David wrote:
> A TL6 world isn't going to be able to sell a TL6 plane to someone who
> can buy a similar looking, same-capacity plane from a TL10-2 provider
> for the same or less money. The plane built by the high tech people
> would be the same basic design, but made of TL10 material. That gives
> you engine parts that never wear out when put in a tl6 engine. I
> really do mean *never* wear out.
I did the numbers. By the rules in Vehicles, TL10 cannot win
if it tries to build a plane to compete with the cheaper TL6
designs. It does win (by a good margin) if it goes for true
TL10 tech like contragrav or thrusters instead. And those
definitely require TL10 skills for maintenance and operation.
Here are the components of the TL6 ambulance floatplane:
200 kW propeller 98 lbs. $490
200 kW engine 512.5 lbs. $10,250
100 gallon tank 7 lbs. $400
200 kWs battery 5 lbs. $2.5
1 crew station 40 lbs. $100
2 seats 80 lbs. $200
non-rigid armor 72 lbs. $360
metal armor 240 lbs. $4,800
radio 2.5 lbs. $50
nav instruments 20 lbs. $500
autopilot 5 lbs. $200
stretcher 50 lbs. $100
airframe 1,200 lbs. $60,000
waterproofing $1,600
-----------------------------------------------------
2,400 lbs. $79,052.5 = Cr3,953
This TL10 version substitutes cheap materials and a plain
ceramic engine for the lower-tech advanced stuff. Even so,
it was possible to reduce the weight, and hence the wing
and pontoon size (to 20 and 40 cf, respectively). That in
turn allowed the same speed with a lower engine power.
150 kW propeller 78 lbs. $1,560
150 kW engine 465 lbs. $2,790
45 gallon tank 11.25 lbs. $450
200 kWs battery 0.2 lbs. $6
1 crew station 40 lbs. $100
2 seats 80 lbs. $200
non-rigid armor 40 lbs. $200
metal armor 112.5 lbs. $112.5
radio 0.06 lbs. $12.5
GPS 0.25 lbs. $50
autopilot 5 lbs. $200
stretcher 50 lbs. $100
airframe 650 lbs. $24,375
waterproofing $1,300
------------------------------------------------------
1,523.26 lbs. $31,456 = Cr9,751
The next TL10 version replaces the wings with contragrav
and the propeller with a reactionless thruster. Since it
is VTOL-capable, the floats are replaced by DR 5 skids.
It gains 10 mph in the bargain, too, since the thruster
has a minimum cost anyway.
320 lbs. thruster 24 lbs. $750
2-ton contragrav 12 lbs. $520
20 kW engine 75 lbs. $450
6 gallon tank 3 lbs. $30
200 kWs battery 0.2 lbs. $6
1 crew station 40 lbs. $100
2 seats 80 lbs. $200
non-rigid armor 24 lbs. $120
metal armor 50 lbs. $50
radio 0.06 lbs. $12.5
GPS 0.25 lbs. $50
autopilot 5 lbs. $200
stretcher 50 lbs. $100
airframe 340 lbs. $1,275
------------------------------------------------------
703.51 lbs. $3,863.5 = Cr1,198
Onno
PS - it would be possible to build a simple air/raft
for less than 1,000 Credits ...
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