Johannes wrote some days ago: > Would a hoverbike work with the intended TL?
I have a first draft and some thoughts. Hoverbikes are not a common sight in the Stargate SG-1 setting, but you're right that they make a lot of sense is a setting with smallish stargates on the surface of planets -- if they are workable. * What is a hoverbike? The name suggests that it can hover, but in GURPS 3E most drives which allow hovering also allow flight. The exceptions are hovercraft and flarecraft, which don't have right look-and-feel. An Airbike, then. * According to the game rules, you could use jet engines or ducted fans with vectored thrust, but common sense says that is doesn't work for a "bike". Too much risk that something gets sucked into the fan. That leaves reactionless thrusters or contragrav plus some other engine (reactionless or relatively low-powered fans or jet engines). * Why would one call it a bike/bicycle? Assume that the word has lost all meaning, or will there be two big round thingies? * A pure reactionless airbike needs some reserve thrust to fly on worlds with more than one G. Where is the design limit? 1.2 G? 1.5 G? 2 G? The reserve thrust allows fast flight at 1 G. * What look-and-feel do I want, anyway? Two examples come to my mind: First, there are the speeder bikes from Star Wars. Fast, little or no protection for the riders who sit ON the bike, armed, not much cargo. A cycle crew station, using the terms of VE75. Then there is Niven's Ringworld. Fast, not so small, with seats partly within the bike, enough cargo for an expedition. An exposed crew station, much like the cockpit of an early plane. * With a cycle seat, it is relatively cheap to add a second seat. It will probably fly with two persons, just with a lower margin for high-G worlds. With an exposed crew station, adding another is going to be expensive, especially in "lost" volume. At T11, the second option would be roughly this: Empty weight 1,600 lbs., one operator and 200 lbs. cargo, loaded weight 2,000 lbs., thrust 4,000 lbs., more than 400 mph. Plenty of payload for sensors, armor, etc. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
