Looking at those eyes with a hint of blame and doubt, Luo Lan couldn't help but think that she looked quite adorable when she was upset... She rarely called him "brother" when she was in a good mood, but she would only do so in front of others or when she was annoyed, making one want to tease her on purpose.
Cough, cough, that's not the point right now... He coughed lightly, pulling his thoughts back on track. "The plane isn't completely finalized yet, so every part has to be made by Anna, Soroya, and the others. With the frontline war imminent, everyone should be aware of how heavy their workload is. Although I finished the design drawings a long time ago, I can't make it a reality on my own."
As the railway extended, the interval between trips to the front by the Seagull also changed from once every day or two to once every three or four days—not because Tilly and Wendy wanted to slack off, but because the amount of war preparations was difficult to complete in a single day, leaving them with no choice but to extend the stay.
As the shuttle, Tilly naturally knew how hard everyone was working. Many witches fell asleep in their seats on the plane. For this reason, the Seagull had even replaced the cushions and backrests with more comfortable ones. Moreover, defeating the devils and regaining the Fertile Plains was the most important goal at the moment. At the mention of this, her momentum immediately diminished, and she retreated, slumping back into the office desk, "I also want to start test flights as soon as possible, so that the air knights can be of use..."
"Don't worry, the main body of the plane is basically complete, only some auxiliary parts are missing. So you just need to be patient—"
"Wait," Tilly interrupted, "Does the completion of the main body mean... it can fly without those parts, right?"
"Uh," Luo Lan realized that he had let something slip. The Fifth Princess was no longer an amateur who knew nothing about planes. It wouldn't be easy to fool her. "...It's not that it can't, but it's fundamentally different from the Seagull. Wendy won't be able to help you correct any problems, and if you make a mistake..."
He trailed off.
Because Tilly's gleaming eyes said it all.
He couldn't refuse that look.
Nightingale behind him chuckled softly. She seemed to enjoy seeing him speechless lately.
After a long look, Luo Lan sighed, "Alright, I'll notify the people at the airfield to prepare."
"That's more like it." Tilly's raised eyebrows finally relaxed, and a hint of uncontrollable joy appeared at the corners of her mouth.
He picked up the phone, "But remember, if an accident occurs during the test flight, or if you lose control, you must abandon the plane immediately, understand?"
"Of course, because planes can be rebuilt, but pilots like me are precious," Tilly said proudly, crossing her arms. "That's what you're thinking, right?"
...
Neverwinter Flight Base.
It used to be just a simple concrete open space with nothing but two runways, but now it's a real flight training ground and a prototype of the future Air Force Academy.
Inside the walled test flight area, a silver plane was pushed out of the hangar by workers and placed at the end of the runway.
Tilly took a deep breath, "That's... specially made for me..."
"Yes," Luo Lan nodded, "Unicorn. The main power is provided by a five-cylinder radial piston engine, which theoretically allows the plane to reach a speed of over 150 kilometers per hour. Even the fastest Terror Beast can't catch it."
As the first human-made self-propelled aircraft of this era, it differed greatly in appearance from the Seagull glider—the most obvious being its large head. In order to accommodate the engine, the nose could only abandon the streamlined aerodynamic appearance and be made into a less aesthetically pleasing iron barrel shape, making it look as if it had been flattened.
The second difference was the two-bladed propeller in front of the nose, which the Seagull didn't have—since it was the first practical piston engine, even with a lot of reference materials, the finished product was quite conservative. With limited power, the dual wooden propeller was enough to meet its requirements.
Finally, there was the fuselage. The Unicorn, being essentially a fighter
plane, was less than nine meters long, almost half the size of the Seagull. The fuselage also didn't need to accommodate passengers, so it looked quite small. However, the interior of the aircraft was much more complex, with fuel tanks, fuel lines, and other power components in addition to the control system, as well as space reserved for a second seat and a weapon system.
"Unicorn... you occasionally come up with some good names." Tilly couldn't wait to walk to the biplane and quickly noticed the anomaly in the cockpit, "The missing auxiliary parts, were they originally installed here?"
Where the instrument panel should have been were still two empty holes. Even if she had never seen the real thing, she could guess that it wasn't finished yet.
"That's right," Luo Lan nodded, "These parts are mainly for displaying speed and altitude, which are the two most important parameters during flight. Before, Wendy controlled the aircraft's attitude, so it didn't matter if you didn't know these, but if you want to fly in the sky with your own strength, you must pay attention to the changes in these two parameters at all times..."
"Don't worry, I may not be able to build planes, but when it comes to piloting skills, I'm definitely the best in Graycastle." She confidently climbed into the plane and sat in the driver's seat.
Theoretically, the Unicorn only had one more throttle valve than the Seagull, and the rest of the control sticks were arranged in the same way. Tilly had also practiced on the simulator many times before, so there shouldn't be any problems. But this was, after all, a brand new plane, and the weight, flexibility, and response speed were vastly different from the latter. The mechanical system hadn't been fully verified, so anything could go wrong.
This was also Luo Lan's concern—if it crashed just after takeoff, even if Tilly had extraordinary operating skills, she probably wouldn't feel anything. He originally wanted to build several prototypes and let her crash them while familiarizing herself with the new aircraft.
But now that it had come to this, it was impossible to ask her to turn back.
"Your Majesty, all preparations are complete," the hangar supervisor reported.
"Begin," Luo Lan turned and left the runway.
"Yes!"
With the order given, two workers inserted the hand-cranked starter into the engine and began to rotate it vigorously.
Even though they were testing the latest weapon of humanity, the scene was just like a hand-held tractor when he was a child... Luo Lan couldn't help but complain inwardly. When it was mass-produced, he would get the battery and auxiliary motor out no matter what.
"Bang, bang, bang—" As the piston gradually accelerated and reciprocated under external force, a worker closed the pressure relief valve, and the oil vapor in the cylinder was instantly compressed and ignited. The engine exploded with a few noisy blasts and black smoke. Soon, the blasts became one, eventually turning into a deafening roar.
The two propeller blades turned into a circle of airtight light and shadow, dragging the light aircraft to taxi—only thirty seconds later, the Unicorn raised its nose, took off, and rushed into the blue sky in the astonished eyes of everyone on the scene!