Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 243 Airborne Return
Therefore, Wang Gensheng would naturally be very happy if the performance of the fighter jet could be improved by making slight modifications and changing to ethanol fuel.

After all, it's already 1949, and the Korean War will begin in the second half of next year. If we can improve the performance of the Mustang fighter, it's not impossible for it to compete with the Sabre fighter.

Of course, it's impossible to exchange one Mustang fighter for one Sabre fighter, but exchanging two or three Mustang fighters for one Sabre fighter should be no problem.

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"Yes, yes! Yes! That's it. You'll follow behind me and watch my movements first, and then you can learn how to operate the aircraft!"

That's right, Wang Gensheng went up into the sky with Lu Haotian. It was a tandem two-seat trainer aircraft, which was very suitable for training new students.

As a naval officer, Wang Gensheng will lead the first aircraft carrier fleet in the future, so he naturally needs to learn aircraft piloting skills and understand some basic knowledge about aircraft.

However, Wang Gensheng's learning speed really surprised Lu Haotian. In just two days, Wang Gensheng was already almost able to master the piloting of an airplane.

Wang Gensheng was not surprised by this result, since his physical fitness was six times that of an average person, which naturally gave him a stronger memory, a stronger learning ability, and a faster neural reaction speed.

Therefore, while others might spend several weeks, or even a month or two, fully learning the theoretical knowledge about flight, Wang Gensheng could memorize it fluently after only reading it once or twice.

That's why Wang Gensheng was able to board the plane and fly with them the next day.

By the third day, Wang Gensheng was able to successfully complete takeoffs and landings on his own.

By the seventh day, Wang Gensheng was already able to pilot the Mustang fighter jet alone, performing a series of fancy tactical maneuvers in the air.

After witnessing Wang Gensheng's series of exaggerated flying stunts, Lu Haotian sincerely praised him:

“Wang Siling, I think you should leave the Navy and come to our flight school. After the Air Force is established, you will definitely be the Navy’s top ace pilot. It’s not impossible that you will even become the future Air Force Siling.”

Wang Gensheng was speechless at Lu Haotian's words. After all, he was already a Navy officer, so why would he go and become an Air Force officer? Besides, he might not even be able to become one, and in terms of future development prospects, the Air Force was much worse than the Navy.

So Wang Gensheng immediately said:

"Are you kidding me? Does that mean you can't fly fighter jets if you don't leave the air force? Don't forget that aircraft carriers carry fighter jets! And let me ask you, do you know how far this Mustang fighter jet can fly?"

Lu Haotian was extremely familiar with the performance of the Mustang fighter jet, so he immediately spoke up:

"Its combat radius can reach one kilometer, and its maximum range can reach two thousand seven hundred kilometers! It is powered by one thousand five hundred horsepower, and its firepower…"

However, Lu Haotian was interrupted by Wang Gensheng halfway through his sentence:
"Stop, stop, stop. What I mean is, if the old fox had an aircraft carrier, then he wouldn't need to build so many airfields. He could just move the carrier close to the coast or into the Yangtze River. In that case, one aircraft carrier would be equivalent to more than a dozen field airfields."

Furthermore, the army's plan to attack airfields to avoid bombing is likely no longer feasible.

After hearing Wang Gensheng's explanation, Lu Haotian found it to make some sense.

However, Wang Gensheng also had a bold idea at this time, which was to hang the wild horse back to heaven.

The purpose of this tactic is simple: to inflict massive damage on US aircraft carriers. After all, compared to bombing by fighter jets, attacks using large torpedoes are certainly more effective.

It would be especially effective at critical moments. That's right, Wang Gensheng still wants to get a carrier-based torpedo bomber.

The best torpedo bomber was the TBF Avenger. The TBF Avenger began mass production and deployment in the US Navy in 1943. Designed specifically for carrier operations, its primary armament consisted of aerial bombs and torpedoes. Grumman prioritized simplicity and practicality in the Avenger's design; its robust structure met carrier-based requirements while also enhancing battlefield survivability. The bulky, barrel-shaped fuselage typically housed a three-person crew: pilot, gunner, and radio operator/bombardier. During the war, TBF Avengers often returned to their carriers battered and bruised after completing missions, and the crew was usually just as badly damaged as the aircraft.

During wartime, the quantity of weapons produced is extremely important. Nearly ten thousand Avenger bombers were produced.

Case

The Avenger torpedo bomber was well-armed, with two 12.7mm machine guns mounted on the wings, one 12.7mm machine gun in the dorsal turret, and a 7.62mm machine gun in the fuselage. It was equipped with the same Wright R-2600-20 engine as the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber, producing 1,900 horsepower, giving it a maximum speed of 440 km/h and a cruising speed of 320 km/h. Its range was over 1,000 km, and its service ceiling was 9,710 meters.

When performing ground attack missions, the Grumman TBF could carry 900 kg of torpedoes and bombs, while the TBM-3 manufactured by General Motors increased the payload to 1,150 kg. Later in World War II, the Avenger also became one of the first aircraft to use high-speed air-to-ground rockets.

In early 1944, the Japanese destroyer "Akikaze" was attacked by the TBF "Avenger". The "Akikaze" managed to escape, but was sunk by the US submarine "Mackerel" in early November, with all crew members killed.

Therefore, if a human-guided Kaiten torpedo is used, it is very easy to hit a vital point.

Of course, converting a Mustang fighter into a torpedo attack aircraft is not something that can be done in a short time.

After all, Wang Gensheng understood that the internal structure and power source of the Mustang fighter jet were very different from those of the Avenger torpedo bomber.

Although the Mustang fighter jet has a maximum payload of two tons.

Therefore, it seems that it can easily accommodate a 1.5-ton torpedo.

But will attaching a torpedo affect the aircraft's wind resistance and its own weight capacity?

However, the most crucial issue is the aircraft's load capacity. After a 1.5-ton torpedo is mounted, only half a ton of weight is left for the aircraft.

That half-ton weight is what's left to add fuel. The Mustang fighter jet's internal fuel tanks could originally hold over a thousand liters, or 0.8 tons.

Of course, this only means that the internal fuel tank capacity is enough to allow it to fly for about 150 kilometers. If the load is not considered, the external fuel tank plus the internal fuel tank can reach 1.5 tons.

For a typical combat aircraft, a payload of 500 kilograms is sufficient, considering how much a bullet weighs.

However, half a ton of weight is of little use to a torpedo bomber.

It would take at least a ton or 1.5 tons of load to hold a single landmine.

(End of this chapter)