Yes, gravitics change a lot. But you still need streamlining to operate in an atmosphere -- both per the rules, and per reasonable extrapolation. A streamlined shape will move through the air more easily, with less turbulence. This is going to be especially true for a fighter, which presumably will be zipping around at high Mach numbers. All those smooth curves and fairings are dead mass for a vacuum fighter. On Tue, Oct 7, 2014 at 11:22 AM, Jeffrey Schwartz <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote: > On Tue, Oct 7, 2014 at 2:06 PM, Greg Nokes <xxxxxx@nokes.name> wrote: >> On Oct 7, 2014, at 12:53 PM, Craig Berry <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> The idea of a dual-mode vacuum and atmospheric fighter has never made >> sense to me. The optimizations for each of them are so different that >> in combining them you end up with the worst of both worlds >> >> >> I don’t really see that. >> >> TTL-13/14/15 fighters are probably just armored wedges with gravatic >> controls. No need for an airframe. If you get hit hard enough to damage your >> gravitics, you likely are not going to need to be concerned about any sort >> of glide path, much likely anything else. >> >> Both atmospheric and space are optimizing for low surface area (lighter >> armor) given enough to mount weapons and sensors. Wedge and flattened >> sphere’s seem a great tradeoff. >> >> Also, Space optimized fighters are likely to be as armored as tanks, and as >> well armed. Well, at least CT/MT types. And if you want your pilots to be >> able to have somewhat normal kids, having them well armored and/or shielded >> is essential. >> > > I agree that gravitics is the game-changer (no pun intended) > > Your comment about 'armored as tanks' also made me think... > I vaguely remember stories about during WWII/Europe, there were > sorties of aircraft (Mustangs?) that would fly in ground-effect over > France, stretching their fuel. They were used as a sort of raiding > cavalry force, cruising around looking for things to shoot up and > being on call to deliver lots of bullets if the infantry yelled for > them. > > I can picture fighters being in that role - sort of "heavy-heavy-battle-dress" > ----- > The Traveller Mailing List > Archives at http://archives.simplelists.com/tml > Report problems to xxxxxx@travellercentral.com > To unsubscribe from this list please goto > http://www.simplelists.com/confirm.php?u=PltOdItWBSgOP4y0Q6abkGbDI1eus0lz -- Craig Berry (http://google.com/+CraigBerry) "Eternity is in love with the productions of time." - William Blake
