Indeed. They call them "egg drops".
Air/rafts again...
- Thread starter infojunky
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Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Grenades have no recoil.
And I think one had a revolver bomb bay.
I don't think Javelins have much problems with a cope cage, but grenades do bounce off.
And I think one had a revolver bomb bay.
I don't think Javelins have much problems with a cope cage, but grenades do bounce off.
Krikkitone
SOC-12
Repeatedly failed technological hype is a TL=2 or 3 advancement
Spinward Flow
SOC-14 5K
Badenov
SOC-12
And now, for just 50 drachma, you can upgrade from your old bronze spear to a state of the art iron spear.
Chris Barlow
SOC-10
Always thought the oddest feature of the air/raft. Is that it is open top. But operates at heights where atmosphere too thin to support unaided breathing, by human beings. Design flaw or deliberate? If travelling from planetary surface upwards, not a good idea.
Odd? Considering that an air raft is a low performance workboat like thing, that generally spends much of its time near the ground moving light cargos, open top makes sense.
From Tubb's writing, I always though of it as a minimum viable utility vehicle: smallish, cheap, tough, simple, and made for field use.
Like a Willy's jeep, not a Humvee or an MRAP, or an M113.
You can mount an M2 in the back of a jeep and scoot around German armor units in the North African desert, but it doesn't seem rational at first glance. So an air/raft is a "technical" orbital transport vehicle.
Like a Willy's jeep, not a Humvee or an MRAP, or an M113.
You can mount an M2 in the back of a jeep and scoot around German armor units in the North African desert, but it doesn't seem rational at first glance. So an air/raft is a "technical" orbital transport vehicle.
Not aware of the CH-37 Mojave, CH-47 Chinook (aka "flying banana"), HH-3 Jolly Green, nor SH-3 Sea King, eh? I was aware of three of those as a 7 YO before Star Wars came out... and had a Matchbox Chinook and Jolly Green. And saw Jolly's and Bananas flying in/out of EAFB & Ft. Richardson. No stall speed on a helo itself... tho', technically, the blades do.
Compared to any current surface transport, 75mph (120km/h), is respectable; only the fastest trains go faster, and most don't make it that fast. It's also just fast enough that a bug can permanently blind if it hits the eye. And plenty fast enough to be a near-guaranteed kill if you hit a pedestrian. Or if you fall out.
Sure, the heavy helos go twice to thrice that... but the Air/Raft isn't a heavy helo. And many small transport aircraft have stall speeds in the mid 50's. DHC-2 Beaver 55 kts, DHC-3 58 kts IAS. The equivalent capacities of a passenger van and a large frame van/short lorrie. And the DHC-6 Twin Otter, 58 kts. capacity of 20 people plus luggage. Rode one to/from summer camp several years running. Rattles your bones so hard you never forget it. Beaver's cruise is only 110, and it's loiter speed (marked on the gauges of the CAP beavers I've piloted) was 70 Kts. Right about 75mph. That's the SAR op speed, too.
And we all know a Big Rig can hit 80 loaded... but they get squirrely in crosswinds. 65 was chosen as the national limit (only enforceable on federal funded roads, thanks to the courts) because it's the point where common speed crosswinds aren't going to flip a 40' box. (and yet, on Knik-Goose Bay Road, 2-3 a year flip from the morning and evening winds. I got a lot of sub-teaching days due to KGB Road being blocked by a flipped semi on a 45 MPH road...)
For the needs of the scouts or merchants for a grocery getter, SAR ops, and parts trolley, 75 mph is more than plenty. It's also much faster than a land-bound 4-ton crane... which it can also replace if the wind is low.
For an enclosed cabin to be useful at altitude it would also need oxygen replenishment, heating and cooling, CO2 scrubbers, and the works. That's heavy and space-hungry, and without an airlock only useful in limited circumstances.
So instead, the air/raft has an open flat-bed, easily customisable by adding and removing seats, etc. And if the users want to use it at ultra-high altitudes or to reach orbit, they are free to put on vacc suits, and they can 'EVA' as they see fit without needed to worry about airlock, cabin pressure, etc.
The Antonov An-2's stalling speed is about that of a stuff breeze, and when it stalls it just settles downwards. Cruising speed is 100 knots, load a dozen passengers or a couple of tons of cargo. It's simple, bare bones, and strikes me as a good low-tech equivalent of an air/raft.
There's a knack to it, and some folks just don't have that Knik-knack.
Simplifies fields of fire for small-arms carried by occupants; likewise, targeting of occupants.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
I gave up on anti gravity vehicles, after I couldn't figure out the last Vehicles design book.
Th Confederation Navy substituted them with five tonne spacecraft - forty foot flying containers.
Th Confederation Navy substituted them with five tonne spacecraft - forty foot flying containers.
And also allows a variety of tactical uses the same way pulling the ceiling doors off the M113 APC did...
NOT in Moderator mode:
If I didn't know that people die from that chunk of road and its excess winds, I might find that funny. But KGB Road kills people most years.
Apologies.
