Since I had two majors in college, physics and Architecture, I'm well versed in the matter. Not the best, but well versed. In fact my first problem the first day of class as a physics major was to take an image of a star, calculate it's distance from us, calculate the speed it was receding from us, calculate when the universe was created, it's half life, and when it would end. This was 1987 when most of us still believed the universe would eventually stop expanding and eventually collapse in on itself again.
My calculations were off by about 2 billion years. Go figure, I wasn't the best physics major.
The drives are not off axis. The are dead center. 95% of the thrust (if not more) is from the engine mass located on the center deck. Dead center of the axial mass. Right behind the power plant. NOBODY made a fuss when they saw the deck plan. Nobody has seen the rest of the elevations or sections. You are taking my longitudinal study section too literally. This is a study section, so that I can study the design, to make sure everything aligns and makes sense functionally and spatially. It is not the final section, it may cause me to change the deck plan if something doesn't make sense.
I don't care about the mass of cargo. Mass is not part of the ship building rules. If Mongoose adds mass to ship building rules, then every single design since 1977 is subject to tumble. Just because drives look centered on a flat piece of paper does not mean they are centered in the ship.
In stead of small thrusters/chemical rockets located in the nose of a ship, and various other places, used to adjust yaw, pitch, and roll, compensating for mass of various cargo, or fuel, or any other eccentric force, a ship that can manipulative gravity and create it's own gravity can adjust it's nose/heading with gravic technology. I tend to think of it as a very advanced gyroscope, but there are no moving parts. The gravic systems can tweak here and there, creating a small gravitational push/pull many times per second to keep the ship stable and level.
If gravity doesn't exist in deep space, why doesn't the galaxy fly apart?
Some of you, you can keep designing spread sheet starships.
I'll design functional, creative, interesting forms and spaces to the best of my ability for enjoyment of role players, while keeping the designs as believable as possible and to stay within the game mechanics and rules to what ever version of Traveller I'm designing them in.
And I DO welcome comments, all comments. I have modified my design twice based on comments and suggestions. But I'm not going to keep silent when very, VERY, intelligent people appear to loose perspective that this is a science fiction role-playing game set in the Far Future invented by Mark Miller in the mid 70's. And a game that uses technology that our current understanding of physics tells us CANNOT happen. Again, show the equation how a 100 dton ship can enter jump space and I'll show you the equation how small grav plates distributed in various places on the hull of ship can overcome eccentric forces so it won't tumble in deep space.
Let me be clear, because the typed word can be misleading. I am not angry or annoyed at anyone. I'm enjoying this debate with a little bit of humor. Because I have seen very smart people on various forums over the last 20+ years go to the mat, and have huge arguments with shouting, insults, name calling, questioning the IQ and understanding, or lack of, basic principals of physics and material compositions, all because they disagreed on "How thick is a traveller ships hull". No shat, that argument happened much to the delight of others on the boards. COTI,,, some time in the late 90's
I'll keep posting my designs, I'll try my best to keep make them reasonable, and flexible, and economical, and interesting, and keep the maneuver drives centered...
I appreciate any and all comments, even ones I don't necessarily like or agree with, because all comments make me think and sometimes rethink my design process.
I'm an Architect, that's what I do.
Keep perspective, keep playing Traveller.
Cheers.
