Chapter 268: 267 Fang Wen Witnesses Spanish Revolution, Purchase Of I-16, Gunship Completed
Late March 1936.
Fang Wen took Lufthansa’s Junkers G 24 airplane to Barcelona International Airport.
As an industry insider, Fang Wen was very interested in Spain’s aviation undertaking.
On the airplane, he started talking with the flight attendant.
After some communication, he learned about the situation of Spain’s aviation undertaking.
Originally, Spain had an airline company called Iberia Airlines, which was later merged into National Aviation during Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship.
29 years later, the National Aviation company ceased operations, and Spain no longer had its own civil aviation, so Lufthansa had to take on the international aviation business.
This showed that Spain, at this time in Europe, was no longer powerful, and its development in the aviation field was far behind Britain, France, and Germany.
After several hours of flight range, the airplane landed at Barcelona Airport. Fang Wen and Li Tie Zhu, who was temporarily acting as bodyguard, got off the airplane with the passengers.
They came out of the airport and met the people who had come to pick them up.
Kuang Anming, dressed in a leather jacket and looking stylish, came over enthusiastically with his people.
He opened his arms wanting to hug Fang Wen, but Fang Wen dodged it with a handshake.
Although the hug was not completed, Kuang Anming still said enthusiastically:
“Brother-in-law, welcome to Spain, the most brilliant place of the European revolutionary wave.”
Fang Wen looked at the radiant Kuang Anming and felt emotional in his heart.
In just two short years, Kuang Anming had really joined the European revolutionary wave as he said.
But was this really a good thing?
Europe’s revolution was destined to fail. Should he find an opportunity to persuade him to return to China?
After all, this was his wife’s brother. If he really died in the future Spanish Civil War, his wife and father-in-law would definitely be very sad.
At this moment, Kuang Anming introduced his friends who had come with him to Fang Wen.
They were all friends from left-wing parties.
There were members of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia affiliated with the Spanish Communist Party, as well as from the National Confederation of Labor.
Fang Wen smiled and shook hands with several of them, got into their car, and headed to the residence arranged by Kuang Anming.
The car drove into Barcelona city. The streets were very lively along the way, with large crowds of people walking on the streets, forcing passing vehicles to stop and give way.
Kuang Anming explained excitedly: “This is a strike supported by the Popular Front, organized by the National Confederation of Labor. Workers are marching on the streets, demanding higher salaries and vacations from the capitalists.”
Fang Wen nodded. Ever since workers in France had obtained vacations, workers across Europe were seeking this welfare.
But Spain was a bit different; it was actually the ruling party leading the strike, which made Fang Wen feel very awkward.
In his view, the ruling party had the ability to carry out legislation and system reforms from top to bottom. Why use this method to confront the capital side?
It seemed that this Popular Front was very chaotic internally and had poor governing ability.
He thought so, but Kuang Anming was very optimistic about this new government.
Kuang Anming proudly continued: “Here, they are emulating the Soviet Union and China. The Socialist Agricultural Workers Union in Badajoz Province launched a large-scale land occupation movement, where over 60,000 agricultural workers and tenants gained their own land. The government legalized this behavior, and the poor finally had their own assets.”
His brother-in-law’s words and the scenes in the city indicated that a Spanish-style revolutionary wave was rising.
It was coming so fiercely.
It even had a huge impact internationally.
But none of this infected Fang Wen. In his view, the Popular Front coalition government, which had not consolidated its own position, was doing something crazy, and it would inevitably face a huge backlash in the future.
Those Spanish large landowners and big capitalists would unite under pressure. Their potential was far deeper than that of the Popular Front coalition government. Once it erupted, it would be very fierce.
But this was not something Fang Wen could change. All the united parties of the entire Popular Front had fallen into madness. His words as an outsider probably couldn’t even convince Kuang Anming.
Therefore, Fang Wen gave up unrealistic ideas and started his own business.
The person he was to meet was a military officer from the Spanish military.
At this time, the Spanish military was in a very delicate state. Nominally loyal to the government, they remained neutral in everything.
This neutrality was seen by the Popular Front coalition government as a form of obedience, so they didn’t interfere much.
They even directly handed over the first batch of airplanes aided by the Soviet Union to the Spanish Air Force for management.
Precisely because of this, Fang Wen had the opportunity to purchase the I-16 fighter jet.
After the telephone was dialed, it connected quickly, and Spanish language came from the microphone.
Kuang Anming translated: “Brother-in-law, he says it’s the Air Force Supplies Management Office. How should I reply to him?”
“Tell them that the guest from Paris will come today. Please arrange a test flight of the airplane.” Fang Wen replied.
After Kuang Anming translated faithfully, the other side replied.
“Brother-in-law, he said it’s already arranged. You can go anytime.”
“Good, come with me.” Fang Wen immediately got up and went with Kuang Anming to the Air Force base outside Barcelona city.
An hour later, the car arrived at the base. The guards at the gate stopped the car, reported the situation, and then let it enter.
Fang Wen drove the car along the streets beside the runway, while observing the airplanes in the airport.
The airplanes here included many old biplane fighter jets. Clearly, Spain’s years of internal strife had stalled the Air Force for a long time.
After driving forward several hundred meters, a team of officers came to greet them ahead, with a new monoplane fighter jet parked nearby.
That was the I-16.
Fang Wen parked the car, brought Kuang Anming over, shook hands, and communicated with them.
Under Kuang Anming’s translation, both sides completed communication and confirmed identities.
Fang Wen said directly: “My time in Europe is limited. I hope to test fly as soon as possible to understand the actual situation of the I-16. If possible, I will buy 3 airplanes directly.”
After listening to Kuang Anming’s translation, they took Fang Wen to the fighter jet.
The I-16 was a single-seat fighter jet. No one would accompany for the test flight. Spanish Air Force officers could agree to the test flight but were unwilling to take responsibility, so they required Fang Wen to sign a voluntary declaration before proceeding.
Fang Wen signed the voluntary declaration readily and then began the test flight.
Climbing the boarding ladder to the pilot seat, Fang Wen sat down.
The first impression was that it was surprisingly similar to the Shrike Hao.
He activated the engine, entered mechanical perception, and merged with the airplane.
The condition of the I-16 was clear at a glance in the mechanical perception state, but to understand more, high-altitude flight was needed.
Fang Wen controlled the airplane to take off, performed various flight maneuvers in the air to better understand the airplane’s condition.
He discovered some problems with the I-16.
First, the I-16 fighter jet had some difficulty in handling, especially prone to losing control during sharp climbs.
This was caused by insufficient engine power. The 400 horsepower engine was indeed struggling.
But it wasn’t unsolvable. The best way was to replace it with a high-performance engine. The 800 horsepower Wasp engine in Fang Wen’s hands was a great power replacement.
Second, its cabin should be designed as enclosed for better results, but Soviet pilots seemed to prefer open cabins for better visibility, so the deployed airplanes were all non-enclosed.
Fang Wen felt that if he decided on the I-16, he would definitely modify the cabin to enclosed, providing pilots with a safer piloting environment.
Third, the I-16 had a forward-shifted center of gravity, with firepower system and engine integrated at the front, fuel and lightweight tail materials at the rear.
This structure increased its speed, enhanced front defense, but rear defense was almost zero.
After two test flights, Fang Wen formed a judgment on the I-16.
This was a very Soviet rugged-style military fighter jet design.
It abandoned the rear, fully reinforcing the front, completely offense-oriented.
This design would make it very aggressive on the battlefield. In this aspect, it could compete with Japanese fighter jets.
But this design did not meet Fang Wen’s requirements.
After all, what he wanted was an all-around high-speed fighter jet.
The so-called all-around high-speed warship could fight, withstand, had good speed, fierce firepower, and high maneuverability.
The I-16 lacked maneuverability due to insufficient power. The only thing that met Fang Wen’s requirements was speed.
Therefore, Fang Wen hesitated. Should he give up the I-16 and go to the United States to find another high-speed fighter jet?
No, that would probably be even harder.
Fang Wen compared the three airplanes he had test flown in his mind.
MB.150 and Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 had design flaws that couldn’t be modified.
The I-16 had no design problems; mainly various issues combined to make it seem unsuitable.
But if willing to invest effort in modifications, it might not be unable to improve.
Even, Fang Wen thought that if he could fully master the I-16, he might be able to produce his own high-speed fighter jet.
After all, the relatively rugged I-16 was easier to understand its internal structure than the sophisticated P-26.
After this idea emerged, Fang Wen decided to buy 3 I-16 fighter jets.
I-16 fighter jet purchase successful.
United States Taishan International Shipping Company transported three airplanes, as well as the 20 mm autocannon production line, and 5000 rounds of 20 mm shells.
Two cargo ships loaded cargo in Barcelona and Marseille Port respectively, passing through the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile, Fang Wen returned to Myanmar ahead of schedule.
As soon as he got off the airplane, Taishan Aircraft Manufacturing Plant management office director Bai Zeshan brought people over to report.
“General Manager, in these two weeks, the bulletproof chassis modification of the Shuiyun Type 1 Seaplane has been completed. Waiting for your inspection.”
“Wait a few days. Experiment after the 20 mm autocannon arrives.” Fang Wen replied.
A few days later, the two cargo ships arrived at port, unloading three airplanes and autocannon production equipment, as well as shells and a small number of 20 mm autocannons.
The bulletproof chassis inspection also began immediately. Engineers from the aircraft manufacturing plant gathered at the test field to watch.
The test was not to fly the seaplane with added chassis into the sky for shooting tests; that would be too dangerous.
Instead, armor chassis of the same specifications were tested for shooting at different ranges.
The weapons involved in shooting included: 7.92 mm rifle, Type 38 rifle, Taisho 11th Year Type 6.5 mm light machine gun, Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon.
After a series of tests, results were obtained.
Within 1000 meters.
7.92 mm rifle, Type 38 rifle, Taisho 11th Year Type 6.5 mm light machine gun penetrated the first layer of thin steel plate, with bullets lodged in the second layer of aluminum alloy.
Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon penetrated the steel plate, aluminum alloy, and airplane chassis.
From this distance shooting test, the power of the 20 mm autocannon was formidable. Not to mention airplane armor, even tanks could not withstand its attack at close range.
Beyond 1000 meters, up to 4500 meters.
In this range, every additional distance reduced the power of rifles and light machine guns until they lost destructive power.
While the 20 mm autocannon’s lethal threat weakened beyond 3000 meters.
Fang Wen looked at the test results and drew a conclusion: the biggest threat to gunships came from anti-aircraft guns.
This was unsolvable. No matter how heavy the airplane armor, it couldn’t be thicker than tanks. If tanks couldn’t withstand 20 mm autocannons, don’t overthink it.
War meant no foolproof plans; victory always came at a cost.
（Gunship with 20 mm Vulcan cannon installed）
The gunship’s bottom armor test was completed and could basically be applied in actual combat.
Manufacturing of gunship weapons also began.
With production technology authorization for Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon and related production equipment, Fang Wen assembled a group of technicians and started production at the new weapons factory.
He personally trial-produced according to the Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon production technology. Under mechanical perception ability, he fully understood the production technology and taught it to the technicians.
The produced Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon had its base adapted and modified.
The bottom was fully welded to the airplane, then equipped with a rotatable mechanical device. The marksman could control the autocannon body for 38-degree up-down adjustment and 150-degree left-right strafing.
At the same time, to protect the marksman, two steel baffles were added to the front of the cannon body to block bullets from the ground.
After this dedicated downward-firing autocannon was installed, Fang Wen immediately arranged several strong mercenaries to board the airplane for testing.
He set up a simulated Japanese Army position at the test field, then piloted the airplane to takeoff, circling the position at different circling radii.
During each circling radius flight, the marksman would shoot at the simulated Japanese Army position.
These circling flight data and corresponding circling radius shooting data were carefully collected and calculated by Fang Wen.
For different circling radii, standard flight circling data was calculated. At the same time, some operations for corresponding shooting aiming were datafied and organized.
Fang Wen compiled these into a flight manual and marksman manual, to be used later for training gunship pilots and marksmen.
Now, it was necessary to train a batch of low-speed flight instructor pilots ahead of time. For this, Fang Wen had Pan Jiafeng, Shao Sishen, and three Red Army flight cadets come from Wuhan to Yangon.
After the 5 arrived in Yangon, Fang Wen first talked with Shao Sishen.
“How are the three doing?”
“Very diligent. They completed basic theory learning in the shortest time and have now started actual flying on trainer aircraft. I think the three can already formally pilot civil aviation airplanes.” Shao Sishen replied.
Being able to pilot civil aviation airplanes meant the three Red Army flight cadets had become qualified pilots, but not fighter jet pilots; there was still a big gap between them.
Fang Wen nodded and beckoned Pan Jiafeng over: “Leave the three to me. You two open a new flight training class in Yangon, specializing in teaching low-speed flight students. Here are two gunship study manuals. Master them first, then teach them, and strive to train the first batch of gunship pilots.”
Shao Sishen surprisedly took the gunship flight manual and marksman manual. Pan Jiafeng was excited and eager to see the company’s first military-type airplane gunship.
Fang Wen had Bai Zeshan take the two to the test field to see the airplane, then solemnly said to the three Red Army flight cadets: “You have built a solid foundation. This is just the beginning. Next, you three will learn to pilot this airplane along with other elite flight cadets.”
Following his pointing direction, the three Red Army soldiers looked over. One couldn’t help asking: “What model is this?”
“I-16 fighter jet from the Soviet Red Army, but not exactly the same. I will modify it.” Fang Wen replied.
Soviet fighter jet!
The three Red Army soldiers looked at the airplane eagerly. The fighter jet from Eldest Brother made them feel very close.
Seeing their expressions, Fang Wen thought of the Red Army. How was the Red Army doing now?
