Pren Gwyn Design Phase, Early Summer 1915:C15 Tŵr Awyr
Based off of the ubiquitous Caquot dirigible, the air tower is a tethered kite balloon with five chambers (consisting of the main hydrogen lift chamber, an internal air balloonette to provide some measure of trim which can be filled from the main chamber, and three air "lobes" designed to be able to catch the wind and thus inflate, stabilizing the craft, at the whim of the pilot) designed for a crew of two(although with capacity for up to five) on land or at sea. These crew are equipped with a number of devices to better observe and report on enemy movements, including mounts for a telescopic camera, a specially modified radio optimized for aerial use, a backup telegraph for when the radio conks out or the use of in inadvisable, and finally a set of small message tubes for emergencies or for sending down drawings.
The tether itself(attached to the craft via a swinging yoke system) serves five purposes, securing the craft, acting as a stringer line for a telegraph cable, acting as a stringer line for the electrical cable used to power the onboard radio, doing the same for the (third-level backup) message line, and grounding the craft electrically.
Of course, some effort is also made to procure parachutes for the crews.
Coloration is less important(mostly due to distance, ineffectual of enemy fire until/unless they design explosive or incendiary rounds they can get on an aircraft), although there are notes for a white underside and a mottled green with white upper as a sort of camouflage.
Time: 6 | Progress: 5 | Expense: 3
The Pren Gwyn Engineers, mostly due to having very little to do for the last three months, are extremely pleased to actually have any kind of major work, even if its not an aircraft and instead their work is simply on Balloon. And this clearly is shown in their work ethic, having barely anything else left to do to actually finish the thing other than the work to properly send it off to be mass produced in the factories whenever the air force requires more of them, though the final work will be a bit of expensive paperwork...
C15 Tŵr Awyr | 5/6 progress | 2 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 2 PP invested
Effectiveness: 6 | Cost: 3 | Bugs: 5
The testing of the C15 Tŵr Awyr shows that its extremely promising in all respects, being very stable even if a stiff breeze allowing the spotter to easily focus on the battleground in front of him and can quickly and easily be brought to its maximum height of 3300 feet and just as quickly brought back down to the ground. The balloon is painted a distinct half green half white with the white at the bottom half and green at the top, making it look distinct when on the ground, though the colors having barely any focus and to cut down production time weren't actually made more than one single shade of each
The craft has space for a proper radio and a back up telegraph line, though only the latter was tested as the access to proper radios was...lacking at the time of testing. Though, theoretically the balloons could have two teams, one working with the radio and the other with the telegraph, even if such a thing is untested at the moment. It also should be noted that the camera wasn't included even though the design team spent a good chunk of time looking for one, however the test pilot commented that "All it would be good for is taking pictures of ourselves on the ground." But a two basic sets of Binoculars, a Legal pad, and a Sextant are provided with the balloon
A bit of time was also spent on a basic parachute, tested by strapping the thing to a few sheep and pushing them over the side, but so far, the only improvement made has been in making the poor things have most of their bones broken instead of simply bursting when they hit the ground. Still, its a good first step considering there wasn't too much focus put into it, even if a few people are disheartened from the event...
It should be noted that all of this makes the balloon somewhat more expensive then if it had none of the additions it has, but its still cheaper then our current aircraft at least.
C15 Tŵr Awyr: A two man balloon with a full capacity of 5. One to two people watch out and observe the lines from the sky and take notes while one to two manage communications with the ground. Comes with two sets of Binoculars, two Legal pads, and a Sextant, Radio currently not tested. Costs 2/1
Army Requisition: Radio The military seems all to happy to comply with the request for radios, though unfortunately, they took the request for simply a radio with no specifications requests or anything of the like as simply just any old radio they had, and naturally, they kept the good stuff for themselves and handed over the
GW "Galw Allan" 78, a spark-gap transmitter radio with a small frequency range from 450 to 550kHz and a fairly short 5 mile range and is 60 pounds without the battery and 100 pounds with. It does include a crystal receiver and headphones and using Morse code, it isn't difficult to understand what the person on the other end is trying to say if you know Morse code. Needless to say, these radios where carried by cart and usually weren't moved out of the trenches once put in them unless the army advanced. Still, its not too bad, and for a radio it is cheapish, mostly due to the army surplus of the things Costs 1 PP
GW "Galw Allan" 78: An outdated and heavy radio the army has so generously given to us. It has a short range and works as a Morse code receiver/transmitter and is only 100 pounds with the battery. The radio operates at frequencies of 450-550kHz and has a 5 mile range.
Since the project is past the 50% mark, you may deploy one squadron of prototype C15 Tŵr Awyr's in the upcoming turn for 2 PP.It is now the Revision Phase. You have 2 dice remaining to spend on Revisions or Save for the next turn.C15 Tŵr Awyr | 5/6 progress | 2 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 2 PP invested
Planes:
-AGC ‘Saeth’ Biplane: A unarmed, single-seater reconnaissance plane made by Awyrennau gwynt cryf, also known as Strong wind aviation. Very accurately named, as its a fairly fast aircraft that is about as easy to turn as a arrow in flight is and not even a strong wind will really push it. The craft is fittingly powered by a five-cylinder rotary engine and made of wood and canvas making it fairly cheap to make. Cost: 3/1
Balloons:
-C15 Tŵr Awyr: A two man balloon with a full capacity of 5. One to two people watch out and observe the lines from the sky and take notes while one to two manage communications with the ground. Comes with two sets of Binoculars, two Legal pads, and a Sextant, Radio currently not tested. Costs 2/1
Equipment:
-GW "Galw Allan" 78: An outdated and heavy radio the army has so generously given to us. It has a short range and works as a Morse code receiver/transmitter and is only 100 pounds with the battery. The radio operates at frequencies of 450-550kHz and has a 5 mile range.
Pilots:
-Vigilant: Information in advance is key to any war! Pren Gwyn pilots are very alert and tend to see things in the distance and make out what they are easier.
-Uniforms: green with white accents. Pilots are granted an arrow made of pure copper as a good luck charm to keep with them on their flights, being granted a iron, steel, bronze, silver and gold one to add to their collection as they gain rank.
Technology:
-Basic biplane design
-Basic monoplane design
-Basic balloon design
-Wooden frame construction
-Basic control surfaces: wing warping, elevator and rudder
-Basic crystal receivers, Morse code
-Basic spark-gap transmitter, Morse code
Resources:
-1 Air Instructors: Instructors who quickly teach new pilots how to take off. How to actually properly use the rudder peddles and flightstick is left as an exercise for the student.
-1 Experimental Testing Field: The place where new aircraft and other air-related equipment are made and tested. Produces five dice worth of progress every turn.
-10 Production Points Base
Squadron 1 | AGC ‘Saeth’ Biplane | No Equipment | Aerial Reconnaissance | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to observe enemy shore defenses and troop movements near Nordhafen
Squadron 2 | AGC ‘Saeth’ Biplane | No Equipment | Aerial Reconnaissance | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to observe enemy frontline along the Bont Gwyn-Nachtburg Road
Squadron 3 | AGC ‘Saeth’ Biplane | No Equipment | Aerial Reconnaissance | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to observe enemy frontline along the Gwag du-Sprungburg Road
Prestige: Extremely Little “We don't have an Air force, good joke though....You aren't joking?”
Status: Auxiliary Service
Army Relations: Neutral “Lets see what those planes can do.”
Navy Relations: Neutral “Why do we care about those flying machines again?”
Production Points: 8
Total Maintenance: 3
Author
Topic: They Who Dare: The Principality of Pren Gwyn - Gwylio Awyr Brenhinol (Read 18888 times)