Scott Kellogg (2-G Scott) writes:
>
> Hans made a few comments on Naval construction.
>
> Well, I'll try to give a few reactions.
>
> 1) Inertial compensators:
> My reading of inertial comps, is that the compensators in place can handle at
> LEAST 6G's of acceleration just fine. In my opinion, the big fast military
> ships cost too much already (at least they do as compared to High Guard).
> Having to install 6 times as much Inertial Compensators would just add to the
> cost of the whole thing.
>
> To justify this, I would say that the reason a Merchant ship would want the
> ability to handle accelerations higher than their maneuver drive is for
> collisions. There was a bit in MegaTJournal #2, where they talk about a ship
> that hit (essentually) an airborne whale. The crew died because their
> inertial comps were out. This suggests that they would have survived had they
> been functional. Well, I'll tell you an impact like that is gonna produce
> an acceleration of a LOT more than 6 Gs. To my mind this indicates the comps
> can handle a lot MORE than 6G Gs when working properly. When you're loaded up
> with breakable cargo, or passengers, or cargo that you don't wanna shift
> around a lot. The extra bit of compensation is justifiable.
The _only_ time you would need extra inertial compensation (above the drive
rating, or at least above the emergency drive rating) is for an impact or other
sudden acceleration. Personally, I don't believe it will work in such a case.
It's been a long time since I was in basic physics, but I work with artillery
projectiles now...a sudden deceleration from aircraft or spacecraft speeds
could be almost as bad as the acceleration experienced in a gun tube by the
shell, which is measured in 1000s of Gs. I think a crash is a crash, and
DGP hadn't thought through the business of inertial compensators when they put
them in MT. In fact, I gather from what I've read in MTJ, TD and on GEnie that
they don't think that they necessarily have anything to do with grav technology
at all. Naturally, I don't like that viewpoint, and treat them as grav plates
mounted along the line of thrust.
Rob Dean