Lifters: The Other Landing Gear?

[rinku]

TNE (and MegaTraveller) were accounting for individual workstations. A lot of ship systems are just part of the hull or bridge cost in both CT and MGT.

Lifters being part of a standard hull's gravitics are good enough, just as G-compensators are part of the M-Drive.

 

[Endie]

On the basic practicality: the Martin II in the Treasure Ship adventure (PoD Episode 2) is stated as being supported by grav lifters.

It's possible, but judging from its relative scarcity in the books it's presumably not an efficient or desirable practise for some reason.

 

[Vormaerin]

In TNE though they were replacing entirely Man Drives and Thruster Plates. Frank Chadwick's mantra during development of TNE was "no more reactionless drives!" (of course, there was an outcry, and they snuck back in as an 'alternate technology' in FF&S).

They were not entirely replacing them. They have the same relationship to reaction drives as they do to reactionless drives: negating planetary gravity so you can lift off with less thrust required.

TNE (and MegaTraveller) were accounting for individual workstations. A lot of ship systems are just part of the hull or bridge cost in both CT and MGT.

Lifters being part of a standard hull's gravitics are good enough, just as G-compensators are part of the M-Drive.

yeah, that's why we are having this thread about what do they actually do and how do they work. And have a lot of similar conversations about all sorts of other "it's just part of the hull" stuff like airlocks.

 

[collins355]

They were not entirely replacing them. They have the same relationship to reaction drives as they do to reactionless drives: negating planetary gravity so you can lift off with less thrust required.

Good point - I worded my post carelessly. The "lifters" in TNE were part of an ecosystem that differed from the rest of Traveller canon in that Man drives and thruster plates no longer existed. TNE contragravity negated almost all gravity, but did not provide any thrust. You needed to fit a thrust agency (rocket, propellor, etc) in order to go anywhere.