Chapter 227: Chapter 212: Celebrating and Awarding Medals

“At present, how is our training for pilots going? If we mass produce these aircraft, how many pilots can proficiently operate them?” Arthur inquired.

Arthur was not too worried about the production of these three aircraft, after all, now in the field of military aircraft, Australasia was absolutely dominant and had enough time to study, develop and produce these aircraft.

However, the number of qualified pilots also determined how many aircraft Australasia could equip at present. If there were not enough qualified pilots, it would mean that the number of aircraft Australasia could equip would be limited.

“Your Majesty, after our training and cultivation during this period, we have trained 93 qualified airplane pilots. Meanwhile, we have more than 100 pilots under training, and it is expected that they can proficiently fly airplanes in six months.” Theodore replied.

It was not easy to train airplane pilots. The Aerospace Laboratory selected hundreds of soldiers from the Australasian Army, but so far, the number of successfully trained pilots was just under 100.

“The training speed of the Aerospace Laboratory is still too slow. Let’s do this: transfer a group of experts with airplane driving skills from the Aerospace Laboratory, and use the currently proficient airplane pilots to establish a pilot training school.” Arthur thought for a moment before continuing, “In the future, Australasia will need a large number of airplane pilots, both for civilian and military aircraft.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Theodore nodded and respectfully replied.

After undergoing the initial difficult exploratory phase, the aerospace laboratory has made smooth progress in aircraft research and development.

Each generation of aircraft would experience significant improvements in various aspects, and the lab’s researchers constantly pursued designing and manufacturing more powerful aircraft.

“You can start by trying to produce the Eagle reconnaissance aircraft and the Phantom bomber, with their respective quantities set at twenty and fifteen. Manufacture on a small scale first, and then expand the production based on the number of trained pilots after making sure there are no problems.” Arthur said.

At present, the performance of both the Eagle reconnaissance aircraft and the Phantom bomber had reached the point where they could be put into actual 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 responded quickly.

“The establishment of the pilot training school should also be carried out as soon as possible. I hope that after the successful establishment of the pilot training school, it can train at least two hundred airplane pilots for Australasia every year.” Arthur continued.

Since Australasia had gained an advantage in the field of airplanes, Arthur did not mind further expanding this advantage.

By the end of World War I, the warring countries had built a total of 180,000 aircraft, with more than 100,000 of them being deployed in the war.

At the beginning of the war, the total number of aircraft owned by all participating countries was only 1,500.

This was enough to show how powerful the war was in promoting human technology and industry. Airplanes experienced rapid development in World War I and ultimately became one of the protagonists in World War II.

Pilots were one of the highest casualties in World War I. If Australasia did not want to face such a tragedy, it had to significantly improve the performance of various aircraft, always staying one step ahead of other countries’ aircraft to reduce casualties among pilots.

At the same time, if Australasia did not want to fall behind in the field of military aircraft, the number of aircraft equipment and pilots must be rapidly developed.

“Yes, I understand.” Theodore nodded quickly and responded once again.

“Airplanes should not only be used in the military field, and the Aeronautical Research Room can also start to develop civilian aircraft, exploring airplanes with more passenger capacity.” Arthur nodded in satisfaction, looking at the respectful face of Theodore, and then continued.

“Like airships, airplanes are another means to cross the ocean apart from ships. And in the sky, they can travel the shortest distance, which will greatly speed up our crossing of the ocean. The next task of the Aeronautical Research Room is to develop a civilian aircraft that can carry at least about ten passengers, with a speed of at least 90 kilometers per hour and a maximum range of at least 1,000 kilometers.” Arthur instructed.

Apart from bringing great changes to the military, airplanes also brought huge changes to the civilian field.

Not to mention the great benefits of civilian aircraft in significantly reducing the time consumed for people to travel across continents, oceans, and even around the globe, the huge profits generated by civilian aircraft alone were enough to make people’s hearts beat faster.

The world’s earliest civil airliner was born in 1919, converted from a military aircraft.

This means that Australasia has at least ten years to develop civilian aircraft, which could very likely change the world as well.

Theodore nodded and accepted the task.

Developing civil aircraft was not difficult. After all, civil aircraft did not require too many modifications, and only needed to meet requirements for range and passenger capacity.

The difficulty in this matter lies in the requirement of Arthur for more than ten passengers and an effective range of at least one thousand kilometers.

This means that the current various aircraft designs in Australasia are not suitable for this kind of civil aircraft, and the Aerospace Laboratory needs to design another larger aircraft to accommodate the number of more than ten passengers.

This is a challenge for the Aerospace Laboratory, as the current largest aircraft can only carry two passengers.

Changing the passenger capacity to more than ten people all at once is, in terms of design alone, enough to give the experts at the Aerospace Laboratory a headache.

Seeing Director Theodore looking troubled, Arthur comforted with a smile, “Don’t worry, Director Theodore. The development of civil aircraft is not that urgent, and you can temporarily set the passenger capacity at five, and gradually improve it. Currently, the main purpose of the Aerospace Laboratory is still to develop more powerful aircraft while focusing on production and training pilots.”

Before aircraft gains the attention of the world, Arthur will not take the initiative to display Australasia’s various aircraft.

This also means that even if the Aeronautical Research Room develops a civil aircraft now, it is unlikely to be put into commercial use in a short period of time.

Otherwise, given the terrifying industrial scale and R&D speed of the major Powers, it would not be difficult for them to catch up with Australasia’s aircraft development in a short period of time.

Arthur will only gradually show the results when Australasia’s aircraft lead other countries by several generations.

In fact, the current outdated aircraft products are prepared for other countries. Although these aircraft systems are already outdated for Australasia, they are still very advanced for other countries.

If the relatively outdated aircraft models can earn more profit for Australasia, it would be an excellent result.

The most advanced aircraft in Australasia has no plans to sell overseas, but once the aircraft gradually gains attention from governments around the world, these clearly outdated aircraft can still be sold.

This is also a common method used by the major countries, where the outdated technology is sold after a more advanced technological change. This makes the outdated technology produce its last value and also reduces the funds consumed in the development of new technologies.

Even after two years, it is believed that the first-generation Australasian military aircraft will still be attractive to other countries.

Of course, it is uncertain which generation of Australasian military aircraft will be developed by then, but it will not be the current second generation.

Lastly, there was the formal award for the experts at the Aerospace Laboratory. A total of one hundred and three experts participated in the research and experimentation of the Pioneer and the three military aircraft, not only are they the top experts in aviation globally, but they are also the absolute contributors to the development of Australasian aircraft to this extent.

Arthur naturally would not be stingy with these great contributors, and after the Aerospace Laboratory held a small celebration banquet, he personally awarded these experts the Medal of the Kingdom of Australasia.

Yes, after the establishment of the Kingdom of Australasia, the original Australian National Medal was officially renamed the Medal of the Kingdom of Australasia, and the benefits received by the medal recipients remained relatively unchanged.

Theoretically, the person who awards the medal is the current Prime Minister, but since the Aerospace Laboratory is currently under a confidential status in Australasia, Arthur awarded the medals himself.

Most of the experts were delighted to receive the medal, even though it was the easiest to obtain among the three types of medals in Australasia.

Just having the medal alone, which allows them to receive ten times the local per capita annual income every year, was enough to make most of the experts present excited.

Keep in mind that the current per capita income of Australasia is nearly forty Australian dollars, ten times that is almost four hundred Australian dollars, or two hundred pounds.

This is also equivalent to one or two months’ salary for these experts, and the funds they can receive will increase with the per capita annual income of Australasia, and can even be claimed up to their third-generation descendants.

It is conservatively estimated that their descendants can receive this fund for at least a hundred years, and they can’t even imagine the per capita income of Australasia after a hundred years.

More importantly, they are the first group of people to receive medals in Australasia, and their names will be recorded in the history of the Kingdom of Australasia.

After the small celebration banquet, Arthur returned to Sydney Palace.

Arthur tactfully left more time for the experts to celebrate themselves. If he had stayed at the scene, most of the people would not have been able to let go and would have remained restrained.

However, while celebrating, Arthur still reminded them not to forget their respective tasks, as the development of aircraft is also a top priority for Australasia.