As the heavy weight dropped, the towrope pulled the ninth prototype into a slow climb. Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds, one minute.
The ninth prototype began circling in the sky, lap after lap. It completed fourteen circuits in total, remaining airborne for seventeen minutes and fifty-one seconds.
This time, Franz had no choice but to rise and applaud. The design of this prototype had already far surpassed Flyer II's performance—five minutes in the air. Though it still fell short of Flyer III's thirty-three minutes and five seconds, the gap was no longer all that vast.
In fact, Flyer II had been completed in 1904, while Flyer III was completed in 1905, less than a year apart.
Franz appeared thoroughly astonished, yet he was already the most composed person present.
Even after Franz rose to applaud, the people around him still could not tear their eyes away from Prototype No. 9. Franz truly understood what it meant to stare without blinking.
Suddenly, Prototype No. 9 began descending slowly, heading toward the prepared landing strip.
In truth, the so-called landing strip was merely several specially treated patches of grass and a few haystacks.
It was worth mentioning that the landing strip had been planted entirely with Siberian bentgrass. Many people would likely find this plant unfamiliar.
But mention the turf on a golf course, and everyone would surely have some impression. In modern times, Siberian bentgrass was typically the preferred choice for the greens of high-end golf courses.
Siberian bentgrass was soft yet tough, highly resilient, and well suited for cushioning impacts.
However, Franz did not like golf, nor did he think the Austrian Empire had so much land to squander.
Even in the colonies, Franz did not want anyone wasting the Austrian Empire's precious land and water resources.
In fact,