Quick Jump Turnaround

[Terry Mixon]

The hull energy cost is required regardless of maneuver drive if the ship is to have gravitics.

Technically you can not install a gravitic maneuver drive on a non-gravitic hull, otherwise what are the additional EPs being charged for if the gravitic maneuver drive handles the artificial gravity and inertial compensation...

or can we now have acceleration compensation without artificial gravity? If so always choose a non-gravitic hull to halve the EPs and design your ship as a tail sitter for m-drive acceleration based artificial gravity with the comfort of acceleration compensation provided by the gravitic maneuver drive...

or as I imagine to be the intent - gravitic maneuver drives require a grav plate equipped hull to also bolt on the acceleration compensation.

When I build my pods, I base them off what is in Element Class Cruisers, so they are basically ships without engines and pay the full hull cost. For the self-mobile ones, they even have drives of their own and robotic pilots to make them drone ships. They generate and pay for their own hull energy costs and gravitics.

 

[Sigtrygg]

I don't use spreadsheets, I use the rules as they are written.

On his spreadsheet you should be able to specify a non-gravitic hull and a maneuver drive, that is what the rules say.

So a ship with acceleration compensation but no artificial gravity.

 

[Terry Mixon]

I don't use spreadsheets, I use the rules as they are written.

On his spreadsheet you should be able to specify a non-gravitic hull and a maneuver drive, that is what the rules say.

So a ship with acceleration compensation but no artificial gravity.

His spreadsheet does allow you to specify that. I just built them beefier. My design choice.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Cargo pod, not self mobile.



Fuel pod, not self mobile and also non gravititc.


Cargo pod, self mobile.

 

[Sigtrygg]

So you can save a lot of EPs by building tail sitting merchants...

hmm, a TL9 merchant with non-gravity hull and a 2g maneuver drive... much smaller power plant, therfore a lot cheaper...

I wonder if an even cheaper budget merchant is possible...

 

[Terry Mixon]

So you can save a lot of EPs by building tail sitting merchants...

hmm, a TL9 merchant with non-gravity hull and a 2g maneuver drive... much smaller power plant, therfore a lot cheaper...

I wonder if an even cheaper budget merchant is possible...

I’m confident that it is.

 

[Condottiere]

Instead of drop tank, think crushed can.

Hard enough to store liquid hydrogen, soft enough to collapse when sucked.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Instead of drop tank, think crushed can.

Hard enough to store liquid hydrogen, soft enough to collapse when sucked.

Like the collapsible fuel bladders but external? Not sure how long it would remain functional.

 

[Condottiere]

Not collapsible fuel bladder.

Likely aluminum.

The tanks need a certain rigidity, if only to emulate the original ones.

The suction causes a natural collapse due to, I would suppose, lack of internal pressure.

This means that the tanks are still attached, but occupy less volume.

 

[Hardwire]

It would stay very functional if you also carried it in a jumpnet.

 

[Condottiere]

You want it to collapse, and still attached externally.

That removes a number of factors, like explosive bolts, and whether they are reusable.

They aren't, and if you want to repeat this, you'll have to unbolt them.

This is just a fun thought experiment, because at some point someone will wonder why this can't be done with the fuel bladders.

Could be, aluminum has just enough rigidity to be used during the jump fuel suction.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Make them deployable. Make them external and collapsable. Take the collapsed volume and put that in a docking Space (tonnage collapsed +10%). Now you have a deployable external fuel bladder.

Edit - This means that they can be too big to jump before you use the fuel, but the perfect size to jump once the fuel is expended.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Not collapsible fuel bladder.

Likely aluminum.

The tanks need a certain rigidity, if only to emulate the original ones.

The suction causes a natural collapse due to, I would suppose, lack of internal pressure.

This means that the tanks are still attached, but occupy less volume.

And wouldn’t be usable again? I could buy into that.

 

[Sigtrygg]

The can collapses due to external air pressure.

A drop tank would not collapse as there is no outside pressure pushing in.

 

[ishldgetoutmore]

The suction causes a natural collapse due to, I would suppose, lack of internal pressure.

Uh... Why would they collapse from lack of internal pressure? If they're external, there's no external pressure to collapse them. External pods aren't going to be pressurized, that would waste good atmo.

If they're in the cargo hold... maybe? I haven't given thought what the air pressure is on the spaceship. On Earth, it's the weight of the piles of atmosphere above; on the spaceship you would need to pressurize the capsule artificially.

Okay, apparently the space shuttle was kept at 14.7 psi, so that would work in the cargo hold.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

If they're in the cargo hold... maybe?

Depends on how open the ships air system is and the size of the container. Small enough and the container collapses. Large enough and it collapses part way until the outside and inside pressure plus the strength of the container balance. This is bad as it drops the air pressure fairly rapidly on the ship as a whole (unless safeties cut off the area the drop is taking place in). Could set off alarms that your hull has been holed.

 

[Condottiere]

Remember, the goal is to decrease volume you're taking down the rabbit hole with you.

 

[Terry Mixon]

It could have a hydraulic or mechanical means to collapse.

 

[MasterGwydion]

It could have a hydraulic or mechanical means to collapse.

Use the drop tank connections. Then the suction from those connections collapses the external tank with negative pressure from the fuel being sucked out.

 

[Sigtrygg]

There is no such thing, suction is the result of an external pressure pushing.
If there is no pressure inside the tank and no pressure outside the tank the tank walls do not move.

The fuel in the tank is under pressure, it is pushing against the walls of the tank. Unless the tank is an elastic material as the fuel is pumped out there is no force to cause the tank to collapse.

If the drop tank is made of a rigid material it will not collapse when fuel is pumped out, if it is an elastic material that is inflated by the fuel then it will. Aluminium is not elastic.