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Pocket Empires |
Mark Bridgeman
This class of shuttle whilst common is gradually being phased out in and around the core imperial worlds for a variety of reasons, the main being that the primitive fusion plant is bulky, heavy and awkward to fuel, compared to the much cleaner high tech fusion powered versions of this craft. As in other designs the amount of radioactive fuel aboard is very small, the regulation shielding around it however isn't. The hull is air-framed for high performance in an atmosphere (desirable for an interface craft, that would routinely enter and leave the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds) furthermore atmospheric transport from point to point on a world's surface is also a secondary aspect of this design thus the ability to travel at high speeds is desirable.
Unfortunately this version of the craft being relatively low tech does not have inertial compensators or artificial gravity as these are generally found at tech level 9 or above so all crew and passengers must be strapped in whilst leaving or entering atmosphere, this is also the reason why passengers have been supplied with acceleration couches.
The 3G rated manoeuvre drive is an omni-directional grav thruster, simply an over large version of drives common in air/rafts and other grav vehicles; hence it looses thrust beyond 10 diameters. This is scarcely a concern though as the crafts design criteria keeps it well within the gravity well so a secondary drive is not included, though can be added. When this is done, the grav drive is often replaced with a higher tech back-engineered deep space thrust drive to allow interplanetary flights between neighbouring worlds. Newer versions of the craft are being built from the keel up with deep space thrusters.
On the plus side though its airframe hull will allow the craft to function aerodynamically and glide to a dead stick landing in the event of drive failure as like the Slow Boat it has a dual wheel/skid landing system.
Another unique feature of the craft is that its airlock is extendable (a few meters) and can tilt through 90 degrees, to allowing docking on the exterior of stations and large ships so that passengers can enter and leave either vertically or horizontally. This also makes the shuttle useful for some rescue work.
Crew detail is simply 1 x commander, 1 x pilot; it's the commander's job to co-ordinate with local traffic control and provide telemetry and sensor data etc to the pilot.
There are two common versions of this craft a passenger mover (listed below) and a pure cargo variant (listed later)
Passenger Shuttle
Class: Small Craft. Ep Output: 3.0 Tech Level: 8 Agility:0 Size: (medium 100 Tons) Initiative: 0 Streamlining: Streamlined. AC: 10 Jump Range: None Repulsors: None Acceleration 3G Nuclear Dampers: None Fuel 3.0 Tons (Radioactives) Meson Screens: None Duration: 4 weeks Black Globes: None Crew: 2 AR: 0 Staterooms: none SI: 100 Small Cabins: none Main Computer: Model 2 Bunks: 0 Sensor Range: Close (model 1) Couches: 50 (+ 2 on bridge) Comm. Range: Close (model 1) Low Berths: 0 Cargo Space: 15 Tons Cost: Mcr 56.5 (Mcr 45.2 in Quantity) Atmospheric speeds Noe= 1325 kph Cruising = 3975 kph Maximum = 5300 kph Other Equipment: none Design Worksheet. (Passenger version) Installed Component Tonnage MCR Ep Notes. Hull +100 12.0 ---- Wedge Upgrade Streamlining 5.0 1.2 ---- Airframe Bridge 20.0 0.5 ---- Computer 0.1 5.8 ---- Model 2 Avionics 0.8 (1.8) ---- Model 2 Sensors 0.3 (0.6) ---- Model 1 Commo 0.2 (0.5) ---- Model 1 M-Drive 8.0 4.0 -3.0 3G Grav Thruster Power Plant 4.0 18.0 +3.0 Fission Tl-8 Fuel 4 weeks 4.0 ---- ---- Radioactives Small Craft Couches x 100 50 15 ---- 100 Passengers Cargo 15 ---- ---- Totals 100.0 56.5 3.0 Excess Power = None
Original T4 Design: not credited
Design Adapted for T20, by Mark Bridgeman.
Cargo Shuttle
Class: Small Craft. Ep Output: 3.0 Tech Level: 8 Agility:0 Size: (medium 100 Tons) Initiative: 0 Streamlining: Streamlined. AC: 10 Jump Range: None Repulsors: None Acceleration 3G Nuclear Dampers: None Fuel 3.0 Tons (Radioactives) Meson Screens: None Duration: 4 weeks Black Globes: None Crew: 2 AR: 0 Staterooms: none SI: 100 Small Cabins: none Main Computer: Model 2 Bunks: 0 Sensor Range: Close (model 1) Couches: 2 on bridge Comm. Range: Close (model 1) Low Berths: 0 Cargo Space: 65 Tons Cost: Mcr 41.5 (Mcr 33.2 in Quantity) Atmospheric speeds Noe= 1325 kph Cruising = 3975 kph Maximum = 5300 kph Other Equipment: none Design Worksheet. (Passenger version) Installed Component Tonnage MCR Ep Notes. Hull +100 12.0 ---- Wedge Upgrade Streamlining 5.0 1.2 ---- Airframe Bridge 20.0 0.5 ---- Computer 0.1 5.8 ---- Model 2 Avionics 0.8 (1.8) ---- Model 2 Sensors 0.3 (0.6) ---- Model 1 Commo 0.2 (0.5) ---- Model 1 M-Drive 8.0 4.0 -3.0 3G Grav Thruster Power Plant 4.0 18.0 +3.0 Fission Tl-8 Fuel 4 weeks 4.0 ---- ---- Radioactives Cargo 65.0 ---- ---- Totals 100.0 41.5 3.0 Excess Power = None
Design by Mark Bridgeman
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