The Rise Of Australasia
Chapter 564: Chapter 439: Passenger Airplane and Aircraft Carrier_3

As the two most important and core regions of Australasia, the distance of over two thousand kilometers makes communication between the two areas slow.

After the development of the second generation of passenger aircraft technology, it is helpful to the communication between the upper echelons of the two regions, making the connection between the Australian region and the New Zealand region closer.

If in the future, there could be a faster and more convenient third-generation passenger aircraft, it might take New Zealanders only ten hours to travel to Australia.

However, before that, communication between the two regions can only be done through ships or airships due to ocean crossings.

But international global voyages do not have many stops in New Zealand, so most of the routes between Sydney and Wellington are Australasian.

On the one hand, there are fewer airship flights, and, on the other hand, the prices are higher than global voyages.

It takes at least two days, even three to four days, for a ship to travel between the two places. Enjoy new tales from M V L

It also creates a sense of distance between the Australian region and the New Zealand region, and there is a significant gap between the development of the two areas.

Of course, until the second generation of passenger aircraft has been proven effective, Arthur will not take a ride.

During this period of at least one year, the Royal Aircraft Manufacturing Factory will construct a tailored aircraft for Arthur and the royal family, and a large number of flights will be used to test the reliability of the aircraft to ensure the safety of the royal family members while traveling.

In addition to the Royal Aircraft Manufacturing Factory's passenger aircraft, the Sydney Royal Shipyard has also received significant news.

It has been six years since Arthur proposed the concept of an aircraft carrier, and after numerous experiments and studies, the Sydney Royal Shipyard has achieved some results.

In fact, although no true aircraft carriers exist in the world at present, as early as four years ago, the British successfully completed the first flight of carrier-based aircraft.

In 1912, British pilot Charles Samson made a great attempt by taking off from the anchored "African" battleship in his Short S.27 biplane, with the "runway" being a temporary deck.

Four months later, during the naval review in Weymouth, United Kingdom, Samson flew the biplane again, taking off from the bow deck of the "Hibernia" battleship, which was traveling at a speed of 15 knots.

This achievement shocked all the officers present and prompted countries around the world to begin focusing on the research and development of an aviation platform on water, essentially starting the study of aircraft carriers.

Following this example, the Sydney Royal Shipyard has proposed two mature aircraft carrier designs.

The first type of aircraft carrier design refers to the British example where battleships are transformed into aircraft carriers, using the front deck for upwind takeoffs.

The advantage of this design is that it retains the power of the battleship, and after all aircraft have taken off, the aircraft carrier can immediately become a battleship and join the battle.

But the bad news is, since it's a battleship-based aircraft carrier, the length of the deck is limited and required upwind speeds to allow aircraft to take off.

On the other hand, the short deck can't accommodate many carrier-based aircraft, and the aircraft carriers' power depends on the quantity and performance of carrier-based aircraft, limiting the combat power of this type of aircraft carrier.

The third issue is also about the deck length: due to the shortness of the deck, landing aircraft pose a big challenge.

British and French researchers have done some study on this type of aircraft carrier, but they have not managed to solve the problems of aircraft taking off and landing. The short deck can lead to a certain failure rate during takeoffs and landings, or even cause aircraft to uncontrollably slide into the sea.

The second type of aircraft carrier design completely abandons the previous battleship design.

The second design mainly consists of a long deck, armor protection, anti-aircraft weapons, a power system, and a carrier area.

It has a larger volume than the battleship but lacks firepower. Such an aircraft carrier relies entirely on the power of carrier-based aircraft and has no means to attack enemies other than its inherent anti-aircraft firepower.

But the good news is that this design can accommodate more carrier-based aircraft, and with a long enough deck, the aircraft can take off in any situation with ease.

There is also an interception device at the rear of the deck to ensure that the aircraft are intercepted on the deck after landing and don't slide into the sea.

With an independent carrier area, or hangar, this type of aircraft carrier can carry more than 20 carrier-based aircraft. From an aircraft carrier's perspective, the second design is far superior in combat power to the first one.

Both types of aircraft carrier designs have their advantages and disadvantages. The first design is more conservative, striking a balance between aircraft carriers and battleships, and the latter also serves as a battleship.

The second design is more extreme and a true aircraft carrier, with its combat power being entirely determined by the 20 carrier-based aircraft.

The Sydney Royal Shipyard submitted both types of aircraft carrier designs to Arthur, who was responsible for determining the direction of Australasia's aircraft carriers.

If Arthur was not a time traveler, he might have chosen the first option, considering that even if the aircraft carrier is useless, it can still function as a battleship.

However, Arthur knew that battleships would eventually be replaced by aircraft carriers. The reconnaissance range and firepower coverage of battleships could never be compared with aircraft carriers, no matter how powerful their firepower and armor are.

Aircraft carriers could deploy a large number of carrier-based aircraft from tens of kilometers away to directly destroy battleships.

Unless battleships possess exceptional anti-aircraft capabilities, they have no suitable means to counter such aerial threats.

Without much hesitation, Arthur immediately confirmed the second aircraft carrier design, named it the Giant-class aircraft carrier, and entrusted the Sydney Royal Shipyard to build it.