The ability to fly above the ground and soar through the Heavens has been the dream of mankind since he first looked up to the sky. This capability has also been coveted in the New World as well as the inhabitants immediately saw the advantages in transportation and warfare, flight can give. Since the New World also deals with magic, it is no surprise that magic is involved for each Civilizations in getting off the ground. Since the demise of the Ravernal Empire, thousands of years ago, it was also the dream of achieving supersonic flight.
Aerodynamic Basics[]
The principle of flight relies on the idea of aerodynamics, or the study of how air interacts with a body in motion. Basically, it is very similar to how a fluid such as water interacts with an object, such as a fish swimming through it. However, when the medium is air, which is much less dense, certain factors come into play to achieve flight.
- Lift-the force that acts against gravity. For lift to be generated in air, the air pressure above the surface of the wing must be LESS than the pressure below it. Hence the reason why a wing has a curved surface above it, to cause the air to travel longer than the surface below it. The greater the surface area a wing has, the more lift it is able to generate.
- Drag- the force of air resistance against the forward motion of the object. A straight wing will have more drag than a swept wing. A biplane with two sets of wings will have more lift but also more drag than a monoplane.
- Thrust- this is the force that is opposite to the initial reactionary force, thereby following Newton's Third Law, (for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction). It is this reaction that causes forward motion of the object, thereby causing air to flow over the wings, thereby causing lift to be generated.
- Weight-the is the force of gravity on an object which is countering the force of Lift. Simply put, lift must be GREATER than weight, and in order to do so, the speed in which the air flows over the wings increases. Thrust-to-weight ratio reflects the amount of forward momentum an engine can generate in comparison to its weight. Aircraft and rockets use thrust to overcome drag and move through the air. The higher the thrust-to-weight ratio, the quicker the craft will be able to accelerate, and the faster it can go.
By balancing these four factors, flight is achieved. Birds and other flying creatures do this naturally, due to the fact that their bodies are relatively light in comparison to their ability to create thrust and wing surface area. To do this mechanically, one would have to take all four of these factors into consideration and find a balance between them. A plane with straight wings will create more drag but is able to generate more lift. A jet will have more thrust than a propeller-driven aircraft, but cannot handle slower turns. Swept wings have far less drag than straight wings at higher speeds, but they don't generate as much lift. The cropped delta-shaped wing is possibly the best balance between lift and drag, while the turbofan engine is so far the best option between weight and thrust.
Flight Technology in the New World[]
Third Civilization and Outside Civilization[]
In terms of flight technology, the method is simple: tame a magical beast that can already fly and ride on its back. In other words, the beast itself is the technology. For the most part, Wyverns are the mounts of choice, along with lesser flying magical creatures such as flame birds. Add in the tough scales, claws and the ability to breathe fire, and the people of the Third Civilization Area, as well as the nations outside the Civilized Zones, realized they had an airborne cavalry and a substantial advantage over all medieval ground troops.
However, as with all cavalry, both ground and airborne, there are certain drawbacks. Since the vehicle is a living being, it must be fed and cared for. And with wyverns, one must take care of all the excrement. Riding on the back exposes the rider to both the elements and enemy fire, a very large weak point. Riders cannot fly faster than they can withstand the pressure, nor higher than they can breathe. Even with the creation of the Wyvern Lord and Wyvern Overlord, the problem with the exposed rider remained. Special saddles had to be created for the riders in order to withstand the strain.
Like the horse, which was superseded by the jeep and tank, with the advent of mechanized cavalry, the wyvern was completely outmatched when facing off against its mechanical counterpart, the airplane. After being compared against the flying machine of the Second Civilization country Mu, regular Wyverns and their mutated variant, the Wyvern Lords, proved to be inferior to propeller-driven biplanes. Therefore, the Wyverns were subjected to further mutation to become Wyvern Overlords. This process did give the winged beasts better aerial abilities at the cost of their lifespans and reproductive capabilities. However, in the end, this was a futile and wasted expense, as they were blown out of the sky by Japan's fighters. Currently, with the collapse of the Parpaldia Empire, there is no effort to resurrect these monstrosities, and most Third Civilization nations simply stick to regular Wyverns or look toward Japan's aircraft technology.
Furthermore, the principles of aerodynamics and flight itself are completely unknown to people of this region. If one does not possess wings, or does not have the magic to defy gravity, then one cannot achieve flight. As a result, there have been no attempts at experimenting with gliders or parachutes.
But there is an exception to this in the case of the Annonrial Empire. They are considered a country outside the Civilized Zones, so no ones paying attention to them. Added to this is their isolationist policy that prevents anyone from going from entering or leaving the country, so no one knows what the mainland looks like. Most of the nations (except for Japan) considered them as barbarians, but based on the satellite images taken by Japan from the Annonrial mainland Branchel Continent, they have have a magic-based civilization that can rival the Holy Mirishial Empire in terms of national power. And based on the latest updates, they are the only nation in the New World (except Japan) that successfully developed and used rotary-winged aircrafts or helicopters in the mainland, showing that the Annonrials have a much advanced magic-based technology development, far more advanced that the self-proclaimed authority in magical technology, the Holy Mirishial Empire.
Second Civilization[]
When the country of Mu was transferred to the New World, they had little to no magic to speak of, and had to rely on their understanding of basic scientific principles to compensate. Eventually they would find ways to adapt magic with their science to develop flight technology that was similar to the early 20th century. The engineers do understand the basic principles of aerodynamics, including lift, drag, thrust and weight. With the invention of the internal combustion engine, they would be able to re-create the successes of the Wright Brothers, Glen Curtiss, and other early aviation pioneers. The culmination of their efforts was their famed biplane fighter, the Marin.
The Marin had proven to be faster and more capable than the Wyverns and Wyvern Lords. The double wings gave it substantial lift and maneuverability. However, they also caused severe drag and limited the speed of the craft. In any case, they proved to be no match for the planes of the Gra Valkas Empire, the Holy Milishial Empire, and Japan. At present, Mu is now moving away from the usage of magic and propeller-driven biplanes. Currently they are trying to improve on their aircraft engines with automobile turbochargers, as well as build their first, successful jet aircraft, the X Shinden Kai. However, the X Shinden Kai is only Mu using technology from Japan and not creating their own. Mu engineers see Japan as their template for future aircraft for both military and civilian usage.
Gra Valkas Empire[]
For the Gra Valkas, the propeller-driven plane was taken to its apex with the Antares. This was a low wing, monoplane with a powerful, reliable engine that used no magic. It had increased maneuverability, speed, range and altitude. For the Empire, there was no need to improve on it and the research for jet-propulsion was too costly. Even the famed magical jets of the Holy Milishial Empire were no match for it.
The Gra Valkas had also recently developed the turbocharger, allowing for aircraft engines to operate at higher altitudes, by forcing more air into the combustion chamber. This causes the propeller to spin faster and harder, thereby compensating for the thinner air and lower atmospheric pressures at greater altitudes. This lets their long-range, ultra-heavy bomber, the Guti Maun to reach altitudes that normal propeller-driven fighters cannot achieve.
However, like Mu, the Gra Valkans cannot go any further with the propeller-driven aircraft.
First Civilization[]
The Holy Milishial Empire's aviation technology represents both forward and backward thinking. Though their best aircraft, like the Alpha-3 Fighter, utilizes jet propulsion, the Milishial engineers do not quite understand the principles of how they operate or basic aerodynamics in general. Since their technology is based on reverse-engineering relics from the Ravernal Empire, the products they create are poor copies of the originals. Japanese engineers have determined that Milishial elementary aerodynamics are self-taught and that their wing cross-sections are old-fashioned. Even their Light Discharge, Air-Compression Engine is lacking as the Milishial engineers do not understand that adding a turbine would greatly improve the engine's performance. The engineers have only begun to theorize the feasibility of swept wings during supersonic flight, but such ideas would be pointless if the aircraft cannot break the sound barrier in the first place. Like Mu, the Milishial engineers are looking towards Japan and its jet aircraft, especially in terms of faster-than-sound principles. Since the Milishial technology is simply imitating the Ravernal technology, there is little to no innovation or independent invention. Virtually everything the Holy Milishial Empire has is not their own, but previously made by the Ravernal Empire. Flight technology is considered the most important field of study and the Milishial ambassadors couldn't believe that they were behind Japan.
The only aspect that Holy Milishial Empire has in terms of advanced flight technology is the possession of the flying battleships, the Pal Chimera, which rely on anti-gravity fields to stay aloft. However, like all their other technologies, the Milishial engineers have little to no idea of how they work. Furthermore, the magical technology is so complex that they cannot even reverse-engineer crude copies of the Pal Chimera. As a result, the four, (formally five), Pal Chimeras that the Empire does have are extremely precious and are used sparingly.
There are also countries in the First Civilization that didn't use magic jet aircraft to reach the sky. Emor Kingdom uses the Wind Dragons to achieve flight, while in the Agartha Kingdom, they use magic broomsticks to achieve flight. However, in both cases, and especially in Agatha's case, this mode of flight is no better than the Third Civilization riding Wyverns.
Japan[]
Hailing from the early 21st century Earth, Japan has the advantage of flight and space technology, accumulated from over 110 years of knowledge and experimentation. Their supersonic jet fighters are the envy of other nations. Their commercial aircraft are seen as the most advanced. And any aviation technology, no matter how outdated, is coveted by anyone outside of Japan.
Unlike the rest of the New World, Japan had learned on Earth that in order to go faster, one would have to fly higher. As a result, propellers could not operate efficiently in the thinner air, but jet engines could. Additionally, Japan's aviation technology had the advantage of learning which wing designs worked best at higher speeds, how computers can improve flight by taking much of the control away from the pilot and how aviation technology can be applied in other venues. For example, the turbine can be used to generate greater amounts of mechanical energy than a piston-driven engine. As a result, the turboshaft design became the standard powerplant for helicopters. Although it was thought to be inferior to biplanes and even the wyverns in overall speed, the other nations do not yet realize the advantages of the helicopter. Its ability to take off and land anywhere eliminates the need for a runway. It is able to hover and loiter over areas that require ground support and is extremely useful in terms of transport, reconnaissance and supply. Its ability to move backwards and side to side give it exceptional maneuverability in tight areas. Finally, it has proven to be extremely effective as a troop transport and air cavalry as Third Civilization and Gra Valkas ground forces are helpless against it.