This is a weekly posting with GURPS vehicles (and the like) to the
GURPSnet mailing list. I grant the permission for all non-commercial
redistribution of my work, but I would like to know if you put it on
a website or the like. My site is down for rebuilding, but sooner or
later the old stuff should reappear at omeyer.gmxhome.de
Onno Meyer, 2007-09-17
Anachronistic Heavy Bomber v1.0 (TL6)
Copyright 2007 by Onno Meyer
In some alternate history stories, one side finds efficient uses for
historical technologies. In other novels, genuine time travelers bring
modern concepts with them. This design introduces the strategic bomber
some twenty years early, in time for the Great War ...
The technology of the heavy bomber fits right into 1916 or 1917, from
fixed wheels and canvas wings to wooden propellers and MGs in open ring
mounts, but these elements are combined on a massive scale. The biplane
carries up to 3.2 tons of bombs with a combat radius of more than 1,200
miles.
Alternatively, a surplus heavy bomber could appear in pulp adventures
set in the 1920s, perhaps as a getaway vehicle for an Evil Overlord. At
an economic 100 mph, it has intercontinental range.
At routine travel speed, the engines burn 100 gallons of aviation gas
per hour. A full load of fuel and 7.62mm ammunition is $2,050.
Subassemblies: Body +5, four small Wheels +1, two Biplane Wings +3, two
Pods +2, three full-rotation Open Mounts -1.
Powertrain: Four 500-kW aerial propellers; four 500-kW HP gas engines;
480-kWs lead-acid batteries.
Fuel: 5,000 gallons avgas (fire 15).
Occ: 5 XRCS, 2 bunks.
Armor F RL B T U
Body: 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
Wheels: 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5
Wings: 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2 2/2
Pods: 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5
Weaponry
Two 7.62mm MGs [OM1:F] (300 rounds each) +0.*
Two 7.62mm MGs [OM2:F] (300 rounds each) +0.*
Two 7.62mm MGs [OM3:F] (300 rounds each) +0.*
* Linked in pairs.
Equipment
Body: 6,400-lb. weapon bay; navigation instruments; two optical
bombsights; small galley. Open Mounts: Universal mounts for MGs.
Statistics
Size: 60'x100'x25' Payload: 20 tons Lwt.: 30 tons
Volume: 2,634 cf Maint.: 49 man-hrs. Price: $168,173.5
HT: 6. HP: 375 Body, 28 each Wheel, 281 each Wing, 38 each Pod,
20 each Open Mount
gSpeed: 110 gAccel: 5 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 3
Ground Pressure Extremely High. No Off-Road Speed.
aSpeed: 160 aAccel: 2 aDecel: 6 aMR: 1.5 aSR: 2
Stall Speed 85. Ceiling 5,060 yards.
Design Notes
Body is 2,000 cf, with fair streamlining. Wheels are 100 cf. Wings are
200 cf. Pods are 64 cf. Open Mounts are 2 cf. Structure is extra-light
and standard. Body and Wing armor is non-rigid, Wheel armor is standard
wood, Pod armor is standard metal. Light tanks. Mechanical controls with
duplicate maneuver controls. 522.12 cf empty space in body, 198.2 cf of
empty space in each wing, 2.65 cf of empty space in each pod and 0.25 cf
empty space in each open mount. 600 rounds of 7.62mm Solid are stowed in
each Open Mount. Empty weight is 20,000 lbs.
The vehicle uses the design rules from GURPS Vehicles [2nd edition,
3rd printing, Dec 2004 errata], the cruise speed/fuel consumption rules
from WWII, the armor volume, stall speed and ceiling rules from VXii,
and the text format from Vehicles Lite.
Next Week: A TL9 version of the spaceplane.