04-12-2014, 02:35 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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[Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
OK, page 30 in Spaceships (The original, 4e one, Stock #37-0120), the section on Winged suggests that spaceships with wings get better performance in atmosphere, but I can't seem to find anything that backs this up.
So, question, am I reading too much into something or is there something I can't find or missing? |
04-12-2014, 02:59 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
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Re: [Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
The details for aerial performance are on p. 35 of the same book. The exact bonuses for wings are +4 to Hnd and +1 to SR.
Hope this helps.
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"Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991 "But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!" The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation. Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting |
04-12-2014, 03:30 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: [Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
Thanks. And no it doesn't, I was hopping for a speed boost or something. I may just end up using boosted performance chemical rockets (The ones in Spaceships are actually worse performers then the SSME's)
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04-12-2014, 04:01 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
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Re: [Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
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For example, look at the swing-wing feature on the F-14 Tomcat. It uses its wings in full extension during takeoff and landing, but when it shifts to supersonic flight it pulls its wings in closer to the body. The first situation gives more lift and greater drag due to having more of the wing edge exposed to the oncoming air. The second reduces drag and wing edge; the plane cuts through the air faster. If it tried to go supersonic with the wings extended, the wings would get pulled off from the air pressures at those velocities. Indeed, some of the fastest fighter planes ever flown have almost no wing, but they also tended to have a very wide turning radius, making the slower but more maneuverable planes better at dogfighting. For a smaller example, look at the speeds of dogfighting missiles compared to those of cruise missiles. Dogfighting missiles that have almost no wing (maneuvering flaps at best) have speeds of Mach 3+, while cruise missiles with a long wing are subsonic. Clear as mud?
__________________
"Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991 "But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!" The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation. Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting |
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04-12-2014, 04:27 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: [Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
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And are there rules for things like ram and scram jets in something somewhere for Spaceships? Or any other high altitude propulsion systems? (And who decided that ram rocket Nuclear Thermal Rockets would work without super-science?) |
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04-12-2014, 07:15 AM | #6 | |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: [Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
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04-12-2014, 07:44 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Oregon
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Re: [Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
Spaceships doesn't go into very much detail on the specifics of its propulsion systems. The basic Jet Engines are actually turbo ramjets or scramjets, functioning in a minimum of 0.1 atmos with no limit on top speed.
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04-12-2014, 08:56 AM | #8 | ||
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: [Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
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Wings are most useful for landing, though. They impose no weight penalty unlike a Soft-Landing System (in the rules, not reality) and allow you to use aerodynamic landing (easier and requiring no fuel) rather than having to pull off a vertical powered landing. Quote:
Uh. Tons of people? Like, Project Pluto plus a huge number of old-time futurist types talking about nuclear-powered airplanes and such. Why would you say they can't?
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
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04-12-2014, 12:44 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: [Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
0.15 mps delta-V for a 5% mass fraction corresponds to an ISp of about 490, which is significantly better than the SSME.
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04-12-2014, 02:27 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: [Spaceships] Winged Spaceships
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As for NTR ram rockets, there was research into them in the 50's and early 60's. The Russian's actually got a plane off the ground using them. They did this by removing most if not all shielding from the reactor and using a Direct Air Cycle system, the words environmental disaster spring to mind. |
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