Yalenvan Steam Aircraft

The Fleet in the Clouds

The Yalenva Emirates are sat among the technological and political superpowers of the world and represents a compromise of all their best qualities - while their resources aren't as abundant as Hanxi, there are still plenty of resources of all kinds. Their financial power does not match the Renepalians, but they remain fabulously wealthy. Fiuthnollan clockwork technology may be more reliable and versatile, but Yalenva's advanced knowledge of steam power allows them to accomplish things that no one else can. But what sets the Emirates apart has been, for many years, their unique avenue of attack - they are the only nation on the planet whose fleet sails among the clouds.
Powered by magical boilers and plenty of coal, these ships are mostly built in the vein of sailing ships, but in the place of the sails, one will find huge balloons lifting the craft off of the ground. Propellers at the back turn to push the ship forward, slowly but steadily. And the cannons on many of these ships are all designed to aim almost straight down to bombard ships and surface targets. And alongside these ships fly smaller vessels - biplanes, constructed from brass and canvas, nimbly dancing through the sky after emerging from the hangers of their carriers. While these craft may have strengths and weaknesses compared to ocean-going navies, those advantages are Yalenva's, and Yalenva's alone.

Basic Design & Shared Aspects

Yalenvan aircraft are based on the same basic principle - steam power. For larger airships, the boilers are used to heat air and create water vapour to fill the balloons. A portion of this steam is diverted to turn propellers at the back of the vessel, allowing for forward motion and turning. The balloons themselves are kept hot by magical influences, slowing the rate at which the vapour can condensate, preventing excess weight from building up that might damage the ship's air buoyancy. Due to the high yield of the magically-empowered Yalenvan boilers, and water supplies stored in Bags of Holding-type containers, these ships can maintain flight for tens of hours, even tens of days on some types of ships, continuously without any refills. Biplanes, however, do not have the same stocks, and can typically operate for hour-long stretches before returning to their carriers. These biplanes simply use all of their steam to turn their propeller and fire their guns, but due to their small size and large numbers, it's impractical to equip them with highly condensed water supplies.
Most large ships are produced from lightweight wood, held together primarily through fixtures and parts of Yalenvan brass - Yalenvan brass being a special alloy blend that is lightweight, highly conductive, and deceptively durable. However, while it is more resilient to impacts and pressure than iron, it does not quite match steel in terms of durability. Biplanes are, meanwhile, primarily made from brass, with aerodynamic surfaces like wings and fins incorporating rugged, durable textiles such as canvas. These operate much the same as biplanes do in our world, circa the First World War. However, they tend to require more maintenance and, as mentioned before, have shorter flight times.
Weapons of these craft are a mixture of black powder cannons and swivel guns and - in the case of the biplanes - semi-automatic steam guns linked to the propeller so as to only fire when they will not hit it. While black powder weapons are self-explanatory, steamguns draw from engine boilers and divert and pressurize excess steam into canisters. This steam is kept hot and vented out through the gun barrel to propel a metal bullet toward a target. They can fire twice a second, fed by hopper-style magazines that feed from the top down, and on biplanes they tend to be paired. This volume of fire is meant to counteract the inaccuracy of firing in motion. Hangers are also found on certain craft - using a piston and brakes system based on the main steam boiler, these are found on carrier-type ships and allow for biplanes to take off and land in a short runway. The biplanes land in hangers and on landing strips and airfields, whereas most airships require a landing trough to evenly distribute their weight when touching the ground, or otherwise to land in the water

Types

The Zhyen-Class Biplane

This biplane is the cornerstone of the light aircraft of the Yalenva Emirates - in conjunction with carriers and lighter ships, they are the primary force responsible for fighting piracy and smuggling in the waters of the Emirates. These biplanes are simple, barebone structures - basically a pair of steamguns and an aerodynamic frame built around an engine with a seat for the pilot, and a sealed sleeve to keep a bundle of flechettes or grenades in. These biplanes are quite nippy and maneuverable, able to make surprisingly tight turns and get quite low to the surface before being forced to pull up. However, they move at a speed where aimed and massed firearms from the ground could hit them during a strafing run, and while surprisingly durable, a piercing blow to the boiler could send the entire craft up in flames, scattering flaming coal and twisted metal. These aircraft have a flight range of one full hour and tend to go into battle riding on carriers that launch and catch them, or otherwise from airfields and airstrips.

The Suli-Class Biplane Bomber

With a similar basic airframe to the Zhyen, the main difference in this craft is a larger, stronger boiler, a lockbox in the place of the sleeve, and a clamp for carrying ordinance underneath the aircraft. These craft are designed to deliver either packets of smaller anti-personnel bombs into enemy formations and camps, or a single large bomb onto enemy ships and fortifications. Their lockbox also contains fuse-lit grenades, which can be lit and dropped onto targets of opportunity due to their long fuses, which can also be easily snipped to adjust for lower passes. These bombers also carry a pair of steamguns, but lack the maneuverability of their cousins and are far more likely to explode in a dogfight, with their larger boiler and explosive payload. They can often manage an additional hour of flight with an additional water tank and a double-sized coal hopper - both optional attachments - allowing for long-ranged operations compared to regular biplanes. Nevertheless, these craft remain primarily deployed from carriers and are otherwise limited by the availability of airfields and airstrips.

The Jann-Class Corvette

The Jann represents the first true airship of the Yalenva navy in this list - it is a wooden ship transported and moved across the sky by balloons and propellers. It carries a modest complement of eight cannons, as well as a selection of murder holes hidden under trap doors, for dropping various grenades, rocks, flechettes, and even biplane bombs down onto the enemy from above. These ships are used to screen larger vessels in battle, scouting and guarding their flanks, as well as anti-piracy duties and moving diplomats and other important individuals long distances. They are easily the fastest airship of the bunch, their propellers large compared to their airframe with boilers to match. Thankfully, these boilers are well-enclosed inside the hull, and thus will only be set off by cannon fire or direct, internal sabotage, since bullets lose far too much velocity to get damage it from outside. These ships are light enough to land without a landing trough and have matching landing legs to support them when they do touch down, which is why they are used to move individuals.
This model has also been refitted into a light fleet tender and can carry additional coal, water, black powder, ammunition, food, men, and various other supplies and reinforcements for ships in need of replenishment.

The Marid-Class Naval Supremacy Frigate

The Marid is a larger craft, equipped with 30 cannons and multiple swivel guns - these ships have a lower firing angle than most, and are responsible for attacking and destroying enemy naval ships of all kinds, as well as various sea monsters that may otherwise threaten Yalenva and its people. These ships are quite straightforward and efficient - reasonably quick and durable, powerful enough to take on most targets, and able to attack most targets effectively with their combined smaller and larger guns. These ships can also be pressed into service attacking land targets and other airborne craft, but their role as ship-killers is their primary purpose and the task for which they are most suited. Other craft are better suited to air-to-ground and air-to-air attacks.

The Djinni-Class Carrier Ship

The Djinni is the cornerstone of fighting naval crime in Yalenva - very few pirates and smugglers have the means of fighting a squadron of fighters. The presence of the Djinni, which carries 6 fighters in a hanger in its hull on the large second deck, allows these fighters to overcome their main weakness, their lack of longevity with their limited fuel and ammunition. The Djinni only carries swivel guns for armament, as the size of the hanger, weight of the biplanes and launching mechanisms, and danger of a gunpowder explosion in craft carrying whole squadrons of aircraft make adding larger guns impractical. The Djinni is able to carry and resupply both fighters and bombers, though the large bombs and bomb packets of the bombers require more storage space and stronger armour for the magazine means that supplying bombers from carriers is less efficient than supplying fighters.

The Shaitan-Class Cruiser

The Shaitan was designed for the express purpose of bombarding land targets - ultimately, however, they were put into more diverse work as they proved to be an effective middle-heavyweight ship. These ships carry a thin layer of brass plating across the hull to help their aerodynamic qualities - a construction method that is being applied to older models of ships. They also carry an impressive 60 cannons, allowing the Shaitan to destroy targets land, air, or sea, effectively and decisively. They are designed to fire from a significant distance, however, and do not have the same sensitive and expensive downwards-firing mounts for their cannons the Marid has. They are almost always deployed supported by corvettes, and often a carrier or two.

The Ninase-Class Ship-of-the-Line

The Ninase is the single most powerful direct-fire aircraft in the world - armed with 100 cannons and able to lay fire onto all kinds of targets, these ships are capable of laying waste to any opponent they meet that does not carry as many cannons or similar firepower, especially if they cannot aim up high. Since the Ninase is already so expensive to produce, no expense was spared, and these ships can fire almost straight down similar to the Marid. They are, however, quite slow - needless to say, mounting so many guns on such a large airframe requires significant resources, and maintenance costs are also quite high. These craft are rarely deployed, and as little as possible when needed, for fear of losing such an enormous investment.

The Efreet-Class Fleet Carrier

The largest ship class in the Yalenvan navy, the Efreet carries four whole squadrons of biplanes, for a total of 24 aircraft. A standard configuration for such a fleet is 2 fighter squadrons, 1 bomber squadron, and a mixed squadron of 4 fighters and 2 bombers. While similarly lightly armed to the Djinni, their fighter complement is significantly larger, as is their cargo capacity. This not only allows the Efreet to be an incredibly effective combat unit thanks to its fighter squadrons, but it can also serve as a heavy-duty fleet tender carrying additional supplies and reinforcements. These qualities make the availability of the Efreet vital to the effective waging of a Yalenvan military campaign. They are always deployed with an escort, as fighter craft do require some time to prepare and launch, meaning that even such a large ship is susceptible to surprise attacks if caught all alone and without nearby support.

Information

Type: Aircraft
Purpose: Combat, Military Transportation, Anti-Piracy
Nation: The Yalenva Emirates
Material: Wood, Yalenva Brass, Canvas