INGRID DOWS - AN ALTERNATE STORY PART 3 - THE SPACE AGE by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 9 – THE PEGASUS IS BORN

08 :48 (California Time)

Wednesday, May 23, 1951 ‘C’

Design office, Hughes Aircraft prototype center

Glendale Grand Central Airport, Los Angeles

California, U.S.A.

Ingrid, who was in deep thoughts while standing in front of the tripod easel set in a corner of her office and looking at a few rough sketches she had just made, looked towards her door when someone knocked on it.

‘’Come in!’’

Her assistant chief aircraft designer, John Milton, opened the door and stuck his head in, a smile on his lips.

‘’The team is ready to show you the detailed design we came up with for the PEGASUS, Ingrid.’’

That announcement acted like a shot of adrenaline on Ingrid, who turned away from the easel and started walking towards the door. Milton, who could now see what she had drawn on the large paper pad resting on the easel, gave it a mystified look.

‘’Uh, may I ask what you were fiddling about, Ingrid?’’

‘’I was having a few thoughts about a future spaceplane we will produce in the years to come, John.’’

‘’A spaceplane? You really still think about going into Space? Shouldn’t the government be the one to develop such a complex, costly project?’’

‘’If you let the government and the Air Force in charge of such a project, then the likelihood will be that you will end up with a bloated, over budget and late result, John. In fact, I already have ideas about how to produce such a spaceplane at a relatively low cost: we just need to select and marry together a few technologies which already exist. The only domain where we would start nearly from scratch would be for the design of a proper spacesuit.’’

‘’A spacesuit?’’

‘’Yes! A spacesuit modeled for me. You know me: I would not ask someone else to risk something I wouldn’t do myself.’’

‘’Uh, right!’’

John Milton then went to one of the easels standing in the main design office, on which a number of white cardboard sheets covered with technical drawings stood, joining the seven other members of Ingrid’s design team.

‘’Here is the design we finalized while following your directing lines and requirements. First off, we decided on a diamond box wing design for the PEGASUS: our aerodynamic tunnel tests showed us that it would be the most efficient shape for an aircraft meant to cruise at around Mach 1.8. Second, we went for a long fuselage with two decks: an upper deck for the passenger cabins and a lower deck for the cargo and baggage holds, plus a lower cabin for business-class passengers. Its airfoil will be optimized for a cruising speed of Mach 1.9, while two CF80E high-bypass turbofans will propel it, along with about 240 passengers. Your diamond box wing concept will give it a low wing loading for such a large airliner, while the two CF80E turbofans, equipped with a moderate reheat capability and with thrust reversers, will allow our PEGASUS to use relatively short runways.’’

‘’That’s great! The shorter the runways it will be able to use, the more customers will be open to buying it. What about its supercruise qualiti es?’’

‘’They will be optimal, Ingrid. Your

choice of a cruising speed of Mach 1.9, or

1,250 miles per hour at high altitude, has

proved to be an ideal one. Our

aerodynamic tunnel testing showed us that

the transonic drag bump, from a maximum value at just past Mach 1.0, then

abruptly falls to a nearly flat line just after

Mach 1.8., returning to a value close to the

one found at Mach 0.8. The thinness of our lifting body wing, allied with a low aspect ratio and a leading-edge sweepback of 35 degrees, resulted in the lowest drag coefficient of all the airfoil models we tested for supersonic cruise speeds at or past Mach 1.8. However, even if our PEGASUS would theoretically be able to fly much faster than Mach 2, we stayed with a maximum supercruise capability of Mach 1.9, thus will avoid the problem of aerodynamic friction heating we would encounter at or past Mach 2. We will thus be able to use aluminum alloys for its construction, except for the wing leading edges, nose and engine housings, which will be made of either titanium alloys, carbon composites or stainless-steel honeycomb. That will greatly simplify its construction, on top of keeping production costs low. ’’

‘’What about its engines?’’ asked Ingrid, prompting Ryan Coolidge, her expert in aircraft engines, to answer her.

‘’We will use two of the new General Electric CF80E high-bypass turbofans with an added moderate reheat capability, each with a dry thrust of 72,000 pound-force, an augmented thrust of 85,000 pound-force and a bypass ratio of 5.3. The engineers at G.E. were finally able to fully reverse-engineer the design of the G.E. CF6-80E1, as known in Nancy Laplante’s timeline, basing themselves of the documentation Laplante brought with her from the year 2012. That variant of the CF6 engine has a bit larger fan diameter and an increased thrust compared to the original CF6 model we presently use for our AIRBUS 2, plus has a mind-bogglingly low specific fuel consumption of 0.35 pounds of fuel per pound of dry thrust per hour, something that will allow our PEGASUS to have enough range to be able to cross the whole Pacific in one straight leg. The PEGASUS will be able to fly in supercruise at Mach 1.8 while using only 32 percent of its maximum dry power, or at Mach 1.9 while at 35 percent power. Allied with its passenger capacity of close to 240, our PEGASUS will be an economical aircraft to operate and will be a definite money-maker for the airline companies which will buy and operate it.’’

‘’Excellent! Air Fifinella will certainly be the first to operate it on transoceanic routes, where supersonic aircraft won’t disturb populated areas with their sonic booms. You did a bang-up job on this project, ladies and gentlemen. It is now time to turn this dream design into a reality. You can thus start the detailed production blueprints for our PEGASUS. I will now return to my office to continue with my wild tinkering about future projects.’’

Returning in her office and closing the door, Ingrid returned in front of the easel supporting the paper pad covered with rough sketches. However, something bothered her and she thought about how she had been able to successfully use and develop ideas and concepts which had originated from Nancy Laplante’s timeline in 2012. Most of those ideas and concepts described in Nancy’s data and documents had been at basic level and she had to then work hard to turn those basic concepts into technical realities. Still, while she could not be called a cheat or a copycat and had developed by herself many totally new concepts, she did feel a bit of guilt about using that knowledge from other people in Nancy’s timeline. One particular inventor in Nancy’s time came to Ingrid’s mind. That man, a genius when it concerned aerodynamics, had invented and researched many concepts which had revolutionized aircraft designs in the late 1950s and 1960s, including the now famous ‘Area Rule’, which her own F-9 ARROW fighter and B-12 SKYBOLT bomber used. That inventor, or rather his timeline twin, did exist in this timeline and was presently working for the NACA 8 near Washington. Ingrid then took a decision and walked out of her office, going to John Milton.

‘’John, I am going to travel to Washington for a day or two. You will thus be in charge here until I return. Just try not to conduct a coup during my absence.’’ Milton chuckled at Ingrid’s joke but didn’t ask her what she was going to do in Washington: she frequently went there, either to go counsel President Dewey at the White House, or to confer with leading generals and civilian leaders at the Pentagon.

‘’Have a good trip to Washington, Ingrid. I will hold the fort here in the meantime.’’

‘’Thanks, John!’’ replied Ingrid before returning into her office in order to stuff a few papers in a briefcase and making a couple of phone calls. She then left the prototype workshop building and jumped in her car to go pack a suitcase for her trip and to go ensure that Hien was properly cared for during her absence.

17:50 (Washington Time)

Transonic wind tunnel at the Langley Research Center

Hampton, Virginia

Richard Travis Whitcomb was working late, as usual, readjusting the angle

of attack on an aircraft miniature model in

the transonic wind tunnel of the NACA’s

Langley Research Center, when a technician monitoring the controls of the

8 NACA: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Replaced by the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1958. wind tunnel called him via the overhead speaker in the test chamber.

‘’Doctor Whitcomb, you have a visitor who would like to speak with you.’’

‘’Can he wait a bit? I’m busy here.’’

A female voice then replaced that of the technician, replying to him.

‘’I will wait, Doctor Whitcomb.’’

Surprised to hear a woman wanting to see him here, Whitcomb looked at the thick Plexiglas window of the test chamber and saw a very young woman, nearly a teenager, standing next to the NACA technician. It didn’t take him long to recognize that woman, who was already World-famous in the aviation industry.

‘’Miss Dows, of Hughes Aircraft?’’

‘’That’s me! Could I talk with you in private once you are finished adjusting your model?’’

‘’Of course, miss! Just give me a couple of minutes here.’’

After finishing his adjustment, Whitcomb exited the test chamber and went to shake hands with Ingrid, as the technician left the room to give them some privacy.

‘’Miss Dows, you have a very enviable reputation as an aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer, on top of being a top combat pilot. Meeting you is a true honor indeed.’’

‘’You are too kind, Doctor Whitcomb. You have yourself quite a reputation as an expert in aerodynamics.’’

‘’Thank you, miss. So, what made you come here to meet me?’’

‘’Two things, actually. First off, do you know that there actually are at least two parallel histories in existence: this one and the one from which Nancy Laplante, the Canadian time traveler, came from, when she involuntarily came from the year 2012 to the year 1940? Our timeline actually split from the historical timeline due to her actions on arrival in 1940.’’

‘’Uh, no, I didn’t know that, Miss Dows.’’ replied Whitcomb, somewhat disturbed by that revelation. ‘’I never heard of that before. Is that an actual fact?’’

‘’It is, Doctor Whitcomb.’’ said Ingrid, appearing most serious. ‘’Know that Nancy Laplante was my adoptive mother and showed me her data and documents concerning her year of origin. Part of that data concerned the various advances made in aeronautical science and aviation accomplishments in her timeline. Well, it happened that one Richard T. Whitcomb existed in her timeline and was an expert in aerodynamics...like you. In fact, that Richard T. Whitcomb was you, like one German girl named Ingrid Weiss existed during World War 2 and was me, or rather a timeline twin of me, the way you are a timeline twin of the Richard Whitcomb known in Nancy’s history.’’

Whitcomb paled on hearing that, seriously shaken by that incredible notion.

‘’Me, a copy of another Richard Whitcomb? This is quite a hard notion to swallow, miss.’’

‘’It is but it is also the truth. In fact, everyone in this timeline we live in is a timeline twin of a person who lived in Nancy’s timeline. The only difference, but a crucial one, is that we now live a different reality due to different actions and decisions having been taken during those eleven years since the two timelines split. In my case, I got to survive and thrive, while my timeline twin probably died in World War 2, a victim of Allied bombing raids on Germany. As for you, you seem to have followed a rather similar path than that of your twin, as your recorded presence as an aeronautical engineer working for the NACA in Langley would suggest. By the way, the existence of two parallel timelines has been kept a secret by the government, mostly to avoid mass hysteria and panic.’’

‘’And you came to see me just to tell me about that, miss?’’

‘’No! I came to see you as a consequence of that fact. Know that part of the information and knowledge I gained from Nancy concerned a couple of aerodynamics concepts invented by your timeline twin, concepts which I used, along with many more concepts and data from 2012, to help design some of my planes presently built by Hughes Aircraft. One of those concepts Richard Whitcomb formulated in Nancy’s history was known as the ‘Area Rule’, which helped to make a number of aircraft break through the sound barrier. Another concept your twin found was concerning a type of wing shape called a ‘supercritical wing profile’. I brought with me copies of the documents concerning those two concepts, which were extracted from the data brought by Nancy in 1940. Here they are: they are now yours.’’

Richard Whitcomb was a bit hesitant while taking the file handed to him by Ingrid. When he opened that file, he saw two separate documents, each clipped to one side of the file folder. They appeared to be copies of scientific research papers, one on Area Rule and one about Supercritical Wings. His voice sounded hollow when he read the name of the author of both papers.

‘’Richard T. Whitcomb, Doctor of Aeronautical Engineering.’’

He then saw the picture posted under the title of the first document: it was him alright, but clearly an older ‘him’. Whitcomb then gave a haggard look to Ingrid.

‘’This...this is positively incredible but I now believe you, Miss Dows. So, why did you come to see me, apart from showing me this?’’

‘’Well, I am a fundamentally honest person and I felt a bit bad about using those concepts while being unable to compensate properly their author for using them. So, I came to do the next best thing: compensate you for the ideas you would have eventually come up with in a few years.’’

Ingrid then extracted an envelope from an internal pocket of her business suit’s jacket and handed it to Whitcomb, who eyed it for a moment before taking it and opening it. What he found in it was a certified cheque in his name, signed by Ingrid Dows. He threw a disbelieving look at Ingrid when he saw the amount the cheque was made for.

‘’A 780,000-dollar cheque? I can’t believe this!’’

‘’Believe it, Doctor Whitcomb: that amount represents the parts of the patent fees I earned from producing my planes and which were associated with the use of the two concepts invented by your timeline twin. And don’t worry about my bank account: I still have a couple of billion dollars in it. By the way, there were other articles about your timeline twin which I read but didn’t bring with me. You were described in them as a bit of a workaholic, a conservative, shy but also headstrong man who never married and lived simply. They also said that you are a heavy smoker: something that you will have to work on to get rid of that habit if you want to work with me: I positively hate tobacco smoke.’’

‘’You want to hire me? Why? You already know about my work in that other timeline.’’

‘’Why? Because you have a brilliant mind and instinctively understands the aerodynamic behavior of fluids. I need your sort of brilliance in order to start studying a domain of aeronautics which is presently very poorly understood: hypersonic flight. I myself have started to study that domain but, having many things on my plate right now, am not able to give it the attention it deserves.’’

‘’Hypersonic flight...’’ said Whitcomb in a dreamy voice, ‘’Now, that could be a fascinating domain to study. Are you planning to one day design a hypersonic plane, miss?’’

‘’I am, in a few years, once I have more solid data and knowledge to rely on. I am offering you an annual salary of forty thousand dollars to work for me on hypersonic aerodynamics at Hughes Aircraft. So, what do you say, Doctor Whitcomb?’’

‘’What else could I say but ‘yes’ to such a proposal, miss? Could you leave me a few more days here to finalize my work and take care of my personal arrangements in Hampton before I move to Los Angeles?’’

‘’Of course! I will expect you in Los Angeles by no later than Friday, June First. Here is a prepaid air ticket for an Air Fifinella flight from Washington to Los Angeles, along with my card, which lists the address and telephone number of the headquarters of the Hughes Corporation, in Beverley Hills. I also wrote my home address and telephone number on the back of the card.’’ Ingrid then firmly shook hands with Whitcomb while smiling to him.

‘’Thank you for accepting my offer, Doctor Whitcomb. I am impatient to see what you will find about hypersonic flight.’’

‘’And thank you for coming to see me...and for that cheque, miss: you indeed proved your honesty with it.’’

‘’Just don’t blow it all in some binge gambling session in Las Vegas, Doctor.’’

‘’Hell no! I don’t believe in gambling anyway and I drink only very moderately.’’

‘’I am glad to hear that, Doctor. See you in Los Angeles.’’ Ingrid then walked out of the room, leaving Richard Whitcomb alone to look down at his cheque and at her business card.

‘’Wow! What a day this is turning out to be.’’