Untimely Excursions

by Hall, Gerald

  “Are we still thinking about adding the option of thrust-reversers? I know that they will make it possible for this new design to operate from very short runways.” Sarah asked.

  “Yes, but we are also considering adapting the airframe to do something else completely different though. Do you remember that short segment of video on the database showing how the Hawker Aircraft Company developed the Kestrel?”

  “That was that vertical takeoff and landing jet, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, that’s correct. What I have a couple of our aeronautical engineers doing is adapting the overall configuration of the Dragonfly III to be powered by one of the high-bypass turbofan engines that we have designed for the new large aerial cargo transport. It will take some major redesign work, but we can reuse much of the Dragonfly III’s wings, forward fuselage, and its tail section. The wings will have to be shoulder-mounted as will the canard to accommodate the forward vectoring nozzles.” Beatrice explained.

  “It sounds like this new aircraft that you want us to build is going to look heaps different than the Kestrel from the database video.”

  “Oh, yes. The cold fan flow from the engine will be vectored through a pair of forward nozzles just like the Kestrel. But the hot gas flow from the turbine will be vectored through a single nozzle in the rear of the fuselage. The resulting three-poster downward thrust should work just as well as the Kestrel’s four-poster vectored thrust. We will have the advantage that the hot flow will have fewer flow losses in cruise and higher maximum speeds. The engineers already believe that this aircraft will be supersonic in level flight based on the initial wind tunnel tests.”

  “Something tells me that you want to be the first to fly it too, just like our mum.” Sarah commented.

  “It would certainly be a lot of fun to have a crack at it, I have to admit.” Beatrice replied with a smile. She had inherited quite a bit from her mother, including her taste for adventure. This included the occasional bout of risk-taking as well. This made her stand out from her twin sister Sarah who was far more calculating and somewhat more risk-adverse.

  “It would also be very dangerous. Did you look at the entire history of that design, my dear loving twin sister? In that timeline, they did not have the sophisticated computer controls that ensured that pilots would not be overwhelmed by unexpected conditions. Heaps of the aircraft based on the Kestrel crashed during vertical takeoffs and especially landings.”

  “I guess that we will just have IDA make some little refinements of the design that our engineers come up with so that it will be a lot easier to fly.”

  “There is also one other little issue. Our finances are already strained with the expenses of the space program and our other projects. How are we going to afford building prototypes and all of the other things necessary to fully develop the concept? We just don’t have the financial resources to develop another program without a partner to help share the burden and risk.

  It’s not that this aircraft is a bad idea. In fact, it is an incredible one, especially in view of the experiences of the Second World War where airfields were heavily targeted. It could also give a navy with a smaller aircraft carrier the ability to operate a reasonably capable little strike fighter, just like the large navies.

  But I suppose that we still have to figure out how to pay for this program and who would be interested in purchasing such an aircraft, don’t we?” Beatrice asked.

  “We need business partners if we are going to pursue additional programs such as this. I really don’t think that the Australian government is going to help in any significant manner. They simply do not want to spend any more money on the military at this time. That means that we are going to have to seek overseas partners instead.

  To start with, we sure as hell are not going to get the Germans involved in any of our projects, much less the Russians or Chinese. The world has enough problems as it is without essentially handing a loaded gun to an eight-year old imbecile. It will be bad enough if the Germans decide to try to copy this aircraft.”

  “What about the French or the Italians?”

  “With the trouble that the French have caused for us in Indochina, I think that we should rule them out also. The Italians are possible partners though as long as they agree not to give the Russians or Germans access to our technology. They have just retired the last of their battleships. They are still dealing with a great many shortcomings with their aircraft carrier Aquila. The Impero has worked out better for the Italians because of its larger size and speed. But Impero could easily become Italian Navy’s only aircraft carrier if Aquila is scrapped. They could be very interested in rebuilding their aircraft carrier program with smaller vessels utilizing helicopters and vertical takeoff jets like this one. Maybe, they could be a partner with us on this concept if they were properly motivated, Beatrice.”

  “You still have to remember that the French and Italians are working together on several other military development projects including the joint production of a new class of destroyers and of a new land-based jet fighter.”

  “This is true. But even Marcel Bloch is having bloody problems with meeting the joint requirements for that fighter, especially since the Italians wanted something that could operate from their aircraft carrier. Perhaps, this will give the Italians a reason to bow out of that joint venture with the French. The French will be happy to a certain extent because they will be able to focus on their own requirements. We can point out where the Italians can build something that much better suits their unique needs. We already have had some cooperative ventures with the Italians in the past. So they should be quite receptive to any overtures that we make concerning this aircraft, Beatrice. We could also approach Belgium and the Netherlands as well. They are all still in the process of rebuilding their militaries. The wartime surplus warplanes that the Low Countries purchased after the Armistice are all virtually obsolete now.”

  “All of these countries will want some degree of technology transfer as part of any purchase of coproduction agreement, Of course.” Beatrice warned.

  “You reckon? There’s no need to get your knickers up, Beatrice. Between the two of us, we will have the Italian and other blokes utterly stoked to have a piece of this action in no time flat. They won’t have a clue that we are pulling all of this technology from that little black box in a big cave. We will also incorporate into the contract that none of our partners will be able to share any sensitive details with anyone else without our written approval.

  The really hard part will be to get Judith and James to agree with us. You know how bloody paranoid Judith is about anyone outside figuring out our little secret. She always worries on any business that seems a little iffy, you know. James just wants all of the credit for himself, as usual.”

  “Not this time, Sarah. We could be opening up a very large market with this aircraft, especially if we can not only get it to fulfill its promise, but also if it is affordable and reliable enough. Every air force that needs a responsive ground support jet that can operate from austere airfields near the front lines will be beating at our doors. The same goes for any navy that wants a jet fighter but cannot afford a large aircraft carrier to operate conventional carrier-based jets.”

  “I would imagine that we could demonstrate its capabilities by flying it off of our two flight deck-equipped support ships. That would certainly get the attention of quite a few admirals. Then, we’ll be in like Flynn.”

  “But first, we need to design and test the aircraft first. We have to make sure that it works and can do everything that we promise before we can demonstrate it to anyone.”

  “We are using some ideas from the computer database in the design of this new vertical-landing fighter, aren’t we?

  “Yes, of course. But we are still sticking with technology that is quite close to the state of the art for this time period. It really doesn’t need a lot of

  Chapter Fifty-One:

  Cavill Shipyards

  Derby, Western Au
stralia

  October 4, 1958

  “I can’t believe that she’s back where she originally came from.” Sarah said as she watched the aircraft carrier flying the Chilean Navy flag proudly sailed into King Bay. Emblazened in bold letters on her stern was the ship’s name, Almirante Williams.

  “It has been quite a long journey for her. Now, over twenty-five years after she left here, the surviving flight deck liner that we built has returned for a full refit.” Beatrice replied as continued to watch the warship slowly cruising towards the waiting drydock.

  “I am looking forward to bringing her to a truly modern standard. At a displacement of very nearly thirty-thousand tons, we will be able to reconstruct her to be able to operate modern jet fighters for at least another couple of decades. We will be stripping her down to her hangar deck and installing a brand new flight deck. This will include an angled landing area and a pair of deck-edge elevators. We will also be upgrading her propulsion and protection along with a variety of other improvements such as a pair of new steam catapults.” Judith commented.

  “In the meanwhile, it looks like we have company, Judith.” Beatrice noted as she pointed out across the bay.

  A small ship’s boat departed the Chilean warship and cruised towards the dock where Judith and Beatrice stood. A few moments after stopping adjacent to the dock, a pair of crewmen hopped onto the dock and secured the boat before a tall, brown-skinned man in a white dress uniform stepped up onto the dock and warmly greeted the two Cavill sisters.

  “Buenos Dias, Señoras Cavill. I am Captain Esteban Prat, commander of the Chilean aircraft carrier Almirante Williams. I am very pleased to meet both of you.”

  “It is our pleasure, I assure you. We are very proud to see one of the ships that our father built come back here to where she was first constructed. She will then be reborn into a truly modern warship by the time we are done with her, Captain.”

  “I am glad to hear that as well, Señora. My superiors not only were very pleased with your proposal, but also felt strongly that because your shipyards originally constructed my ship, that they would know best how to improve her.”

  “Thank you, Captain. We are prepared to offer you anything else that you might need for your ship, including the latest aircraft designs.”

  “I regret to say that we are going to be purchasing our new jet aircraft from the Americans to fly from my ship. They are offering very favorable terms for a new fighter-bomber being built by the Douglas Aircraft Company that they are calling the Skyhawk. My government is still very impressed with your helicopters and tilt-wing aircraft though. I fully expect that we will be purchasing several of each type to operate from my ship.”

  “Even if we are not going to be supplying most of the aircraft for your ship, at least we will still be providing it with a very formidable defensive capability.”

  “I am looking forward to that also. We have known for quite some time that the eight 5”/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns that the Americans had installed on my ship were obsolete, especially with many of our opponents flying jet aircraft now. The Bofors and Oerlikon automatic cannons were probably not going to be much help either.”

  When we are done refitting your ship, it will be as well defended as any aircraft carrier in the world, including those in service here in Australia and also in the Royal Navy.”

  “My sailors will be very pleased to know this, Señora. Por favor, I must go to attend some other business on my ship now.” Captain Prat said with a warm smile before respectfully nodding and turning to leave.

  “I’m going back to the shipyard office myself now. ” Beatrice then told her older sister.

  “No worries. I have a few more things that I need to check on at the yard. I’m been going flat out all morning. But I will see you later at the office.” Judith finally replied before leaving.

  A couple of hours later, Judith returned to the shipyard main office. When she opened the office door, she saw a pair of people with surprised looks on their faces.

  “We just received a most interesting message from the Ministry of Defense in Canberra, Judith.” Alexander Portman told the oldest Cavill as she arrived at the shipyard’s administrative office. Her sister Beatrice was already there when Judith arrived.

  “What it is?” Judith asked just before Theodore handed her several sheets of paper.

  Judith quickly looked at the document before handing it back to the shipyard head.

  “Crikey! Why didn’t I receive this at the main office, Theo?”

  “It was sent to the main office. I was there when it arrived, if fact.” Beatrice interjected before continuing.

  “But I knew that you weren’t coming to the main office for a while since you were going down to check out the latest Sea Dragon rocket under construction. So I took the document and brought it here myself.” Beatrice finally explained.

  “Thank you. For something this big, you would have thought that the Admiralty would have sent someone here in person to talk to us. You know that we are best suited to win this competition.” Judith replied.

  “I know. But there are still other shipyards in the Commonwealth who have been given the opportunity to bid on this contract for three guided missile light cruisers. It’s not a sure thing that we will win it.” Theodore noted.

  “That’s true. But none of them have built any warships larger than a minesweeper since well before the war. I’ve looked at the listing of all of the companies that have also been offered the contract. The list is at the end of the document. None of them have any experience designing guided missiles or integrating them into a shipboard installation either.” Judith explained as she continued to read the document.

  “Maybe they will buy the missile equipment from us and install it into a hull of their own design? Either way, we are going to receive a piece of this contract, either as the main contractor or as a subcontractor.” Beatrice asked.

  “If that is the case, it will because someone else has underbid us. They still have to meet all of the design specifications, including the ability to defend an area against a saturation air attack, mount a viable ranged anti-ship weapon and also conduct effective shore bombardment. There are also a lot of other specifications that the winner must also meet like speed, range, survivability, etc.” Judith noted, her eyes scanned the specifications in the bid requirements.

  “I wonder what brought about this sudden change of heart from the Admiralty? For the past several years, they have been deadest against building any new warships, much less a cruiser. All that they have been interested in have been upgrading existing warships.” Theodore asked.

  “I have a feeling that it was because of the two incidents along the Chinese coast involving Australian warships that we had converted into guided missile destroyers. While both destroyers involved survived the encounter, it was still a very near-run thing for them.

  I had warned the officials at the Admiralty that we could only do some much with those destroyers because of their limited size. Our two available shipboard guided missiles systems could either handle a saturation attack or engage targets at longer ranges, but not both at the same time.

  The Admiralty finally decided that needed a larger ship that carried both types of missiles in order to effectively deal with those threats.” Judith explained.

  “Our shipyard people certainly could use the work.” Theodore said as he stood there with a freshly poured cup of coffee in his hand.

  “So can every other shipyard in Australia, I’m afraid. They will want to compete bloody hard to get this contract.” Beatrice replied.

  “I’m going to have to put you in charge of this, Beatrice. I know that Sarah is a bit more adept at this sort of affair. But she is up to her neck in with the Vulcan jet bomber co-production project and the Sea Dragon payload integration project. James is also working with the launch vehicle project and the new fission power plant manufacturing planning, so he is not available either.”

  “Of course, Ju
dith. I will work closely with Theo to come up with a viable design proposal. You have some existing missile cruiser concepts that we had our engineers draw up earlier, don’t you?

  “Yes, we certainly do. From the looks of the proposal, we should probably go with something that is about the same size and displacement as the Amphon-class light cruiser. That will put us at between eight and nine thousand standard tons displacement.”

  “I think that it would be a very good idea that we draw on our experience with the naval turboshafts and use them to power this design. It will mean that the ship will not need nearly as many crew to operate her and give her far greater acceleration. One other factor will be the amount of electrical power generation that will be required all of the new electrical systems associated with the missile and radar systems.

  Theo, please correct me if I am wrong, but four of our larger gas turboshafts would give this ship about the same speed as the Amphon’s did.” Beatrice asked.

  “Yes, they probably would. But those gas turbines are pretty fuel thirsty, especially at partial throttle. The Admiralty wants the cruiser to have long enough legs to be able to effectively conduct commercial shipping protection duties.”

  “Then we will just have to integrate the turbines into a turbo-electric propulsion systems like we did with the destroyers. That will make it possible for the ship to easily cruise on just one turbine running at close to its most efficient speed. We can also go from a four shaft design to a two shaft design without losing any speed or efficiency. A two shaft arrangement will also make up for the additional cost and displacement of using a turbo-electric system.”

  “I think that we can do something with that, Beatrice. The other main issue will be the ship’s armament though. She is going to have to be fitted with both our short-range and area defense systems in order to meet the requirements. Then, there is the surface warfare and shore bombardment requirements. I don’t think that our four-inch guns are going to be considered adequate to meet that part of the requirement.”