Untimely Excursions

by Hall, Gerald

  Theodore didn’t mention that many of those lessons had been learned because one of the German engineers that had worked on the Heinkel He 177 Greif had immigrated to Australian and was now working for Cavill Aerospace.

  “Of course, we are not merely doing upgrades of existing designs. Our aircraft designers also working on new designs even as we speak. One of the new designs is an aircraft designed to use one of these dual-engine turbo-shaft powerplants. The missions that this carrier-based aircraft are intended for are airborne early warning and anti-submarine patrol. The aircraft is very similar in some ways to one called the Gannet being developed by Fairey for the Royal Navy.

  I think that ours will be better than the Gannet though because of our design’s higher performance and superior avionics. It uses a tandem wing design with pusher propellers like the original Dragonfly fighter-bomber. This frees up the nose for a large radar array that also projects downwards from the airframe for coverage of the flanks and rear.

  We are also examining the idea of a replacement for the Cavalier flying boat. The Cavalier has served our customers well, but it is certainly showing its age and its limitations.” Theo explained.

  “So what other new masterpieces are your engineers creating now?”

  “I can’t go into too many details obviously. But there are some very interesting prototypes already being built back at our hangars near Derby. I can’t really say much about our combat aircraft being designed. But we have several unique transport aircraft designs there, including a pair of new rotary wing aircraft. One of the new transport aircraft happens to look like a giant version of the Dragonfly, only with six engines mounted on a shoulder-mounted wing, vertical stabilizers on its wingtips and a canard foreplane.”

  “That has to be amazing looking.” Derwin noted.

  “It certainly is. It is supposed to be even large enough for a medium tank to drive up inside its cargo ramp. Almost all of our new designs are using our new gas turbine engine technology in one form or another. The only new aircraft designs being worked on by our people that still use conventional internal combustion engines are either remotely piloted vehicles or light aircraft for the civilian private aviation market.”

  “I don’t think that anything can replace our Cavalier’s though.”

  “Don’t be so sure about that, Major. One of our designs that we are working on just might. It is a jet powered amphibious aircraft that is even larger than a Cavalier and considerably faster. Our engineers say that could even carry as much as sixty metric tons of cargo payload.”

  “That’s incredible. I look forward to seeing it flying. It could be quite an asset for our military in a variety of roles.”

  “There is still more. Come look over here at this new prototype light transport.”

  Sitting in the corner of the hangar was a relatively small twin-engine aircraft with a shoulder-mounted wing, twin rudders and what appeared to be a small vertical rotor located on top of the tail boom.

  “This is going to be our latest innovation in vertical flight, Major Durham. This aircraft is not only capable of conventional horizontal flight but can also take off and land vertically.”

  “Surely that tiny rotor in the back cannot lift this entire aircraft off of the ground.”

  “Of course, not. As you can see, this aircraft is powered by a pair of our latest turboshaft engines. Each engine develops over two-thousand shaft horsepower. The propellers are also very advanced and have a particularly wide chord to produce the maximum amount of thrust for their span. What this aircraft does that is so unique is that it tilts its entire wing upward using a series of hydraulic jacks so that the two engines provide vertical thrust for takeoff and landing. The engines themselves are coupled together so that if one engine fails, power is still available for both propellers. The small tail rotor is only there to provide pitch control during vertical flight.”

  “That is very impressive. How fast can it fly in level flight?”

  “We have already test-flown it at speeds of over three hundred knots. We believe that the basic design can easily be adapted for a variety of roles, both for the civilian market as well as for military customers. It can do virtually anything that a conventional helicopter can do, but fly significantly faster and have far greater range at the same time.”

  “That sounds like something that the Navy could certainly use onboard its aircraft carriers, maybe even on other ships as well. I bet that the Army could think of a task or two to use it for. It certainly could carry troops and possible also serve as an armed close support aircraft. I hope that I will be able to take a crack at flying it while I am here.”

  “Maybe you will. We have already briefly demonstrated this tilt-wing prototype to the British and Australian militaries as well as to representatives to a few other allied nations. We still have a few issues that we need to work out with the aircraft. But there is nothing that will not be quickly fixed. We firmly believe that this aircraft will be a world-beater for us.” Theo replied.

  “I look forward to seeing it in operation then. You also mentioned something also about remotely piloted aircraft, I believe. Could you tell me more about that?”

  “Of course. Do you remember how we had those twin engine aircraft during the latter part of the war that were piloted by an operator who used a television camera to see where his aircraft was flying?”

  “Yes. Weren’t they used to carry bombs and torpedoes to targets that were too heavily defended to risk sending a manned aircraft?”

  “They were. But now, we are making larger versions to do much more than what previously were essentially suicide missions. These new armed drone aircraft are intended to launch weapons against well-defended enemy targets and then returning to their home base for reuse. We are also designing unmanned aircraft for reconnaissance purposes as well. They are designed to have far longer endurances and can fly at much higher altitudes. We are using turbo-supercharged piston engines to accommodate those requirements. We would still be primarily piloting these drones remotely using a television camera. However, we can also use an autopilot and an inertial guidance system so that we can fly the aircraft far beyond the limited signal of the drone’s television transmitter. Then we can use a series of cameras to observe the area nearby before ordering the drone to return to its launch point for a safe recovery.”

  “Can this high-altitude reconnaissance design still be used for a more offensive role?” Major Durham then asked.

  “Yes, it can. But that would require that a manned control aircraft like a bomber or large seaplane equipped with the appropriate electronic equipment fly some distance behind the drone, but close enough to maintain communications with it. The drone can then carry a two or three thousand kilograms of weapons aboard instead of surveillance electronics. A booster rocket can be mounted in the rear of the fuselage to increase the drone’s speed for a short period during its attack run if necessary.”

  “How far can it fly?”

  “I can’t really give you an exact number. Partly, that is because it is classified information. But also it is because the range can vary considerably based on the configuration. These aircraft can be manned by a single pilot for ferry purposes also.” Theodore explained.

  “It sounds really interesting. But I still can’t help thinking that any remotely piloted aircraft would be extremely vulnerable to enemy fighters or one of the new surface-to-air missiles. There is just no bloody way to see and react to threats to one of your drones until it was too late.”

  “You are correct, I’m afraid. But the drones can be a valuable supplement to our existing bombers and attack aircraft under the right circumstances still. We are looking at ways to provide the drones with defensive aids like chaff to increase their survivability. But that may not be available for some time still. There are some technological hurdles yet to be overcome for these drones to handle high-threat environments like that.”

  “I’m sure that you will come up with a solution. You blo
kes always seem to do so. It still amazes me what you are doing with your rockets and such.”

  “Well, mate. I fully expect to see our Hummingbirds, that’s the twin-engine transport with the tilting wing that I showed you earlier, to be approved for production within the month. If that happens, the odds are that the Brits will also be buying them along with the Australian military.”

  “How much are you willing to bet on that, Sir?” Derwin asked.

  “I’ll bet a hundred dollars that we’ll be building Hummingbirds for customers before springtime.”

  “You’ve got a bet, Sir.” Derwin said with a smile.

  Chapter Eighteen:

  Cavill Industries Headquarters

  Derby, Western Australia

  March 24, 1957

  “That was a very impressive inauguration speech by President Stevenson. He seems to be targeting our space program with his call that space belonged to all nations and peoples though. Of course, his proposal to place all national space programs within a unified space directorate under the control of the United Nations is completely unacceptable to us.” Judith told her siblings as they sat around the table in her office.

  “Fair Dinkum. I’m sure that the government in Canberra made their displeasure known to Washington very quickly. Australians, as a whole, are very proud of our leadership in space. They would not be willing to just hand over control to some bureaucrat in Geneva.” Beatrice emphatically responded.

  “Naturally. Of course, we made sure that our representatives to Parliament also sent that same message as well. President Stevenson was being very shrewd by trying to imply that our rocket program had an ulterior military application. I have a feeling that there were some engineers in American who wanted to see if they could obtain our rocket and satellite technology for free through the United Nations.” Judith noted.

  “Such a move would certainly save the Americans a considerable amount of money. But I’m sure that we can forestall it through our connections in London and Canberra. Both England and Australia have benefitted greatly from our space program. So their leaders have quite an incentive to prevent the Americans from taking control of it. If that doesn’t work, we will embargo our telecommunications services from any nation that pushes this international space directorate. The economic impact of such an embargo would quickly get the point across, I’m sure.

  The American program to design a three man capsule for their Apollo program has to be very expensive as is the development of a new large launch vehicle. The Americans are talking publicly about attempting to send men to land on the Moon and return them. To put this capsule into orbit and beyond is going to take a much larger launch vehicle than what they have tested so far. It will not be as large as our Sea Dragon launch vehicle though.” Sarah explained. She had been spending a lot of time at the shipyards and Derby rocket design laboratories going over the latest modifications to the Sea Dragon.

  “That is almost as ambitious as our own space program. But even Doctor von Braun’s program is preparing to launch reusable space planes into orbit that can transport a pilot and four passengers into low earth orbit. We can launch much larger manned capsules aboard our Sea Dragon rockets as well. It would be very simple to orbit more than twenty personnel along with a significant cargo payload in a single launch payload launched by one of our Sea Dragons.” James interjected. He had initially taken a very strong interest in von Braun’s space plane designs. James made it very clear early on that he wanted to fly to the proposed space station and return aboard one of the space planes.

  “I don’t know if we want to try that with the Sea Dragon just yet. It is much simpler and safer to send personnel into orbit in one of the smaller space planes that we have designed. We had looked first at one of Von Braun’s space plane designs. We chose something else though to put on top of one of his rockets.

  The craft that we are doing to use is more of a lifting body with some elements of the Dyna-Soar than a true winged vehicle. This space plane design can carry up to twice as many people as one of the American space capsules in addition to a pilot and a small amount of cargo. Plus, maintaining the small space plane launches gives us an official justification to continue to keep Doctor von Braun’s rocket division operating. Simply launching the smaller satellites alone may not be enough. We really don’t want Werner to start thinking about plying his special talents elsewhere if we can avoid it.” Judith explained to her siblings.

  “So you want the good Doctor to continue to feel that he is important to our rocket program, don’t you?” Sarah asked.

  “Exactly. Of course, Werner von Braun is still a very talented engineer who will continue to make contributions to our rocket development program. But it is very important that he is working on OUR rockets, not someone else’s.” Judith noted.

  “Fair Dinkum. The Doctor is totally stoked about the idea of our building two large space stations in Earth orbit in addition to our lunar exploration project and ultimately our Martian colonization plans.” Beatrice enthusiastically replied.

  “I know that we have revealed a few of our advanced space plans to the world. But most of them we have kept in house. In view of the reaction by the Americans and the French to our space operations already, it continues to be wise to hold back information on what we have planned until we are too far along for anyone to stop them.” The oldest Cavill insisted.

  Chapter Nineteen:

  Government House,

  Hanoi, French Indochina

  April 11, 1957

  The main French government building in Hanoi was surrounded by a tall concrete wall with armed soldiers manning sandbagged entry points. Several tall trees could still be seen growing tall from within the confines of the enclosed courtyard.

  Inside a large meeting room, a pair of French men sat at the large table there. A large ceiling fan was doing a clearly inadequate job of cooling the occupants whose white shirts already showed large sweat stains.

  “Francois, we need more allies if we are finally going to defeat this damned Vietminh insurgency. The English have divested themselves of all of their holdings and interest in Asia with the exception of their colony at Hong Kong. They have even left Singapore to its citizens. It is true that Singapore is still remaining part of the Commonwealth and still hosts a British military base there. So we cannot hope to convince the English to assist us here in Indochina. “Gabriel Aubrois said as he looked at the map on the wall depicting French Indochina.

  “I am all too aware of this. It was difficult enough for us to get the English to assist in that business with the Suez Canal, when the Egyptians tried to nationalize it. The English have a much larger and more effective aircraft carrier force in addition to the large jet bombers that they also operate at the same time. We were physically closer, but lacked the effective reach that the English military enjoys.” Francois Menard explained.

  “We paid dearly for that assistance too. The English now possess the lion’s share of the profits generated by the canal. They also won the right to station a regiment of troops near the Suez as well. That is just as well though. They are bearing the burden of supporting their deployed troops stationed on the Sinai now.”

  “We do have the advantage of being much closer to the Suez ourselves. The Suez Canal incident at least woke up out leaders and provoked them to finally improve the strategic mobility of the French military. We can send troops across the Mediterranean very quickly now. We can have troop ships there in less than two days. Our paratroopers can be dropping on the Suez in less than four hours, not to mention the proximity of our Foreign Legion troops that are even closer to the canal.”

  “But the issue at hand is finding a way to end this damned insurgency. There are already complaints coming from home about the costs of remaining here, both in francs and in French blood. It is as though people back home have forgotten the need to regain our pride and honor as Frenchmen once again. We cannot afford to once again run back home with our tails between our legs. M
oreover, the exploitation of the resources here in Indochina are of great value to France for both domestic use and export.”

  “We must find additional military forces to assist us here. Failing that, we have to find a way of stopping the supply of weapons to the Viet Minh. Most of those weapons are coming from factories located in the southern part of China. They are still in the midst of fighting a civil war against the Nationalist Chinese forces in northern China.

  Ideally, we would cause the English to drain their resources at the same time. They failed to provide adequate forces to help defend France against the Boche. Instead, they evacuated their contemptuous little army from Dunkirk right from under our noses. Then they had the gall to suggest that we send our warships to England to prevent the Boche from seizing our property from us.”

  “Who else in the area still has a viable military force? Most everyone has either significantly reduced their military forces since the end of the war or they are tied up in civil wars of their own.” Gabriel asked.

  “What about the Australians? While they have also reduced their active duty military after the end of the war, virtually all of their reserve militia units are still there. Perhaps just as important, the Australians didn’t dispose of most of their military equipment except for some of their oldest pre-war weapons. They put most of their infantry, artillery and armored vehicles into storage instead.”

  “True, but I think that the Australian government isn’t particularly interested in getting into another fight. They lost quite a few good people during the last war, especially considering their relatively small population. They would not have a great incentive to get involved, I fear.”