Re: [TML] Detecting air rafts
Bruce Johnson 22 Feb 2018 18:52 UTC
> On Feb 22, 2018, at 12:35 AM, shadow at shadowgard.com (via tml list) <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote:
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> That only works for fusion or fission power units.
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> I'm not sure air-rafts use those.
Canonically (per Book 3, which is what I have to hand) air-rafts, g-carriers and the like are ‘refueled’ from a ships powerplant, without any further elucidation as to what that means. Book 8 Library data indicates yes, this is some sort of battery setup "Range in time or distance is effectively un- limited; refuelling (recharging) can be accomplished from a starship power plant in a few hours every ten weeks or so."
If it’s a battery of some sort, this would mean that air-raft crashes have the possibility of taking out small cities as all that energy is released at once. A critical hit on a G-carrier would likely create a several kiloton (at least) explosion. A sufficiently motivated terrorist could cause a lot of havok if they wanted.
Either that or the energy required to accomplish antigrav is absurdly small.
I don’t have FF&S handy, But I do remember that T4 introduced the hack that these kinds of vehicles were powered by some sort of ‘cold fusion’ style reactor.
--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group
Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs