.St. Petersburg, Russia.

In spring, the Palace Square full of vitality is full of green everywhere, and some unknown flowers sway gently in the wind. The statue of the Atlas giant gods at the gate of the East Palace is still majestic, and the tall colonnade allows every passer to deeply feel his humility.

Under the leadership of the court attendant, a young man in ordinary dress walked into the palace famous for his rich and precious collection with a grim expression. After passing through the hall decorated with various gems and the green and white corridor, he was led to the most honorable person in this country.

The young man took off his hat and bowed deeply.

"Dear Her Majesty, your people Igor Ivanovic Sikorsky wish you a long life!"

"No gift! Give a seat!"

The superior does not seem much older than him, but his expression, temperament and tone all show the arrogance and dominance of his emperor.

The young man named Igor sat down on the chair next to him in fear and fear, but his eyes were not sure where to place. The young general sitting opposite him had also encountered this problem.

The queen pointed at the general, "This is General Sokolov, I believe you have seen it before!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! I am fortunate to meet with the respectable general several times!" Igor replied respectfully, even if he had never met, who would dare not know in Russia with the reputation of this young general? However, the heroic face of the general who was under forty years old, his unsatisfied smile and his keen eyes could hardly connect it with a "cold-blooded butcher" who killed thousands of people overnight. On that bloody night, no one who was dissatisfied with the Queen's policy was removed. After this bloody storm, the upper class of Russian society was unprecedentedly united around the noble queen. I am afraid that this will be left to future generations to evaluate.

The young "butcher" general nodded at him, saying hello.

After that, the Queen continued to say in her cold but very charming tone:

"Mr. Igor, I heard that you are only 29 years old this year? You have achieved such amazing achievements at such an age. This is a real hero who is a boy!"

Igor's eyes were very low and he didn't dare to look at the queen.

"Go back to Your Majesty, another month will be your 29th birthday! When it comes to heroes, how dare you boast about Her Majesty the Queen and General Sokolov?"

"Sir, don't be modest! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I could hardly believe that a 6-ton wood machine could fly into the sky. This is simply a miracle of the Creator! I think that only your masterpiece in the world has dropped bombs in Germany!"

The Queen refers to the "Iriyazhen Rometz" heavy bomber made by Igor in 1913. This is an ultra-large biplane with four 220 horsepower engines. The aircraft is 15.5-22 meters long, with a wingspan of 24.9-35.5 meters, a flight weight of 6.1-7.5 tons, a flight speed of 137 kilometers per hour, a maximum ceiling of 400 meters, a maximum range of 540 kilometers, and a crew member of 4-8 people.

The maximum number of machine guns installed on the aircraft is 8, and the test of installing 76mm machine guns on the aircraft has been conducted. Aviation bombs can be hung in the fuselage, and electric bomb droppers are used for the first time. The aircraft has a bomb load of 400 kilograms. It can reach 700-800 kilograms when overloaded. The aircraft is equipped with pilot and pilot instruments and bombing sights. All performance is not inferior to that of German owl bombers, but it is developed one year ahead of the owls.

Although the Russians had four such heavy bombers at the beginning of the war, this could not at all save the Russian army's disadvantage in ground combat. Due to poor finance and industry, the "Iriyazhenrometz" heavy bombers produced 21 by the end of the war, and their only contribution was to throw more than 300 bombs into East Prussia, Germany. In order not to cause panic among the people, the Germans strictly blocked this intelligence and resettled and subsidized the people killed and injured in the bombing. In addition to the German Army's huge victory on the ground, the "Iriyamurometz" was not recognized as due. The German Owl Bomber, which shone in the war, was slightly less than the range, bomb load and firepower.

Igor replied modestly: "Your Majesty has been too much. All I have done is to contribute a small effort to the country!"

At this time, a rare appreciation flashed in the queen's cold eyes. However, this was just a flash of expression. The beautiful eyes then returned to the frozen cold.

"Let's talk about the topic! There's something you call you today. You should have heard of the Schneider Cup Water Racing Race!"

Igor replied while thinking:

"Yes, your majesty! It was a French bidding competition, and it was quite famous in the aviation industry. It was held two times before the war, and then it was interrupted by the war!"

The queen looked at Igor in a flash, "Well, so you should also know the news that the 3rd Schneider Cup will be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands!"

In front of this harsh queen, Igor dared not keep anything.

"Yes. Your Majesty! And it is said that... the bonus is very generous this time!"

"100,000 European Mark!" The Queen said the number coldly.

"Yes, your majesty! The last time the prize was only 1,000 pounds. Only by winning the three-world championship in a row can you get an additional 75,000 francs and 100,000 European marks, which was the past..."

While Igor was still calculating in his mind, the queen gently reported the number he wanted to say: "40 times!"

Igor lowered his head in panic, "Your Majesty is wise! I think this prize is just one aspect that attracts contestants. This bidding competition allows individuals to sign up, rather than having to use the country as the participating team like the previous two sessions, and only 3 contestants and 3 substitutes are allowed in one team. In addition, the contestants can also be land-based aircraft, so I think there will be many people participating in this competition!"

"Are Mr. Igor ready to compete for this generous bonus?" the queen asked softly.

Igor lowered his head and thought for a while, and replied cautiously:

"If you are representing Russia to participate in the competition, you will naturally be disrespectful; if you are participating in the competition in your personal name, you will not be very interested!"

The queen glanced at Sokolov, then turned her eyes back to Igor, her eyes very calm.

“We not only hope that you will participate in your personal name, but will also fund you a lot of money!”

"Your Majesty, this..." Igor was very surprised.

The queen looked at him with great significance. "If your plane can win, if nothing unexpected happens, you will soon receive an invitation from the German government to serve as their technical consultant!"

Igor was silent, his eyes full of confusion.

"As far as we know, the former deputy Air France Airways Chief Jacques Schneider was originally sponsored by former Air France Deputy Jacques Schneider, who was both an aviation enthusiast and a rich man. However, even though his enthusiasm was still there, his property did not allow him to do such a move - the francs and pounds depreciated rapidly after the war, and the banknotes and bonds in the hands of the French turned into a pile of waste paper overnight, and this Mr. Jacques Schneider was no exception! Although the championship was held in the Netherlands, it is not difficult to guess that this was an event that the Germans had intended to collect the best aircraft designers and pilots in the world so that their already huge advantageous aviation industry will continue to lead the countries!"

Igor still didn't understand at first, and lowered his head and thought for a while before asking tentatively: "What does your majesty mean is to let me obtain confidential information from the Germans?"

"Sir, it's true that a smart person!" An elusive smile appeared on the queen's face.

Igor fell into deep thought when he was going where he should go.

Four months later, the third Schneider Cup Seaplane Racing was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

This time, the competition was revised because the rules that must be used as the team and only seaplanes were allowed to participate were revised. The prize money also increased to a heart-warming 100,000 mark. Therefore, there were 17 countries that signed up for the competition, far exceeding the five in the previous session, and the number of individuals registered for the competition reached an astonishing 432 people. Finally, there were 522 aircraft and more than 600 pilots who came to Rotterdam. Many aircraft designers, aircraft manufacturers and people from all walks of life also gathered in this famous harbour.

On August 2, the Schneider Cup officially opened, and Queen William Minna of the Netherlands was present. Officials from the International Air and Air Federation (established in 1905) announced a series of rules for the competition and will supervise the competition throughout the process.

Subsequently, the competition was divided into two major competition areas: seaplanes and land-based aircraft. The seaplane competition continued to follow the rules of the previous two sessions, that is, the racers had to fly the plane to first glide 2.5 nautical miles on the water surface and then take off to complete the 150 nautical miles schedule; land-based aircraft needed to take off and land at the same airport. During this period, the final rule is that the fast-speed aircraft won. Due to the numerous aircraft participating, the first round of the competition is expected to take 4 days. According to the pre-order rules, land-based aircraft and seaplanes with the top 20 flight speeds will be shortlisted for the second round of the competition.

Although the planes have been on the market for many years, the planes on the ground are still diverse. In the second competition in April 1914, all participating teams were mainly monoplane aircraft, but this time the biplane became the protagonist of the competition. More than 70% of the participating planes were biplane designs. 17 national teams, Germany, the United States, Japan, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, and Greece each sent 3 aircraft and 6 pilots. But even the aircraft of these national teams are very different due to the different aviation technical levels of each country. As for those individual competitors, almost all kinds of aircraft except gliders are used.

In this case, the entertainment and viewing of the first round of competition are far greater than the competition. There were 27 planes that failed to complete the rules on the first day, and 19 more on the second day. In addition, three or four days of competition, nearly a hundred planes were automatically withdrawn from the competition due to the rules in a few days. However, a group of applauded contestants and aircraft also emerged. The German national team, which had the advantage of aviation technology, broke the first flight of the competition record set by the British - 139.66 kilometers per hour. The German "Flying Fish DV" military aircraft easily set a new record of 189.23 kilometers.
Chapter completed!