NOVEL NEXT Chapter 234: Flight
Li Ang dipped his thumb in the dew on the grass and held it up to the morning breeze, feeling for the wind speed, direction, temperature, and humidity.
Everything seemed suitable.
He turned his head to look at Yu Feiyu and smiled, "Envoy, you can inspect this flying machine to ensure that there are no Mind Silks or talismans used on it."
Yu Feiyu's eyebrows knitted slightly as he stepped forward half a step and released his Spiritual Sense, scanning the I-shaped flying machine.
Indeed, as Li Ang had said, the metal wires, masts, propellers, and transmission devices on the flying machine were all made of ordinary metals and lightweight wood planks, which were not the best carriers for Telekinesis.
As for the flying machine's covering...
"Is this Rabbit leather?" Yu Feiyu asked.
"It is paper made from Rabbit leather." Su Feng nodded. "One layer of Rabbit skin can be split into five sheets, tanned, air-dried, soaked and shredded, and then fused with the fibers of red bamboo to form a complete sheet."
Bian Chenpei's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Rabbits are Fourth-class Demons. The material made from its skin naturally qualifies as Mutated Objects, which would be considered contraband!"
"I'm afraid not." Su Feng cast him a glance and spoke lightly, "Rabbit Paper is very light and extremely tough. It won't tear or rot when wet. It can be used as a premium liner for leather armor or as paper to record important information. In the third year of Zaiqian, our Academic Palace used Rabbit Paper for the re-examination. It is now a common item in Yu Country, and every year a portion is provided to Taihao Mountain—among the books and scriptures carried by all the Envoys, there could very well be paper made from Rabbit leather."
"..."
He had been put in a difficult position.
Bian Chenpei's expression grew even uglier. Taihao Mountain hoarded all the world's resources, and the students there lived a life of luxury even beyond that of the children of the Royal Family, without paying any attention to everyday items at hand.
If he called Rabbit Paper a forbidden item, how would he explain it if the Academic Palace found such materials on any of their group? He couldn't very well declare in front of the Academic Palace Sacrificial Official and foreign students that what was forbidden in the Academic Palace was indeed forbidden, but not when it came to Taihao Mountain, could he?
"If there are no issues, then I shall begin." Li Ang smiled faintly, pulled aside the flap of the cockpit's covering, and sat down on the seat.
Calling it a cockpit was a bit of a stretch. The cramped space didn't offer much leeway, with chainrings and chains all exposed. He had to be very careful when stepping on the pedals to avoid scraping or hurting himself.
To outsiders, this flying machine looked exceedingly odd and primitive, but through Li Ang's eyes, each part of this airplane was a crystallization of human intelligence.
In his memory from the Otherworld, it bore a very elegant name—You Si Albatross.
It was designed and built by the American aviation engineer Mike Creed and was powered by human muscle to drive the gears, chains, and propeller. On June 12, 1979, piloted by Brian Allen, it took 2 hours and 49 minutes to fly 37 kilometers across the sea, traversing the entire English Channel.
As various pieces of information flashed through Li Ang's mind, he looked through the cockpit's covering to the outside world, only to see the crowd dispersing under Su Feng's direction, clearing a runway through the open woodland.
Everyone's eyes were focused on the strange-looking flying machine and on Li Ang inside the cockpit.
"Can this thing actually fly?"
"It looks so clumsy, completely different from the previous models."
"And it's made of wood. Won't it fall apart mid-flight?"
The murmurs of the crowd drifted on the breeze into his ears.
Li Ang smiled slightly, retracted his gaze, placed his hands on the handles, and slowly began to pedal.
The high-precision transmission device personally crafted by Tantai Leshan produced not a whisper of grating metallic friction. The pedals turned the chainrings, driving the flywheel to spin faster and faster. Chains streamed along at high speed, causing the propeller at the rear of the aircraft to slowly begin to rotate.
The propeller generated wind, pushing the plane slowly forward, accelerating.
Below the cockpit, the wheels spun across the lawn until they lifted off the ground.
Amidst incredulous stares, the aircraft left the earth behind, its massive horizontal wings bathed in the morning light, casting a shadow like the wings of a great beast.
"It's really... flying…"
The students from various countries instinctively gaped.
Yu Feiyu's gaze sharpened as she enveloped the flying machine with her profound Spiritual Sense, belying her youth. No Telekinesis, no talisman, not even the slightest ripple of Spiritual Energy. This aircraft, as Li Ang had said, was indeed propelled purely by human strength, achieving flight.
"How can this... be possible..." Bian Chenpei's face turned ashen as he muttered to himself. Ordinary people struggled to lift their own weight, yet with an apparatus like this, it could break free from the bonds of the earth?
"Nothing is impossible," Ou Zhiyuan looked out at the aircraft, reflecting, "Remember that lift formula you so casually dismissed? Lift equals the lift coefficient, times one half, times the square of the speed, times the air density, times the wing area. Since it's human-powered, the speed can't be very fast, so to increase lift, one must optimize the wing's lift coefficient and increase the wing area. This aircraft's wings were specially designed, with a lift coefficient of up to three-halves (or 1.5), and the lift-to-drag ratio exceeding forty. And because the material is so light, weighing about fifty jin total—and with Risheng, it's only about one hundred and fifty jin. This means the wings bear very little load per unit area, allowing for slow flight at a speed of thirty li per hour without stalling. A person's strength, when accounted for in the propeller's power, rotational speed, thrust, and velocity formulas, can surely meet the minimum speed required to maintain flight."
As Ou Zhiyuan spoke, Li Ang piloted the aircraft in two circles in the sky, sketching out a figure "8" before gently landing.
"Natural Science is the study of the principles of everything in heaven and earth." He opened the cockpit door, saying, "Air, water, plants, land. Everything operates according to its own laws. Granted, this aircraft is nowhere near as fast as sprinting, nor can it carry as much as a horse-drawn carriage, and its defensive and maneuvering capabilities are far behind that of a Flying Sword. But its existence proves one thing—human ingenuity is our most valuable treasure. What was once thought to be a privilege of the birds and a handful of Cultivators—soaring through the skies—is now attainable by any common person. This is the charm of Natural Science."
Li Ang smiled, his gaze sweeping past the displeased faces of the Taihao Mountain disciples, including Bian Chenpei, and said, "To further prove that I used no Mind Study or talismanic study techniques just now, I wonder if there are any volunteers who wish to try piloting this aircraft?"