FTL Drives in the HH Universe.

[BetterThanLife]

I have been looking through my HH series and am pretty much looking for the physics of the FTL drives. (Especially anything that points to speed, distance, fuel consumption.) I was thinking about doing a campaign in a 3D universe but Jump Drive isn't really suited to a 3D Universe.

Can anyone point me in the correct direction?

 

[Fritz_Brown]

1) Why isn't a 3D universe doable with Jump?

2) I don't think there is anything in the HH books about fuel usage. I think there's only one or two vague mentions of fuel, at all.

 

[mbrinkhues]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
1) Why isn't a 3D universe doable with Jump?

2) I don't think there is anything in the HH books about fuel usage. I think there's only one or two vague mentions of fuel, at all.

[Spoiler-Spoiler-Spoiler]


[If you have not read past "Honor among Enemies don't read further]


[Spoiler-Spoiler-Spoiler]


There is one: When they escape from Hades [Echos of Honor], they use station keeping engines instead of Impellers to move the previously captured Havenite ships into an intercept position. After that (and in a later novel when the battle is analysed by some cadets) Honor states that the rather short (IIRC around 1hour) of "Thrusting" basically depleted the ships fuel down to an hour on Impeller drives.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
1) Why isn't a 3D universe doable with Jump?

2) I don't think there is anything in the HH books about fuel usage. I think there's only one or two vague mentions of fuel, at all.

Mostly size or distance issues. Besides I thought if I was going to have to dump the OTU and its history I should look for another FTL drive instead of Jump.

But aside from using reaction mass in the thrusters, there is very little mention of fuel in the HH books, I was hoping i was missing something.

 

[princelian]

Remember, in HH, the impellers give a MONSTROUS velocity change with relatively little power requirements. By monstrous, I mean that the acceleration is, itself, relativistic, even if you don't thrust long enough to get to relativistic speeds. 500 kps^2 = 500,000 mps^2 ~= five thousand gravities. That's getting pretty close to singularity [black hole] accelerations (hence, the impenetrability of the wedge roof and floor).

Traveller fusion drives are power gluttons by comparison - 60 days of maneuvering consumes tremendous loads of LHyd. (I don't have my tables handy, but using maneuver drives in Traveller, you'll suck your n-space and hyperspace reserves dry in like 90 days or so, assuming J2 or J3 capacity; it's somewhat depressingly short. [This assumes MegaTraveller numbers; I don't remember if CT discussed n-space fuel usage and duration.])

Anyhow, in HH, the fusion plants are also pretty efficient and relatively small - they fit inside of pinnaces, for example, and Ghost Rider uses them. In fact, the only time fuel is really mentioned other than the aforementioned scene from Honor Among Enemies that I can remember is in discussing the duration of the GR systems. Even the big merchants seeminly don't concern themselves with refuelling - just maintenance on the impeller nodes.

No real answers for you there - just assume a really long duration for impeller- and Warshawski-driven travel - say three months or so, maybe longer. [How long do those Peep destroyers stay on station watching the Manty systems? And vice versa?]

 

[Anakah]

Actually, your estimate of "months" is not far wrong. But let me first take a second to point out that there are in fact two, and arguably three, distinct tchnologies utilized for fusion power production in this universe. The "small" plants used in pinaces and other small craft have a very low (realtive) ceiling on power output, and rely on laser-induced fusion. On a per-unit basis they are less efficient both in terms of generator mass and fuel consumption, limiting small craft to "days" of operation under any kind of operational load; the tradeoff is that the absolute generator size is quite small. The second type or power is the "gravity pinch" fusion generator. These are orders of magnitude more powerful, and several times as efficient. Their minimum size, even with Manticoran levels of technology and miniturization are relatively large, restricting them to vessels of at LEAST 50K-tons (LACs). The third technology is sometimes refered to as "Super-dense" fusion bottles, and is the key component in all of the Ghost Rider cornicopia of weapons and deployable assets. Little detailed information is available on the actual mechanics of these items, but it would stand to reason that since they have not made it into any manned craft they must either be EXTREMELY prohibitively expensive to scale up to starship size or else have the same problem with high maximum power output.
There is some discussion of "cruising endurance" in the series, and the top realistic endurance so far listed would be for Battle Cruisers, on the order of 14 to 18 weeks endurance. The assumption is that Wall of Battle ships (DN and SD) should always be closely accompanied by a fleet train of colliers, replenishment ships, and repair ships. Ligher vessels are either attached as a screen to the Wall or picketing a star system with easy availability of replenishment. When attached as convoy escorts, their endurance need be no longer than their charges, and even the longest hyper voyages take less than 12 weeks generally before a safe port can be found. Only battle cruisers, with their emphasis in Manticoran doctrine, need be able of long, independant cruising for raids on the enemy's fleet train and support infrastructure.
I hope this helps!