Chapter 365 Hot Air Balloons
All the overseers couldn't help but feel anxious, as they truly wanted to know if this project was going to be a success or not.
The notion of flight was something that their brains that never comprehended before.
If this worked, then this would be a big leap for mankind!!
.
For the past 9 days, they had all read the notes that his majesty had given to them..... and the more they read, the more intrigued they became.
But of course usually, they would have 100% trust in his Majesty's projects.
But this time, even they themselves couldn't help but be a little doubtful on the matter.
.
Even if the theory made sense, something in them still couldn't believe that man could fly.
But at the same time.... this feeling also made them feel some sort of push to get the job done faster and more efficiently.
For them, this was the biggest project of all.
And from what his majesty had said earlier..... apparently, this was just the beginning for flight.
But what could be bigger than a balloon that flies around with people on it?
.
Once Landon sat down, his secretary immediately looked at his watch patiently.
And when it was 9 A.M on the dot, he quickly started his timer and began taking down the meeting minutes.
"Alright... let's begin shall we?
Based in what we had initially discussed some days back, the hot air balloon has 5 main components to it:
•The Envelope (balloon or gas bag),
•The Deflation system,
•Fuel Tanks,
•The Burners,
•\u0026 the Basket (gondola).
From the notes that were given to you all 9 days ago, each industry would have to complete at least one key component here.
So... since then, how many parts were you all able to make?
We'll start from left to right..... so Overseer Sophia, please go ahead.
The floor is yours."
"Thank you your majesty!
To start off, from the notes that you handed to me yesterday... the Tailoring Industry's main task in this project was to produce and stitch the Envelope together." Sophia said..... while passing along several copies of her results to everyone in the room.
They could see an overview of what she was supposed to do, as well as a pie-chart and numerous tables and graphs that showed her industry's progress rate through it these 9 days.
.
"We stitched it from Nylon, which was gotten from the alchemy industry.... and several other fabrics that would also aid in giving the envelope long-term strength and durability as well.
Of course for the lower region of the envelope, we made it using fire resistant materials like Normex (which is basically a condensation reaction between 2 monomers.... and used for firefighting, some military special unit attires, and so on).
As well as coated it with polyurethane to make it permeable to air.
And at the top of the envelope (balloon), we also added a vent of some sort... which would aid the pilot in releasing hot air when he/she was trying to slow an ascent, start an ascent, or increase the rate of descent.
Your majesty... initially, we had made 634 envelopes.
But after passing it through numerous tests ... only about 9% of them had passed the test.
Hence right at this moment, we only have 57 of them at hand." Sophia said with a disgruntled face.
.
She was at least hoping that 50% of them would pass their tests.
But now with a 9% pass mark, who wouldn't feel a little bit disappointed with their results?
This was a clear F grade alright?
"Hmmm.... actually, I was only expecting at most 50 of them to make it past the tests.
But seeing that you still got 57 at the end, for sure.... your industry did a job well done!" Landon said, while nodding in satisfaction.
"Thank you your majesty!"
'Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!'
.
"Alright... Overseer Wiggins..... your up next."
"Thank you your majesty!
Ermm...For the Alchemy industry,
So expecting only 100 to make it so far.
So you have indeed exceeded my expectations..
"As overseer Sophia had previously said.... my industry had created the Nylon (Polyamine)used to make the Envelope, from a condensation reaction between a dicarboxylic acid and a diamine to form polyester)
Also... so far, we have been able to produce 311 gas tanks for the burners... that would contain liquid propane in them." Wiggins said, while passing several copies of his own reports to everyone else.
.
Even though he had produced 311 gas tanks... one should know that they all fell within 5 major sizes.
And all this was based on the different basket sizes as well.
In essence, for the hot air balloons..... Landon had decided to make several basket sizes at once.
.
Back on earth, there were hot air balloons that could even take up to 30 people on it at once.
So for the basket sizes here, Landon had chosen to make them into 5 major sizes which could accommodate:
•3 individuals ( pilot + 2 sever people at once)
•5 individuals (pilot + 4 guests)
•10 individuals (2 pilots + 8 guests)
•15 Individuals (2 pilots +13 guests)
•\u0026 20 individuals (3 pilots + 17 guests)
Hence for larger baskets, one would need more fuel... or larger fuel tanks so as to get them going.
So Wiggins and his team had made various sizes based on the needs of each one.
.
"Hmm... not bad.... not bad at all.
Alright..... overseer Tim.... what about your part?"
"Your majesty..... my industry was in charge of making the burners, baskets, the safety deflation system and other minor technical parts.
And so far your majesty... we have created enough to create the first 200 batch of Hot air balloons.
Of course everything went through our tests, especially the baskets... which were repeatedly subjected to hitting the ground hard, so that the 'Wicker' material can be able to withstand the battering over time.
In addition to that, we also tested the basket for shock resistance..... as well as sturdiness." Tim said confidently.
.
The meeting went on for a while more..... and when they were done, they quickly followed Landon to the back of Tim's office.
The secretaries and the Overseers, moved excitedly behind Landon.
Hehehe..... finally, it was time to test out his Majesty's crazy idea.