Origin of the Air/Raft?

[SpaceBadger]

Anybody know from Word of Marc what was the inspiration for the Air/Raft in CT? Has he ever commented on it? The only similar vehicle I recall in SF was the air vehicle used by the Dirdir in Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure (Tschai) series. (If you read the descriptions, even the "airjeep" from some of H. Beam Piper's stories was actually usually enclosed.)

Other than possibly an homage to that series, I can't think of any other reason for such a silly vehicle - no roof? Not even a ragtop? Really?

One of the first houserules I made way way back when all I had was the Little Black Box was that aircars (not "rafts") were generally enclosed vehicles; not vacc-tight (that cost extra), but at least as well sealed as a current day small airplane. Oh, sure, you could get a ragtop or retractable hard-top convertible model if you wanted, but that wasn't the standard.

And what was the deal with the punctuation, putting a slash in the middle instead of a hyphen?

 

[Vladika]

Anybody know from Word of Marc what was the inspiration for the Air/Raft in CT? Has he ever commented on it? The only similar vehicle I recall in SF was the air vehicle used by the Dirdir in Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure (Tschai) series. (If you read the descriptions, even the "airjeep" from some of H. Beam Piper's stories was actually usually enclosed.)

Other than possibly an homage to that series, I can't think of any other reason for such a silly vehicle - no roof? Not even a ragtop? Really?

One of the first houserules I made way way back when all I had was the Little Black Box was that aircars (not "rafts") were generally enclosed vehicles; not vacc-tight (that cost extra), but at least as well sealed as a current day small airplane. Oh, sure, you could get a ragtop or retractable hard-top convertible model if you wanted, but that wasn't the standard.

And what was the deal with the punctuation, putting a slash in the middle instead of a hyphen?

TL 3-4 air/raft = liftwood?

 

[aramis]

The Air/Raft is a gravitic jeep. It is clearly based upon the WWII and Korean War era Willies Jeep and the Vietnam War Era M151 MUTT (Military Utility Tactical Truck) (commonly still called a jeep).

Combine the looks of a Willies Jeep with a flying car ala the Jetsons, and voila, the air/raft.

I can't say for certain that's the origin, but the description looks like simply flipping the tonnage. Add wheels, and you get the Jeep.

 

[GypsyComet]

According to Loren years ago, the slash was to ensure that "Air/Raft" was never to be mistaken for anyone else's creation.

 

[whulorigan]

Other than possibly an homage to that series, I can't think of any other reason for such a silly vehicle - no roof? Not even a ragtop? Really?

One of the first houserules I made way way back when all I had was the Little Black Box was that aircars (not "rafts") were generally enclosed vehicles; not vacc-tight (that cost extra), but at least as well sealed as a current day small airplane. Oh, sure, you could get a ragtop or retractable hard-top convertible model if you wanted, but that wasn't the standard.

I have always seen the air/raft proper as a principally utilitarian vehicle (like the Jeep as Aramis mentioned) and that its primary use would be for short-range cargo and personnel transport.

I always used the two "slang" terms for the air/raft as the distinguishing factor in terms of performance and construction:

Floater: Typical slow utilitarian Air/Raft (w/ tarp or ragtop as necessary) - the "Air/Raft proper", so to speak;
Flyer: Higher speed "Grav Car" (usually enclosed and used for personal transport).

 

[Xerxeskingofking]

Anybody know from Word of Marc what was the inspiration for the Air/Raft in CT? Has he ever commented on it? The only similar vehicle I recall in SF was the air vehicle used by the Dirdir in Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure (Tschai) series. (If you read the descriptions, even the "airjeep" from some of H. Beam Piper's stories was actually usually enclosed.)

Other than possibly an homage to that series, I can't think of any other reason for such a silly vehicle - no roof? Not even a ragtop? Really?

One of the first houserules I made way way back when all I had was the Little Black Box was that aircars (not "rafts") were generally enclosed vehicles; not vacc-tight (that cost extra), but at least as well sealed as a current day small airplane. Oh, sure, you could get a ragtop or retractable hard-top convertible model if you wanted, but that wasn't the standard.

And what was the deal with the punctuation, putting a slash in the middle instead of a hyphen?

Not sure on the relative dates of the two but would Luke Skywalker's open top air speeder be inspiration?

 

[Vargas]

Maybe he just made it up?

 

[Condottiere]

Dumarest might have mentioned them.

 

[Baron]

They are definitely a part of the Dumarest of Terra series. Whether Marc & Co consciously acknowledge that as a source of inspiration, I couldn't say.

 

[aramis]

Cudgel flies an aircar as well, in one of his stories, but it wasn't open topped.

 

[nyrath]

I'm reasonably sure the Air/Raft was taken from one of H. Beam Piper's novels.
Civilian flying cars and military APC are ubiquitous, using something called "contragravity".
The reason I think that is because Piper's novel Space Viking is the source of the Sword Worlds.

Traveller-flavored novels from Piper include
Four-Day Planet,
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19478
Junkyard Planet (aka The Cosmic Computer), and
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20727
Space Viking (for the long night).
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20728

These contain adventure seeds for Traveller campaigns.

 

[Baron]

I trust you will forgive me, but here is an excerpt from the Dumarest series, “Eye of the Zodiac,” Dumarest of Terra 13:

"Dach!" Falla halted, staring up at the sky. "What the hell-look, a raft!"
It swept down low, almost touching the summit of the fence, veering over the field as alarms sounded from the gate. From it came the sound of singing, high-pitched laughter, the trill of a woman's voice.
"The stupid bitch!" Falla began to run, waving his arms. "Hey, you up there! You crazy or something?"
Insane or drunk, the only reasonable explanation. No one flew over a field, the risk was too great. With ships leaving and landing at any time, the air-displacement would wreck any smaller craft. A fact Dumarest had known, a risk he had taken.
He lay flat in the body of the raft, invisible from below, tensing as the vehicle jerked beneath Ayantel's inexperienced hands. She was acting well, a little too well. Only by a tremendous effort did she avoid being thrown over the edge.
"Careful!"
"I can manage," she whispered. Then, loudly, "Hey, down there! You wanna drink? You wanna join the party? Hows about us all getting together?"
"Mad," said Dach. "Stinking drunk and crazy. Watch out!"
He ducked as the raft swept over his head, dropped to vanish behind a ship, lifted again immediately to swing towards them, to smack against the ground.
"Whew!" Ayantel fanned herself, then reached for a bottle. "That was rough. Here, friends, help yourself!"
A spoiled bitch, the product of decadent luxury, half-naked, stinking of liquor, out on a crazy spree. Yet she had to be rich, or have wealthy friends. Rafts were expensive on Tradum, especially the small, personal-carrier kind.
Dach slowed as Falla gripped his arm.
"Take it easy, now. Handle her gently."
"She should be canned!"
"Sure, but what'll it get you?" Gifted with the survival cunning of an animal Falla moved closer to the raft, the woman it contained. "Now, madam," he said soothingly, "you shouldn't be here. I'll have to take care of you. If you'll just step out of that raft-"
"Go to hell!"
"It's for your own protection. I'll call your friends and have them take you home. You don't want to risk your pretty neck in a place like this."
"Here!" Falla dodged as a bottle swept towards his head. As it landed with a shatter of breaking glass, the raft lifted. "So long, boys-buy yourselves a drink!"
Money fluttered down, a shower of notes, landing as the raft lifted over the fence. Too high to be stopped, and to shoot it down was to invite later trouble.
"Falla, she's-"
"Get the money, man!" Falla was practical. "We can't stop her now."
No one could stop her. Within minutes she would land, change, vanish into the night.

 

[ShapeShifter]

E.C. Tubb's 1st Dumarest novel The Winds of Gath, p. 76, called a "nullgrav raft".
Nulgrav plates on rafts allow them to float 3 ft. (roughly 1m) above ground, p. 85

Dumarest Book 2: Derai, a vehicle called a "flitter" (p. 48) may be more like CT's speeder, however. In Ch. 5: "anti-grav rafts", p. 57.

Book 3: Toyman. "floating rafts", p. 12; "anti-grav rafts", pp. 20, 27.

Book 5: Jester at Scar. "rafts", pp. 63, 65 (equipped w/ "antigravity plates").

Book 6: Lallia. "antigrav raft", p. 33

Book 7: Technos. "anti-grav rafts", p.19. In this book it is physically described (p. 23): 3' deep, 6' wide, 20' long, cab for 3 occupants.

Book 8: Veruchia. "(air)raft", pp. 90, 103: w/ bubble canopy (something which differs from the illo in the CT book).

 

[Timerover51]

From the Cosmic Computer, aka Junkyard Planet, by H. Beam Piper, published in 1963, prior to any of the Dumarest books. I have come across similar vehicles in some of Andre Norton's books. I would have to find the cites though.

They climbed into an airjeep and floated out over the edge of the plateau, letting down past the sheer cliff to where the lower lateral shaft had been opened. A great deal of rock had been shoveled and bulldozed away to expose it; it was twenty feet high and forty wide. Anse simply steered the jeep inside and up the tunnel.

 

[BlackBat242]

From the Cosmic Computer, aka Junkyard Planet, by H. Beam Piper, published in 1963, prior to any of the Dumarest books. I have come across similar vehicles in some of Andre Norton's books. I would have to find the cites though.

Andre usually called them "flitter". They are in a number of books, but I believe they were usually enclosed.

I'm pretty sure that James Henry Schmitz had an open-topped small antigrav vehicle for hunting safaris in his The Lion Game (1973).

 

[Spinward Scout]

Andre usually called them "flitter". They are in a number of books, but I believe they were usually enclosed.

If I remember right, they're mentioned in Star Rangers.

 

[RandyB]

Andre usually called them "flitter". They are in a number of books, but I believe they were usually enclosed.

I'm pretty sure that James Henry Schmitz had an open-topped small antigrav vehicle for hunting safaris in his The Lion Game (1973).

The air/raft always did give me a "safari 'jeep'" vibe.

 

[robject]

Apropos to the unusual spelling of Air/Raft, Marc has mentioned how often the term "Streetwise" has shown up in RPG skill lists since 1977.

 

[Timerover51]

Piper also used airjeep in Little Fuzzy.

I need to check, but Andre might have used it in Catseye.

 

[SpaceBadger]

Piper used the same term - airjeep - for both varieties. In the Fuzzy trilogy it seemed something like an air/raft; also in Four Day Planet, IIRC. In Uller Uprising, the same term was used for an enclosed utility grav vehicle, armed with some guns and rockets. I think the description came with an airjeep team reporting to von Schlichten about an encounter with some Jeel cannibals; the driver and gunner had to open doors or pop the canopy to climb out of the enclosed vehicle, IIRC.

Note that in almost all the stories cited in this thread, there were open-topped vehicles similar to air/rafts, but they were an exception, the equivalent of field utility vehicles or "driving with the top down", and there were plenty more reasonably enclosed vehicles available as well, and impliedly much more common in most settings.

From the first three LBBs, the air/raft was our only choice as a grav vehicle. All of the other speeders, G-carriers, etc were added later. I was just wondering if Marc had ever explained what seems to me an odd choice as the first available aircar (even suggested for transitions to/from orbit, but with vaccsuits required since it had that :CoW: open top with no option to close or seal it).