David replied to me: > > 3 MW would allow 6 tons of vectored thrust. Subtract 2 tons > > of safety margin and 2.2 tons for the engines, and there are > > 1.8 tons for airframe and payload. That makes the equivalent > > of an observation helicopter, not a cargo carrier, which was > > another unspoken assumption. > > or a really fast "car"?
I used a 4 MW reactor for a "flying van" with four seats and 0.6 tons of cargo. Coming next week. Rotary wings are another option. Helicopters have 2.5 to 3 times the lift per KW, but the top speed is limited to 300 mph, half that of ducted fans. So high-speed catamarans, helicopters, flarecraft, and ducted fan flyers would all produce roughly the same passenger-miles or ton-miles per day per $ of sticker price. You pay for higher speed with lower payload. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
