Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I spent some time this past weekend looking at my copies of US Civil Aircraft by Juptner and the Flyer design in T5, seeing if I could at least plug the following aircraft into the system without really designing them inside of Vehicle Maker: the Curtiss Condor T-32 biplane transport, the Stimson Trimotor, and the Waco S3HD-A.
The Curtiss Condor was a good-size biplane transport capable of carrying 15 passengers at 145 mph for about 600 miles. It received its Approved Type Certificate on March 16, 1933.
The Stimson Trimotor was an 8 passenger, plus 2 pilots and a stewardess, light transport with 3 engines, and excellent Short Take Off and Landing abilities. It received its Approved Type Certificate on September 25, 1934.
The Waco S3HD-A was a high-performance (at the time) 2-place biplane marketed as a multi-role military aircraft primarily to South American countries. It was just about as fast as the current crop of biplane fighters, and carried two .30 caliber machine guns in the lower wing firing outside of the propeller arc, a .30 caliber machine gun in the back for the rear gunner, and had racks for 10 fragmentation bombs under the fuselage. It was quite a nice fighter-bomber. Its Approved Type Certificate was issued on July 26, 1935. A slightly later version did very well with sales to South America.
While doing this, I did run into some problems.
This shows up in the Flyer Options text, but does not appear on the Options chart. I am not sure why this is viewed as an Option, as just about all aircraft up to roughly the mid 1930s could operate off of open flat ground.
The Waco can carry 3 machine guns, along with 2 bomb racks. Does each of the machine guns and bomb racks count as a weapons mount? Would the Waco qualify as a "Protector" with respect to mission or as an "Attack/Combat" Flyer?
I am not sure what "free or available transport tonnage" is.
Both the Condor and the Stimson have wing-mounted engines that are not exactly small. Am I correct that the engines and nacelles would count as tonnage?
Both the Stimson and Waco are capable of STOL performance, does that mean that the cost increases by 50,000 Credits? The Condor and the Waco could be equipped to floats? Is the 100,000 Credit cost for the floats included as well, or only when equipped with them? Note, periodically in Juptner, the cost of floats are mentioned, generally running for under $1000 in the 1920s and 1930s. I am not sure how much the floats for the Condor cost.
Lastly, I do have prices for the aircraft in 1930s US Dollars. As I see it, I have several options to convert those into Imperial Credits. I could use the Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator ti convert from 1934 Dollars to 1977 Dollars, and figure that is the cost in Credits. I could use the value of an ounce of gold, at this time, $35 per ounce, divide the cost of the aircraft by 35 and then multiply by 200, which is the value of an ounce of gold in Credits given in Research Station Gamma. I could use the conversion tables given in the Trade and Commerce article in JTAS 4 for the value of a credit from a Tech Level 5 World. I could try to figure out the cost under Vehicle Maker. I could simply give the price in Dollars, and let the user decide.
I am ignoring the whole Beast Power chart, as it does not seem to have either a cost effect or affect the volume or load.
The Curtiss Condor was a good-size biplane transport capable of carrying 15 passengers at 145 mph for about 600 miles. It received its Approved Type Certificate on March 16, 1933.
The Stimson Trimotor was an 8 passenger, plus 2 pilots and a stewardess, light transport with 3 engines, and excellent Short Take Off and Landing abilities. It received its Approved Type Certificate on September 25, 1934.
The Waco S3HD-A was a high-performance (at the time) 2-place biplane marketed as a multi-role military aircraft primarily to South American countries. It was just about as fast as the current crop of biplane fighters, and carried two .30 caliber machine guns in the lower wing firing outside of the propeller arc, a .30 caliber machine gun in the back for the rear gunner, and had racks for 10 fragmentation bombs under the fuselage. It was quite a nice fighter-bomber. Its Approved Type Certificate was issued on July 26, 1935. A slightly later version did very well with sales to South America.
While doing this, I did run into some problems.
Wilderness Kit. The Flyer (usually Winged) is adapted to landing on open flat ground and does not require a runway. This kit includes STOL capability. Available on Heavy or smaller Flyers.
This shows up in the Flyer Options text, but does not appear on the Options chart. I am not sure why this is viewed as an Option, as just about all aircraft up to roughly the mid 1930s could operate off of open flat ground.
The Waco can carry 3 machine guns, along with 2 bomb racks. Does each of the machine guns and bomb racks count as a weapons mount? Would the Waco qualify as a "Protector" with respect to mission or as an "Attack/Combat" Flyer?
Standard or larger Vehicles can carry operators and passengers equal to tonnage.
Free or available transport tonnage on a Vehicle can be modified to carry passengers (appropriate seating, access doors) at up to 4 passengers per ton.
I am not sure what "free or available transport tonnage" is.
Dimensions should be reasonably compact; adjust them as necessary. Ignore wings and wing tonnage.
Both the Condor and the Stimson have wing-mounted engines that are not exactly small. Am I correct that the engines and nacelles would count as tonnage?
Both the Stimson and Waco are capable of STOL performance, does that mean that the cost increases by 50,000 Credits? The Condor and the Waco could be equipped to floats? Is the 100,000 Credit cost for the floats included as well, or only when equipped with them? Note, periodically in Juptner, the cost of floats are mentioned, generally running for under $1000 in the 1920s and 1930s. I am not sure how much the floats for the Condor cost.
Lastly, I do have prices for the aircraft in 1930s US Dollars. As I see it, I have several options to convert those into Imperial Credits. I could use the Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator ti convert from 1934 Dollars to 1977 Dollars, and figure that is the cost in Credits. I could use the value of an ounce of gold, at this time, $35 per ounce, divide the cost of the aircraft by 35 and then multiply by 200, which is the value of an ounce of gold in Credits given in Research Station Gamma. I could use the conversion tables given in the Trade and Commerce article in JTAS 4 for the value of a credit from a Tech Level 5 World. I could try to figure out the cost under Vehicle Maker. I could simply give the price in Dollars, and let the user decide.
I am ignoring the whole Beast Power chart, as it does not seem to have either a cost effect or affect the volume or load.