Chapter 213: Celebration and Awarding of Medals
"How is the training going for our pilots? If we were to mass-produce these planes, how many pilots would be able to skillfully operate them?" Arthur inquired.
Arthur wasn't too concerned about the production of these three types of aircraft, as Australasia was currently a dominant force in the military aviation field and had ample time to research, develop, and manufacture these aircraft. However, the number of qualified pilots also determined how many planes Australasia could equip. Without sufficient qualified pilots, the number of aircraft that could be equipped would be limited.
"Your Majesty, after a period of training, we have currently produced ninety-three qualified pilots. Additionally, over one hundred pilots are currently in training and are expected to be proficient in operating aircraft within six months," Theodore replied.
Training pilots was not an easy task. The aviation laboratory had selected hundreds of soldiers from Australasia's military, and the number of successfully trained pilots was still under one hundred.
"The aviation laboratory's training speed is still too slow. How about this? Let's transfer a group of experts with piloting skills from the aviation laboratory and establish a pilot training school using these already proficient pilots," Arthur pondered for a moment before continuing, "In the future, Australasia will need a large number of pilots, for both civilian and military aircraft."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Theodore nodded respectfully in agreement.
After the aviation laboratory had gone through the initial difficult exploratory phase, the current progress of aircraft development was going very smoothly. Every new generation of aircraft was seeing significant improvements in various areas, and designing and building more powerful aircraft was the goal of all the researchers in the aviation laboratory.
"You can start by producing the Eagle reconnaissance plane and the Ghost bomber. The quantity should be set at twenty and fifteen, respectively. Begin small-scale production first, and once we confirm there are no issues, we will expand according to the number of trained pilots," Arthur said.
The performance of the Eagle reconnaissance plane and the Ghost bomber was already sufficient for combat, and it was time for Australasia to become the first country in the world to equip military aircraft.
"Yes, Your Majesty, we will start production as soon as possible," Theodore quickly responded.
"The establishment of the pilot training school should also proceed as quickly as possible. I hope that once the school is successfully established, it will be able to train at least two hundred pilots a year for Australasia," Arthur continued.
Since Australasia had already gained an advantage in aircraft, Arthur didn't mind expanding this advantage further.
By the end of World War I, the nations involved had built 180,000 aircraft, more than 100,000 of which were used in the war. However, when the war began, the total number of aircraft held by all the participating countries was only around 1,500.
This shows how greatly war can drive technological and industrial advancement. Aircraft underwent tremendous development during World War I, eventually evolving into one of the main protagonists of World War II.
Pilots were among the highest casualties of World War I, and if Australasia did not want to face such a tragic fate, it had to significantly improve the performance of its aircraft, keeping them ahead of those of other countries to reduce pilot casualties.
At the same time, if Australasia did not want to fall behind in military aviation, the quantity of aircraft and the number of pilots also needed to accelerate.
"Yes, I understand," Theodore nodded quickly, responding again.
"Aircraft should not only be used in the military domain; the aviation laboratory can also begin working on civilian aircraft development and explore planes with greater passenger capacity," Arthur nodded in satisfaction, looking at Theodore, who was standing respectfully, and said.
"Like airships, aircraft, apart from ships, are another way to cross the ocean. And they travel the shortest distance in the sky, which will greatly increase our speed in crossing the oceans. The next task for the aviation laboratory is to develop a civilian aircraft capable of carrying at least ten passengers, with a speed of at least 90 kilometers per hour and a range of at least 1,000 kilometers," Arthur instructed.
Apart from bringing immense change to the military, aircraft also brought about significant changes in the civilian sector.
Not to mention the convenience of traveling across continents, oceans, and even around the world much faster, the profits from civilian aircraft were also enough to entice anyone.
The world's first civilian airliner was born in 1919 and was adapted from military aircraft. This meant that Australasia had at least ten years to develop civilian aircraft, and this achievement could potentially change the world.
Theodore nodded and took on the task.
Developing civilian aircraft was not difficult, since civilian aircraft did not need excessive modifications; the main requirements were just range and passenger capacity.
The challenge, however, lay in Arthur's request for the aircraft to carry over ten passengers and have an effective range of at least 1,000 kilometers.
This meant that the current designs of Australasia's aircraft were not suitable for such civilian planes, and the aviation laboratory would need to design a larger aircraft capable of carrying more passengers.
This posed a challenge for the aviation laboratory, as the largest aircraft currently designed could only carry two people. Expanding the passenger capacity to more than ten would be a significant task, and the laboratory's experts were already having headaches over the design.
Seeing Theodore's difficulty, Arthur smiled and reassured him, "Don't worry, Director Theodore. The development of civilian aircraft is not urgent. For now, you can set the passenger capacity to five and gradually improve it. The primary goal for the aviation laboratory is still to develop more powerful military aircraft while balancing the production and training of pilots."
Before aircraft were fully recognized by the governments of various countries, Arthur would not actively showcase Australasia's various aircraft.
This also meant that even if the aviation laboratory developed civilian aircraft, they wouldn't be used commercially in the short term.
Otherwise, given the massive industrial scale and research speed of the great powers, catching up to Australasia's aircraft development in a short time would not be difficult.
At least Arthur intended for Australasia's aircraft to be several generations ahead of other countries before showcasing the results.
In fact, the aircraft products that were already somewhat outdated were being prepared for other countries. While these aircraft systems were already behind for Australasia, they were still quite advanced for other countries.
If these somewhat outdated aircraft models could bring more profit to Australasia, it would be a good result.
Australasia had no intention of selling its most advanced aircraft, but once aircraft were gradually recognized by the world's governments, these clearly outdated aircraft could still be sold.
This was a common practice among countries; once a certain technology has undergone significant advancements, they sell off the older versions, allowing them to make a final profit while also reducing the cost of developing new technologies.
Even if it were two years from now, the first generation of Australasia's military aircraft would still likely be enticing to other countries.
Of course, by that time, it was uncertain which generation of military aircraft Australasia would be developing, but it probably wouldn't be the current second generation.
Finally, Arthur awarded the experts at the aviation laboratory for their contributions. The experts who participated in the development of the Pioneer and the three military aircraft numbered 103 in total. These experts were not only some of the world's top specialists in aviation, but they were also the ones responsible for bringing Australasia's aircraft development to where it was today.
Arthur, naturally, did not hesitate to reward them. After hosting a small celebration banquet at the aviation laboratory, he personally awarded the experts with the Australasia Kingdom Medal.
Yes, after the establishment of the Australasia Kingdom, the former Australian National Medal was officially renamed the Australasia Kingdom Medal. The various benefits associated with receiving the medal remained largely the same.
In theory, the medal was supposed to be awarded by the sitting prime minister, but since the aviation laboratory was still under a state of secrecy within Australasia, Arthur personally awarded the medals.
Most of the experts were very happy to receive the medal, even though it was the easiest to obtain of the three medals issued by Australasia.
Just receiving the medal entitled them to ten times the average annual income of locals, which was enough to make most of the experts present quite pleased.
It was worth noting that the current per capita income in Australasia was nearly forty Australian dollars, which meant ten times that was approximately four hundred Australian dollars, or about two hundred British pounds.
For these experts, this was equivalent to one or two months of salary, and the money they could receive would continue to grow with Australasia's per capita income, potentially extending to their third-generation descendants.
Conservatively estimated, these funds would be available to them and their descendants for at least a hundred years, and they couldn't even imagine how high Australasia's per capita income would be in a century.
More importantly, they were among the first recipients of the Australasia Kingdom's medals, and their names would be recorded in the history of the Australasia Kingdom.
After the small celebration banquet concluded, Arthur formally returned to Sydney Palace.
Arthur, knowing the situation, gave the experts more time to celebrate on their own. If Arthur had stayed, most of them would have felt too restrained to truly relax.
However, after the celebration, Arthur still reminded the experts not to forget their tasks. Aircraft development was still a top priority for Australasia.
(End of Chapter)
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