Steel and Mana

Chapter 315 – Biplanes

For once, my office was empty, except for me. With the news and samples from my first oil refinery, I finally had a proper fuel source. So, it was time to create something that would adequately accommodate my Camelot and give us air superiority—something that I prioritized above the rest. The unavoidable conclusion and war against Ishillia were getting nearer; I could feel it. Winter was still here to stay, but with the last attack on the Pass and their latest defeat, the beasts became silent. No more raids came our way. Which was the first sign of spring, so to speak.

Sasha understood it, too, so for the past two to four days, I was left alone to work on my plans. At the moment, I was leaning over my messy, large table, my brow furrowed in concentration, watching the seventh and probably final blueprint variant I had created. Building an airplane was not as easy as just copying over a blueprint I once saw in a book. Yes, it was a big part of it, but most of it still had to be reconstructed to fit our current capabilities, and I have never worked on an actual aircraft besides the mandatory classes in school. I was with the ground troops, after all. So, to create this world's first actual flying machine that didn't use magic, I decided to go with a safe bet—a biplane. Let it be simple, easier to produce, and iron out the kinks before moving on to something more complex like a monoplane.

“Why wood?” Sasha asked when looking at the third iteration of my blueprint.

“Because wood is everywhere. Lightweight, durable enough if treated properly, and easy to work with.” I scribbled notes in the margins of his blueprint when I answered, annotating stress points and material requirements.

I could have done it from metal; I had some proper blueprints in my head for planes used in my world when the Second World War happened. Or even create something that was in use in my time with repulsor engines, but for that, I would need magic to be involved. And those planes won't get past the magical quarantine. Plus, knowledge was different from experience. I may know how to put it together, but I never really did it. So, it's better to be patient and careful.

“Lift, drag, thrust,” I recited to myself without thinking while working. "The three forces of flight.” My understanding of aerodynamics was shaky at best because I simply memorized everything from a book without understanding the actuality and reasons behind it. In my time, most airplanes were unmanned anyway, being oversized drones. By then, we no longer needed to think about the stress put on the human body inside of them as they were piloted remotely. Thankfully, a bi-plane wouldn't go as fast as to worry about it breaking the sound barrier, and neither could it do crazy maneuvers that would knock my future pilots out, resulting in a crash.

My hand hovered over one of my last variants as I considered the wing structure. I had chosen the biplane design because it was simpler to construct and offered more lift at lower speeds—crucial for an untested aircraft. Still, I had redesigned it four times already, finally settling on a final variant that, on paper, proved to be the most stable. After that, I began sketching the ribs and spars of the wings, ensuring they’d provide both the flexibility and rigidity needed to maintain stability in flight.

“Wing span… twelve meters. Chord length… two meters. That should give enough surface area for lift.” I jotted down the numbers for future reference and moved on to the struts and wires that would hold the wings together. The double-wing configuration meant that I could use thinner, lighter materials without sacrificing structural integrity. If all goes well, we can churn these little birdies out pretty quickly.

Satisfied with the final wing design, I turned my attention to the engine. This was the part that actually was 'easy' to replicate. I had read about early internal combustion engines and understood the principles well, which is why I was also assigned back home to recover items of war from old caches. Heh... Then I was run over by one of those. The irony. Anyway, I am not complaining; it was, in retrospect, the best thing that could have happened to me. With the current experienced workers within Kraus's team, the necessary parts for the engine would be easy to produce: a crankshaft, pistons, and a rudimentary carburetor, for example. I was already making the prepared schematics for them to use. On a different set of papers, I sketched out the entire engine block in detail with instructions for them to follow.

“Inline-four configuration,” I muttered, looking it over one more time, scrutinizing it for mistakes. "It's simpler than a radial engine. It has enough power for my first plane without making it to be too complex.” It needed to be easily maintained and repaired, even if we were out on the field. I checked the drawing for the cylinders, ensuring they’d be evenly spaced to balance the engine’s vibrations, which was one of the issues I was consciously trying to avoid the most. I wouldn't want it to turn on and then shake the plane apart.

Next were the intake and exhaust systems, carefully designed to optimize airflow. Then came the carburetor, which would mix the kerosene and air at the right ratio to sustain combustion. Here, I added some annotations for future tests. Compression ratio: 5:1. Spark timing: manually adjustable. Cooling system: air-cooled fins.

Checking everything to be in order, I sat back and rubbed my eyes, yawning once. One thing I was a bit worried about was the cooling of the finished engine. Supposedly, cutting through it would help a lot in the air, but I still need to be mindful about it. I can't let it overheat and cause my planes to fall out of the sky. The cooling fins on the cylinders would help, but I was considering adding a simple fan to direct airflow over the engine during flight. Anyway, I made a note to revisit that later, after one was built and after proper testing would start.

Then, there was the airframe. The fuselage would be a simple box truss design constructed from wooden beams that were lashed together with hemp cords and then reinforced with metal brackets. It would be lightweight and sturdy enough to withstand the forces it would go through. It would house the engine, fuel tank, and, of course, the cockpit. While designing the layout, I reminded myself to leave space for future adjustments. Whatever I did not think about now would need to be added later.

“Fuel tank capacity… twenty liters. That should be enough for short test flights,” I decided. After all, if it is working well, I can increase its capacity and, by that, its range. For now, let it get built, fly, and land without breaking. At first, I thought about where to put it, but then, I placed the tank just behind the engine to maintain its center of gravity and added a firewall to protect the pilot in case of an engine fire. "Hmm... I should invent some kind of fire extinguisher in the future..."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The cockpit itself was rudimentary and had two versions: a single or double seat with basic controls. I planned to use a control stick for pitch and roll, as well as rudder pedals for yaw. It would be nothing like the cockpit of my mechs. Good thing I named those pilots Knights because after my Air Force is established, it would be so goddamn confusing. After a single chuckle, I looked over the control linkages, connecting the stick and pedals to the movable surfaces on the wings and tail. It looked fine and proper... It shouldn't need another revision until something comes up in the test flights.

“Ailerons on the upper wings for roll control. Elevator on the tail for pitch. Rudder for yaw.” I labeled each component meticulously, drawing arrows to indicate their exact range of motion so anyone looking at my plans would not screw it up when putting it together.

Finally, I turned my attention to the landing gear. Planes need to come down, too, after all. For now, to reduce any complexity and avoid introducing more points of failure, they would be fixed and non-retractable wheels. The obvious choice of simplicity was key here. The only issue was rubber. It was something so prevalent in my old world that I never really knew how difficult it was to achieve when you don't have it. I mean, when the world didn't even use it... not until I ended up here. I had still no actual source for it; the latest news I had pointed me towards the south, towards Roblesia. But... Eh, whatever. That was for the future. Right now, I had to do with what I had at hand. So, we will use wooden wheels reinforced with metal rings and combine them with a spring suspension system to absorb the shocks of taking off and landing. We could also cover them with tempered leather in multiple layers, but... Well, we will try it all out. Oh and... I quickly added a small tail skid that would prevent the plane from tipping backward.

After finishing everything, I stood back and surveyed my completed work. The blueprint itself was sprawling, made up of a dozen pages, covering my whole table multiple times over. It was rough to look at, full of annotations and corrections, but it was a start. It was something that, by all logic, could fly.

Then, if it IS flying and can do it with relative safety, I can implement some weaponry. With gunpowder at hand, I could design weapons for it, as, unlike the mechs or my Camelot, putting cannons on this was unfeasible. Of course, their primary role would be reconnaissance and bombing runs. They would fly over my enemies and drop my rudimentary bombs on them. I even had a pretty evil thought occurring to me... Just like crop dusting, I could attach tanks filled with CC dust to it. Then, send them to fly over my enemy mages and... Well... My only fear was that I didn't know what would happen afterward. Would it be like radioactivity but for mages? Or would it disperse? Would the wind carry it away? It was... dangerous. Especially because my wives and children were also mages. I wouldn't want to end up like the Germans, using mustard gas and crying about it when the wind changed directions.

Anyway, for now, they would be bombing my enemies, and I can design an assault weapon for it if we nail down how to make some bullets. We'll see... first, let them get into the air.

Shaking away my chaotic thoughts, I set the pen down and rolled up the blueprint. Tomorrow, I would call on my team and introduce them to the final plans, and we would start building it. I think we should start with the wings, shape the wooden ribs and spars, and then move on to the fuselage. The engine would be the last component—I needed more time to refine the design before committing to a full-scale build with Sasha.

Looking out of the windows, I just realized it was already night. Again. Huh... I didn't even realize when it got dark. With a smile, I looked at the lamps on my ceiling, remembering how far we had gotten in these past years, feeling pride swelling in my chest. This... this life... it was a good life. No, it was great. And to make it even better, it was time to head back... I needed a good sleep between my lovelies.