Gravitics, aerodynamics etc.

I think somewhere in the Traveller rules, it is mentioned that only ships
with a certain configuration (needle/cone and wedge) can take off and land
on planets with an atmosphere.  It seems to me that because they
are aerodynamic, they must be able to take off and land horizontally.  This
could be why scouts only need to have drives in the rear.

But (now for the bit where I demolish my own argument), this doesn't work
in worlds with gravity and no atmosphere, where it won't be possible to get
enough lift for horizontal flight.  So possibly some kind of launch ramp could
be used as a compromise between horizontal and vertical lift off (this of
course raises the question of uninhabited zero atmosphere planets....).

Andy Coombes
Department of Computer Science,
York University,
England.


All opinions and material above is the responsibility of the originator.
Submissions: [email removed], or [email removed]
Administrator: [email removed] (James Perkins)
The TML is made possible by facilities provided by Tektronix, Inc.