And the funny thing is that the Speeder, despite having 2g capability (again, per Striker), is still not supersonic.
New VTOL Aviation Propulsion Systems
- Thread starter Spinward Flow
- Start date
Spinward Flow
SOC-14 5K
That's what happens when movie prop makers get to do the industrial design of what ought to be practical vehicle aerodynamics ...
It's the grav equivalent of a "Deuce-and-a-Half" (Wikipedia), a vehicle that MWM was likely quite familiar with.
I'd argue that it's more a matter of thinking of it as a really fast flying car instead of an underpowered small small-craft.That's what happens when movie prop makers get to do the industrial design of what ought to be practical vehicle aerodynamics ...
Also recall that the term was likely derived from E.C. Tubb's Dumarest Saga, where the same type of vehcle is called a "Raft" in the books.
The national speed limit was not a direct federal law, nor even a direct presidential order.
It was a funding requirement for federal highway funding: States that wanted federal funds had to set the speed limits no higher than 55 MPH.
A few states decided the workaround was to not have a speed limit at all on high speed roads...
Oregon and Montana come to mind. Oregon still seldom posts a "Speed Limit 65" sign; instead, it posts "End speed limit." I drive a no-speed limit zone a couple times a week.
From what I understand, Montana does similar on the long straight highways.
120 kmh is roughly 75 mph, and is the actual enforced speed limit in many states; Alaska seldom enforces the 65 limit, and has a section with an actual 75 zone since that above mentioned mandate went away... but most of the time, 75 was still not pulled over.
Even in the 1970's, it was common for vehicles on the "55" highways in Alaska to be driving 75.
As a travellerism, 120 kmh is the minimum speed on the striker grav vehicle speed table, and is 0.1g above local.
Also, traveller simplifies G to 10m/s² (TTB p54, LC)
So... 0.1 G is 1m/s².
120 kmh is 120000m/3600 sec = 33 ⅓ m/s.
The Air/Raft is listed as "100kph" - so not even 0.1g
100kph, bursts to 120kph, and the description suggests that's due to drag and high-speed aerodynamic instability.
No, it's more like an oversized jeep. The 2½ is a squad mobility asset as well as a supply chain asset. You can't put a 12-man squad in an air/raft.
Striker assumes a flying box. So, it's still sub 0.1G maneuver available.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
It can carry 4000kg of cargo and 4 people - that makes it a 4t truck equivalent, a lot bigger than a jeep.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
If I understand gravitic motors correctly, you minus off the local gravity field, and any excess is translated to speed.
So in theory, your need for speed can exceed in low gravity worlds.
So in theory, your need for speed can exceed in low gravity worlds.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
You can also gain speed by falling...
That 4000kg of cargo is still not the 12-18 men you can sit in the back of the 2½-Ton.
It's even canvas-topped like a willies...
Just, as I said, oversized. We know it's just shy of 3m wide, 6m long.
the HMWV Hummer is about 2.8 × 5m. Seats 4... but only has a 1.2 tonne cargo capacity.
The Willy's was 1.57×3.36m. with a 0.54 tonne cargo capacity. But with the same 4 person seating.
It doesn't discuss the location where that 4 tons is, but by not mentioning how many people can be put into it, it implies slung load for most of it. But that puts it with a large possibility that it's a sling load...
That's implied, as well, in some illos.
Not much different than the Willy's Jeep being able to tow a 155mm but not carry a full squad.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
4000kg of cargo - that's a platoon - just like the 4 ton trucks we were hauled around in. That artists haven't read the vehicle stats and then reached the same conclusion is not surprising.
The CT air/raft also has a mass of 4tons, not a displacement of 4 displacement tons, it is quoted as a mass.
It is a 4t truck equivalent, not a jeep.
The CT air/raft also has a mass of 4tons, not a displacement of 4 displacement tons, it is quoted as a mass.
It is a 4t truck equivalent, not a jeep.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Not that I'd recommend it, but you could add in a second storey.
Except that it's configured in the art as a jeep, with a size just a hair bigger than the jeep's current replacement, the hummer.
Remember: the mass capability doesn't mean the space capability.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Tractor.
You could use blimps as trailers, and pull them along.
You could use blimps as trailers, and pull them along.
Slung load is easier, less expensive, and more field ready. At least if one isn't having grav be merely using air in a mass-driver mode...
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
I am quoting the mass of the air/raft as given in CT - 4 tons or 4000kg
The artists are not drawing the vehicle the rules describe.
The artists are not drawing the vehicle the rules describe.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Air/raft sort of implies that the machinery is flat as a board, and that the payload is corralled on top of that.
Spinward Flow
SOC-14 5K
Or a slung load under the craft.
- Land air/raft on top of box.
- Connect box to air/raft.
- Lift off with box slung under air/raft.
