Airship III
As promised, my latest airship - now with added flying-spiral manoeuvring thrusters. I decided that using the main engines for turning etc really wasn't the best solution - it tended to pop balloons (or shed an engine, which could be even more embarrasing) and didn't provide the delicate control needed. The thrusters allow it to move in any direction, and even turn on the spot. Due to a bug (I think - it's been reported) it tends to 'stick' on the ground, so it still needs main-engine thrust vectoring to lift off - and it will climb faster that way too.
Controls:
Main engines (
normal keys) [TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 120"]
[TR]
[TD]Forward[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Reverse[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tilt up[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tilt down[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Elevator [TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 120"]
[TR]
[TD]Up[/TD]
[TD]Down arrow[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Down[/TD]
[TD]Up arrow[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
(It made sense at the time...)
Manoeuvring thrusters (
numpad keys) [TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 120"]
[TR]
[TD]Left front[/TD]
[TD][7][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Left rear[/TD]
[TD][4][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Right front[/TD]
[TD][9][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Right rear[/TD]
[TD][6][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Forward[/TD]
[TD][8][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Reverse[/TD]
[TD][5][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Up[/TD]
[TD][+][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Down[/TD]
[TD][-][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Grabber [TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 120"]
[TR]
[TD]Ungrab[/TD]
[TD]V[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
As before, take off by pointing the main engines upward and giving at least a quick blip of power to unstick. The main engines can then be tilted forwards for the desired climb angle. It slightly reduces the tendency to nose up on takeoff if you first apply lots of down elevator, but it isn't essential. Otherwise, the elevator can stay in a neutral position - it's only noticeable effect is to alter the nose-high/nose-low attitude the airship sits at under main engine power. Adjust main-engine tilt to climb or descend. The rudder doesn't turn at all - it had no significant effect. To turn with the main engines running, use left front and right rear thrusters together, or right front and left rear as appropriate - you will find that it turns much more quickly with the main engines not running though, as they create a lot of gyroscopic force. Landing is simple enough - just tilt the main thrusters down (or tilt them up and use reverse power) and drop to low altitude, before switching to thruster control. You can then use the thrusters to adjust your position and orientation precisely (using both thrusters on the same side to crab sideways if necessary), before finally touching down using the down thrusters. There is a fair bit of spring in the landing gear, but try to be gentle all the same - a hard enough impact will break something.
I've added a grabber under the centre of gravity - feel free to hang something from it, but note that added weight will affect handling. If you want to modify the airship, likewise feel free to do so, but expect to have to add buoyancy if adding payload. The top layer of balloons are set at 1.0, which could probably be increased a little, though if you set them to the maximum they tend to pop at the start - the lower layers are set at the 1.5 maximum, and they exert a force on the top ones as they rise. If you need more buoyancy still, there are a few spots where more balloons can go without modifying the structure, but don't add them where they might foul the propellers.
Note that this version starts in the air - it seems to reduce the potential for damage caused by the initial 'jerk'. It should be just about neutrally buoyant, but will drop and then bounce gently initially. Or drop and not bounce if you've added too much extra weight...
Download link at the bottom of this post.
Please don't upload the file elsewhere without linking this thread.
My next airship will be bigger, and probably include some offensive weaponry - possibly hung from a spring tether if I can figure out a reliable way to lower it, as airships aren't arrow-proof, and an armoured one would have to be rather large to support the weight...
Attached Files
AS3-00.bsg
).
