Thrusters
In reply to #1114 Thrusters by Alan Huscroft
> From: Alan Huscroft [email removed] > Subject: (1114) Thrusters > > There is one point in the Starship Operator's Manual which grates a bit > on my sensibilities. > > The section on thrusters says that the thruster plates must be rigidly > fixed pointing in one direction, usually towards the aft end of the ship. > If you try to apply thrust in any other direction, the amount you can > get is severely limited. The upshot of this is that ships generally have > to come in to land nose-upwards and flip horizontal at the last moment. > Similarly, if you want to hover for more than a short period you have > to do it nose-upwards. Back in the days when I assumed that thrusters meant rockets (not necessarily chemical), I also assumed that most ships had grav plates, like those on grav vehicles, as part of their manoeuvre system. This allowed them to fly around a planet without frying any towns they came near, and also allowed non-aerodynamically designed ships to operate in atmospheres (e.g. the Type S scout/courier, the Type A, A1 and A2 traders, etc). "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott Adrian Hurt | JANET: [email removed] UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian | ARPA: [email removed]