As a gearheadonist I try to make my designs believable as possible.
One thing I find strange is the lack of thrust agencies for space and starships that allow wilderness landing. Most ships we have seen in TNE is unsuitable for wilderness as their only drive is a HePlar. Even a 200ton merchant can mass more than 1000 metric tons. Even with the CG unit active, 1% of the pull from the planet is still present and acts on the craft. Depending on local gravity a thrust of 10 tons or more is needed to lift from the ground.
In space-/starports this may not be a problem as they have prepared ground. But what about the wilderness?
There is several reasons for not torching your surroundings during landing and take-off.
IMTU ships in the multi-kiloton class never touches ground due to the massive space they require. Shuttles do the most of the transportation to and from the planet. Another solution is using beanstalks.
I propose that crafts that expect wilderness landings are equiped with secondary thrusters. From what I can see in FF&S1 ducted fans seems to fit the bill.
Ducted fans will also be nice for grav-vehicles. I would not like to have my garage burned down each time I start my vehicle.
Any thoughts?
I'll try to post some designs over the weekend with ducted fans.
One thing I find strange is the lack of thrust agencies for space and starships that allow wilderness landing. Most ships we have seen in TNE is unsuitable for wilderness as their only drive is a HePlar. Even a 200ton merchant can mass more than 1000 metric tons. Even with the CG unit active, 1% of the pull from the planet is still present and acts on the craft. Depending on local gravity a thrust of 10 tons or more is needed to lift from the ground.
In space-/starports this may not be a problem as they have prepared ground. But what about the wilderness?
There is several reasons for not torching your surroundings during landing and take-off.
IMTU ships in the multi-kiloton class never touches ground due to the massive space they require. Shuttles do the most of the transportation to and from the planet. Another solution is using beanstalks.
I propose that crafts that expect wilderness landings are equiped with secondary thrusters. From what I can see in FF&S1 ducted fans seems to fit the bill.
Ducted fans will also be nice for grav-vehicles. I would not like to have my garage burned down each time I start my vehicle.
Any thoughts?
I'll try to post some designs over the weekend with ducted fans.