Reconfigurable cargo decks

[abomination]

I've been thinking about corsair deck plans.

One of the main problems is that a lot of the stuff you might want to put in there (including legitemate cargo) is over 3m high. I think the answer lies in making the rear of the craft two decks high. So that the cargo bay can have a deck that can be raised or lowered according to need. Leaving you with either two seperate areas or one double height area.

Another idea is to have prefabricated, flat pack partition walls so that the crew, could, in a couple of days turn some of the cargo area into mid passage berths.

Thoughts? Comments?

 

[PFVA63]

Hi

I think that makes alot of sense. In some of my more recent designs I've messed around with making some of the cargo space more than 1 deck hi.

Here are some links to some info on modern cargo ship portable decks and cargo handling equipment that might be of interest to you.

Regards

PF

http://www.ttsgroup.com/Product-Groups/RoRo-Equipment-/

 

[Icosahedron]

I designed a 400dT merchant with collapsible walls in the cargo bay. It provides an optional extra ten steerage cabins. It doesn't have adjustable height, but it has a lift platform to provide access to Engineering for heavy gear.

 

[Cryton]

There used to be an option for collapsible/drop tanks for fuel, why not expandable cargo decks. I suppose you'd have to recalculate Drive performances for the expanded displacement, but it might just be worth it.

 

[CosmicGamer]

I was just thinking... Now we're in trouble!

Why bother with raising/lowering the deck? If you have a double deck hight cargo area, you could have a combination of single and double hight cargo. The single hight cargo can be secured to the 'floor' and 'ceiling'.

- In Zero G there is there a up or down?
- With the magic of Grav plating is it possible to have two floors instead of a floor and a ceiling?

 

[Lycanorukke]

- With the magic of Grav plating is it possible to have two floors instead of a floor and a ceiling?

But then you have to load/unload the stuff.

Where to two downs gravity fields meet you have a zero G point, but if your cargo container isn't _exactly_ balanced on that line you'll how have heavy cargo crates falling towards one of the 'floors'.

You could have two cargo hatches - one for 'up' and one for 'down' but the moment the cargo moves outside the ship, the highport or planet gravity takes over and you have differing downs, to you need a way to rotate the crate into correct alignment. And the stuff inside might not take well to rattling around inside the crate as up and down directions change.

Safer and easier to have one "down" and stack the crates like modern containers.

ON edit:
Another thought - why load from the side (as usually depicted) though a "cargo door". It would be easier to load if the entire cargo bay roof opened up. You should shove whatever you wanted in without having to jam it through a door, stacking and positioning would be easy and then you just shut the "lid" and fly off.

Or possibly have the entire cargo bay floor drop out the bottom of the ship on hydraulics. You stack everything on the 'floor' (you can then access it from every direction) and then it pulls itself back up into the ship.

 

[dean]

But then you have to load/unload the stuff.

Where to two downs gravity fields meet you have a zero G point, but if your cargo container isn't _exactly_ balanced on that line you'll how have heavy cargo crates falling towards one of the 'floors'.

You could have two cargo hatches - one for 'up' and one for 'down' but the moment the cargo moves outside the ship, the highport or planet gravity takes over and you have differing downs, to you need a way to rotate the crate into correct alignment. And the stuff inside might not take well to rattling around inside the crate as up and down directions change.

Safer and easier to have one "down" and stack the crates like modern containers.

ON edit:
Another thought - why load from the side (as usually depicted) though a "cargo door". It would be easier to load if the entire cargo bay roof opened up. You should shove whatever you wanted in without having to jam it through a door, stacking and positioning would be easy and then you just shut the "lid" and fly off.

Or possibly have the entire cargo bay floor drop out the bottom of the ship on hydraulics. You stack everything on the 'floor' (you can then access it from every direction) and then it pulls itself back up into the ship.

If your ship isn't streamlined you aren't landing anyway. Cargo handling in zero G isn't exactly safe, but with a properly trained crew and the right equipment I'd suspect it can be done in fairly short order.

So, for that matter, why have gravity in the cargo hold at all?

 

[far-trader]

So, for that matter, why have gravity in the cargo hold at all?

So the Gorram cows stay all calm and healthy like and the fresh manure isn't floatin all around of course...

:smirk: