Chapter 35: Great Britain Air Force

“War is not only a matter of equipment, artillery, group troops or air force; it is largely a matter of spirit, or morale.” – Chiang Kai-Shek.

York, Great Britain. May 1075

Colonel Mersctun groaned as she shifted in her hospital bed. Her shoulder was healing slowly, but she would likely have to resign from the Grenadiers even after it healed. It was doubtful she could pass the physical fitness test, but Wulfrun was stubborn, and her goal was to pass the testing with flying colors. Despite her recent close call, Colonel Mersctun liked being a Grenadier and wanted to stay in.

When her helmet diverted Anund Gårdske’s sword strike, he continued his swing until his sword embedded deep in her shoulder. He would have cut her arm off if he hadn’t hit her equipment harness. The harness straps were made of thick leather, and Mersctun liked to add another piece of leather to help distribute the load better. All that leather slowed Gårdske’s sword down enough to save her arm and life. After seeing her cut shoulder strap, General Baker ordered all Grenadiers to modify their shoulder straps to include the extra piece of leather and sent orders to the supplier of the harnesses to add it to all future harnesses.

Luke received all the reports and approved General Baker’s initiative to have their equipment modified based on battlefield conditions. It was something he wanted to encourage. He had seen what happens when bureaucracy takes over, and pencil pushers think they know better than the men and women on the front lines. It never ended well for the people at the front.

To that end, Luke set up a series of initiatives to help prevent career bureaucrats from taking over the military. One was all prospective officers had to serve in the ranks for two years before they could apply for officer school. Part of the acceptance review was how they performed as an enlisted soldier. If they showed leadership under stress, they were accepted without further review.

By having officers rise through the ranks, Luke hoped to keep most of the bad officers out of the officer corps. It would also help prevent officers from thinking of themselves as better than the men and women doing most of the fighting. Another tactic Luke used was to mandate all office personnel perform combat maneuvers two weeks per year, regardless of rank. That would help remind them that they were soldiers and other soldiers’ lives could rely on them. The last regulation Luke put in place was all officers had to perform PT with the troops a minimum of three times per week; he didn’t want to start seeing fat officers. If officers’ uniforms started getting tight, they were strongly encouraged to perform additional PT.

Marion shook her head at some of Luke’s regulations but didn’t interfere. She knew he had his reasons, and she knew them. The threat wasn’t during wartime but after long periods of peace that tend to make militaries complacent. Luke wasn’t immune from the regulations, not that it mattered since he did PT with the troops four or five days per week, depending on his workload. When Marion wasn’t in advanced pregnancy or buried under work, she joined Luke in exercising with the troops.

Marion discovered that after vigorous exercise, she often felt better and happier. That discovery made her reflect on the people in her life, both currently and formerly. Her father was a prime example. He was as unhappy as a person could be and overweight. Marion couldn’t help but wonder if he had taken care of himself if he might not have led a better life. Being in better shape might have even saved his life. However, if her father had lived, Marion wouldn’t have met Luke or traveled with him.

After nine years, Luke was satisfied he had a working system because he was getting ready to do it again. It was time for another branch of the military, which would turn the two-dimensional battles that had been fought for millennia into three-dimensional battlefields. He was busy laying the groundwork for the British Air Force. Instead of beginning as a branch of the army, it would be its own separate branch from the beginning, although he still planned to allow the navy to have an air arm. The fleet would have to wait until Luke began building airplanes. Luke founded an aircraft manufacturing firm, Manchester Aircraft Works, to build airships and airplanes.

Walking into the hangar, Luke found he couldn’t stop looking up. The airship was nearing completion, and the crew was getting anxious. They would be the first people in history to achieve controlled flight, or they would crash and burn ... no pressure. To Luke’s surprise, building the airship was straightforward; he only hoped his math was correct. The hardest part was finding the fabric for the skin and gas bags.

With the size of the airship, obtaining enough silk proved to be an insurmountable problem. Luke would have rather used synthetic materials, but since that wasn’t available yet, he used linen wherever possible. The gas bags were made from carefully stitched leather with ultra-fine sinew thread and sealed with wax. Since hydrogen was cheap and available anywhere there was water and electricity, Luke wasn’t worried about gas leakage over time. The rigid frame was made from wood and steel tubes, which would keep pressure off the gas bags.

Making the hydrogen was easy for Luke, but storing it was difficult. He needed several thousand cubic meters of gas and didn’t have the electrolysis technology to fill the airship quickly without making gas ahead of time. It was satisfying for Luke to work on an engineering problem that challenged him. Many of his projects recently began to be routine.

As Luke worked on various projects, he trained others to do the work. Even his chemistry work had been taken over by Kukka. She had taken to the chemistry lab like a duck to water and spent almost every moment in her lab. When Luke returned every evening, he would pick Kukka up at the lab and escort her home. Due to safety concerns, Kukka worked on her chemistry experiments in a stand-alone building on the army base. Some days, Luke had to pick her up and carry her to get her out of the lab.

She would squeal and squirm before Luke would give her a swat on the rear. That usually led to hitting of a different, fun kind. By the time they were done, both would be sweaty but grinning. Marion always seemed to know when Luke and Kukka were having fun and took Luke for a test ride to ensure he still worked properly.

On a late evening in mid-May, Alice found Luke sitting on their balcony, looking up at the night sky while sipping a drink. Alice moved his arm to park her rear on his lap.

“Hey, Luke.”

“Hey, sweetheart. How have you been doing?”

“Better now that I’m sitting in a comfortable spot.”

Luke smiled at her and held her tighter. Alice relaxed, and Luke swore she began to purr as he stroked her hair. Soon, her breathing shallowed and became more even. He smiled at putting Alice to sleep, and so as not to disturb her, Luke stayed in his chair looking up at the night sky. Soon, he knew British crews would be up there helping guard the nation. It wouldn’t be an easy path, but not traveling it would be harder in the long run.

Soon, Marion came out looking for Luke, and when she saw his predicament, she smiled warmly. Even though Marion had to compete for her husband’s affection with two other women, she wouldn’t change a thing about their situation. She bent down and kissed him, whispering in his ear that she was headed to bed. Luke nodded and looked at Alice’s head before he shrugged. Marion nodded, ducked inside, and returned with a light blanket she put over Luke and Alice. Luke smiled at her, and Marion swore she couldn’t love her husband more than she did then.

When Marion woke up the next morning, Luke and Alice were still sleeping on the balcony. She smiled and gently kissed Alice until she opened her eyes. It took Alice a few seconds to fully wake up, but she smiled widely when she realized where she was. Luke woke as soon as Alice shifted, and he was quickly greeted with a kiss from Marion that fully woke him up. Alice giggled when she felt how awake he was in her rear. Since Alice had hospital duties to attend to, she left it up to Marion to suffer under the repeated blows of Luke’s spear—a duty which Marion was eager to do. It took the couple over an hour before they were satisfied and were ready to start the day.

Two weeks later, Luke was back at the hangar, but this time, it was for an important event. Testing was about to commence on the airship with tethered flight trials. They were tethered to the ground in case anything went wrong, and Luke expected things to go wrong since everything had been running smoothly.

The massive doors opened slowly, and the airship was pulled out into the sun for the first time. Everyone who worked on the project was filled with anticipation and dread for the same reason: the upcoming trials. Luke smiled when he saw the insignia on the tail: a large blue circle with a white circle in the center and a smaller red circle inside it. In his new universe, like his old universe, this would be the insignia of the British Air Force.

The airship was tugged to a tall mooring mast, and the nose was tied off. Once the ship was secured, the gas bags were slowly inflated. Everyone held their breath as the minutes ticked by. Once the bags were inflated with enough gas to pressure the seams, a crew checked every seam for leaks using soapy water. They found several small leaks and fixed them with some sinew and wax. It took several hours before the holes were repaired and bag filling resumed.

With no further leaks, filling the bags continued. Slowly, the lift from the hydrogen gas in the bags offset the airship’s weight, and it rose off the ground. Everyone on the airfield cheered once daylight was visible under the gondola wheels. Luke ordered the crew to go no more than ten meters off the ground. Once the mooring ropes were tight, Luke allowed himself to smile. The airship was performing perfectly as it rose evenly with almost the exact amount of gas he predicted.

Now, the airship was at its test height; it was time to begin ballast testing. As weight was shifted inside the airship’s body, the ship tilted in that direction. Over the next six hours, testing was rigorously carried out. Once the basic system was tested, more dangerous testing commenced. Finally, it was time for the airship to be backed into its hangar, and the ship slowly descended until its wheels were on the ground.

21 May dawned clear and calm. It was a perfect day to fly, and flight tests were scheduled. They had been pushed back a week because of high winds and rain. Now, it was time to fly.

Luke stood and watched as the massive doors opened, and his baby came into the light once again. While the airship had been in the hangar, its engines were tested and retested to ensure they would function. Once again, the airship was tied to the mooring mast, and the crew boarded. The last one aboard was Luke. He wouldn’t send men and women to do a dangerous mission if he wouldn’t go.

After Luke boarded, the rope ladder was pulled up, and gas was pumped into the bags. Luke went to the front of the gondola and looked out the windows. Slowly, the airship rose, and the mooring lines were cast off.

For the first time in history, man had achieved controlled flight. Before the airship rose much higher, the engines were started. Behind him, Luke heard the diesel engines cough a few times before they caught and turned over. The pilot let the engines idle for a few minutes before engaging the propellers.

The props were a marvel upon themselves. Each propeller had six curved wooden blades with a brass strip along the leading edge to protect the wood. The central hub was steel and held the blades in three ways. Each blade had two bolts through it, the hug was pressure fitted, and the blade bases were larger than the opening in the hub. The airship had four propellers with four engines. Like airships he had seen growing up, Luke positioned the engines at the end of short wings; this kept them away from the gondola and the gas bags.

Once the airship passed 60 meters in altitude, Luke asked the pilot to fly around the airfield before ascending further. Beneath them, the crew could see everyone on the base waving at them, filling the crew with pride. After a circuit, Luke allowed testing to continue as planned. He was pleased with the tests, and once the scheduled testing was complete, Luke decided on a detour before returning to base.