How long does spacecraft maintenance take?

[heptat]

In CT, spacecraft maintenance is done as an annual overhaul. How long does this take according to canon?.

In MGT, spacecraft maintenance is done monthly. How long does it take?

And in MGT (see p178 of the core book), at what starport class can the maintenance be done? Is it A or B because only they have shipyard facilities, or is it A, B, and C (and D?) because they can do repairs? Is there any canon about this?

Thanks!

 

[BP]

Monthly maintenance?

That's wacked IMHO - it neglects the 2 week jump construct - nearly every interstellar trip where a world was visited would require maintenance!

(And no Wookies at hand...)

 

[Emperor Herdan]

Actually you PAY the Maintenance monthly, that way you dont get a huge wacking bill for the annual overhall.

Still only needs 2 weeks out of the year.

Take care

E. Herdan

 

[Infojunky]

I would assume that your engineers are doing maintenance each and everyday the plant/drive is up. Say 4 hours a day during operations. Maybe more if there is a lot wear/stress on it.

But that is my campaign. TNE has some good guidelines also...

 

[heptat]

Actually you PAY the Maintenance monthly, that way you dont get a huge wacking bill for the annual overhall.

Still only needs 2 weeks out of the year.

Take care

E. Herdan

Thanks! That makes a lot more sense.

How about required starport class? I'm going for A or B (for a typical 200t spacecraft).

 

[BP]

Whew - that's nice to know - don't have my MGT books yet (Goram USPS)!

Makes sense - so the players can be harrased for maintenance payments even if they don't have loan payments... 8)

Hmmm... So how many payments behind before repo proceedings? :twisted:

 

[drnuncheon]

Hmmm... So how many payments behind before repo proceedings? :twisted:

There's actually a roll with modifers based on distance, how long it's been since you stopped paying, how far you are from the last place you were spotted, etc.

 

[Beastttt]

I would figure that the amount of engineers needed for a ship pulling an 8 hr day 75% of that day would be just monitoring systems and the other 25% would be doing daily maintenance
this would be with the ship running normal power and not in a combat situation

with the ship powered down or minimal power sitting on the ground 1/2 as much needed

in combat the engineers will either be repairing stuff or trying to squeeze what extra they can from the system

a couple of days each week could be taken off and let the 4 hrs slip into the following days work

 

[BP]

IMTU (CT) I didn't treat annual maint like a service contract - for the independent starship owner, it was more like a recommended amount for tune-up and overhaul - if you didn't (couldn't) spend it then bad things happened (but you still gotta keep up on the loan payments). If the ship had unexpected repairs (random breakdowns), I subtracted these from the annual fee (to an extent and if I remembered).

The MGT monthly method sounds better - and for mortgaged ships, required like house insurance. Probably would still be fair to give reductions for out of cycle repairs - if done by a shipyard by same companies that would provide service based on monthly fee.

 

[heptat]

Actually you PAY the Maintenance monthly, that way you dont get a huge wacking bill for the annual overhall.

Still only needs 2 weeks out of the year.

Take care

E. Herdan

Actually, now I'm not so sure. Re-reading p138 of the core MGT book, it clearly states that maintenance should be carried out each month, and for each month skipped, there's an increasing chance the ship takes damage!

It also says a shipyard is required, so definitely a class A or B starport is required to do maintenance on a spacecraft.

 

[Golan2072]

I use a house-rule that shipyard maintenance is yearly rather than monthly and that the risk factor mentioned above is for each month after a missed yearly maintenance, like it was in CT (IIRC).

 

[BP]

... Re-reading p138 of the core MGT book, it clearly states that maintenance should be carried out each month, and for each month skipped, there's an increasing chance the ship takes damage!

Ok, that does make sense - it basically says if you do no maintenance on your car you're more likely to experience problems than someone who doesn't... your choice - pay me now or pay me later!

As long as the risks aren't exaggerated (i.e. unreasonably high risk of catastrophic failure first month or so) - this seems quite reasonable.

...It also says a shipyard is required, so definitely a class A or B starport is required to do maintenance on a spacecraft.

Again reasonable - maintenance that costs you should be in a 'properly equiped' shop, or you increase risk of not getting your monies worth. Since this maintenance costs real coin, its more than the daily maintenance you keep engineering around for and should require external ship equipment ('dry dock' style; onhand parts inventories).

 

[drnuncheon]

Monthly maintenance?

That's wacked IMHO - it neglects the 2 week jump construct - nearly every interstellar trip where a world was visited would require maintenance!

If monthly maintenance only took a day or so, it wouldn't really be that bad. (Nor unreasonably realistic - cars require maintenance every few months, fighter planes require it after every flight - and a starship has to be more complex than that)

OTOH, the book says it requires a shipyard, which would really curtail your travels.

OTGH, you can just keep doing repairs to fix the stuff that breaks until you get back and do your maintenance.

 

[Zowy]

I make my players pay twice! :twisted:

Monthly and yearly!

Monthy time is just assumed to be done when refuleing / and un/loading cargo and can be done by the crew with the equipment they a required by the 3I to have on board.

IMTU a ship must have a minimum of 1 months lifesupport / maintenance supplies on board pass a safety and customs inspection.

The yearly maintenance takes 2 weeks and costs 12 times the monthy cost + extra for skiped maintenance.

 

[BP]

Pass a safety and customs inspections..

:shock: Man what a harsh TU!

 

[Paladin]

If monthly maintenance only took a day or so, it wouldn't really be that bad. (Nor unreasonably realistic - cars require maintenance every few months, fighter planes require it after every flight - and a starship has to be more complex than that)

agreed

 

[BP]

I kinda missed the whole title of this post - How long does spacecraft maintenance take?

Core Rules - page 143 is the closest I found to addressing repair - indicating 1-6 hours, but that is not explicitly (nor the same) as maintenance.

I would say there is no hard and fast rule - since a third party is probably doing the maintence or at least third party systems (Starport facilities) are required - availability and scheduling are more likely to define the time required (kinda like taking a car to the shop - the actual work time may be far less than your without a car time).

Looks like this is a referee call - based on starport type/size/traffic, allegiance, etc. and the referee's desire to lead the players...

 

[lastbesthope]

If monthly maintenance only took a day or so, it wouldn't really be that bad. (Nor unreasonably realistic - cars require maintenance every few months, fighter planes require it after every flight - and a starship has to be more complex than that)

agreed

It's not that simple.

Fighters see more intensive use of systems than a spacecraft dfoes. At least that's the way I see it.

Compare motorbikes to cars, they need checking more often and don't have as long an engine life, due tothe higher performance gained out of them. I see similar parallels between fighters and cap ships.

LBH

 

[GypsyComet]

I kinda missed the whole title of this post - How long does spacecraft maintenance take?

Core Rules - page 143 is the closest I found to addressing repair - indicating 1-6 hours, but that is not explicitly (nor the same) as maintenance.

I would say there is no hard and fast rule - since a third party is probably doing the maintence or at least third party systems (Starport facilities) are required - availability and scheduling are more likely to define the time required (kinda like taking a car to the shop - the actual work time may be far less than your without a car time).

Looks like this is a referee call - based on starport type/size/traffic, allegiance, etc. and the referee's desire to lead the players...

Well, there's maintenance, and then there's Maintenance.

Day to day stuff actually can be approximated with the crew requirement numbers. The breakpoint at which Engineering requires an extra crewman is probably above an 8 hour day but not yet up to "all waking hours".

The annual maintenance is probably going to have a certain amount of downtime built in, but in theory any yard capable of performing it will have the spares and testing equipment needed. Since it has been possible in the past to do the annual maintenance "in the field" its more a matter of time and a crate of "one year mean lifespan" parts than any magical shipyard ability. That said I wouldn't attempt a field annual unless I had someone with actual non-zero skill in Jump Drive. Calibration checking is almsot certainly a big part of the process.

 

[BP]

We are talking Mongoose Traveller rules here !

There is a monthly maintenance that if not done imposes extra risk (ship degradtion)... no annual maintenance is explicitly covered. (Core pg 138)

Day to day stuff is inherent in having a crew - does not expressly cost for parts (crew pay though).

The monthly maintenance expressly requires a shipyard.

(And it would seem reasonable to presume the costs would cover more generally equipment, lubricants, and the like that would also be replenished for shipboard maintenance.)