by gerald hall
The huge six engine floatplane was sitting on a concrete ramp at the water’s edge. The wheels of the plane’s beaching gear were already extended from the nose and sponsons. After a signal was given to the flying boat’s four man crew, the two inboard engines were started up. The Cavalier then slowly taxied down the ramp and into the waters of King Sound. Once afloat, the beaching gear was retracted and the remaining four engines were started up. The flying boat turned out towards the South and began to slowly pick up speed. It sped past the crowd twice while still hullborne, taxing on the water at high speed.
On the third pass, the flying boat roared past the crowd at an even higher speed. Then the hull of the flying boat began to slowly lift out of the water and, to the cheers of the gathered crowd, lift off into the air. The giant aircraft flew low over the water for a couple of miles, then retracted its stabilizer floats into the wingtips and began to climb to about three thousand feet altitude.
The growing crowd watched in awe as the huge aircraft began to do a series of turns, combined with climbs and shallow dives. After nearly an hour, everyone was still watching the aerial exhibition. Finally, the flying boat prepared to land as the stabilizing floats extended downward from the wingtips and locked into place. The Cavalier’s test pilot then eased the huge aircraft down to the water’s surface and gently landed the flying boat.
The crowd was still cheering and applauding loudly when the huge flying boat taxied up to the ramp, lowered its beaching gear and slowly rolled up out of the water. The crowd continued to watch as the six engines shut down, a side hatch opened up and the flight crew stepped out of the flying boat. Several people walked up to Harold to congratulate him. Among those people, there were several reporters that had flown into Derby from newspapers elsewhere in Australia to cover the event.
“Why did you name this new flying boat, the Cavalier, Mister Cavill?” Clive Young, a journalist from Sydney asked. He had come to Derby to write for his newspaper about the new flying boat as well as the man who had created this new industrial empire out of nothing, it appeared. Clive’s editor made it very clear that he already didn’t like Harold too.
“It is obviously a play upon my last name. But it also reflects the intrepid spirit of flying out over the vastness of the world’s oceans in an aircraft, even one as large as this one.” Harold cheerfully said to the reporter.
But Harold knew exactly who Clive was. So Harold chose his words carefully. Harold wanted to give the impression to the reporter that perhaps the industrialist was just a more respectable Australian version of the American billionaire Howard Hughes.
Of course, unlike Howard, Harold did not date starlets or relish the limelight all that much when not directly conducting business. He and his wife Dorothy had three children with a fourth child on the way, making Harold a much more conventional family man as well.
“That is quite clever, Mister Cavill. What else can you tell my readers about yourself and this constantly expanding business empire of yours?” the reporter asked.
“There’s really not much to tell. I started off prospecting and got very lucky there. Then I made some smart investments and began to build a variety of factories here in Derby. I employ a great many people here and have invested significant funds back into this community.
Did you know that we are now building Derby’s first municipal water and sewer system to serve the town? The electrical power plant that I built provides electricity not only to my factories, but also to the hospital, school, church and many of the homes in the area.”
“Cricky. This bugger sounds like a damned politician pretending to be some hypocritical dogooder while he exploits his workers and rapes the land.” Clive silently said to himself as he prepared to ask his next question.
“What do you have to say about your controversial use of aborigines as slave labor, Mister Cavill?”
Harold instantly stiffened in anger. Several other people who heard Clive’s question looked in shock as well.
“At no point have I have I ever employed anyone as slave labor, much less any native Australians. All of the people in my employ are here of their own volition and are not only paid a fair day’s wage, but also have access to other benefits that most of the rest of Australia does not see fit to provide to the degree that I do. Anyone who makes such an outrageous claim is a liar and a cretin.” Harold pointedly explained while looking Clive directly in the eye.
At this point, several armed local police officers arrived and escorted Clive Young off of the premises. The police on the scene had seen the immediate change in the crowd’s attitude after Clive made his accusation and wanted to forestall any possible violence.
“It looks like I have to make a few phone calls to try to correct the record here.” Harold told the others in the audience with a quick smile. He tried to laugh off the entire incident, but Harold was still very concerned. He had thought that he had put the entire Aborigine issue behind him with the help of Billy Hughes and the election of several new members of Parliament. The latter were much friendlier to Harold’s interests, especially after the substantial campaign contributions that he had made to their campaign coffers. But someone was apparently trying to deliberately disrupt Harold’s business for reasons unknown to the time traveler.
Making phone calls to Billy Hughes and some of these friendly politicians will be just another thing to add to Harold’s ‘to do’ list as time gets closer to the beginning of the Second World War. Harold could not afford for any problems like this reporter at this point. But Harold had made sure that the debut of the new flying boat received the widest possible exposure to the international news media. He needed the news exposure for his own purposes.
A few days later, Harold went down to the Cavill Aeronautics office to visit Albert Wright and discuss the results of the first three flight tests. At least there, Harold received some welcome news.
“Good morning, Sir. It has been very hectic around here since the Cavalier first started its test flights. We have already received several telegraphs from organizations interested in our new aircraft.” Albert reported to Harold while in the company of nearly a dozen of Albert’s other engineers, test pilots and aircraft technicians. Albert’s people represented a slice of all of Harold’s employees, Australians of West European descent, immigrants from America and elsewhere in Europe as well as many native aborigines. They were all very talented and dedicated to their work.
“That’s good news. However, I want to hear what the test flights have shown. I know that your pilots put on a good show. But prototypes always show things on their first flights that were not expected. So tell me everything that the test flights have revealed, Albert.”
“The pilots all said that it was a splendid aircraft to fly. So far, the aircraft has met all of our performance parameters. Still, there are some minor adjustments to the design that need to be made. The pilots did say that they felt that the aircraft was slightly underpowered though. Of course, that was with the R-1830-45 Twin-Wasp. We will soon be receiving deliveries of the R-1830-65 from our own factory. That change alone will give the Cavalier close to a fifteen percent increase in available horsepower. The basic design also was configured to be able to use the R-2600 Twin-Cyclone that is under development at Curtiss-Wright. According to the basic specifications for that engine, it would give us at least another thirty percent increase in available horsepower as well.
If you really want a military version of the Cavalier produced, that extra horsepower is definitely going to be needed. The best that I can figure, a military version of the Cavalier with typical military features like defensive guns, self-sealing fuel tanks, armor protection for the pilots, not to mention the actual weapons carried like torpedoes, will add several thousand pounds of weight.”
“When Curtiss-Wright finishes its development program for the Twin-Cyclone, I fully intend to purchase the production rights for that engine as well, Albert. This will give us a sufficiently powerful engine for our fut
ure aircraft designs for some years to come.”
“What else do you have in mind, Mister Cavill?”
“First, I want to get the Cavalier out of the prototype stage and into series production as soon as all necessary modifications have been made. Do whatever you can to get those modifications made as soon as possible. I will also personally put the Cavalier flying boat into commercial passenger and cargo service myself even if we don’t have any additional customers. Once we have proven the quality of our work with the rest of the world’s aviation community, I expect that we will be deriving a lot of technology from the Cavalier for other new designs in a few years for other designs. This will include large aircraft like bulk cargo aircraft and long range bombers.
I also want to produce other military aircraft like fighters and light bombers as well, both land and carrier-based designs. What we will likely do in these cases will be to produce local variants of existing designs. But, if possible, I want us to be able to design and build aircraft that will be completely original as well.”
“You tell us what you need to have done, Mister Cavill. My people and I will do our best to make it into reality. I want all of our aircraft to be beauties that will knock the socks off of anyone who sees them fly!” Albert enthusiastically replied.
“Excellent! I love your confidence and enthusiasm, Albert. If everyone here acted the same way as you, there is no way that we can possibly fail. But I will certainly be putting all of you to the test in the near future. We have a lot to accomplish. So I will need your best efforts to get the job done1wwwwww.”
“Thank you, Sir. We won’t let you down.” Albert quickly said before Harold excused himself to go to a meeting at another one of his industrial facilities.
Cavill Industries Corporate Headquarters Derby, Western Australia
September 14, 1935
Harold looked at the latest letter from the Australian Admiralty with great interest. He had been using his contacts within the Australian government to push for an expansion of the RAN for more than five years now. He picked up the phone on his desk that went to his secretary, Joanna Starke.
“Joanna, please go get Mister Sykes and have him come here please.” A few minutes later, a tall, slender man, who appeared so pale that Harold often thought that the man never went out into the sun, walked into Harold’s office.
“What can I do for you, Mister Cavill?” Alan Sykes, Harold’s corporate accountant asked.
“We have great news, Alan. The Australian Admiralty has accepted one of our bids to build four new destroyers for the RAN. I will need information on how much it will cost us to construct each vessel along with a construction schedule. It is important that I know if there will be any materiel shortfalls as well. It is vitally important that we fulfill this contract on time and under budget. However, I will accept absolutely no shortcuts that will compromise the quality of the construction.
Do you have any questions, Alan?”
“The only question that I have is which of our proposed destroyer designs does the Admiralty want us to build for them? In any event, this is great news, Sir. We were beginning to run out of work for your shipyard with the nearing of completion for the last of those two peculiar passenger liners with the flight decks built on top of them. The new transport ships are almost ready to enter service with your shipping line as well.”
“The Australian Admiralty want the newest design that I asked for last year from my design team. That is the large destroyer with the eight four-inch guns. I am actually relieved that the Admiralty chose that one over the design with the larger guns. Our ordnance factory can much more easily produce the four-inch guns and associated high-angle mounts in sufficient quantities. These ships will be far more useful in the war that is coming, I am certain.
In regards to those liners, they have proven to be quite profitable for us in the long run. I was able to find a buyer after all, in spite of your previous concerns, Alan. The construction of those vessels has also given our newest workers a tremendous amount of experience that will be badly needed soon as we increase production with the new orders.
In any event, I have a feeling that the British will soon be calling us after we get the first of these new destroyers in the water. They will be needing many more such warships in the near future, I’m afraid.” Harold noted. He already knew that the coming war would require many new warships, especially with the heavy losses suffered by both British and Australian Navies historically during the early days of the Second World War.
“I better let you get back to your work then, Alan.” Harold finally said, dismissing the accountant before calling his secretary again.
“Joanne, I need to see Mister Portman please.”
A few minutes later, Joanne opened the office door for a short stocky man in dungarees who was still wiping grease off of his hands with a rag as he walked in, but whose eyes exuded a sharp intelligence at the same time.
“Hello, Alex. How are things going at the yard?”
“We are getting things cleaned up after the launch of the second liner, Sir. All we have left to do with her is the final fitting out. I can’t believe how hard these Abo’s work for you. They’ve got the other Australians hustling hard to keep up.” The American naval architect explained.
“They are a dedicated lot, for sure. How about our ‘special project’?”
“The engines and other interior work have all been completed. The flight deck and elevators are almost done also. The only major items remaining to be done are the construction of the island and the final installation of armament. We have held off testing the turbo-generator and propulsion systems until after the island superstructure has been installed. But the land-based test steam turbo-electric unit proved itself to meet all of your requirements. The flight-deck liners’ engines used many of the same design features as well.”
“Very good, Alex. The land-based high-pressure steam plant has been providing most of the power that the residents of Derby for more than two years quite reliably, I know. So I’m sure that the engines that you have installed in her hull as well as in the flight-deck liners will work equally well. But have the latter ships have provided your team with the basis for the other variants that I asked for?”
“Yes, Sir. My team and I have completed the initial drawings for the military version of the flight deck liner. It will be using a lot of the features from our special project in Dry Dock One, but will still retain a considerable amount of commonality with the liners. Rapid production will still be a problem with the current situation, even using the modular construction that we employed with the liners and the cargo ships. Right now, we have only have two dry docks available for any vessels larger than twelve thousand tons displacement. One of those is tied up with our special project, of course. At the same time, it will be months before construction of a third dry dock will be completed.
The destroyer design that I have come up with was very strongly influenced by what you had requested. It does have a few items that are a departure from traditional designs. But that design is also almost completely finalized. The antiaircraft armament is particularly heavy on that design based on your parameters. But I suppose that is what the Admiralty wanted after all.
The submersible design that you detailed for me is quite radical to say the least. I am still working on critical details of the propulsion system. But if it all works, I wouldn’t want to be facing one of these boats in combat because it would be quite formidable.”
“Very good, Alex. Please continue with your work. Also, be sure to let the workers down at the yard know that I am very satisfied with their efforts. I know that I have not been able to visit them nearly as often as I would like. But I am fully aware of how well they have done. It has been necessary for me to conduct a lot of business-related travel. But I will get down there as soon as I can.
“I suppose that is why you spent ten million dollars to have Westland Aircraft build a factory in Sydney and another six mill
ion to develop and construct those huge flying boats of yours.”
“I have to admit that the flying boats do allow me to travel much more quickly than if I had to charter other aircraft from the outside. However, my air transport service is also proving to be quite profitable with the use of these long-range flying boats as the primary reason for its financial success.”
“Yes, these flying boats are another one of your uncanny business successes, it appears. They are certainly far superior to the Americans’ Pacific Clipper in many aspects like range and payload. They have already broken a number of records as well. That publicity alone has driven a lot of interest in travelling aboard your flying boats.”
“I have considerable faith that your efforts in the shipyards will be equally successful in the long run, Alex. Our commercial transport hulls are proving to be a great success already.”
“Half of those are going to your own shipping line though.”
“True enough, but the ships that were delivered to other customers have a very good reputation as well. That reputation will lead to additional orders that will keep our workers employed for the foreseeable future.”
Of course, Harold already knew what the markets were for these ships and aircraft. All he needed to do was to do a little research on his portable computer to see what history had to say in the matter.
Derby Hospital
Derby, Western Australia November 12, 1935
Harold had to rush from his office to the hospital after receiving a phone call. Dorothy had gone into labor and was already in route to the hospital with the aid of one of her friends, Rebecca Holmes.
When Harold arrived at the hospital, the tall, blonde-haired Rebecca was still there in the waiting area. Rebecca was the wife of one of Harold’s workers at the shipyard and had become good friends with Dorothy after meeting her at the store.
“How is Dorothy doing?” Harold quickly asked Rebecca as he rushed into the hospital.
