Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 246 Self-Sealed Oil Tank
However, after Wang Gensheng explained his requirements for modifying the Mustang fighter jet to the Japanese technician, Jiechuan Run, Jiechuan Run immediately shook his head and said:

"Lord Wang! Modifying the Mustang fighter into a Zero fighter is not advisable. Although the Zero fighter looks very powerful, it has serious flaws. In order to improve the aircraft's performance, the aircraft's protection was sacrificed, especially the protection of the cockpit, which resulted in the Zero having the highest pilot mortality rate!"

However, regarding Jiechuan Run's concerns, Wang Gensheng said:
"Professor Jie, you don't need to worry. The reason I made these modifications is simply to turn the Mustang into a fast reconnaissance and experimental aircraft. I didn't intend to put it on the battlefield. After all, it has to be admitted that the Zero fighter is still very powerful. If the United States' engine technology is at the same level as yours, then the Zero fighter will definitely have the advantage! But Professor Jie, you must know about the Zero fighter, right? I really want to see how the Mustang performs after being modified into a Zero fighter!"

In order to get Jiechuan Run to modify the aircraft, Wang Gensheng used all three tactics: flattery, provocation, and enticement. Jiechuan Run fell for it. After all, Jiechuan Run knew the Zero fighter very well, so he naturally understood that if the Zero fighter used the Mustang's engine, its performance would definitely be greatly improved.

However, while he understood the situation clearly, the true effect could only be known through practice. Given these conditions, Jiechuan Jun was naturally very interested, and after thinking for a moment, he said:
"Since it's not used for combat, it can be used for reconnaissance, which will also make it faster! Actually, I'm quite curious about how much the Mustang's performance would improve if it were modified into a Zero-type!"

So, with Jun Ikkawa's consent, the modification began. Of course, before the modification, the Zero fighter had to be disassembled so that it could be decided which parts could be discarded.

The first thing Wang Gensheng removed was the bulletproof glass of the Mustang fighter jet's cockpit windshield. It should be noted that in order to enable the Mustang fighter jet's windshield to withstand machine gun fire, the glass was already nearly ten centimeters thick.

So even though the windshield wasn't very big, it still weighed 200 kilograms. For Wang Gensheng, the windshield was actually irrelevant since pilots wear goggles. However, for the sake of the aircraft's overall aerodynamic design, Wang Gensheng reluctantly replaced it with a piece of ordinary glass less than one centimeter thick to serve as the windshield. While such glass couldn't stop bullets, it was more than enough to withstand the airflow during high-speed flight.

Of course, in addition to the wind shield, Wang Gensheng also removed the bulletproof steel plates around the entire cockpit. To be honest, the Mi Guoren were really willing to spend money. The bulletproof steel plates that surrounded the cockpit were a full centimeter thick and were high-strength steel plates.

It can easily withstand the fire of ordinary 12.7mm machine gun bullets, and the weight of the bulletproof steel plate and bulletproof glass around the cab alone reaches 800 kilograms.

In addition to the cockpit protection, Wang Gensheng also removed other protective armor from the Mustang fighter. Even some of the seemingly very heavy aircraft keel beams were punched with weight-reducing holes, just like the Zero fighter.

After this series of operations, the Mustang fighter's empty weight was finally reduced from 3.5 tons to 2 tons.

Of course, this weight still couldn't compare to the Zero fighter, since the Zero fighter had an empty weight of only 1.6 tons, while the Mustang fighter, even after a series of drastic weight reductions, still weighed two tons.

It should be noted that the Mustang's wing width and fuselage length were only a fraction of a meter different from the Zero, even though they were the same size.

However, it still weighed 400 kilograms more than the Zero fighter. This shows how ruthless the Japanese were in reducing the weight of the Zero fighter. It should be noted that even with such weight reduction, Wang Gensheng did not cut off the most important protective measure, the self-sealing fuel tank of the Mustang fighter.

If Wang Gensheng removed the self-sealing fuel tank from the Mustang fighter jet, the weight of the aircraft could be reduced by at least 200 kilograms. However, the self-sealing fuel tank is extremely important for a fighter jet.

The Zero fighter jet eliminated the self-sealing fuel tank in an effort to reduce weight. Because of this, it was nicknamed the "airborne lighter," meaning it ignites easily. While the self-sealing fuel tank was invented by the Americans, it wasn't exactly a secret technology; it had been invented as early as the 1930s.

However, the Japanese, in their excessive pursuit of range and lightweight design, were unable to achieve their goals.

Therefore, self-sealing fuel tanks were not equipped at all. After all, self-sealing fuel tanks are installed inside the wings, which not only increases weight but also reduces the volume of the wing fuel tanks, thus greatly reducing the amount of fuel that can be carried.

So even though the Japanese Nakajima fighters were equipped with self-sealing fuel tanks, the Zero fighters were still not equipped with self-sealing fuel tanks.

Of course, after the Nakajima fighter was equipped with self-sealing fuel tanks and protective armor for the cockpit, its load capacity was already appalling, with an empty weight of two tons and a total load of only 2.6 tons.

If we remove 100 kilograms of the pilot's own weight, only 500 kilograms of payload are left to carry fuel and ammunition, which shows how inadequate the Nakajima fighter jet was.

But there was nothing that could be done about it; the Nakajima fighter's engine power was only 1,150 horsepower, far less than the Mustang's 1,500 horsepower.

Just as Wang Gensheng was about to test drive the modified Zero Mustang fighter, Lu Haotian, the captain of the flight school, said to him:
"Wang Siling, you're still a military officer, so let me handle the testing of this kind of aircraft! I have more experience!"

However, Wang Gensheng pushed Lu Haotian aside, put on his parachute, and said to Lu Haotian:
"What are you saying? These are my navy's planes. What kind of talk is it to let an air force pilot them? Besides, I'm not bragging, but I've already surpassed my predecessors!"

After saying that, Wang Gensheng boarded the lightweight Mustang fighter jet without paying any attention to Lu Haotian.

At this time, the Mustang fighter jet did not carry much fuel and was in its lightest state.

After Wang Gensheng applied the brakes to the Mustang fighter jet, he slowly accelerated until he felt that the jet's own brakes were no longer sufficient to keep the Mustang in place. Only then did Wang Gensheng release the brakes, allowing the Mustang to accelerate.

As the brakes were released, Wang Gensheng quickly pushed the Mustang's engine power to maximum.

With the roar of the Mustang's engine, the lightweight Zero Mustang took off after only 80 meters on the runway.

(End of this chapter)