[gurps] TL6 Small Zeppelin (Vehicles 2nd)

[Onno Meyer]

> Zeppelin LZ120 (type y) Bodensee

On short notice, my best source is Zeppelins by Osprey. 

> Notes: Exact Areas rule. I used Excellent Streamlining and late TL6  
> props to match historical airspeed. 

Why not radical streamlining, a larger body and early props? Osprey 
lists 82.3 mph, which would require some 70,080 sf with your engine
data (see below on that). It also helps with the volume problem I 
noted below.

Call it 825,000 cf internal volume, increased to 1,155,000 cf for 
streamlining, but that increase is an accounting fiction ... if 
799,200 cf of that are gasbags, you come closer to the payload of
10 tonnes (not short tons).

> The generator in the passenger  
> gondola is a small windmill attached outside the gondola that  
> generates power from the airship's windstream. (100 lbs, 2 cf, $100)  

Vehicles Expansion 1, p.23.

> For simplicity, I used one fuel tank in the Main Body and one gasbag  
> instead of the multiples in the real vehicle.

The only sane choice, but where is the gasbag? Osprey's 20,000 m^3 are
706,293 cf, but the entry looks suspiciously rounded. 

> Subassemblies: Aft Engine Gondola (AE), Port and Starboard Engine  
> Gondolas (PE, SE), Passenger Gondolas (Pas).

Typo or two passenger gondola_s_?

> Body Features: Excellent Streamlining

> Propulsion: Late TL6 194kW Aerial Props (PE, SE), Late TL6 384kW  
> Aerial Prop (AE)

Osprey lists 3 x 260 hp (194 kW) engines. I presume your source 
is better, since mine is just one entry in a long table. 

> Instruments and Electronics: TL6 Communicator, Long Range, TL6  
> Navigation Instruments.

No data, but it feels right. 

> Controls: Mechanical.
> 
> Crew Stations: Captain, Elevator Man, Rudder Man, Radio Operator in  
> roomy bridge control stations, 2 stewards in galley (Pas) 1 keel watch  
> 1 sail maker (Main body). 1 engineer in normal control station (PE), 1  
> engineer in normal control station (SE), 2 engineers in normal control  
> stations (AE)
> 
> Occupancy: Short. Passengers 21 in roomy seats with superior access  
> (Pas). Crew 16, with 8 normal seats and 4 hammocks (Main body). Two  
> toilets  and Galley in Pas

* Typo or something is wrong with your crew count.

* Did they have environmental controls (i.e. heating) by then?

> Power: 4 194kW TL6 HP Gasoline Engines (2 AE, 1 SE, 1PE). 1800kWs TL6  
> Lead-Acid Battery (Pas)

I thought airships used HP diesels, but I have no data for this 
specific one. 

> Fuel TL6 770 gal standard fuel tank (Main body), TL6 10 gal standard  
> fuel tank (PE, SE), TL6 20 gal standard fuel tank (AE)

810 gallons total, 21 hours at cruise or 7 hours at top speed.

> Access, Cargo: 60 cf cargo space. Bridge Space and Superior Access in  
> Pas

I would expect a lot more access space in the body. 

> Vol: AE 659 cf, PE and SE 330 cf each, Pas 3215 cf, Bo 883519 cf
>
> Areas: AE 454, PE and SE 287 each, Pas 1307, Bo 60000

The body area is from the table, not the formula. I get 55,245 sf.
 
> Structure: TL6 super-light advanced
> 
> HP: AE 681, PE and SE 431 each, Pas 1961, Bo 90000

Those values are for medium frames, not super-light.

> Armor PD2 DR2 metal advance (AE, PE, SE, Pas). PD1 DR1 nonrigid Bo.

> Statistics: Empty Weight, 30672 lbs. Usual payload, 15665. Loaded  
> Weight 46337 lbs, 23 tons. Vol 884838 cf. Size Modifier +10. Price  
> $2866881. HT 12

> Aerial Performance: Stall Speed 0. Aerial Motive Thrust 2328 lbs.  
> Aerodynamic Drag 3117. aTopSpeed 75. aMR 0.125. aSR 5. aDecel 0.5

Off because of the area error. I'll look at the specific numbers 
when you tell me which suggestions you used and which ones got 
discarded.

Onno