Solomani Confederation (Military)

That's probably true, but the original comment was explicitly about the IISS being a subordinate service to the Imperial Navy.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships




Q. That left an impression on me, when I first saw it.

R. Fandom says they were orbitting at twenty klix.

S. Vehicles makes little distinction between balloons, blimps, or zeppelins.

T. But cheaper and easier to kit them out as surveillance and communications nodes.

U. And with blimps, they can move coverage at a controlled rate.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

V. Most aircraft (vehicles that use the Flyer skill) are designed for a specific atmosphere and planetary gravity.

W. This means aircraft can only fly on worlds with Size and Atmosphere types within 2 of their world of creation.

X. For example, an aircraft manufactured on a world with Size 7 and Atmosphere 7 could function properly on worlds with Atmosphere 5–9, and Size 5–9.

Y. Aircraft suffer DM-1 to all checks made to control them if they are not within their home Atmosphere and/or Size types, and cannot fly at all if they are operating beyond the range listed above.

Z. In any case, aircraft require a minimum Atmosphere code of 1 in order to function.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

1. I sort of wondered how that works with airships.

2. I would guess that it's a question of gas mix, since greater lift would be achieved with the same ratio on lower gravitated worlds.

3. And vice versa.

4. I would assume that lower atmospheric pressure would potentially expand the gasbag, possibly to the point of bursting, though not change the lift.

5. I would have thought that not using the same amount of lifting gas, would resolve that issue, though lower lift.

6. I don't think the type of propulsion strays far from a ducted fan, or internal combustion engine.

7. Increased efficiency, expressed in range, would be improved internal combustion engines.

8. Or, maybe electricity.

9. A thinner atmosphere, I would think, be less amenable to movement by air pushed by a propeller.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

A. And so, we come up with the concept of waft/raft.

B. That would be a technological level seven lifting body, high speed band (upto three hundred klix an hour), six thousand klix range.

C. This is a hybrid aircraft, combining rigid wings and a lift-generating fuselage with a gas envelope which, in itself, is capable of supporting the entire craft.

D. Eight usable spaces from a thirty two space allocation, base cost of fifty two kilostarbux.

E. Presumably, one crew, five passengers, a quarter tonne cargo, and a quarter tonne in armour protection.

F. That would be two plus twelve equals fourteen points of, presumably steel, armour points, cost at twenty four percent of ten and one fifth kilostarbux, being 12'480 starbux.


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Confederation Navy: Airships

G. We'll continue with the whiff/skiff.

H. Parameters are the same as the waft/raft, except it's a blimp.

I. Eighty spaces, with eight of them usable, and a downgrade of speed to medium band, built at technological level six.

J. Cost is cheaper, with the base of twenty four kilostarbux, and armour worth 5'760 starbux.

K. I would guess that if you left it at the basic two armour points, it could be wicker basket with a reinforced floor.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

L. I'm not too sure what the optimal size for an airship is, for a military institution that can just send in an armoured armed assault shuttle, doing a mail run.

M. Whatever that is, it going to be termed the float/boat.

N. The two candidates are something that takes up thirty tonnes of shipping space, halved from sixty tonnes economy of scale.

O. The other which acts as a disguise for replacing the gondola with a smallcraft with a manoeuvre drive, that just uses enough thrust to replicate the movement of an airship.

P. It seems that the Goodyear blimp has a construction cost of a tad above twenty megagreenbux, and at that point, you might as well just go with a vertical take off and landing smallcraft, if between technological levels nine and ten.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

Q. While blimps are cheaper than lifting bodies, they require twice as much shipping space for a given amount of usable volume.

R. And, as we all know, that space is expensive.

S. Plus, they're faster, default, by a hundred klix an hour.

T. Lifting bodies are carried by Confederation starships.

U. And blimps are manufactured locally, by regional subcontractors.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

V. A little calculation had a three five tonne docking space result in a thirty eight and a half tonne volume.

W. That would be a seven hundred seventy space lifting body, with one hundred fifty four usable spaces.

X. At one million ten thousand starbux.

Y. Usual technological level seven, high speed band, six thousand klix range.

Z. We'll call it lift/air.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

1. While the thirty eight and a half tonnes could be found in a cargo hold, you could also evict a medium fighter, or standard shuttle, from it's docking station, for the duration.

2. It's possible that the full thousand spaces could have been designed around, but that would have required a docking space for a 45.4545454545 tonne smallcraft.

3. Minus off the spaces needed for a crew, usable space of one hundred fifty four, has the potential of over thirty tonnes of cargo.

4. The Lockheed Hercules has a listed cargo capacity of twenty tonnes.

5. It has a speed below six hundred klix an hour.

6. At a range of under four thousand klix.

7. Highest altitude of an airship would be over eight klix, but would still have to move around Everest.

8. The Hercules can reach ten klix high.

9. Maximum speed would still be half of the Hercules, at three hundred klix per hour.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

A. At the lower end, the Navy keeps a fleet of ten space lift/airs, for a variety of light communications duties.

B. While ballooning to over six times that of a ubiquitous air/raft, it is cheaper at a base sixty five kilostarbux.

C. Speed is upto three hundred klix, but some examples have been tweaked to go faster.

D. Or, create greater capacity, at the expense of range and/or speed.

E. Being larger, prevents being able to squeeze into tight spaces.

F. It does demonstrate the perceived importance of naval operations.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

G. A direct analogue to the air/raft is somewhat difficult.

H. Which leaves us with creating a vehicle that can do eighty percent of what the air/raft supposedly can do, at twenty percent of the price.

I. With the size differential ballooning to four hundred percent.

J. That would be eight spaces, at high speed, with a range of a thousand klix.

K. One crew, five passengers, and a quarter tonne of cargo.
 
Confederation Navy: Airships

L. Party of six, plus gear, can fit into a ten (usable) space(r).

M. In terms of physical signatures, a blimp of almost any dimensions isn't as stealthy as an eight spacer grav vehicle.

N. As a runabout, you could have a four spacer, with one crew and three passengers.

O. In theory, that's a capacity of one tonne, so cargo would be weight of crew, plus passengers, plus carryon baggage.

P. If the average weight of a human is sixty two kilogrammes, that carryon (and seating) could be three quarters of a tonne.
 
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