Richthofens: Queens of the Sky
The story of the Richthofen starts with the story of their inventor, Oswald, Reichsritter von Richthofen.
Formulative Years
Born into an Imperial Knightly family in Solaria in 1081, Oswald from a young age was considered to be an eccentric genius and was always fasicinated with flight. He built many small gliders from which he would push his families castle into the fields below to see how it operated, with one such endevour knocking a poor farmer out when it hit him in the head. He also loved engineering, physics and chemistry as subjects, and drew up many designs as a child that reflected this.
By the time the Syrenian War broke out, Oswald had just finished his tenure at the University of Diamond City, graduating with a degree in Engineering and Physics. He struggled to find a job however, until Pomerlane advertised his need for skilled engineers, and Oswald rapidly rode to join him. He quickly proved his worth to the Engineering corps during the Siege of Atalanta, and by the time the war was over, Oswald had got the attention of the great man himself, who praised him for his work.
He was once again called upon during the Great Pomeranian War and due to his excellence in the prior conflict, with the blessing of the Empress and the Prince-Consort, he was able to start his adventures into airships for the purposes of scouting. First, he used hydrogen balloons, with great success before moving on to non-rigid airships, with mixed results. Non-Rigid airships were a novel concept, but their safety was questionable at best, killing several test pilots and almost killing Oswald himself in the process. However, late in the war, he produced his first truly successful design, Bertha, which proved to be vital for Pomerlane's scouting efforts later in the war. By the time the war was over, he had won numerous honours, including: the Order of Solaria, Order of the Faerie and the Order of the Diamond. The future seemed bright for the young eccentric aristocrat.
However, it was not to be. Post-war, his patrons saw little purpose in these airships in their austerity measures and Richthofen soon found himself unemployed. He tried to start his own operation, and after 3 disappointing years, had nearly bankrupted himself. He entered a deep depression, and considered suicide until he received an invitation from the Imperial Tsukinode Navy regarding his airships.
The Imperial Navy was extremely interested in the idea of airships and had been for some 40 odd years but had failed repeatedly. They had seen what Oswald did during the Great Pomeranian War, and upon the recommendation of the King of Pomerania himself (Pomerlane), they reached out to Oswald in the fall of 1118 to head their programme. Oswald, happily accepted under the terms that he would be the head of the project and receive a pension for his troubles.
It was now that Oswald's dreams could come true, but there were still many years to go to accomplish his objectives.
Refining the Concept
Oswald, when he arrived in the Empire, immediately found himself in a situation that was totally backwards. The programme itself was using all the wrong ideas about flight, and he could hardly believe how disorganized it was. He immediately decided to clean house and asked the Imperial Navy to invite more engineers and scientists with knowledge to this project, which they complied with.
By 1121, the much-needed reforms of the programme were complete, and Oswald had at his disposal several talented engineers, and industrial backers. During this time, he also married daughter of the Graf of Löwenhardt, Dorothea. This marriage and what it entailed was crucial to the project's success as Dorothea's father, Oskar was a wealthy tycoon that made his money off the steel industry, and his son Ewald would prove to be Oswald's greatest business partner and asset in the future.
Over the next 8 years, Oswald would continue to experiment with his concept of non-rigid airships, but they never met the standard he wanted. Their controllability was rather awful, and they were at the mercy of the winds. He also was unamused by the lack of freedom he was given by the Navy, who meddled constantly.
It was thus in 1129 that Oswald, with Ewald by his side, approached the admiralty tendering his resignation. The Admiralty was shocked by it and begged him to reconsider. Ewald, who by this point was the negotiator for Oswald, made it clear that the project could not succeed under direct influence of the Admiralty, and proposed that it instead by allocated to a private company that would be partially subsidised by the Admiralty for their troubles. He pointed out that as things currently stood, this was a money drain for them, and that their meddling had caused too many issues. After some discussion, these terms were agreed upon and shortly thereafter, Richthofen-Löwenhardt A.G. was founded using funding from Oskar and the Imperial Navy. Ewald was made Chief Executive Official and Oswald as Chief Engineer.
Breakthrough
The new company absorbed all of the members of the programme, and the facilities used. Oswald had become convinced that Rigid airships were the future, and over the next 4 years began designs and tests upon the concept, which would make use of Myaite for it's engine and Pendorite for it's frame. By the Summer of 1133, the main prototype was finished and after some basic tests, it was ready for action by December.
On December 21st, 1133, the first of Oswald's Rigid airships, known as LR-01 by the Imperial Navy, was tested in flight over Lake Tazawa with both Oswald and his wife as the pilots. It was a great success and proved the concept to be sound. The aftermath immediately saw the Imperial Navy invest more into the programme, with the hope of a design that was capable of performing scouting for the Imperial Navy. These airships were now known as Richthofens and after two more successful designs in LR-02 and LR-03, the first 'Class' ordered directly for service in the Imperial Navy were started in 1137.