Beiyang 1917

随着宣化兵工厂的75mm山炮、75mm野炮、150mm榴弹炮以及60mm和81mm两种迫击炮的仿制成功，王庚给兵工厂新出的题目则是在法国雷诺ft-17轻型坦克上所使用的37mm短管炮的基础上，研发一门37mm口径的高she反坦克两用炮。

At this time, the 17mm short-barreled howitzer used on the Renault ft-37 light tank has almost no penetration ability due to its low initial velocity, and can only cause damage to personnel and light fortifications exposed outside the fortifications. Wang Geng’s request is, refer to This 37mm short-barreled gun, plus the basis of the French-made Hatkis 37mm rapid-fire gun, plus the basis of the 75mm mountain gun (cannon).

The gun workshop of Xuanhua Armory must develop a 37mm high-shelf anti-tank dual-purpose gun on the basis of the above. Lengthening the barrel and improving the ammunition are obviously the key to increasing the chamber pressure, muzzle velocity, and firing range. Wang Geng requested the gun under development The maximum launch height of the 37mm high-shelf anti-tank dual-purpose gun is not less than 5000m, and it can penetrate 1500mm thick armor within 48 meters on flat ground.

In addition, the weight of this gun will not exceed 450 kilograms, and the shooting speed will not be lower than 20 rounds per minute.The main basis for Wang Geng’s reference is the parameters of 37mm caliber anti-tank guns that were generally equipped in various countries after World War I in the previous life. Tank guns appear.

If it wasn't for the purpose of accommodating the six-ton ​​weight of the Chinese fd-18 light tank under development, Wang Geng originally wanted to design a 75mm high-shelf dual-purpose anti-tank gun, but in that case, the gun would weigh at least It must be more than a ton. Installing a ton-heavy tank gun on a tank with a total weight of only 6 tons is completely a small horse-drawn cart. For the participating troops who emphasize mobility, they can only be released first.

As for the smaller caliber, Wang Geng is waiting for the m2-large-caliber heavy machine gun that Browning is still rushing to design. In the light weapons laboratory in the United States, Browning and Garland, two of the world's most outstanding light weapon designers, are completing the project. Two seemingly challenging projects:

This is not a request from the American government, but a request from the Chinese government, or in other words, it is the request of Wang Geng, Browning's partner and Garland's boss. The improved design of the machine gun is air-cooled. This gun was called the m1917 Browning air-cooled heavy machine gun in the previous life.

The second is to enlarge the caliber m1917a1 heavy machine gun into a caliber heavy machine gun in the same proportion. This gun will obviously become the killer weapon of Wang Geng's armored and air force equipment in the first place.

Of course, at this time, the air-cooled m1918 Browning heavy machine gun is still in the process of testing and finalizing. It is expected that it will be finalized and produced by the end of April, while the enlarged version of the caliber is expected to be finalized by the end of May.

At the end of March 1918, good news also came from the China Aircraft Manufacturing Company. At the end of January, the electrolytic aluminum base for installation and commissioning began-the China Aluminum Company Xiaoyi Electrolytic Co. The aluminum factory has started mass production at the end of March, with a monthly production capacity of 3 tons, which is almost 1 ton of aluminum per day on average.

The reason why the good news came from the China Aircraft Manufacturing Company is because during the past two months, the China Aircraft Manufacturing Company used the first batch of aluminum alloy materials imported together with the electrolytic aluminum equipment. According to the sketches drawn by Wang Geng, Designed the first single-wing two-seat reconnaissance fighter with aluminum alloy as the wing structure and all-metal skin, which has both ground attack and bombing capabilities

This aircraft is named as the prototype of Zhonghua FR-18. The engine uses the mature Rolls-Royce Eagle VII V12 liquid-cooled aircraft engine. The entire aircraft structure is modified on the basis of the DH4 reconnaissance bomber. .

As an excellent reconnaissance light bomber, dh4 was given a new life by Wang Geng with aluminum alloy and single-wing design.

The core weight data of the previous dh4 aircraft is:

in:

472lb

578kg

The Rolls-Royce Eagle VII engine used in it weighs: 900lb408kg

Since Wang Geng replaced all replaceable structural parts and wings with aluminum alloy in Wang Geng's design, the newly designed Zhonghua fr-18 aircraft has only one lower wing with aluminum alloy skin. After adding the wings, the weight of the new aircraft dropped from 2387 pounds to 1643 pounds, which is less than 5 pounds heavier than a single-seat SE200 fighter.

The Rolls-Royce Eagle VII engine has a surging power of 375 horsepower, which is much stronger than the 5 horsepower of the Hispano-suiza8b aircraft engine used by the SE200 fighter jet.

In fact, Wang Geng's Chinese FR-4 prototype improved on the basis of DH18, because there is no upper wing that blocks the line of sight, and the structural weight is adjusted, the machine gunner's seat that was originally separated from the front and rear The driver's seat and the front driver's seat are moved together in a high-low tandem form.

At the same time, the open-air cockpit was added with a drop-shaped glass hatch like the modified Handley Page 0400 aircraft in civil aviation. Wang Geng gave this aircraft more missions for reconnaissance and ground attack. So the machine gun bombing radio hand in the back seat still plays an important role.

Especially, when fighting the opponent's fighter jet, this hybrid aircraft will become an out-and-out hedgehog in the air with its strong climbing and hovering capabilities and the 360-degree shooting firepower of the rear seat machine gun.

The basic design parameters of the Chinese FR-18 reconnaissance fighter-bomber are as follows:

Members: 2 people

Body length: 30ft8in

Fuselage wingspan: 43feet4in

Fuselage height:9ft|

Aircraft empty weight:

634lb741kg

Maximum take-off weight: <o

375hp289kw

Maximum flying speed: 160mph260kmhatsealevel

Maximum flight distance: 600mi965km

Maximum flight time: 3?hr

Practical Ceiling: 2

000ft

700m

Climb rate:

500bs

The seemingly dissimilar Chinese FR-18 prototype has the speed, altitude, climbing and fighting capabilities of a first-class fighter in this era, and at the same time has the ammunition carrying capacity and ground attack capabilities of a reconnaissance light bomber. At the same time, its combat radius has also expanded to 480 km, and the maximum flight distance is as high as 965 km.

The prototype of the Chinese fr-18 reconnaissance fighter-bomber was successfully tested at the end of March. It is expected that it will take another month to finalize. In April, three more prototypes will be produced for fatigue and long-range flight tests. After the finalization at the end of April, the monthly production capacity will be launched quickly. It is expected that the initial The monthly output will reach 3, which will increase to 3 after three months, and the monthly production capacity will reach 4 after half a year!

Of course, the use of aluminum alloy materials to partially replace the steel structure components in the Eagle VII and VII aircraft engines, and the research and development of the steel structure in the Fudao automobile engine are still progressing slowly and difficultly. After all, the engine requires more aluminum alloy structures. A lot of work has been done. Although several aircraft and automobile engines have been localized and imitated successfully, it is not possible to improve and develop new engines that use a large number of aluminum alloy structural materials in a short period of time.

The timetable given by Wang Zhu and Bayuzao was to strive for the production of prototypes in the third quarter of 1918 and finalized production in the fourth quarter. This was a huge challenge for the engineers in the engine workshop of the China Aircraft Manufacturing Company. Of course, due to Wang Geng could afford a high salary, and because China was relatively far away from the cruel battlefield of the European War, more than half of the engineers in Wang Zhu and Bayuzao's hands were recruited from Britain, France and the United States.

As for the engineer R&D team of China Fudao Motor Company, 75% of them are the original team brought by the general manager Frederick Haynes from the United States.The first Hummer version of the field off-road vehicle of Zhonghua Fudao Motor Co., Ltd. was produced by this team under the requirements of Wang Geng's drawings. Aluminum alloy materials were also used in the design of this vehicle in large quantities.