Kolechia Revision Phase, Early Winter 1915Shoot the Rainbow
Two colours isn't enough for effective signalling. It shouldn't be too hard to get a few extra colours in the mix, and in good faith we should offer them to the army. We should be able to produce Orange from calcium salts, Gold from incandescent iron, Yellow from sodium salts, Green from barium/chlorine compounds, Blue from copper/chlorine compounds and Purple from Strontium/Copper compounds.
Efficacy: 6
Attempts to expand the currently lacklustre variety of flare colours are a great success, with only three chemical fires so far. The new Rainbow flares include six new colours from orange to purple, along with a softer white for signalling use. The chemical formulae for manufacturing these added flare colours are passed back to the army’s design bureau, resulting in an improvement in army relations and some contacts being made among the army’s designers. KPAF engineers gain expertise in pyrotechnics, and the Crimson Eagles are eager to use these new flares as part of an acrobatic display. Overall, flare signalling in the field should be greatly expedited by the use of a wider variety of flare colours to convey messages.
Anti-Jammng Techniques
By test-firing type-11 with synchronization gear, we will fix any present firing timing issues and see if any additional grease is required within the synchronization gearbox. Should the quality of the gears be in question, we will look to improve them so that the gearing doesn't slip via precision gear-cutting methods. In adition, if an opportunity is noticed to increase firerate due to improved timing, then we will edit the geartrain to enable it.
Efficacy: 3
The addition of copious amounts of grease to the gun mechanism and the use of higher-precision gears more or less alleviates the jamming issue, and the final gun does not jam any more than a free-firing Type 11 would. Opportunities to improve the firing rate are few and far between, and a close inspection of the synchronisation gear reveals that this might be an inherent fault of the ‘interrupter’ nature of our synchronisation gear.
Better Ailerons
The ailerons on the Equilibrium fighter are basically the same ones from the feather. However, this is a monoplane, not a simple biplane. The engineering team will work with the pilots in an attempt to make the responsiveness of the ailerons greater, and have the test pilots work together with them to ensure that the feel in flight is optimal.
Efficacy: 4
An extensive series of test flights are undertaken to improve the ailerons of the Equilibrium. The ailerons are upsized, downsized, reshaped and moved in order to make them more responsive. The final product is a minor success: there is a slight improvement in roll response from trial-and-error, but the lack of direction as to how exactly to improve them hampers overall progress.
It is now the Production & Deployment Phase, Early Winter 1915. You have 15 production points remaining.Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane | 18/19 progress | 2 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 10 PP invested
Planes:
-Feather-1914 Scout Plane: A unarmed, single seater biplane. High stability makes it easy to fly, but also woefully inadequate for anything other than scouting. Lightweight wooden fuselage combined with a five-cylinder rotary engine gives it good speed in the air. Now comes with ailerons for improved roll capability. Cost 3/1
-Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane: A single-seater monoplane with a 7-cylinder rotary engine and correspondingly good speed. It’s armed with a Type 11 LMG firing forward through the propeller arc with the aid of a rudimentary synchronisation gear, which reduces the fire rate but allows easier aiming. The synchronisation gear prevents the blades from being shot off, but pilots are reminded not to shoot more than two belts of rounds anyway. Cost 5/2.
Balloons
-Hykib Observation Balloon: A single-pilot hydrogen balloon designed for aerial observation. Its elongated and finned shape helps it remain stable even in high winds. The basket has an inbuilt telephone to relay messages from the pilot to the ground, and what can charitably be described as a very rudimentary parachute. Painted a glorious red throughout. Cost 2/1
Equipment
-Lvoc Camera: A glass plate medium camera with a 150mm focal length, coincidentally about the size and shape of a 150mm artillery shell. Requires manual changing of the plate for each photograph taken and is moderately durable. Cost 1 PP.
-Type 11 machinegun: An air-cooled light machine gun firing 7.65x53 mm Argentine rounds at 600 RPM. Sometimes overheats after prolonged use. Cost 1 PP.
-Artillery Spotter Equipment: A set of good binoculars with range markings and a Kolechian ‘comtant’, a combination of compass and sextant for taking precise bearings. Questions of whether a sextant is really necessary for doing so are met with offended looks. Cost 1 PP for 2 squadrons.
-K-09 “Dogbite” Mortar Round: A 155mm high explosive mortar shell, carrying 45kg of high explosive. Is very temperamental when roughly handled. Cost: 1 PP.
-KF-15 Signal-Illumination Flare Pistol: The K-15 fires up to eight Rainbow flares in colours from red to purple for signalling, and a bright white for illumination, allowing planes to signal to the ground. Each pistol is single-shot only but are cheap enough to be issued in bulk.
Pilots:
-Coordinated: Strength in numbers! Kolechian pilots work well together and are better coordinated in combat.
-Uniforms: Red with silver accents. Pilots are issued a thick, flowing red cape which flutters gloriously in the wind, inspiring the men on the ground.
Technology:
-Basic biplane design
-Basic/Intermediate monoplane design
-Basic/Intermediate balloon design
-Wooden frame construction
-Basic control surfaces: wing warping, elevator and rudder and ailerons.
-Foster mount technology
-Rudimentary synchronisation gear
-Pyrotechnics
Resources:
-1 Pilot Training Institute: Teaches new pilots what each lever does. When to pull each lever is up to the student.
-1 Developmental Airfield: Designs new planes and other air-related equipment. Produces five dice worth of progress every turn.
-19 production points base
Squadron 1 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Type 11 LMG | Air Superiority | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to secure air superiority along Derboise-Demisonne Road
Squadron 2 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Type 11 LMG | Air Superiority | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to secure air superiority outside Dreidansk
Squadron 3 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Lvoc Camera, Type 11 LMG | Aerial Reconnaissance | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to perform aerial photoreconnaissance along Derboise-Demisonne Road
Squadron 4 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Lvoc Camera, Type 11 LMG | Aerial Reconnaissance | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to perform aerial photoreconnaissance outside Dreidansk
Observer 1 | Hykib Observation Balloon | Artillery Spotter Equipment | Artillery Spotting | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to artillery spotting at Derboise-Demisonne frontlines
Observer 2 | Hykib Observation Balloon | Artillery Spotter Equipment | Artillery Spotting | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to artillery spotting outside Dreidansk
Observer 3 | Hykib Observation Balloon | No Equipment | Naval Testing | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to naval testing
Crimson Eagles | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Lvoc Camera | Performance | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned as the KPAF's Official Acrobatics Squadron
Prestige: Little
Status: Auxiliary Service
Army Relations: Mostly Friendly
Navy Relations: Neutral
Production Points: 15
Total Maintenance: 8
Author
Topic: Knights of the Skies: Kolechia Thread - Early Summer 1916, Production Phase (Read 55517 times)