[gurps] [VEHICLE] of the week 759 - OHI Automated Heavy Lift Shuttle

[Onno Meyer]

Roger replied to me:
> >The 
> >shuttle needs starports with long, reinforced runways
> 
> [...]
> 
> >gSpeed: 555   gAccel: 30   gDecel: 10   gMR: 0.25   gSR: 4
> >Ground Pressure Extremely High. No Off-Road Performance.
> >
> >aSpeed: 3,875   aAccel: 40   aDecel: 0.5   aMR: 0.125   aSR: 6
> >Stall Speed 400.
> 
> That looks to me like a 3,900-foot takeoff run and a 12,000-foot
> landing. The former is well within the tolerances for a small airport,
> so perhaps some sort of better braking system is indicated, either
> Improved Brakes or a drag chute.
> 
> Roger

A chute would be something to replace after each flight, 
and hence bad for routine flight ops. Either smartwheels 
or improved brakes would bring the landing run to less 
than 4.5 miles, and both would bring it to less than 3.4 
miles. (On landing, the tanks would be relatively dry.)

But four miles or six, the ground pressure of this bird 
is 40 tons per sf. If 'extremely high' wasn't the last
category, this would be three steps above 'extremely'.
So I figured that the shuttle needs the facilities of 
a major spaceport - and where else do you unload 3,000
tons of cargo, anyway?

Compare the heavy lift shuttle with the light VTOL 
shuttle last month.