without stopping, various assistive devices were developed, such as arresting gear, flywheel systems, rocket-assisted systems, hydraulic systems, and pneumatic systems (in the early days).
Wilhelm knew that in the future, only the United States fully mastered steam catapults. Soviet carriers used ski-jump takeoff ramps, British carriers favored vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, eliminating the need for catapults, and the French carrier "Charles de Gaulle" used the American C-13 catapult. Large-scale adoption of steam catapults was unique to the United States.
Despite the seemingly simple principles of steam catapults, most countries had not fully mastered them. The future would see the rise of more advanced electromagnetic catapults. Unfortunately, inl Wilhelm's time, this technology was not yet mature. Therefore, he decided to focus on perfecting steam catapults first.
The principle of the steam catapult was relatively simple. It involved directing the high-temperature, high-pressure steam generated by the ship's boiler (or nuclear reactor) into a cylinder, propelling a piston. The extended "iron arm" from the piston would pull the aircraft, accelerating it from zero speed to takeoff speed.
However, despite its apparent simplicity, the demands on manufacturing processes and materials were quite high. Steam catapults required materials capable of withstanding high temperatures and pressures, with large dimensions. Thus, it posed significant challenges to manufacturing materials, equipment, welding processes, etc. Special heat-resistant alloy steel was needed, boasting excellent tensile strength and withstanding hundreds of thousands of fatigue cycles during catapult operations. The components required, such as the bearing slide, guide rail, cylinder, piston, and transmission devices, not only required precision machining on super-precision machine tools but also intricate and precise manufacturing processes.
However, Wilhelm believes that Germany's manufacturing technology is quite advanced and worth a try.
Upon hearing Wilhelm propose the manufacturing plan for steam catapults, an engineer raised his hand. "Your Highness, it seems unnecessary to install catapults on the aircraft carrier. After all, the current propeller aircraft are light in weight and powerful, easily taking off without catapult assistance."
Wilhelm smiled and said, "What about the Fw 190T now?"
The engineer promptly replied, "Empty weight is 3500 kg, fully loaded is 4300 kg, and maximum takeoff weight is 4800 kg."
Wilhelm nodded, "With an empty weight of 3500 kg, indeed, there's no need for a catapult. However, in the near future, we'll have fighters weighing ten tons or even more on carriers, so catapult assistance is necessary."
Seeing no objections from the crowd, he continued discussing carrier-based aircraft. "We also need to replace the liquid-cooled Stukas on the carrier." Wilhelm thought of the American SBD Dauntless dive-bomber.
The Ju 87 (Stuka) first flew in 1935, debuted in 1937, and while the SBD was derived from the contemporary Northrop BT series, it was officially finalized in 1939. Design-wise, the Ju 87 was aging, and its performance could not be considered particularly superior. While the Ju 87 B-2 looked impressive against the Ju 87 B-1 in 1940, a comparison with the SBD-2 from the same year revealed issues.
Considering the SBD-2, it had less horsepower than the Ju 87 B-2, but carried more payload, had a longer range, and was faster. Astonishingly, it was also lighter than the Ju 87. Even within naval dive-bombers, the SBD, which wasn't known for its speed or extended range, easily outperformed the Ju 87. Being pummeled by the SBD on the ground left the Americans feeling stunned.
After much contemplation, Wilhelm suddenly thought of the successor to the SBD, the A-1 attack aircraft.
The single-seat, single-engine A-1 adhered to a concise and efficient design philosophy. Its manufacturing process was not overly complex but boasted several distinctive features. For instance, its range reached an astonishing 2500 kilometers. As a propeller-driven aircraft, it carried a formidable payload—14 underwing racks and a central fuselage rack, capable of carrying up to 3036 kg of bombs. This didn't even include the four 20mm cannons with 200 rounds each. Due to its considerable room for improvement, it remained in service until the 1980s.
While Wilhelm and the engineers were researching new carrier-based aircraft, Goebbels' propaganda machine once again sprung into action. To be precise, it hadn't stopped since the outbreak of war.
However, this time, the news was quite shocking. The Crown Prince personally flew on a Stuka dive-bomber and participated in the attack on the British fleet. In this battle, the German Navy sank the British battleship HMS Warspite, two heavy cruisers, and a battlecruiser.
Although this achievement seemed somewhat "humble" compared to U 47 sinking several battleships a few days earlier, the public once again erupted in excitement. They were proud to have a Crown Prince who led from the front, believing firmly that under the leadership of the Crown Prince, Germany would ultimately achieve victory. If this were a game, the public's support and loyalty would have undoubtedly maxed out.
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