Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 247 Barrier Rope

An 80-meter takeoff distance is more than enough to allow Mustang fighter jets to be deployed to the Congqing aircraft carrier.

Of course, the experiment did not end there, because this 80-meter takeoff distance was only the takeoff distance of the Mustang fighter jet when it was unloaded.

It should be noted that the Mustang fighter jet only had enough fuel to fly less than 100 kilometers, and that was without any ammunition, to reach a takeoff distance of 80 meters. Now, Wang Gensheng is going to test the takeoff distance with a full tank of fuel.

It's important to know that the Mustang fighter jet has two types of fuel tanks: an internal fuel tank that can carry 491 liters of fuel, and an external fuel tank, which is mounted on the outside like a bomb. Generally, it can carry two fuel tanks, each with a capacity of 491 liters of fuel.

If the Mustang fighter jet only uses internal fuel tanks, its combat radius can only reach about 500 kilometers. However, with the addition of two external fuel tanks, which bring the aircraft's fuel capacity to 1,400 to 1,730 liters, its combat radius can be extended to 1,200 kilometers.

Of course, if we calculate based on the density of gasoline being 0.75, then 1,473 liters of fuel would weigh 1.1 tons.

However, Wang Gensheng did not mount external fuel tanks; he simply filled the Mustang fighter's internal fuel tanks for the experiment, since the takeoff distance of a fighter jet is closely related to its own weight.

Before the Mustang fighter jet was modified, its empty takeoff distance was 200 meters with a weight of 3.5 tons. Now that the modification is complete, the empty weight has reached 2 tons, and the empty takeoff distance is 80 meters.

A rough estimate is that for every 12.5 kilograms reduction in takeoff weight, the takeoff run distance would decrease by one meter.

With the internal fuel tanks filled and the auxiliary fuel tanks added, the weight would reach 3.1 tons. Based on this weight, the takeoff distance would be 168 meters, which far exceeds the length of the flight deck of the Congqing aircraft carrier.

With only 491 liters of fuel in its internal fuel tank, its takeoff distance is only 110 meters, far shorter than the length of an aircraft carrier deck.

Moreover, for carrier-based aircraft, a combat radius of over 500 kilometers is actually more than sufficient; any greater combat radius would be a waste.

In addition, what Wang Gensheng did not expect was that after reducing the weight of the Mustang fighter jet, its performance was improved even further, the most important of which was its acceleration performance.

If the acceleration performance of the Mustang fighter jet before weight reduction was like that of a Wuling minivan, then the acceleration performance of the current Mustang fighter jet is like that of a sports car.

More importantly, when Wang Gensheng tested the Mustang fighter jet's top speed again, he actually made it easily break through 800 kilometers per hour, reaching 808 kilometers per hour, which is a full 100 kilometers more than the original Mustang fighter jet.

After such weight reduction modifications, the Mustang's maneuverability was significantly improved.

This is like putting the engine of a Wuling Hongguang minivan into a motorcycle. Although the engine power remains the same, it allows the motorcycle to easily exceed 200 km/h and accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in under four seconds, achieving sports car-level acceleration and speed. Of course, this weight-reduction modification of the Mustang fighter jet also greatly increases the risk factor. Just as a driver of a Wuling Hongguang minivan crashing at 60 km/h would be unharmed, a motorcycle crashing at 60 km/h would almost certainly result in the driver's death.

After flying in the sky for a while and testing the aircraft's various performance characteristics, Wang Gensheng landed. Because of the lighter weight, the landing distance was not very far, only about 600 meters.

Actually, Wang Gensheng wasn't too worried about the takeoff distance when the plane landed on the aircraft carrier. After all, if all else failed, they could just use arresting cables. Yes, it seems like a high-tech thing, but each aircraft carrier arresting cable, which can cost tens of millions of dollars, already existed as early as 1911. That's right, not 2011, but 1911.

Before Wang Gensheng traveled through time, he heard online that the most expensive thing on an aircraft carrier is not the carrier-based aircraft, nor the carrier itself, but the arresting cable. Each cable is worth tens of millions of yuan and can only be used no more than a hundred times, which means that each use costs more than 100,000 yuan.

Actually, the arresting cable was invented even before aircraft carriers. As early as January 18, 1911, American pilot Eugene Ely landed his 454-kilogram aircraft on the cruiser USS Pennsylvania. This landing was significant, as it marked the first use of an arresting cable by the US Navy.

It's important to know that an aircraft needs a runway to slow down after landing. This is a condition that is easily met on land, but it is difficult to achieve on a ship.

After all, ships are only two or three hundred meters long, while aircraft need to taxi for hundreds or even thousands of meters to land. Therefore, in order to enable aircraft to land safely on cruisers, additional drag had to be added, and arresting cables were developed in this context.

The engineers at the time added a hook to the tail of the aircraft. When the plane landed on the deck, the hook would automatically catch the ropes on the deck. These ropes were connected to sandbags via pulleys, using the weight of the sandbags to slow the aircraft down. This was the simplest, initial version of an aircraft arresting cable.

This rudimentary arresting cable system makes it possible for aircraft to land safely on ships; without this cable, there would be no aircraft carrier. Without arresting cables, an aircraft carrier would be meaningless; an aircraft carrier that cannot land fighter jets is just a pile of scrap metal.

However, as carrier-based aircraft have evolved from propeller planes weighing only two or three tons to jet fighters weighing tens of tons, the requirements for carrier arresting cables have become increasingly stringent, and their prices have become increasingly expensive.

It is said that a single barrier cable is worth ten million yuan, making it the most expensive rope in history. Currently, only three and a half countries in the world are capable of producing this type of rope.

The first country capable of producing them was Britain. As a long-established naval power, Britain places great importance on its naval strength. They were the first country in the world to possess an aircraft carrier, and they have thoroughly studied the supporting facilities on these carriers. Naturally, they have mastered the production technology of aircraft carrier arresting gear to perfection. As for the United States, there's not much to say. The US and Britain are often in cahoots, sharing many technologies.

Besides the United States and the United Kingdom, the United States can also produce arresting gear for aircraft carriers, and with its advantage of industrial scale, it has driven the price up to one million per piece.

The most bizarre case, however, is that of Russia. During the Soviet era, they were capable of producing arresting cables for aircraft carriers. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this technology remained with Russia. Russia had no choice but to develop it again, but the quality of the cables produced was low. Therefore, Russia's aircraft carrier arresting gear was only partially functional.

Why are arresting cables so difficult to manufacture? It's just a steel cable, so why is it causing such a headache for several of the world's major powers?

(End of this chapter)