Koss Laina wearily rose from his position, rubbing his aching brow and accepted a cup of hot tea from his assistant.
He took a sip, but his gaze didn't move from the slanted drawing board in front of him, because there was an airplane on it that seemed perfect to him.
This airplane was a single-seat monoplane fighter, from design concept to engine performance, it was already at the pinnacle.
The retractable landing gear perfected the aerodynamic layout of the whole airplane, and at the same time, it significantly enhanced the fighter's flight performance.
If a military enthusiast who had traveled through time were standing next to these blueprints, they would immediately recognize the airplane as the famed FW-190 fighter.
Among the various fighters in the early stages of World War II, the best performing were those of Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
The early American and Soviet fighters were absolute rubbish, without any redeeming qualities.
Before 1940, the United States mainly equipped its forces with P-40s of that level, which when it came to practicality, were so lackluster they could bring tears to your eyes. Along with the P-40, there was also the Hurricane from the UK…
As for Soviet fighters, they are even more heartfelt – their fighters around the year 1940 still had open cockpits, and in terms of flight performance, they were only slightly better than biplanes.
Therefore, after much thought, only Japan's Zero, Germany's ME109 and FW190, and the UK's Spitfire fighter could be considered excellent fighters around 1940.
Japan's Zero Fighter indeed had formidable performance, with a long range and strong dogfighting abilities, and in the absence of adversaries, its lack of air defense was hardly a drawback. Nonetheless, Tang Mo was the first to dismiss this option.
Not for any particular reason, but because Tang Mo found the country unbearable; he inherently disliked that wretched place. One glance and he felt an urge to vomit, the mere thought was enough to infuriate him and make him want to act.
One of his biggest wishes before he crossed dimensions was to smuggle a "mushroom egg" onto the island, raze a few mountains to alter the local feng shui, and significantly increase the average daily temperature there.
Unfortunately, due to the circumstances, he never managed to do it before he crossed over, which remained a small regret of his.
Now, when it came to selecting weapons and equipment, Tang Mo immediately discarded the technology tree from Japan, in a kind of malicious retaliation.
The UK's fighter planes were impeccable in performance, with beautiful designs and powerful engines, backed by Rolls-Royce's technical support – truly excellent.
However, due to some "irresistible" factors, Tang Mo ultimately chose Germany's fighters.
On one hand, this was because the Armored Corps was referenced from Germany's, and on the other, because the early models of German planes did have a negligible advantage in performance.
Next, the choice had to be made between the ME-109 and FW-190. In the end, Tang Mo eliminated the more famous ME-109, which numerous air combat aces had flown.
The reason was simple: the ME-109's troublesome landing gear was not suitable for novices, posing significant safety risks during takeoff and landing.
To avoid unnecessary losses of valuable pilots and to simplify training – adopting a fighter with a wider landing gear distance and better landing capabilities seemed like a reasonable choice.
The FW-190 boasted excellent overall performance. Although its overlong engine somewhat obscured the view, the issue was not fatal.
This type of aircraft also had room for future enhancements that the ME-109 lacked; it could easily increase its firepower and had a slightly longer range – a balanced answer in all aspects.
Moreover, this thing could also carry a heavy bomb, doubling as a dive bomber, or even mount heavy cannons for ground attack, making it very versatile.
On the other hand, the ME-109, with its fragile structure and high internal space utilization, had a difficult path to improvement. Although it could carry bombs, upscaling the firepower for an ME-109 armed with axial cannons and nose guns was quite troublesome – an undeniable fact.
Of course, the biggest issue with these two German fighters was their lagging late-stage improvements and performance. But for Tang Mo, that was not a problem at all.
By then, he could simply produce a Mig-15 or F-86, or even a Mustang P-51, to easily resolve the issue.
Who says a German article can't transform into American dollars? And who dictates that American dollars can't be communist praise? Heaven and earth as my witness, the world's biggest fan of America is a certain Bunny... *cough cough cough* I didn't say anything (spreads hands).
As the top aircraft designer of the Great Tang Group, Koss Laina began his research immediately after receiving these blueprints.
He found that Tang Mo was nothing short of a genius in aircraft design, supported by even more scientists, geniuses in their own right, shining like stars.
These scientists had provided Tang Mo with advanced metallic materials that others couldn't even dare dream of, enabling the design to reach a pinnacle previously unimaginable.
Just a few years ago, no one would have dared to conceive that technology could produce such thin metal skins, create such precise assembly and riveting techniques.
Nobody could have imagined that a group of madmen could push engine technology to such a mind-boggling level, allowing an engine to unleash such tremendous, powerful thrust.