On June 18, 1916, the 3rd Global Aviation Expo was held as scheduled in Limerick, New Capital, Ireland.

At the opening ceremony, the Irish Air Force 1 Fighter Wing amazed the audience with its wonderful performances. Max Inmermann's fancy flight was like acrobatics. Many beautiful flight movements were shown in public for the first time. The two-machine tactics and the air maneuver of the four-machine formation also opened a brand new window to the world. Immediately afterwards, the German Army and Navy Air Force conducted flights respectively. When more than a dozen twin-engine bombers passed by at a low altitude, people suddenly realized that the simple and clumsy heavy air vehicles had a magnificent improvement in quality after experiencing the baptism of the war. The groups of aircraft had already had a deterrent effect that was comparable to Zeppelin airships, and they had various characteristics that airships did not have in terms of speed and adaptability.

The historical trend of the development of aviation technology is clearly revealed. Unlike ordinary audiences who are purely watching the fun, those who are interested are interested in the outlines of this trend, but not everyone has a pair of insights that can penetrate time and space. Most people are either unaware of it or go astray. Only successful people can engrave their names on the scroll of history and be admired by later generations...

At this time, 20 hours have passed since the "Hellingen" air crash, and the number of casualties has been determined. Although the cause of the accident is still under investigation, the Irish government, together with the German government and Deutsche Airlines, announced the compensation plan for the air crash with amazing efficiency. Each family of the victim will receive 600,000 marks, equivalent to 150,000 US dollars in pension. After the cause of the air crash is determined, they will also receive a considerable amount of accident compensation.

Before this, whether it was an air crash, a ship crash or a ground traffic accident, the official and operating companies had never given such high standards of pensions and compensation. The outside world was surprised and couldn't help but be extremely curious about the impact of this air crash. Does this precedent mean that when similar traffic accidents occur in the future, the responsible party will bear such high compensation? Will the insurance system proposed by the Irish government be able to operate successfully and become a standard model in the future transportation field?

These questions can only be left to time to answer them.

In addition to high compensation, aircraft safety issues have naturally become the topic of concern to people. The civil aviation industry, which uses airships and aircraft as vehicles, has been in the beginning less than ten years since it started. If it weren't for the strong stimulation of the war, it would probably be far less than that of today. Early aircraft had the common characteristics of simple structure and low reliability. It was common for failures during flights. Crash accidents occurred frequently. Zeppelin, which is regarded as a giant airship, feared the most, was not ordinary mechanical failures, but bad weather. Whether before the war or during the war, there had been several precedents of airship crashing due to weather reasons, but it was the first time that so many casualties were caused. As soon as the Global Aviation Expo attracted the attention of the world, the impact was self-evident.

At this aviation expo, countries arranged more than 300 aircraft to participate in the exhibition, more than the previous two sessions were added. After the opening ceremony, people from all over the country who gathered in Limerick could visit freely in the three major airports in Limerick. Many participating countries arranged flight experience sessions. This was originally one of the most attractive parts of the aviation expo. Due to the "Hellingen" air crash, there were very few guests who dared to board the plane. If this continues, the prospects for the expo are worrying.

At noon that day, a surprisingly important news spread rapidly in the restaurants and cafes that hosted guests: His Majesty Joachim, the King of Ireland, will personally fly the latest A-16 sport aircraft developed by Ireland Airlines for display flight the next morning in Airport One.

According to the exhibition data, this single-engine, biplane, two-seater light aircraft has excellent take-off and landing and maneuverability. The Irish Air Force is preparing to purchase its military models in batches for combat reconnaissance and liaison.

Many people expressed disbelief about this news, while more people wait and see with a curious attitude. In the next half day, the news continued to ferment, making people feel that the credibility of things is getting higher and higher, and people's discussion on this topic became more and more in-depth. At the same time, the organizer launched a test flight safety insurance with an insured amount of up to one million marks. Anyone only needs to spend ten marks to buy such an insurance. If they have an accident while flying on the plane, the injured will receive an insurance compensation of 400,000 marks, and the family will receive a insurance compensation of 1 million marks by their families. This insurance is officially guaranteed by the Irish government.

With this million-mark test flight safety insurance, the number of people boarding the plane for flight experience has increased by more than ten times in the morning. Limerick's three major air ports were immersed in the roar of aircraft takeoff and landing and flight throughout the afternoon. This is the noise and vitality that the Aviation Expo should have.

When night fell, the Limerick Air Expo, which attracted the attention of the whole world, spent the first day calmly. Although the entire expo will last for three weeks, anyone with a little knowledge knows that with the "Hillingen" air crash, the situation on this first day is directly related to the success or failure of the expo.

Judging from the ticket sales data, the number of people entering the Aviation Expo that day should be more than 60,000, far exceeding the number of visitors on the first day of the previous two Global Aviation Expo, which is equivalent to two-thirds of the number of visitors on the first day of the First World Expo held in the UK. Considering the industry nature of the Aviation Expo, it has been quite successful to reach this level.

Later, various statistical data and preliminary analysis were sent to Xia Shu's desk, some of which were not as expected, some were better than expected, and generally they were relatively optimistic, which made Xia Shu, who had been pretending to be calm but was unwilling to be nervous. He noticed that the insurance amount for the test flight safety insurance was 10 marks on the day, and during hundreds of flights throughout the day, no accident occurred on any plane. The profit brought by the insurance was insignificant. Its greatest significance is to eliminate the fear of the visitors due to the "Hellingen" air crash, and greatly reduce the negative impact of the air crash accident on this aviation expo.

It was late at night, and Prime Minister Haldes drove to the palace after the social event, reporting to Xia Shu that he had received information from several banquet venues, many of the princes, nobles and wealthy people who came to watch the exhibition were still scared of the "Hiringen" air crash. They said that they did not consider taking a flight or plane when they returned, but instead left on a safe boat. Among these people, few of them bought test flight safety insurance and flew on the plane that day, but they saw that many visitors who experienced the flight could land safely. Many people thought they could try it in the next few days.

"The higher the status, the more wealth, the more afraid of accidents, it is normal for humans to say." Xia Shu said lightly.

Halders said respectfully: "Most people do, but there are certainly exceptions, like your Majesty."

Xia Shu knew that he meant his flight tomorrow. When he first proposed this idea, the cabinet ministers and his staff had raised their concerns and concerns, but their king was not an ordinary person after all. The outside world's description of him was a bit amazing. However, the facts of the winner of the 7th British Cup of Dec, the earliest group of German flight licenses and mechanical engineering experts will not be false. Although he had encountered a flight accident in the past and was seriously injured, the exhibition's As-16 prototype has undergone hundreds of flight tests and has very reliable performance. In the afternoon, Xia Shu had already sat in the cockpit to understand the operation details and also conducted a short flight accompanied by the test pilot. However, in order to achieve the ideal effect of the next day's flight, it was not disclosed to the outside world.

"For the sake of national interests, it's okay for me to take any risks." Xia Shu said lightly and unveiled his righteousness.

As a king, he enjoys the supreme power given to him by the state and should devote himself to national affairs. Haldes always understood this way, so he was not moved by Xia Shu's dedication, but turned to this wise master who gave him the opportunity to display his talents with sincere admiration.

"Whether the air crash of the 'Hellingen' was caused by accidental factors or intentional damage, it has become a certain fact. Originally, I was thinking that after the promotion of this aviation expo, the aviation industries in Ireland and Germany will enter a new period of development. We focus on the development and production of aircraft, and Germany's energy is distributed evenly on the aircraft and airships, so that we can form a strategic pattern of complementary and mutual benefit. Now it seems that this will be an important turning point for aircraft to gradually replace airships. Germany will sooner or later realize and recognize this trend and concentrate on developing aircraft manufacturing. At that time, we have both cooperative relations and certain competition. The handling of various matters requires more caution and cleverness."

"You are right." Halders said, "At present, Ireland's aviation industry is based on the research and development and manufacturing of aircraft, and has almost no involvement in the airship field. As long as public opinion is properly guided, the 'Hellingen' air crash will bring us considerable benefits and give us the lead in the future international aviation market."

Xia Shu said again: "Anotherwise, I have read some comments on the air crash in newspapers in various countries today. Most people tend to think that this is an accident. Only some Americans are trying to make a fuss about the technical defects of the airship. There is nothing wrong with this in itself. What surprised me is that the British public opinion is surprisingly calm, neither showing deep sympathy nor taking the opportunity to attack. Their attention seems to be on the Protestant autonomy in northern Ireland. With the political wisdom of the British power class, they have no reason to miss such an opportunity."

Halders speculated: "Your Majesty therefore suspected that the British had tampered with the 'Hellingen' and did not dare to speak out because of guilt?"

Xia Shu shook her head: "This is a possibility, and another possibility is that they are preparing to take action, see our response strategies clearly, find flaws, provoke public opinion attacks, and put our aviation industry in a heavy blow, thereby weakening Ireland's economic, political and military strength."

The German Prime Minister thought about it and responded with some concern: "During the war, the British government showed amazing skills in public opinion and psychological warfare. He insisted on stabilizing the domestic situation under extremely unfavorable circumstances. Even at the end of the war, the British team and the people did not completely lose confidence, so the British representatives had the confidence to bargain with us at the armistice negotiation table."
Chapter completed!