Part 5 (1/2)
The work the next day was rushed to completion far earlier than Arcot had dared to hope. All the men had been kept isolated at the farm, lest they accidentally spread the news of the new machine. It was with excited interest that they helped the machine to completion. The guns had not been mounted as yet, but that could wait. Mid-afternoon found the machine resting in the great construction shed, completely equipped and ready to fly!
”d.i.c.k,” said Morey as he strode up to him after testing the last of the gyroscopic seats, ”she's ready! I certainly want to get her going--it's only three-thirty, and we can go around to the sunlight part of the world when it gets dark at the speeds we can travel. Let's test her now!”
”I'm just as anxious to start as you are, Bob. I've sent for a U.S. Air Inspector. As soon as he comes we can start. I'll have to put an 'X'
license indication on her now. He'll go with us to test it--I hope.
There will be room for three other people aboard, and I think you and Dad and I will be the logical pa.s.sengers.”
He pointed excitedly. ”Look, there's a government helicopter coming.
Tell the men to get the blocks from under her and tow her out. Two power trucks should do it. Get her at least ten feet beyond the end of the hangar. We'll start straight up, and climb to at least a five mile height, where we can make mistakes safely. While you're tending to that, I'll see if I can induce the Air Inspector to take a trip with us.”
Half an hour later the machine had been rolled entirely out of the shed, on the new concrete runway.
The great craft was a thing of beauty s.h.i.+mmering in the bright sunlight The four men who were to ride in it on its maiden voyage stood off to one side gazing at the great gleaming metal hull. The long sweeping lines of the sides told a story of perfect streamlining, and implied high speed, even at rest. The bright, slightly iridescent steel hull shone in silvery contrast to the gleaming copper of the power units'
heat-absorption fins. The great clear windows in the nose and the low, streamlined air intake for the generator seemed only to accentuate the graceful lines of the machine.
”Lord, she's a beauty, isn't she, d.i.c.k!” exclaimed Morey, a broad smile of pleasure on his face.
”Well, she did shape up nicely on paper, too, didn't she. Oh, Fuller, congratulations on your masterpiece. It's even better looking than we thought, now the copper has added color to it. Doesn't she look fast? I wish we didn't need physicists so badly on this trip, so you could go on the first ride with us.”
”Oh, that's all right, d.i.c.k, I know the number of instruments in there, and I realize they will mean a lot of work this trip. I wish you all luck. The honor of having designed the first s.h.i.+p like that, the first heavier-than-air s.h.i.+p that ever flew without wings, jets, or props--that is something to remember. And I think it's one of the most beautiful that ever flew, too.”
”Well, d.i.c.k,” said his father quietly, ”let's get under way. It should fly--but we don't really know that it will!”
The four men entered the s.h.i.+p and strapped themselves in the gyroscopic seats. One by one they reported ready.
”Captain Mason,” Arcot explained to the Air Inspector, ”these seats may seem to be a bit more active than one generally expects a seat to be, but in this experimental machine, I have provided all the safety devices I could think of. The s.h.i.+p itself won't fall, of that I am sure, but the power is so great it might well prove fatal to us if we are not in a position to resist the forces. You know all too well the effect of sharp turns at high speed and the results of the centrifugal force. This machine can develop such tremendous power that I have to make provision for it.
”You notice that my controls and the instruments are mounted on the arm of the chair really; that permits me to maintain complete control of the s.h.i.+p at all times, and still permits my chair to remain perpendicular to the forces. The gyroscopes in the base here cause the entire chair to remain stable if the s.h.i.+p rolls, but the chair can continue to revolve about this bearing here so that we will not be forced out of our seats.
I'm confident that you'll find the machine safe enough for a license.
Shall we start?”
”All right, Dr. Arcot,” replied the Air Inspector. ”If you and your father are willing to try it, I am.”
”Ready, Engineer?” asked Arcot.
”Ready, Pilot!” replied Morey.
”All right--just keep your eye on the meters, Dad, as I turn on the system. If the instruments back there don't take care of everything, and you see one flash over the red mark--yank open the main circuit. I'll call out what to watch as I turn them on.”
”Ready son.”
”Main gyroscopes!” There was a low snap, a clicking of relays in the rear compartment, and then a low hum that quickly ran up the scale.
”Main generators!” Again the clicking switch, and the relays thudding into action, again the rising hum. ”Seat-gyroscopes.” The low click was succeeded by a quick shrilling sound that rose in moments above the range of hearing as the separate seat-gyroscopes took up their work.
”Main power tube bank!” The low hum of the generator changed to a momentary roar as the relays threw on full load. In a moment the automatic controls had brought it up to speed.
”Everything is working perfectly so far. Are we ready to start now, son?”