By comparison, Franz had only produced fourteen prototypes, which hardly counted as a grand undertaking.
In fact, Franz's confidence stemmed not only from the Austrian Empire's sound economic condition, but also from its own technological advantages in the production of specialized parts and steel.
At this time, the main costs of aircraft were concentrated in those specialized parts and engines. Historically, early aircraft researchers had to forge their own parts by hand, and a considerable number of them lacked the relevant skills, which was why accidents occurred so frequently.
No matter how reasonable the structure of many early aircraft might have been, they failed at the assembly stage first. Forget taking to the skies—leave them running on the ground for too long, and they would fall apart.
Furthermore, most aircraft at this time were made of wood, so a good carpenter could often equal a whole crowd of engineers. With the state backing its flight tests, the Austrian Empire could minimize the chances of basic mistakes.
In fact, precisely because it was a unified state plan, the cost of manufacturing these prototypes was not particularly high. While individual researchers might take months to complete a prototype in a barn, the Austrian Empire needed only weeks, or even days.
Before long, the fourteen prototypes had been produced, and the test flight site was set on Kahlenberg outside Vienna.
In fact, the Austrian Empire's Weapon Development Bureau and the Vienna Glider Club had failed to reach a consensus on how to get aircraft airborne.
There were wooden inclined tracks that used gravity for acceleration, spring launchers, giant slingshot launchers, and the familiar drop-weight takeoff method.
Naturally, in the Austrian Empire of this era, brute-force traction launchers—where sheer force sent the bricks flying—were indispensable as well. The Austrian military had even laid a