Chapter 18 Chapter XVIII: The Endless End of the True Story of the "Albatross"

On April 29 of the following year, exactly seven months after the unexpected return of Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans, all Philadelphia erupted.This time it had nothing to do with politics: neither a campaign nor a rally, but the airship "Advance" was finally completed under the care of the Weldon Institute and was about to be infused with its natural elements. The pilot was none other than the famous Hari U Tinder and one of his assistants mentioned at the beginning of this story. The passenger was the president and secretary of the Welton Society.Don't they deserve this honor?Shouldn't they themselves have refuted all flying machines based on the "heavier-than-air" principle?

However, seven months later, they are still tight-lipped about the adventure.As much as Fricoland wanted to brag, nothing was said about the engineer Robbier and his marvelous machine.Perhaps, being uncompromising balloonists, Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans were reluctant to talk about flying machines or other means of flying.They would never have recognized the invention of the aeronautics, so long as the "Forward" balloon did not dominate the flying tools.They have always believed, and insisted, that the airship is the real means of air transportation, and the future belongs only to it.

Besides, the man for whom they had severely vengeance--which they thought they had done justly--was no longer alive, nor did any of his companions survive. The secret of the "Albatross" has been buried deep in the belly of the Pacific Ocean. As for engineer Robbill having a base in the boundless Pacific Ocean, a small island for resting, this is just a hypothesis.In any case, whether some investigation should be made on such a small island, the two colleagues will decide otherwise. The great experiment of the Weldon Institute, long and carefully prepared, was at last about to begin. The Forward was the most perfect model ever invented in the art of aviation—like the Fortitude and the Wonder in the art of sailing.

"Forward" has all the advantages of an airship.Its volume enables it to rise to the maximum height that the balloon can reach, its airtightness allows it to stay in the atmosphere indefinitely, its firmness enables it to withstand the pressure of any gas expansion and storm attack, and its performance can be guaranteed. giving it a decent amount of lifting power.It is able to lift a complete electrical equipment including all accessories, which can deliver the strongest power to the propulsion propeller that has ever been seen. The appearance of the "Forward" is an oblong shape that is easy to move horizontally; its platform pod is similar to that of Captain Kleber and Captain Renard, and the cabin is equipped with various tools needed by the pilot: physics Tools, cables, anchors, guide wires, etc., in addition, there are instruments, dry batteries and accumulators to give the airship a strong mechanical force.There is a propeller in the front of the boat; there is also a propeller in the stern, plus a rudder.But the efficiency of the machines on the "Forward" is probably far from that of the "Albatross".

After being inflated, the Forward was transported to the Fairmont Park glade, where the craft had been for several hours. Needless to say, its lifting power is provided by the lightest gas available.The buoyancy of gas used for general lighting is only about 700 grams per cubic meter - just enough to break the balance with the surrounding air; while the buoyancy of hydrogen can reach 100 grams.According to the famous Henry Giffard gas method and the pure hydrogen produced by special equipment, the huge balloon is filled.If the air capacity of the "Forward" is 40,000 cubic meters, then the buoyancy of the gas it obtains is 40,000 multiplied by 1,100, which is 44,000 kilograms.

On the morning of April 29, everything was ready. Just after 11 o'clock, the huge airship was already swinging a few feet above the ground, ready to go straight into the sky at any time. It was a beautiful day, as if it had been specially arranged for this important experiment.Generally speaking, it would be better if the wind could be a little stronger.In this way, the test will be more convincing.In fact no one has ever doubted that balloons are steerable in still air, but the situation is different in moving air, and the test should be carried out under the latter conditions. The wind has never blown, and there is no sign of it.On this day, too, as it happened, North America had no intention of taking a terrible storm from its inexhaustible stockpile and sending it to Western Europe.Such an atmosphere would certainly contribute to the success of the flight test.

Is it necessary to describe the crowds in Fairmont Park?A train brought curious people from the surrounding states to the capital of Pennsylvania; in order for everyone to see this scene, the business world was closed; bosses, clerks, workers, men, women, children, Members of Congress, representatives of the army, judges, reporters, local whites and blacks, all crowded into the open space in the woods;When Uncle Pruden and Phil Evans appeared in the pod below the airship flying the flag of the United States of America, cheers erupted like fireworks.Is it necessary to describe and calculate all this?Is it necessary to say that most curious people come not to see the "Forward" but to see these two men who make the Old World the envy of the New?

Why two, not three?How come there is no Fricoran?He felt that the battle with the "Albatross" was enough to make him proud, so he declined the glory of following his master.And so he was out of the question, welcoming the wild outcry of the president and secretary of the Weldon Society. Needless to say, the members of this illustrious group were present in the special seats enclosed with ropes and stakes in the middle of the glade.Truk Milner came, and so did Bart Fern, William T. Forbes, and his two daughters, Miss Dole and Miss Mutter, on his arm.All coming to this event is to show that nothing can separate these "lighter than air" supporters!

At around 11:20, a cannon blast announced the completion of the final preparations. As soon as the signal is sent, the "Forward" will take off. At 11:25, the second cannon rang. The "Forward" pulled by the net rope rose about 15 meters in the forest glade.In this way, the pod rose above the excited crowd.Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans stood at the front of the pod and put their left hands on their chests to show that they were connected with the people present; Balloons will take up space. So 100,000 hands are placed on the chests of 100,000 people, and another 100,000 hands are stretched to the sky.

At 11:30, the third cannon rang. "All loose!" Uncle Prudang shouted solemnly. So the "Forward" rose very "majesticly". "Majorly", this adverb is often used to describe aviation. What a spectacle this scene is!Like a giant ship just off the shipyard.Isn't this a huge ship that goes straight to the sky and the ocean? The "Forward" rose straight up - a sign of absolute calm in the air - and stopped at an altitude of 250 meters. From there it moves horizontally. Driven by two propellers, the "Forward" flew towards the sun at a speed of 10 meters per second.This is the speed of the whale in the water.It is not inappropriate to compare it to that great beast that lives in the northern seas: its shape is in no way different from that of a gigantic cetacean.

Another huh sound flew towards the vigorous flyers. Then, the "Forward" made various flight actions according to the operation of the helmsman: orbiting, oblique flying, straight flying, small radius circle, forward, backward, to let those most stubborn who are negative about the controllability of the balloon The Opposition is utterly captivated—if there is an Opposition!Of course, if there were any opposition, I'm afraid they would have been torn to pieces long ago. Such a spectacular experiment, why is there not even a breath of wind?What a pity.Otherwise, the public would surely have seen the "Forward" perform various maneuvers incisively and vividly: either sideways like a sailboat sailing against the wind, or sailing against the wind like a steamboat. At this time, the airship rose several hundred meters in the sky. People understood the purpose of this movement: Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans were going to go higher in the air to find the current, so that the experiment could be carried out more thoroughly.The airship has an internal inflation system similar to a swim bladder, and a certain amount of air is inflated or released through a pump to make the airship move vertically.Therefore, when the airship ascends, there is no need to discard heavy objects; when descending, there is no need to release the hydrogen gas that was originally charged, and it can be raised or lowered according to the pilot's intention.However, a valve is installed in the upper part of the balloon in case of emergency descent as a last resort.All in all, all the technologies that humans have mastered are used, but they have been developed to the point of perfection. At this moment, the "Forward" is rising in a straight line.Its huge body becomes smaller and smaller in people's eyes, as if an optical phenomenon is at work.For those viewers whose necks are about to break, this is still very fresh: the huge whale gradually turns into a porpoise, and after a while, it will turn into an ordinary (fish sentence) fish. The "Forward" is still rising and has reached an altitude of 4,000 meters.The sky is still so clear and there is no fog at all, so it can always be seen on the ground. And it remained just above the glade, as if several threads were pulling it from different directions.Even if a huge bell covered the atmosphere, it would be nothing but calm.Now there is no wind at this altitude, nor at any other altitude.The airship was running without encountering any resistance.Because of the distance, it appears very small, as if one were looking at it through the small end of a telescope. Suddenly, there was a cry from the crowd, and then a hundred thousand voices shouted in unison, all arms pointing to a point on the horizon.This one, in the northwest. Deep in the blue sky, an object is moving, approaching, and getting bigger.Is it a bird flying high in the sky?Is it a meteor whose trajectory is oblique to the atmosphere?In short, its speed is extremely fast, and Baba is about to pass above the crowd. A surmise flashed like electricity through all brains, and spread throughout the glade. The "Forward" seemed to have seen this monster as well.It must have felt some kind of threat, and it was speeding up and fleeing eastward. People get it! 100,000 mouths were chanting the name, uttered by a member of the Weldon Society: "The Albatross! . . . the Albatross! . . . " Sure enough, it was the "Albatross".Robbie appeared in the sky again!It was swooping at the "Forward" like a giant bird! Nine months ago, when the craft was blown up, the propeller snapped off and the platform broke in two.Thanks to the amazing composure of the engineer, who changed the direction of rotation of the forward propeller, turning it into a lifting propeller, the entire crew of the "Albatross" was suffocated to death due to the rapid fall.Although they escaped the fate of suffocation, why didn't Robier and his companions die in the Pacific Ocean? This is because fragments of the platform, propeller blades, cabin partitions, all the remaining ruins of the "Albatross" floated in a pile of wreckage.Like a wounded bird that falls into the waves and whose wings keep it above the water, Robbier and his men spent hours on the wreckage before boarding a A rubber boat found on the ocean. Those killed were rescued.Those who believe in God's sovereignty think that it is God's will, while those who do not believe it is accidental. A few hours after sunrise, they were spotted by a boat that dropped a lifeboat that contained not only Robier and his mates, but also the wreckage of the floating craft.The engineer only said that his ship had crashed and sank, and the other party did not ask his identity and name. It was an English three-masted ship, the Liverpool Two Friends, bound for Melbourne, which she reached in a few days. Rober knew that Australia was still far away from X Island, and he had to return there as soon as possible. In the wreckage of the aft cabin the engineer found a considerable sum of money, so that he could provide for all the needs of his companions without asking for help.Soon after arriving in Melbourne, he bought a ketch of around 100 tons.So, Robier, who is good at sailing, returned to X Island. He has only one firm belief, one thing on his mind: revenge.But to get revenge, it is necessary to rebuild an "Albatross".For someone who's already built one, it's an easy job after all.They used all the old aircraft parts brought back from the brig, including two propellers, that could be used.They rebuilt the mechanics, dry cells and accumulators.In short, the work was completed in less than eight months.A new Albatros, just as good looking, just as powerful, and just as fast as the one that was blown up, was just waiting to take off. The flight attendants are still the same crew.It was self-evident that all these men were furious with the Welton Institute, and especially with Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans. In early April, the "Albatross" left X Island.Unwilling to be spotted anywhere on Earth, it almost always flies in the clouds.After reaching the skies over North America, it landed in a desolate part of the western plains.There, the engineer incognito, inquired about the news that made him extremely happy: the Weldon Institute was about to conduct experiments, and the "Advance", built by Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans, would take off from Philadelphia on April 29. That's great for Robier and his mates, who are always on the lookout for revenge! The "Jianjin" is doomed, and it will be demolished in public!At the same time all this will prove to the spectators that the aircraft is superior to all airships and their like! So there was the scene that the "Albatross" swooped down from high altitude like a vulture and appeared in the sky over Fairmont Park that day. yes!It was the Albatross, easily recognized even by those who had never met her before! The "Forward" fled in panic.But it quickly understood that it was absolutely impossible to escape by flying horizontally.Therefore, the only way out is to escape vertically.Flee vertically, but not to the ground, because the aircraft will block its way; flee to high altitudes, to high altitudes where it cannot be attacked.It's risky, but logical. However, the "Albatross" also followed it up.It was much smaller than the "Forward", much like a swordfish chasing a whale, ready to kill it with an arrow; also like a torpedo rushing towards a cruiser, trying to destroy it in one fell swoop. The people below witnessed all this and were distraught.After a while, the "Forward" rose to an altitude of 5,000 meters. The "Albatross" has been following it closely, hovering on both sides of it, and circling it in circles, the radius is getting shorter and smaller, and the circle is getting smaller and smaller.It can pierce that fragile skin with a single leap, completely killing the opponent.Then Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans would fall down hard and be smashed to pieces! The audience was stunned, their breath was short of breath, their hearts clenched, as if they saw someone fall from a height and felt that their chest was pressed by a stone, and their legs were weak.An air battle was brewing, which was not as likely to be a fluke as a naval battle--this was the first time such a battle, but it probably wouldn't be the last, because progress is a law in today's world. The flag of the United States of America was flown on the ring in the center of the "March", as was the flag of the "Albatross".It was a tulle with stars and the golden sun of Robier the Conqueror. The "Forward" tried to continue to rise to throw off its opponent.It unloaded the weight on the boat and jumped another 1,000 meters.This time, it was just a small black spot in the sky. The Albatross's propellers, which had been turned up to maximum speed and kept forcing it, were out of sight. Suddenly, there was a scream from the ground. The "Forward" looked bigger. The "Albatross" also appeared, descending with it.This time, the airship was falling.The gas overexpanded at high altitude and burst the skin.The entire sphere has collapsed in half and is falling straight down. At this time, the "Albatross" also reduced the speed of the propeller, and was descending at a constant speed.When it was only 1,200 meters above the ground, it caught up with the "Forward" and leaned over. Robbie is going to clean it up? ……no! ...He's here to help, to save the people on the airship! The pilot of the "Forward" and his assistant, as dexterous as they pilot the airship, jumped onto the platform of the aircraft in one fell swoop. Would Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans refuse Robier's rescue, his rescue of themselves?They can still do it.However, the engineer's men rushed towards them and dragged them from the "Forward" to the "Albatross". Then the "Albatross" stepped aside and stopped in mid-air.The "Forward", which had leaked out of air, landed on a tree in the forest, hanging in the air like a bunch of rags. A terrible silence hung over the ground, as if all life in the chest had ceased.People closed their eyes and did not want to see this unprecedented disaster. So Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans became Robier's captives again.Now that they are captured again, will they be taken to the sky again where no one can track them? Think of it this way. However, the "Albatross" did not continue to rise, but fell towards the ground.is it going to landEveryone thought so, so they backed away to make room for it in the middle of the clearing. The county is so angry that it is on the verge of breaking out. The "Albatross" stopped two meters above the ground.Then, in the silence, the engineer's voice sounded. "Citizens of the United States," he said, "the President and Secretary of the Weldon Institution are once again in my hands. If I detain them, I shall only be exercising the rights of an Avenger. But seeing them In reaction to the achievement of the Albatross, I understand that people are not fully prepared for the important revolution that the conquest of space will cause. Uncle Prudden and Phil Evans, you are free!" The president and secretary of the Weldon Society, the pilot and his assistant all jumped to the ground in a single leap. The "Albatross" immediately rose to a place about ten meters above the crowd. Robier went on to say: "Citizens of the United States, my experiment is done. But I believe that nothing should be too premature in the future, including scientific progress. Science should not transcend the conventional. It should be evolution, not revolution. In a word: it should be The trend of the times. Today, because my appearance is too early, it has caused controversy and divisions against me. The realization of the unity of all ethnic groups is not yet what everyone expects." "So, I take my leave. I take my secret with me, but mankind will not lose it. In the future, mankind's education develops, and it can benefit from this secret; its reason is strengthened, and it will not abuse it The secret, then, will be hers. Farewell, citizens of the United States, farewell!" Beating the air with its seventy-four propellers, the Albatross disappeared into the east in a thunderous huh—this time a ovation of appreciation—under the action of its two propulsion propellers. The two colleagues, and all members of the Welton Society, felt so humiliated that there was only one thing they could do now: go home.The suddenly-changed crowd was waiting to be greeted with the sharpest sarcasm, and nothing more was needed at this time! Now, back to the old topic: "Who is this Rober? I'll know in the future?" Find out today.Robier is the science of the future, maybe the science of tomorrow.This is where the future is solid. As for the "Albatross", is it still in the atmosphere - this space that no one can take away from it - invited?There is no doubt about it.Will Robier the Conqueror reappear someday, as he claims?Will do!He will surely come to reveal to the world the secret of this invention capable of changing the social and political conditions of the present world. As for the future of machines operating in space, it belongs to flying machines, not airships. The cause of conquering space will eventually belong to the "Albatross"!