Are TL4 'Rocket-Pack's Possible?

[scc]

I'm not talking about traditional rocket or jet-packs, but rather a powered glider. Leonardo da Vinci's glider is TL4, so it's believable that someone could design one that could actually work, the major hurdles would be finding enough money and test pilots to work out the bugs and for the setting I'm working on those aren't major issues.

What I'm wondering is how well someone getting the idea to strap a gunpowder rocket or two to one to one to get some extra lift and/or speed might work out in a cinematic campaign.

[The Colonel]

Gadgeteering seems an obvious route - in fact, as I understand the cinematic gadgeteering rules, this is exactly the sort of thing they are intended for.

[garfield]

Originally Posted by scc

What I'm wondering is how well someone getting the idea to strap a gunpowder rocket or two to one to one to get some extra lift and/or speed might work out in a cinematic campaign.

I would think that the biggest problem is to convert the undirectional "explosive" power of the gunpowder into a directional streaming that gives the wanted boost.
The "rocket motor" (i.e. the burn-chamber of rockets) is a non-trivial machine (although nothing moves).

just my 2 cents ...

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by garfield

I would think that the biggest problem is to convert the undirectional "explosive" power of the gunpowder into a directional streaming that gives the wanted boost.
The "rocket motor" (i.e. the burn-chamber of rockets) is a non-trivial machine (although nothing moves).

just my 2 cents ...

Rockets predate aa Vinci by at least a century.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Rockets predate aa Vinci by at least a century.

Rather more than that, really.

To answer the thread question; if you mean "Build a TL4 glider with a black-powder-rocket-assisted launch", then the answer would be "probably", in the sense that you can gather enough black powder to throw someone into the air, and glider wings that could in principle enable a skilled pilot to get back to the ground again alive. If you mean "Could you do this to any useful effect in a faintly realistic setting?", then the answer would be "aaargh, those poor test pilots and their families". I'm pretty sure that you'd regularly kill off pilots in routine use; the casualty rate in the development process would be... unspeakable. Even by TL4 standards.

Getting any kind of useful control in rocket-powered flight takes you to TL(4+2), pretty much by definition; TL4 black powder rockets burn until they stop (which can mean "burn out" or "explode"). Actually, getting good enough glider control to make safe landings more likely than not probably makes the thing TL(4+1), minimum.

However, the first answer means that, if you're talking about a cinematic clockpunk game, please feel free to have rocket-launched glider recon and assault forces. Though even there, they should probably all to a man have the Daredevil advantage.

[newton]

sounds like it works best as a “i have an idea but you won’t like it” sorta plan cause you’re probably gonna die if it doesn’t work.

[The Colonel]

Esoteric Chinese know-wotz would also work, albeit more Victorian in flavour than TL4 - I could definitely imagine Chinese man-carrying kites boosted to altitude by rockets.
It's not remotely realistic, but since the OP specified cinematic I'm not sure that we care.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by scc

What I'm wondering is how well someone getting the idea to strap a gunpowder rocket or two to one to one to get some extra lift and/or speed might work out in a cinematic campaign.

I'm 90% sure that these already have (3e) stats in one of the GURPS Alternate Earths books. However, by brain can't sort out if it was Romans, Aztecs, or Ming using them.

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by martinl

I'm 90% sure that these already have (3e) stats in one of the GURPS Alternate Earths books. However, by brain can't sort out if it was Romans, Aztecs, or Ming using them.

There was a steampunk glider article in Pyramid, which included rocket boosted gliders. Might be what you're thinking of.

[smurf]

Originally Posted by scc

I'm not talking about traditional rocket or jet-packs, but rather a powered glider. Leonardo da Vinci's glider is TL4, so it's believable that someone could design one that could actually work, the major hurdles would be finding enough money and test pilots to work out the bugs and for the setting I'm working on those aren't major issues.

What I'm wondering is how well someone getting the idea to strap a gunpowder rocket or two to one to one to get some extra lift and/or speed might work out in a cinematic campaign.

The glider is relatively easy. Models can be made and made bigger and bigger.

The problem with gunpowder is it is an explosive, if it goes wrong then bang goes a PC. Also, the size to produce any significant boost for propelling a 50 to 70kg human any distance will require the proverbial bucket of thrust.

It could be possible to have hot air balloons or an aerial propeller for the glider or balloons.