( uploadMB.com ) 1310 - Aeroduel.pdf

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a C R W RS supplement

Aerial Com bat in the 21st Centuryby Craig Sheeley

Edited by Loyd Blankenship, Mike H urst and Steve JacksonCover by Jeff Magniat

Illustrated by Karl MartinCar Wars original design by Chad Irby and Steve Jackson

Loyd Blankenship, Managing EditorCarl Anderson, Production Manager

Typography and Layout by Loyd Blankenship & Kerry HavasMaps and Diagrams by Carl Anderson

Creative Interference: Robert Hayden, Charles Oines.Playtesters: David Platt, Wallace D. Greer, Phil Morrissey, Marvin Lowe, Matt Fairliegh, Eric Larsen, New Omaha Vehicular Association [NOVA] (TimJacques, Norman McMullen, Don Jacques, Jay Chladek), Southern California Civilian Armor Regiment [SCCAR] (Sean Wadey, Brian Irvine, Chris Rice, RBrower); Flame, Laser And Gauss Gun Specialists [FLAGGS] (Martin Poteralski, President), Carlos McReynolds, Mike Montgomery, Greater Orlando Duell[GODS] (John M. Hurtt, Dave Hyde, John Hyde, and others) and Robert Eikel.Table of ContentsAERODUEL

AIRCRAFT IN 2040 2AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTIONFixed-Wing Planes 4Body TypesPropellers 6Power Plants 6Plant AccessoriesGas Engines 6Jet Engines 7Jet Accessories 8Aircraft FuelWeaponsLanding GearDischargersTurretsHelicopters 10Construction 10Power Plants 10Weapons 10Accessories 10Airships 12Body Types 12Power Plants 13Weapons 13Accessories 13Other Fliers 15Autogyros 15Ca rplanes 15Hoverplanes 15Balloons 16Gliders 16Hang Gliders 17

Parachutes 17Rocket Packs 7ircraft ccessories 18

AERODUEL MOVEMENT 0Fixed-Wing Aircraft Movement 0Air-to-Air Scale 0Stall Speed 0GLOC 3The Sound Barrier 3Storms 3Wing Checks 5Falling and Crashing 5Rotary-Wing Aircraft Movement 6Auto-Rotation 6Rotor Checks 7Airship Movement 8AERODUEL COMBAT 0New Weapons 0Targeting Modifiers 1Damage Allocation 2Firing Arcs 2Weapons Fire 3Anti-Aircraft D efenses 5CHARACTERS AND SKILLS 6AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE 6SAMPLE AIRCRAFT 7SCENARIOS 8ACCESSORY LIST 0COUNT ER T EMPLAT ES 1INDEX 4CH ART S AND T ABLES INSERT iddle of book

Car Wars is a registered trademark and Aeroduel is a trademark of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Aeroduel is copyright 0 1990 bySteve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 SBN 1-55634-170-9

Car Wars, Aeroduel, Autoduel,AADA, theAADA logo, the all-seeing pyramid, and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are trademarks or registered trademarks

of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. CarWars Aeroduelis copyright 1990 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States.


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AIRCRAFT IN 2040History andDevelopment

In 1904, the first powered airplane was patented by theWright brothers. Within a few years airplanes were a craze thatspread worldwide. And only ten years after the first flight, menwere taking aircraft to war.The development of warplanes parallels autoduel develop-ment with curious accuracy. At first, all the contesting aer-oduellists had were improvised hand weapons lengths ofchain, wrenches, pistols, whatever was handy.Soon, proper weapons began appearing. Machine-guns weremounted to the rear cockpits of spotter aircraft or whicheverend didn't mount the propeller, since no way had been found toshoot through it without destroying it. The machine-gunsproved to be properly lethal, but two-seaters lacked the maneu-verability of single-seat aircraft. The French tried to mount themachine-gun firing over the prop arc but the mount was cumber-some, like a pintle-mount MG in a driver-only car. When theinterrupter gear was invented, fighter planes appeared withfront-mounted machine-guns, similar to Joe Harshman's firstautoduelling car.World War I ended before aircraft could advance further. Inthe twenty years between world wars, more developments didoccur: metal monoplanes, better engines, development of thefirst bombing computers. When World War II began, airplaneswere both large and deadlier. The single-engine biplanes of thefirst war were replaced by m onsters mounting up to four enginesthat could fly up to 1,600 miles to deliver their bombs and stillreturn to their home airfields.World War II was a rapid development period for aerialweapons: guided bombs, radar, remote-controlled weapons,bomb-dropping techniques of all kinds, new construction tech-niques and jets appeared during the conflict.The wars of the late 20th century took these developmentsand expanded on them. Fighters turned into swept-wing jets,

hurtling across the sky at trans-sonic speeds. Strategic bombiwas rendere d obsolete by the nuclear m issile. Air-to-air missiappeared, bringing a new lethality to aerial combat at rangpreviously undreamt of. For a time guns were replaced by msiles in the belief that no aircraft would get close enough to uguns against a missile-armed craft. The Vietnam conflict dpelled the misconception and guns once again became standaweapons for combat aircraft.Support and Transport

On the civilian scene, airplanes replaced airships over 1years ago as the primary passenger and cargo hauler. When tairship Hindenburg experienced a still-mysterious hydrogfire, airships were abandoned for years. Cargo and passengairplanes took over, growing steadily larger and more numerountil they reached 200 tons and larger, powered by massifuel-gulping jet engines to push them through the sky.This era ended when the fuel ran out. The monster jets sexist, languishing in hangars or stripped for parts and

Airships returned with gratifying swiftness. They had berevived in the late 1990s as cheap vertical-lift transport vehiclThe crash of the cargo jets was the signal for mass airship costruction to fill the gap swiftly.Helicopters fared well from their introduction in the lathalf of the century. Since helicopters were capable of landiand taking off from previously impossible landing locations, tmilitary found immediate uses in moving men and supplswiftly, without roads or airfields. Civilian use was similusing helicopters to get in and out of small areas.The gunship was born when military designers put weapoon helicopters, enabling them to provide aerial fire support wa long loiter time and the ability to hide on the ground if necsary. The gunships' potent anti-tank weapons almost pushed AFV from the field for a time.


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The Present DayWhen petroleum sources ran out, aircraft propulsion systemswere adapted to the new fuel-cell technology. Helicoptersadapted easily, and gunships and transport choppers roamed theskies within a year of the fuel-supply collapse. Due to a scarcityof safe airfields, airplane use declined. When airship transportopened up supply lines and ground protection improved, air-planes joined their rotary-winged companions in the air.Airships never left the scene. Inexpensive and economical,they thrived through the Food Riots and the madness that fol-

lowed. The sight of an airship's stately progress across the skybecame as common as jet contrails had been before fuel ran out.As demand for fuel declined, jets began to reappear, operat-ing on hoarded fuel. Rare but extremely fast, a jet is the mark oftoo much money and not enough to do with it. Typically, jets areowned by corporations and other wealthy organizations.Fly The Unfriendly Skies: Private Wars

The breakdown of government control was the last step inthe total deregulation of all airlines. Government regulation ofthe aircraft used by companies and corporations had been on thedecline since the 1980s. Some companies used the deregulationprocess to acquire lightly-armed aircraft and surplus militaryjets (although the jets were usually unarmed and used for high-speed travel).When the Free Oil States seceded from the Union, manypowerful and wealthy companies in Texas, Oklahoma and Lou-isiana seized the opportunity to expand their power. Somebought combat aircraft from Free Oil armories, some stole air-craft and several aircraft companies merely "lost" completedmodels off of the shipment inventory. Other factions set aboutarming commercial flyers with jury-rigged weapons and ma-chine-guns a popular option for militia and independentraider units.The Second Civil War was marked by totally unbalancedaerial action either the skies were free of aircraft as both sideshoarded their resources (fuel for the Federals, aircraft for thesecessionists) or aswarm with one side's aircraft, pummelingwhatever unfortunate forces were beneath the aerial armada.Rarely did actual air-to-air combat occur the heaviest aerialcombat arena was Wichita, Kansas and the oil fields to the south-west. The combat took place at the beginning of the war, whenboth combatants were strongest. The Federals used too muchirreplaceable fuel during the operation and the secessionistsdiscovered that their Air National Guard surplus aircraft were nomatch for the latest in Air Force technology.Few of the corporate aircraft saw much use in the years tofollow. They sat on the ground as a threat, using their preciousfuel only when absolutely needed. The Food Riots exhaustedmany fuel caches, and more were depleted in the anarchic mad-ness that followed. Fewer and fewer aircraft had the fuel or theparts to get aloft.

The situation changed when conditions stabilized acell aircraft began to appear on the scene. Helicopters wfirst fuel-cell aircraft in manufacture and almost evbought them immediately their usefulness had been prwars for the last six decades. C orporate air flotillas begaing back up.When major airplane manufacturers began producfuel-cell airplanes and m icroplanes (formerly called ultrathe corporate air barons grabbed more air power. Air scompanies acquired immense air fleets to protect theroutes and airship investments, as more and more valuagoes traversed the nation via gasbag.Competition for routes and customers moved frowars to air wars in record time, using the logic that thgood competition was destroyed competition. Independrial pirates appeared to plague the air transport companther justifying transport comp any policy of shooting at awithin range and fostering accusations of corporate sponof various pirate groups.Today, aerial combats range with frequency equal way fire-fights. The major difference is that the airbodestruction is not often covered by live cameras a dogfigdangerous a place for a news chopper, since anything inbecomes a target in such conflicts. The heaviest areas of are declared Combat Zones by the Federal Aviation Aupdates on zone locations are available via satellite uplintimes, but most pilots know to avoid the direct-line clinking major cities. These minimum-mileage routes ones most heavily used by cargo-carriers and the aircrprey on them , like pirates of old lurking along the trade cThe only relatively safe havens are airports, heavily-armtions of sanctuary.Many aircraft vary from these straight-line paths, atteto avoid the combat that heavy airship convoys bull thThe most expensive passenger fares are with the convmost travelers take the off-routes too.

GovernmentInvolvement

Most government involvement consists of restrictspace over valuable and secret installations (enforcedpoint, either by anti-air defenses, fighter aircraft or both)ever-present eyes of the SDI spy-sats. The U.S. AerForce controls the network and tracks the entire hemisphea great part of the rest of the world, but not so closely), ing every flight and often aborting kill-sat intervention wnear-AI targeting computers think they see a m issile. Noso disconcerting as receiving a radio call from SDICOMfor aircraft identification, and no aircraft hesitates to iitself failure to do so mea ns that a kill-sat might be allits job . . .The SDI records are supposedly Top Secret and not ato anyone outside SDICMD or the high ranks of the However, operator bribery has occasionally resulted in ition release. To date, security measures have prevented authorized use of the kill-sats themselves.Military aircraft far outclass those available to cforces. To the average aeroduellist, military jets aravoided they strike at unbelievable ranges and mospeeds, often without warning. Often the target aircrafdetects the incoming missile on its radar before it hits: mmissiles carry their own ECM. They travel at 1,000+ mshred civilian "warplanes" like cheese only fools fmilitary.


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Maximum WingType Cost Weight Load Spaces(F/W) DPSmall $150,000 5,000 lbs. 25,000 25/7 30Large $ 250,000 9,000 lbs. 40,000 45/8 35

ArmorHC ost/Wt.3 0/141 0/14*

FIXED WING PLANESThe first powered aircraft were fixed-wing planes, which flyby using thrust to push air over a fixed lifting foil. This differsfrom helicopters and autogyros, which use a rotary foil, and

airships, which using lifting gas.

Body TypesAirplanes are built in the same way as cars and other vehi-cles. They are more expensive due to the materials used in the

construction of their frames and wings microplanes, for istance, are made of carbon-fiber/aluminum composites, and aiplanes are made of carbon-fiber/plastic/steel alloy. Jet fightesubstitute titanium for steel.When designing airplanes, the components are Body TypPower Plant, Propellers (unless the aircraft is a jet), TireWeapons and Accessories. Unless otherwise noted, aircraft havsix armor locations: Front, Left, Right, Back, Top and Undebody. Armor is available in all of the types used for land vehcles. Armor types cannot be mixed on thsame vehicle.All aircraft bodies may be streamlineand have sloped armor (wing spaces are naffected by this). Microplanes may use Improved Tail Assemblies and ManeuvFoils (see p. 18). Airplanes may mount mneuver foils and may use Improved TaAssemblies.The number of Maneuver Foils an ai

craft can mount depends on size and typSmall, medium, large and cargmicroplanes can mount one pair. Largcargo microplanes can mount two pairAirplanes (of any size) can mount up to twpairs. Small jet fighters can mount twpair. Large jet fighters can mount threpairs.

TypeSmallMediumLargeCargoLarge Cargo

Microplane Body TypesCost Weight

MaximumLoad Spaces(F/W)

WingDP$2,500 200 lbs. 3,000 7/1 5$3,500 350 lbs. 4,500 10/2 8$5,000 550 lbs. 6,000 14/3 10$6,500 600 lbs. 8,500 14(+8)/3 12$8,000 800 lbs. 10,000 20( +16)/4 16

HCArmorCost/Wt.4 11/53 13/63 18/92 22/111 30/14

Airplane Body TypesTypeSmallMediumLargeCargo**Large Cargo***

Cost Weight MaximumLoad Spaces(F/W) WingDP HC ArmorCost/Wt.$4,000 450 lbs. 6,000 10/ 2 12 3 14/7$6,000 7 0 0 l b s . 10,000 18/3 16 2 20/10$9,000 2,000 lbs. 16,000 26/6 20 1 30/14$30,000 3,000 lbs. 30,000 40( + 30)/10 30 0 30/14*$100,000 4,500 lbs. 65,000 70( + 30)/15 40 0 30/14*

*Armor cost/wt per section.**Has ten sections to the fuselage, just like a trailer. Requires at least two propellers or jets to fly.***Has eighteen sections to the fuselage, like two trailers Requires at least three propellers or jets to fly.JetFighter Body Types

*Has ten armor locations.


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Jet FramesJet fighters are high-performance, specially G-stressed air-frames built for the rigors of speed and acceleration. They aremore-or-less custom-built and automatically include the follow-ing in their construction: Improved Tail Assembly, SweptWings and Streamlining. The cost, weight and space of theseoptions are built into body cost, weight and space figures.

Frame Composit ionMicroplanes are composed of lightweight assemblies andtake double damage from rams and collisions. Airplanes aremade of similarly light materials but are more durable and resis-tant to impact. Jet fighters are made of expensive plastics andhigh-strength, low-weight metals. Airplanes and jet fighterstake standard damage from rams and collisions. No fixed-wingaircraft may be modified for a carbon-aluminum frame, since

they're already composed of equivalent materials.Spaces

Aircraft have two kinds of spaces, Fuselage (F) and Wing(W). Fuselage spaces are used as are Body spaces in other vehi-cles. Wing spaces are the number of spaces in each wing avail-able for mounting weapons, propellers, jets and/or accessories.EWPs may also be mounted on the wings.

WingsEach aircraft has two wings. Wings are lifting foils andprovide weapons mounts as well. Spaces given on the Body

Type table are per wing.Microplane wings are extremely flexible and durable be-cause of their lightweight construction. They take damage likemetal armor. A Wing Check (see p. 25) must be made in anyturn a wing suffers two or more points of damage. Microplanewings cannot be armored.Airplane and jet fighter wings are less resilient but tougher,taking damage like metal armor but at one point less i.e.,airplane/jet fighter wings take damage on a damage die roll of 5or 6; 4,5 or 6 if the attacking weapon is a burst effect (3-6 fromHESH). A W ing Check must be made in any turn a wing suffersfour or more points of damage.Airplane/jet fighter wings can be armored. Wing armor hasa Cost/Wt. of $20/5 per wing space of the airplane's wings. Itmust be ap plied to both wings equally and is limited to 40 pointsof armor (or 8 points of metal).Example 1: The BB-17B (Large Cargo airplane) has 4 pointsof metal armor on each wing, for a total of $2,400 and 3,000 lbs(a ton and a half of armor ).Example 2: A large airplane with 40 points of plastic armoron each wing would have six spaces on each wing, each with 200lbs. of armor, for a total of 1,200 pounds per wing. Total costwould be $9,600, plus 2,400 pounds.Plastic wing armor essentially adds DP to the wings, suffer-ing damage in the same way wings are damaged. Do not makeWing Checks for wing damage until plastic wing armor is gone.Metal wing armor protects against wing damage but anydamage penetrating metal armor causes a Wing Check. The air-plane in the example above would have to sustain 5 or morepoints of wing damage in a single attack to take any actual wingdamage. However, metal wing armor is destroyed just like reg-ular metal armor. For example, if a burst weapon attack hitting4 points of wing armor had two die rolls of 5 or 6, the wingwould sustain no damage but the m etal armor would be reducedto 2 points.

Wing ModificationsAll aircraft wings can have the following modificatiHeavy Lift +25 % of body cost, +10% of body Allows the aircraft to take off with a greater load, reduspeed by 20% and top speed by 20%. When figuring ation (and the ability to fly at all), use 70% of the aiweight. Jet Fighters may not mount Heavy Lift wings.STOL Wings +20% of body cost, + 10% of bodyA modification of Heavy Lift Wings, Short Take-Off aning Wings reduce stall speed by 33%. They also reduce

2 (minimum 0). They can be combined with Heavy LiftWhen combined, stall speed is reduced by 40%, top sreduced 20% and HC is lowered by 2 (minimum 0). Jetshave STOL wings.STOL wings may be combined with Swept Wings (bringing stall speed back to normal.Swept Wings +25 % of body cost, +5 % of body These wings (which include delta wings) reduce dragcrease maximum speed by +50%. Stall speed increaseHeavy Lift and Swept Wings may not be combined. Remjet fighters automatically have Swept Wings.Variable Wings +100% of body cost, +20% o

weight. (Jet fighters pay 100% of body cost and 10% weight for variable wings.) Variable wings allow an aiangle the wings for either normal wing or swept wingmance. Angling the wings from normal to swept config(or vice versa) is a firing action on the first turn and takturns after the first to take effect. While the wings are cconfiguration, treat wing effects as if the wings werformer configuration if changing from swept to noraircraft behaves as a swept-wing until the change is coand vice versa.Forward-Swept Wings +400% body cost, +10% weight. (Jet fighters pay only 5 % of body weight for thfication.) These wings reduce aircraft stability immenseing a highly maneuverable aircraft. An aircraforward-swept wings must have at least one pair of mafoils. Forward-swept wings reduce HC by 2, increase staby 50%, increase top speed by 50% and reduce the diffany maneuver by 2. Combined with the effect of the mfoils, this gives the aircraft -D2 on maneuvers under 60 m-D3 on 60+ mph maneuvers. If the power plant aboarward-swept wing aircraft ever fails, the aircraft goesimmediate spin that cannot be corrected. Forward-swepcannot be combined with any other wing type.Extra Wing Turns the aircraft into a biplane (or trAny number of extra wings may be added to an aircraextra wing consists of another Left wing and Right winwith regular wing DP for the appropriate aircraft. Airpljet extra wings can be armored n ormally. Extra wings doto wing spaces. A biplane can have its wings fore and athan stacked on top of each other this makes no diffeWing DP remains unchanged; each additional wingstall speed and maximum speed by 20%. HC is +1 foradditional wing only. Weight and cost vary according type, because larger aircraft require more massive wingsmedium and large microplanes add 20% to body cost andper additional wing. Small airplanes, cargo and largmicroplanes add 40% to body cost and weight. Medilarge airplanes add 200% to body cost and weight. Calarge cargo airplanes add 300% to body cost and weigh

Flying Wings Adds 0 to wing space (round upmaintaining the same fuselage size. Adds 20% to liftcreases the difficulty of all maneuvers by +D1. +250cost and +25% of body weight.


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PropellersMicroplanes and airplanes require propellers and powerplants; jet fighters don't use them. Propellers are a plane's"wheels," transforming power from the power plant intothrust. Jet engines shoot their power directly out the stern asthrust.Planes require at least one propeller; some require more, andall may use multiple propellers. Propellers may be mounted onthe wings, on the front or back of the fuselage, and in wing and

body-mounted EWP s. Planes with three or more propellers lose1 from HC (unless HC is already 0, in which case there is noloss). Microplanes may mount no more than three propellers.Planes mounting propellers on the wings must balance themountings symmetrically. Propeller mountings must be identi-cal for each wing if an aircraft mounts a propeller F on onewing, it must mount another propeller F on the other wing.Propellers can be mounted forward and backward on wings itis possible to have an aircraft with four propellers, two wing-mounted F and two w ing-mounted B.Any plane losing one or more propellers suffers an immedi-ate D4 hazard. Thereafter its HC drops by 2 until the propelleris replaced.Propeller armor adds its DP to the propeller's.Propellor Types

Microplane Propeller $250, 200 lbs., 1 space, 4 DP.Propeller armor costs $5 and weighs 2 lbs. per point, maximum10 points.Airplane Propeller $600, 250 lbs, 2 spaces, 10 DP. Pro-peller armor costs $20 and weighs 5 lbs. per point, maximum 20points.

Ducted Cowlings $250, 20 lbs., no space, adds 2 DP topropeller. When added to all propellers on a plane the powerplant's power factors are increased by 15 % for purposes of ac-celeration, top speed and maximum load. Ducted cowlings arelarger than regular propellers and easier to target.

Tilt-Rotor $100, 75 lbs., 1 space each. These may bemounted on any microplane or any airplane of large or smallerbody style. Tilt-rotor-equipped propellers must be mounted onthe wings, aimed forward. Tilt-rotors swivel up to take off andland and tilt forward for regular flight. Switching between theflight modes is a firing action, taken in the acceleration phase.Tilt-rotors may have ducted cowlings. Acceleration in take-offmode is reduced by 10 mph; a tilt-rotor with an acceleration of0 or less cannot take offA tilt-rotor aircraft in take-off/VTOL m ode behav es just likea helicopter with a ma ximum speed of 50 m ph. Tilt-rotor aircraftmoving faster than 50 mph in VTOL mode must make a WingCheck with a +1 per 5 mph over 50 mph. Such aircraft mustcontinue to make such Wing Checks every turn they are inVTOL mode and exceeding 50 mph.Tilt-rotors may not be EWP-mounted.

Power PlantsMicroplanes use car power plants and gas engines. Airplanesuse gas or fuel-cell aircraft power plants or jets (small airplanescan use car power plants or gas engines). Jet Fighters use jet

power plants exclusively.Aircraft power plants (see top of next page) are identical toHelicopter plants in the Compendium. They can only be u sed topower helicopters and airplanes; since most of the power isrouted directly to the prop(s), the power use is different fromground vehicles. Microplanes use variations of the car powerplants.

Power F actorsA power plant's power factors get the aircraft off the grounand provide acceleration:5 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = V 2 up to (but noincluding) 3/4 aircraft weight.10 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = 3 / 4 up to (but noincluding) aircraft weight.15 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = aircraft weight up t(but not including) 1V 4 times weight.20 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = 1144 times aircrafweight up to (but not including) 1 times aircraft weight.25 mph Acceleration: Power Factors = 1 times aircrafweight (only possible with jet engines).When calculating acceleration, power factor modifiers sucas ducted cowlings, superchargers, platinum catalysts, and so oare additive. For example, an aircraft equipped with a poweplant modified for PCs and SCs and ducted cowlings woulfigure the power factor boost for the plant modifications, theincrease the result by the ducted cowling factor.Example: A 10,000 lb. medium plane with a small aircrafpower plant and regular propellor would have an acceleration o10 (8,000 PF is more than 3/4 weight, but still less than weightThis same plane adds PC s and SC s (adds 15%, bringing it t9,200 PF), plus ducted cowlings (an additional 15 % increase othe modified PF, bringing it to 10,580 PF) for an acceleration o15. Wh en the a ircraft is taxiing, heavy lift wing m odifications tthe aircraft's weight are ignored. If the aircraft's power factorare less than half the aircraft's weight, it has an acceleration o2.5 mph.Top speeds for electric plants are doubled, yielding the folowing formula: (720 x Power Factors)/(Power Factors + Aicraft Weight). Top speeds for the power plants are calculatebefore adding top speed bonuses for streamlining and SwepWings. Top speed for gas engines uses the following formula(480 x Power Factors)/(Power Factors + Aircraft Weight).

Plant AccessoriesOverdrive cannot be used. Turbochargers, superchargeretc., do not add their acceleration bonus to planes; they onlincrease top speed. Aircraft mounting wheels that are not retractable must have wheelguards for streamlining each mising wheelguard (each aircraft should have at least threesubtracts 10 mph from top speed. Aircraft may use rocket boosers, increasing acceleration up to 10 mph for cargo planes anmicroplanes and up to 10 mph for all other fixed-wing aircrafLike all vehicles, aircraft take three seconds to power up.An aircraft with fuel-cell power figures its range accordinto the following formula: Each power plant has Power Uni

equal to (50 x spaces). PU are consumed at (PU x (Currenspeed -75)) divided by (10,000 x (maximum speed/ 240)).Swept-wing aircraft have 75 % of normal range, due to thloss of lift.Gas Aircraft EnginesGas aircraft engines (see table, top of next page) can bBlueprinted, use Tubular Headers, Turbochargers, Supercharers and Nitrous Oxide boost.Base MPG is figured at cruising speed 60% of thaircraft's top speed. For every 20% of Top Speed above cruisinspeed, reduce the MPG by 10%. MPG can never be worse tha30% of Base MPG.For every 10% of Top Speed below cruising speed, increaMPG by 10%, to a maximum of 120% Base MPG.


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Aircraft Power PlantsType ost Weight Spaces DPFMini 10,000 ,500 6 ,000Small 15,000 ,000 0 0 ,000Standard 20,000 ,500 3 6 4,000Super 25,000 ,000 6 2 0,000Type ost eight Spaces P F Base MPGMini 9,000 ,000 8 ,000 5Small 0,000 ,500 1 4 4,000Standard 5,000 ,900 5 7 4,000Super 5,000 ,250 8 6 0,000Oversize 00,000 ,000 2 5 0,000 **(Max acceleration 5 mph)When a gas engine takes one or more DP of damage, roll 2d-3, plus 1 per 5 points of damageand consult the Engine Critical Damage Table.

Jet EnginesType Cost Weight Spaces DP PF Base MPGStandard 15,000 300 1 1 1,000 5High 45,000 300 1 1 2,000 1

Gas Aircraft Engines

Engine CriticalDamage Table

2 or less - Smoke pours out of the exhaust pipes, giving thecrew a good scare and m aking for dramatic gun-camera pictures.No other effect.3-4 - Minor damage. The engine may break down later.Roll 2d-4 on this table after each full hour that the motor is run.Repairing the engine is an Easy job.5 Medium damage. The engine may break down. Roll2d-3 on this table after each full ten minutes that the motor isrun. Repairing the engine is a Medium job.6 7 Heavy damage. Roll 2d-2 on this chart every 30seconds. Repairing the engine is a Hard job.8 Cooling system. Warning lights indicate overheating.After 10 seconds, the engine may seize up - roll 1d each turnafter the ten-second warning. On a roll of 6, the engine seizes upand stops running. It cannot be repaired.9 Oil system. After three seconds, roll 1d each turn. On aroll of 6, the engine seizes up and is unrepairable. If the enginehas a turbocharger, it seizes up on a roll of 5 or 6. After fiveseconds, warning lights indicate loss of oil pressure. Please notethat the engine may seize up without warning during the fourthand fifth seconds. If the engine is shut down before it seizes up,it may be repaired at 10% of the engine's original cost. Such

repairs are a Medium job.10 uel system. The engine will shut down after d+3seconds. The engine might catch on fire. Roll 2d each turn untilthe engine is shut off or stops for lack of fuel. On a roll of 11 or12, the engine catches on fire.11 - The engine destroys itself, taking five seconds to turninto useless junk. All engine power functions (acceleration,laser power) are lost immediately. It cannot be repaired.12 or better - The engine is on fire.

Jet EnginesJet engines are different from any other power plant in that

they are both the power plant and the engine. Typically, powerplants only provide power for separate electric engines. Jets

consume their fuel and throw the resulting energy out tpipe.Any fixed-wing aircraft can be fitted with jet engithough jet fighters are specifically built for the puMicroplanes and jet fighters cannot have jet engines mouthe wings - microplane wings are too frail and jet fighsigns are useless unless the engines are placed in the fusbut airplanes may mount jet engines on their wings. Jet emay be mounted in wing and tail-mounted EWPs. Jet emust be mounted back.There are no standard-size jet engines, since they mcustom-fitted to the aircraft. There are two standard typeengines: high-performance and standard-performance (seabove). The actual engines are built by adding spacesengine until the desired power factors are reached. For ina 16,000 PF HP jet engine would weigh 2,400 lbs, takspaces and cost $360,000.An aircraft can mount more than one jet engine. regular power plants, multiple jet engines combine theirfactors into a single power factor. These engines must bstructed separately.The advantage of having multiple jet engines is that ifdamaged the other(s) can continue to function, keeping craft aloft. Certain airplanes require multiple engines (calarge cargo airplanes). Jet engines mounted in wings mmounted in matched pairs, like weapons or propellersengine mounted in the fuselage may be any size, and nematch the wing engines. Multiple fuselage engines museach other.The jet engine in the above example could be made inseparate engines with ease - each engine would have 8,0weigh 1,200 lbs., have 4 DP, take up 4 spaces an$180,000. To get the same performance with three ewould require two standard engines with 5,000 PF ($75DP, 5 spaces, and 1,500 lbs. each) and one HP engine ofPF (weighing 1,200 lbs. with 3 DP, taking up 3 spaccosting $135,000).Fuel Efficiency

Jet engines are very thirsty fuel users. The Base Mlisted for 450 mph cruising speed (or 60 % of the aircraftimum speed, whichever is lower). If the aircraft goes fast


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cruising speed, the Base MPG is lowered by 10% per 5 % of TopSpeed over cruising speed to a m inimum of 30% Base MPG . Forevery 5% of Top Speed under cruising speed, the Base MPG israised by 5 % to a maximum of 120% Base MPG.Base MPG is the same no matter how many engines a jetaircraft has.Top speed for a jet aircraft is determined by the followingformula: (1,000 x PF)/(PF + Aircraft Weight).Jet Accessories

Jet engines cannot use any accessories except Afterburnersor Vectored Thrust.Afterburner. Weighs 10% of engine weight, takes up 2spaces, costs 50% of engine cost. Only High-Performance en-gines can mount an afterburner. An afterburner increases thepower fa ctors of the jet when it is activated. Activating an after-burner counts as a firing action; turning an afterburner offcounts as a firing action. Afterburners are activated and turnedoff in the acceleration phase.When an afterburner is activated the engine's power factorsdouble. This doubling holds as long as the afterburner is turnedon. When the afterburner is running, the jet engine uses onegallon of fuel per turn per afterburner-equipped engine.Jets with afterburners have two acceleration ratings and max-imum speeds. One is for standard use and one is for when theafterburner is activated.V ectored Thrust +20% of the jet-engine spaces, +50%of the jet-engine cost. Cannot be fitted to jets with wing-mounted engines. Allows the jet aircraft to hover, move back-wards and make vertical take-offs and landings like aVTOL/helicopter. To use VT, the aircraft must have an acceler-ation of 20 mph before afterburner calculations. When hoveringor moving on vertical thrust the aircraft has an acceleration of 5mph and a maximum speed equal to its horizontal stall speed.Maximum backwards speed is 5 mph. Fuel is used at 2 gallonsper second per engine when using VT.VT can be used in maneuvering at speed see the Viffingsection on p. 22.Jet Engine DamageJet engines are not as tough as ga s piston engines. Each timea jet engine takes damage, roll 1d and refer to the followingtable.

Jet EngineCritical Damage

1-2 No apparent effect. The engine requires repair of lostDP, an Easy job.

3 Power shutdown. The engine stops working and theaircraft loses the engine's thrust. The pilot may a ttempt to restartthe engine, hoping that it's merely a flameout. Roll d on a1-3, the engine restarts. On a 4-6, the engine remains dead untilrepaired. Repairing the engine is a Medium job.4 Engine fire. The engine is on fire, and may be extin-guished by on-board fire extinguishers. Repairing the engine isa Medium job.5 Engine destroys itself. Shattered turbine blades hurtlefrom the exhaust, a nerve-racking process that lasts 1d turns.The engine can't be repaired; it must be replaced.6+ The engine explodes, doing damage to the aircraft. If

the engine is mounted in the fuselage, the damage affects internal components. If the engine is mounted in the wing, the damage is applied to the wing. If the engine is mounted on an EWPthe damage is applied to the side armor or wing, as appropriatThe engine does 1 point of damage per engine space.EWP-mounted engines do 1 point of damage per 3 engine spaces. Thengine no longer exists to repair.Aircraft Fuel

Microplanes with gas engines use regular gas/alcohol fueAirplane/helicopter gas engines use a higher-octane, more expensive fuel. It weighs the same as regular fuel but costs $10per gallon.Jets use even more expensive fuel. It weighs 6 lbs. per galon, like regular fuel, but costs $250 per gallon.Fuel tanks are constructed as per the Compendium rules fogas tanks (see below). Space constraints make for small internafuel tanks, so most gas-burners and jets use Drop Tanks (seAccessories, p. 18).Gas Tanks

The gas tank is a separate component from the gas engineand is drawn separately on the vehicle record sheet. A gas tancan hold any whole number of gallons even one.The number of spaces a gas tank takes up is the same foevery type. A tank of 5 gallons or less takes up no space; 6- t15-gallon tanks take up 1 space; 16- to 25-gallon tanks take upspaces; 26- to 35-gallon tanks take up 3 spaces, and so on. multiple gas tanks are used, calculate the space taken up usinthe total capacity of the combined tanks. Gas tanks are a vailabin four types:Economy Tank Weighs one lb. per gallon and costs $2 pgallon of capacity. The economy tank has 2 DP.Heavy-Duty Tank Weighs two lbs. per gallon, and cos$5 per gallon of capacity. The HD tank has 4 DP.

Racing Tank The racing tank utilizes compartmentaliztion and a sponge-like substance that holds the fuel and keeps from sloshing and leaking. The result is that even if the tank breached, fuel loss will be V 4 that of the economy or HD tanRacing tanks weigh five lbs. per gallon and cost $10 per galloof capacity. The racing tank has 4 DP.Duelling Tank This top-of-the-line tank is for duelliswho want to take as few risks as possible. The duelling tank hathe same internal safety features as the racing tank, and it's moheavily armored. The duelling tank weighs 10 lbs. per galloand costs $25 per gallon of capacity. The tank has 8 DP.When gas tanks are hit, they take damage like any component. If a duelling tank (for instance) takes 5 hits of damage,has 3 DP left. After the tank is breached, roll I die and multip

the result by 20% (5% for racing and duelling tanks) that the percentage of the tank's capacity that leaks out of the tan(see also Fire and Explosion on Compendium p. 31). If the tanis still holding fuel, it now has half the original tank's DP. If thbreached tank takes dam age in excess of its (new) DP again, itautomatically destroyed and all gas is lost.Fuel A gallon of fuel weighs 6 lbs.Tank type DP Wt./gallon $/gallonEconomy 2 1 lb. $2Heavy Duty 4 2 lbs. $5Racing 4 5 lbs. $10Duelling 8 10 lbs. $25


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WeaponsAircraft mount weapons in the fuselage and wings. Wingarmament must be pointed forward or backward. Armamentmounted in the same area as a propeller, firing through the samearc, costs $500 more per weapon for the synchronization withthe propeller. One weapon may be mounted in the propeller hub,but still costs $500 more for counter-rotation fittings. Turretsand EWPs may be mounted T and U on the fuselage; thosemounted U must be taken from cargo spaces if the aircraft has

cargo spaces. Back-mounted fuselage weapons must also betaken from cargo spaces if the aircraft has cargo space.No more than 1/3 of the total spaces in an aircraft can bedevoted to weapons that fire from any one side (round down).Wing-mounted weapons must be mounted in matching pairs if there are three MGs in the left wing firing F, then theremust be three MGs in the right wing firing F, too. Weapons maybe mixed in the wings for example, an RL and an MML couldbe mounted in each wing. Each mixed pair must fire the samedirection the RLs in the example might fire F and the MMLs

fire B, but the matched pairs would fire the same direction.Microplanes cannot mount high-recoil weapons in theirwings. ATGs, ACs, GCs, HACs and Tank Guns cannot bemounted in microplane wings or in microplane EWPs. Nomicroplane may mount a Tank Gun or HAC.Airplanes may mount ACs, ATGs and GCs in their wingsand in their EWPs. They may mount TGs F or B in their fuse-lages, although firing such a weapon is a D4 hazard at any timeHACs must be mounted in the fuselage, and firing it is a D2hazard if the airplane is smaller than Cargo. Airplanes mountingATGs suffer a D2 penalty every time they fire an ATG to anydirection except F or B unless the airplane is larger thanLarge, in which case there is no recoil penalty.Jet fighters have the same weapon mounting rules as non-cargo airplanes. They may fire HACs and ATGs without anypenalties.

Other ExteriorEquipment

Aircraft may mount EWPs and turrets, according to the Tur-ret Table (see below). Aircraft may mount turrets on the top andthe bottom of the aircraft, as man y as they could norma lly mounton the top. No EWPs can ever be mounted anywhere but onTop, Underbody or Wings (wing-mounted EWPs are under thewings).Landing Gear

Every aircraft requires landing gear. Microplanes requirethree motorcycle wheels; airplanes require three car wheels. Jetfighters, cargo and large cargo airplanes require six truck tires.(While some "real-world" cargo planes require more than sixwheels, they require large, gas-hog engines and have fallen outof use in 2040. The maximum cargo weight of an Aeroduelplane is 65,000 lbs. large, but well able to get by with sixwheels).Appropriate wheelguards may be added to the wheels toprotect and streamline them (microplanes use cyclewheelguards, airplanes and jet fighters require regularwheelguards). Only three wheelguards are necessary on thesix-wheel aircraft, the wheels are grouped in pairs. All aircraftmay m ount retractable landing gear see Accessories, p. 18.

Microplanes and airplanes under 5,000 lbs. may mount Off-Road Suspension (at standard cost) and Off-Road Tires in orderto take off from and land on off-road/unpaved surfaces. A plane

without OR tires will take 1 point tire damage per Phasein contact with an unpaved surface. Planes without ORsion take this damage directly to the underbody thecollapseMicroplanes and airplanes may mount a tailwheeinstead of one (or 1/2 total number, whichever is greaterequired sets of wheels (1 wheel most of the time, 2 wlarge landing gear assemblies). The tailwheel/skid wecosts half as much as one standard wheel of the size appto the aircraft. Tailwheel/skid aircraft are limited to 30turns while taxiing.No Landing Gear

Aircraft landing without wheels on a paved surfacelanding) will take 2 points damage to the underbody pdecelerating 20 mph per Turn, until the craft stops. Opaved surface, damage is 1 point per Phase. In either cais a Fire Modifier of 2, Duration 0 (it catches fire on a 2

DischargersAircraft may mount dischargers on body and wingtwo dischargers may be mounted Back and none

mounted Front. Sides, top and bottom may mount two ders per 20 body spaces. Wings may mount two discharthe bottom/trailing edge of each wing) per four wingrounded up. This is a good way to carry chaff to foradar-guided missiles . . .Turret Tables

Microplane Turret TableBody Maximum Maximum NuType Turret Size EWP Size Of MSmall None 1-space 1 TMedium 2-space 2-space 1 TLarge 2-space 2-space 1 TCargo 3-space 3-space 1 TLarge Cargo 4-space 4-space 2 T

Airplane Turret TableBody Maximum Maximum NuType Turret Size EWP Size Of MSmall 2-space 2-space 1 TMedium 3-space 3-space 1 TLarge 3-space 4-space 2 TCargo 4-space 5-space 2 TLarge Cargo 4-space 5-space 2 T

Jet Fighter Turret TableBody Maximum Maximum NuType Turret Size EWP Size Of MSmall 4-space 5-space 1 TLarge 4-space 5-space 2 T

EWPs may, of course, be mounted on the wings. Anmay mount as many EWPs on each wing as it may mturrets.Aircraft may mount up to two special EWPs on the taaircraft, one on each side. These EWPs may only mounlers or jets.


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HelicoptersFast, maneuverable and versatile, helicopters are the mostnumerous air vehicles of the 21st century. Their ability to carryheavy weights and land nearly anywhere makes them the mostuseful aircraft of the age, serving as cargo carriers, passengerhaulers, attack craft and rescue ambulances. They're harder tomaintain than airplanes, don't have nearly the range and are far

more expensive, but their usefulness is worth the shortfalls.

ConstructionHelicopters follow construction rules similar to other aerialvehicles. The factors of cost, weight and space must be carefullybalanced to build an effective helicopter.Helicopters only have five basic components: body style(which also determines rotor diameter), power plant, weapons,armor and accessories. Helicopters do not have suspension,chassis or tires. The maxim um weight is strictly a function of thepower factors of the power plant (see below).Helicopters come in four basic types. Note that the base

handling class goes down as the helicopters get bigger.The numbers in parentheses under "Spaces" indicate theamount of cargo the helicopter can carry. Spaces designated forcargo cannot be used for helicopter components (except wherenoted below).Rotor DP indicates the number of damage points thehelicopter's rotor have. The first number is for the main rotor;the second is for the stabilizing rotor.The one-man helicopter can be purchased in a "stowaway"construction. For an extra $1,000 the helicopter can be brokendown into component parts. It has a hinged fuselage and foldingrotors and fits into any cargo area holding 13 spaces. The assem-bly or breakdown process takes a tool kit and 15 minutes.Helicopters may be specified as having doors on either orboth sides. Opening a door is a firing action for a standinggunner or passenger. When a door is open the helicopter is

treated as if it has an open sun-roof on that side.

Power PlantsHelicopters use aircraft power plants and g as aircraft engines(see p. 7).Acceleration and top speed for helicopters is computed dif-ferently than other aircraft, as most of the helicopter's powergoes to keeping the helicopter in the air. If a helicopter's powerplant's factors are less than the helicopter's weight, the helicop-

ter cannot lift off the ground. If the factors are more than thehelicopter's weight but less than 1 .5 times its weight the helicop-ter has a straightaway acceleration of 5 mph. If the powe r factorsare 1.5 times the helicopter's weight or greater, the helicopterhas a straightaway acceleration of 10 mph.

Helicopter top speed is computed with the following formula: (300 x Power Factors)/(Power Factors + weight). Helicopter power units are consumed at a rate given by this formula:(PU x current speed)/[20,000 x (maximum speed/100)]. Onthe average, a helicopter can travel about 200 miles at 100 mphon a full charge.Helicopters need armor in six locations: Front, back, rightleft, top and under. The main and stabilizing rotors are notprotected by armor. All the usual types of armor are availablefor helicopters and mixing types is not allowed except for composite metal/plastic.

WeaponsWeapons work for helicopters just as they work for other aivehicles. Helicopters can use dropped weapons if they are closenough to the ground. Like other aircraft, paint sprays, smokescreens and FCEs work normally, but the helicopter needs to bwithin 7 feet of the ground V2" in ground scale and

moving below 150 mph to use oil jets, spike-droppers andminedroppers. Above that height and speed, the action of throtors and velocity spread dropped weapons too much to beffective.Vehicular weapons may be mounted on the helicopter'front, sides, back and underbody. They may not be mounted othe helicopter's top because of the main rotor. Turrets may onlbe mounted on the underbody. Turrets cover front, side anback arcs of fire (and cover the under arc if bought as universaland are protected by the underbody armor. Side and underbodymounted weapons may be mounted in cargo spaces. Backmounted weapons must be mounted in cargo spaces, if thhelicopter has cargo spaces to begin with. One weapon may bmounted to fire through the helicopter's rotor, This weapon ifixed to fire straight up, as if it were firing on automatic. Onlyone of the following weapons may be so mounted: MG, HMGAC, GG, FG, or any kind of Laser. For an additional $1,000, laser mounted in the rotor hub may be given a regular Top firinarc by the addition of a special focusing lens.Like all aerial vehicles, helicopters have three-dimensionaarcs of fire. See p. 32 for a full explanation.

HelicopterAccessories

Many accessories used by helicopters are those used by othevehicles. With logical exceptions (such as wheelguards, etc.most of the accessories listed elsewhere are available for use byhelicopters. The listings below are those accessories that mayonly be used by helicopters or have special uses on helicoptersHelicopter Body Types

Body size Price Weight Spaces HC Rotor DP ArmorOne-man $10,000 500 13 3 3/3 16/8Small $20,000 800 19 2 5/3 20/10StandardTransport $40,000$80,000 1,2002,000 24( + 6)24(+17) 21 6/48/4 30/1435/17


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Turrets and EWPS Spaces, weight and cost as per tur-ret/EWP size and type. The table below notes the size of acces-sory mountable on each helicopter body size. Please note that anEWP mounted on the underbody precludes the mounting of aturret in that area.

Helicopter Turret TableBody Size ax. Turret Size ax. EWP SizeOne-man space spacesSmall spaces spacesStandard spaces spacesTransport spaces spaces

Skids No weight, space or cost. Two of these are standardequipment on all helicopters; the helicopter stands on them whenit is on the ground. Skids are targeted at -8 to hit and their DPvaries: 8 DP per skid for one-man and small helicopters, 12 DPper skid for standard and transport helicopters.

Skid Stretchers No space, 25 lbs., $300, 2 DP. Skidstretchers are man-sized cylinders attached to the skids for thepurpose of carrying extra people or cargo. Each one adds onespace to those of the helicopter, up to a maximum of an extra twospaces, but those spaces cannot be used for anything exceptcarrying cargo or people. The stretchers are unarmored and tar-geted like pedestrians (-3 to hit).Co-axial Counter-Rotating Rotor System (CACR) 20% ofbody cost, 400 lbs, 2 spaces. Replaces the stabilizing rotor andadds another blade to the main rotor; both blades have the DPspecified for the main rotor. The CACR increases maximumspeed to 250 mph and adds 1 to HC (maximum HC is still 3).

If the rotors are hit by damage, roll randomly to see whichrotor was hit. When one is destroyed, treat the damage as if thehelicopter lost its stabilizing rotor. The CACR system workslike a stealth system as long as the helicopter stays under halfspeed and acceleration, except that the range of hearing is 6"(90').Extra Rotor Blades Each extra main rotor blade costs$1,000 and weighs 200 lbs. Each extra stabilizing rotor bladecosts $250 and weighs 50 lbs. Unmodified rotors have twoblades per rotor; up to three more per rotor may be added for amaximum of five per rotor.Each extra blade adds 1 DP to the rotor DP. In addition, anyhelicopter with four or more blades on its main and stabilizingrotors adds 1 to its HC (maximum HC is still 3). If combinedwith CACR, each rotor must have the same number of bladesand there is no HC benefit from having four or more blades oneach rotor.

Rotor Armor The armor increases rotor DP. Maarmor is twice the cost and half the weight per point of oof the helicopter's armor. Stabilizing rotor armor is 1the cost and half the weight per point of one poinhelicopter's armor. Main rotor armor repair is three tcostly; stabilizing rotor armor is twice as costly to repaiarmor must match the helicopter's armor, unless the hehas only metal armor, in which case rotor armor may be aof plastic (rotor armor may not be metal). A maximumpoints of armor may be applied to any rotor.Dusting

A helicopter can "dust" a ground vehicle. If a hedrops to within 1" of a ground target over any terrainmost scrupulously clean arena asphalt, the area is "duthe blades kick up a nasty cloud of dust, gravel, trash anmaterials, with the basic effect of a very large smokescra smokescreen counter directly under the helicopter oveby 1" area. This could stays under the helicopter as lonwithin 1" of the ground, moving wherever it movesotherwise like a smokescreen in all respects. The "dextends upward 1/2" from the ground.

Destroying Smoke and Paint CloudsAny helicopter larger than one-man size can dispel or paint cloud by flying close to it. Small helicopters dany smoke or paint cloud within 1". Standard and trchoppers disperse clouds within 2". Double these distaa cloud directly below the helicopter. However, a cwhich disperses a paint cloud by flying underneath it isas though it had entered the cloud; the paint is sucked dthe rotors and coats the windshield.

GrasshoppersThe Grasshopper is an uncommon combination of he

and automobile. It is a mid-sized, sedan or luxury cwhich is modified to accommodate the extra helicoptement. This modification costs $15,000 extra. The equconsists of a folding rotor assembly issuing from a slidpanel; a tail rotor issues from the rear of the car. Becau sconversion equipment, no turrets may be mounted on hopper except a pop-up turret mounted under. Grassmay have no top-mounted weapons.The rotor extension takes a full turn to activate,which time the roof panel slides back, the rotors emeextend to their full length. To take off the rotors must three seconds on the fourth second the grasshopper moff. Its acceleration and maximum speed are determineding to regular helicopter weight versus power factoGrasshopper ground speed and acceleration are based onautomobile weight versus power factor rules most gpers are quite fast. Grasshoppers may use only mini helicopter power plants. The power plant takes up theamount of space and the rotor conversion gear takes up Driver skill is used to drive the grasshopper on theand Pilot skill is necessary to fly it in the air. Once in thgrasshopper a cts like a helicopter. Both the main and starotors are targeted at -6. The main rotor has 5 DP stabilizing rotor has 3 DP. The grasshopper's aerial Hground HC is determined by the suspension. Grasshoppuse rotor armor and maneuver foils but may not useextra rotor blades or retractable landing gear.


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AirshipsAirships were the first true powered aircraft, introducedover 150 yea rs ago. They were the only aircraft in the skies untilthe invention of the powered airplane. Airships survived ascargo and passenger carriers, capable of much greater range thanany of the airplanes of the period. Then their fortunes declinedwith the destruction of the Hindenburg almost a century ago.

Few airships remained in use and even fewer were built.Interest in heavy-lifting bodies airships rekindled to-wards the end of the last century, when new technology madeairships feasible cargo-haulers. The interest in airships contin-ued at an even greater pace after the fuel crunch in the early 21stcentury. Today, airships move most of the heavy cargo acrossthe world's continents, the aerial equivalent of ocean-goingcargo ships.

Airship Body TypesCntrl Prop Env

Size Price Weight Max Wt Spaces Armor /Wt DP DP DP HCMicro $ 10,000 2,000 12,000 20 14/7 3 3 6 2Small $ 20,000 3,000 20,000 40 50/ 25 4 5 1 0 2Medium $ 50,000 4,500 30,000 60 80/40 8 8 16 1Standard $100,000 8,500 50,000 110 140/70 1 0 10 20 1Large $150,000 12,000 75,000 150 200/100 15 16 32 1Transport $180,000 25,000 100,000 180 240/120 20 20 40 0Super $ 250,000 50,000 250,000 240 300/150 25 24 50 0

Body TypesAirships have five main components: envelope, gondola,power plant, weapons and accessories. The gondola is the main

body to which equipment is fixed; the envelope is the gasbagwhich provides lift.There are three kinds of envelopes: Non-rigid (blimps);semi-rigid; and rigid (dirigibles). The table above is for fullyrigid dirigibles. To con vert the statistics to the other types, mod-ify the statistics as follows:Non-rigid A non-rigid airship is nothing more than agondola fastened to the bottom of a gasbag. Such an airship islimited to Medium size or smaller. The base price is reduced by50%. The envelope has only 3 DP in any size and maximumspeed is reduced 50%. They can be deflated and stored, to bereinflated with relative swiftness (see below).Semi-rigid A semi-rigid airship is a gondola that providesa strong keel for the gasbag. Because of this, semi-rigid airshipshave multiple gas cells in the bag, making the envelope moreresistant to damage. They are limited to Large size or smaller.The base price is reduced by 25 % and the max weight is raised50%. They have V 3 envelope DP and only 75% maximumspeed. Semi-rigid airships cannot be streamlined.

Spaces in airships are usually used for cargo, but are alsoused for power plants, weapons, crew, etc. The spaces are all inthe gondola. The envelope is over ten times as large, but the areais filled with buoyant gas.Armor cost and weight figures are for the gondola. Themicro and small gondolas have six armor locations. The othergondolas have ten armor locations, like a trailer, even thoughmost of them are m uch larger than any trailer. Armor can be anyof the usual types, with no mixing allowed except formetal/plastic composites.

Only rigid airships can be streamlined, at the usual cost anspaces lost. This moves the gondola inside the gasbag at thbottom and has no other effects other than the streamlining.Airships are normally propelled by four ducted fans (athough this may be reduced; see below). Each fan has DP equto the Prop DP listed. Each prop the airship loses lowers the Hby 1 (m inimum 0). An airship that has lost half of its props loshalf of the power factors provided by the airship power planAirship props are -4 to hit and may be armored (see p. 13).Airships may have as few as two fans, or as many as 10 % the airship spaces (round down). Fans must be mounted in pairIf an airship has only two fans, reduce the body weight by 4lbs. and reduce body cost by $1,500. Each pair of fans addweighs 400 lbs. and costs $1,500.Envelope DP is the damage-absorbing capability of the gabag. When the envelope has taken 1/4 of its DP, the airshbegins to lose altitude at 1/4" per turn. When half of the enveloDP are destroyed, the altitude loss is V2 per turn. The airshloses altitude at 1" per turn when 3/4 of the envelope DP agone. When all envelope DP are gone the airship falls freely (sFalling, p. 25). Envelopes can be armored (see below).Envelopes take full damage from flamethrowers; all othweapons pass through, doing relatively little damage. Burst-fect weapons tend to explode inside, their radius of effect puncompared to the envelope's interior. Non-flamethrower weaons do 1 point of damage per damage die (i.e., a Vulcan woudo 2 points, no matter what kind of ammunition it was using.Heavy Rocket would do 3 points, etc.).Control DP is the amount of damage that the airship's cotrol surfaces can sustain. Control surfaces take only half damafrom weapons fire. When their DP is gone, the airship caperform no maneuver greater than D2 difficulty. An airship wino control surfaces may still rotate, since rotating uses the farather than control surfaces.


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Power PlantsAirship power plants are special, long-endurance fuel cellsthat cannot be used in any other kind of vehicle.

Airship Power PlantsSize rice Weight Spaces DP Power FactorsMicro 5,000 2,000 12 24 10,000Mini 10,000 4,000 16 32 14,000Small 15,000 6,000 20 40 24,000Medium $18,000 8,000 22 44 32,000Large 30,000 10,000 25 50 47,000X-Large $75,000 30,000 30 60 67,000Super 100,000 50,000 45 80 125,000

All airships accelerate at 5 mph you just can't get thatlarge a body m oving any faster. If an airship doesn't have at leastV2 its weight in Power Factors, it doesn't accelerate at all.An airship can decelerate at up to 15 mph per turn (the windresistance of the envelope helps instead of hurts).Example: An airship traveling at 20 mph could slow to 15,10, or 5 mph in one turn.Airship maximum speed is determined according to this for-mula: (Power Factors x 285)/(Power Factors + Weight).Airship range is 800 miles at 55 mph. Each 10 mph fasterlowers the range by 10% to a minimum range of 50% (400miles). Each 5 mph slower raises the range by 10% to a maxi-mum range of 120% (960 miles).

Helium versusHydrogen

Airships usually use expensive helium to nullify their mass.The element is expensive because it is obtained only from he-lium fields located in west Kansas, Oklahoma and south Texas,or from nuclear fusion plants. And fusion plants don't producevery much of it.The advantage of helium is that it doesn't burn. It has lessactual lifting power than hydrogen and is harder to come by, butit doesn't burn. Envelopes have a Burn Modifier of +0.Those wishing to fill their airships with hydrogen may do soat their own peril. Using hydrogen lowers base body cost by 5 %and adds 10% to maximum weight; it also lowers gas mainte-nance costs by 90% (see Gas Cylinders, below).Hydrogen burns nicely when mixed with oxygen andsparked. Hydrogen-filled airship envelopes take full damagefrom any weapon capable of causing a fire (flamethrowers, la-sers and incendiary weapons of all kinds) and have a fire modi-fier of +6. If the airship actually catches fire, roll 2d for damageto the envelope each turn rather than 1 point Hand-h eld fire-ex-tinguishers won't have any effect on fires like this. Regular andheavy-duty fire extinguishers can extinguish these fires nor-mally.

WeaponsAirships mount weapons in their gondolas, treating the gon-dola like a vehicle for mounting purposes. Naturally, gondolascan't mount weapons on their Top facing. Gondolas can mountturrets, EWPs and bomb racks Micro gondolas are limited totwo-space mounts and Small gondolas are limited to three-spacemounts. Medium gondolas are limited to four-space mounts;

larger gondolas may use mounts up to five-space size. Micro andSmall gondolas may have two such mounts; larger gondolas maymount up to three turrets/EWPs/bomb racks. If an airship has

three turret/EWP/bomb racks, the first two use the Orating. All three mounts are staggered for unrestrictedfire.Rigid airships can have Top and Side-mounted waffixed to the structure supporting the envelope. Theseare mounted on the center-line to maintain balance. Oweapons may be mounted per side and two more on(turret mounts are counted as one weapon per turret, nhow many weapons are actually in the turret). Only nocant-recoil weapons may be mounted there (no ATGs, Tor HACs). Normally these weapons are mounted in uturrets for best effect. Any weapons mounted on topcount as double weight to account for the strengtheniframe at this point. For instance, a rigid airship mounfour-space universal turrets on top, one with an AC anzine and the other with four SAMs, would have to givelbs. of its maximum weight capacity. Note that the Ahave extra magazines, or the SAMs could have rockzines, all below in the envelope. The am ount of materiabe below in the airship's envelope is practically unlimthe weight adds up.The reason top and side-mounts are common is thavelope of any airship sharply restricts its firing arcs. weapons may not shoot at any target higher than the galtitude (for simplicity, the airship's altitude is considethe gondola's altitude). This makes the gasbag very vuThe gasbag towers over the gondola. Envelope detailed below:

Envelope Size TableAirship Envelope Envelope CSize Length iameter InMicro 17" 3"Small 20" 4"Medium 24" 5"Standard 29" 6"LargeTransport 32"34" 6 1Super 50" 10" 3Airship AccessorieAirships can use nearly any accessory helicoptersplanes can. Certain accessories, like maneuver foils

proved tail assemblies, are not available. Airships dolanding gear, either.Prop Armor $20, 5 lbs. per point. Each airship be armored to a maximum of 1 0 points per prop. Can beany of the standard armor types except metal.Envelope Armor 5% of base body cost, 2 % of bprice per point. Envelope armor is automatically fireprgas inside isn't unless you're hauling helium hydrogships still risk the dan ger of catastrophic fire.) Airship ecan be armored to a maximum of their regular envelthat is, the envelope DP can be effectively doubled wiEnvelope armor can be made laser-reflective for an a10% cost.Burst-effect weapons have full effect against armolopesGas Cylinder $50 empty (+$5 for hydrogen, helium), 200 lbs., V 2 space, 2 DP. A single cylindenough gas to inflate one cubic inch of an airship's envHigh-Speed Compressor Pack $4,000, 800 lbs., 4 DP. This heavy-duty compressor can be used to fill gders. Up to ten cylinders can be filled at a time; it minutes to fill a cylinder. The main use for this is to


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lifting gas cylinders. Helium costs $10 per cylinder refill and isusually available only at airship stations. Hydrogen can be ob-tained from any airport fueling stop and costs $5 per cylinder.

Microplane Harness $1,000, 500 lbs., 2 spaces. Can beinstalled on the bottom of any airship with 30 or more internalspaces, one per 40 spaces. It is a harness for carrying a micro-plane underneath the vehicle in flight, converting it into an aer-ocarrier. To use it, the microplane (outfitted with the properhooks, $200, no weight or space) flies 1" underneath the carrierand matches speed with it. The harness is lowered and themicroplane flies into it, latching onto the hook in front of thecockpit (a D5 maneuver). The other hooks latch automaticallyand the plane is secured in the harness. The plane is thenwinched up to the belly of the carrier, which takes 5 seconds.Control loss during the hooking procedure means the planefailed to latch, and must try again. There is no other penalty forthe control loss.Microplane harnesses require the purchase and installationof two winches in addition to the harness, for raising and lower-ing the plane and harness. The winches may be used for otherthings as well, such as raising and lowering cargo, when there'sno plane in the harness.Once in the ha rness the plane is carried along with the carriership as exterior cargo. The microplane's crew may go inside thelarger carrier if they wish. The microplane may be rechargedfrom the airship's power supply, weapons reloaded and otherexpendables replaced and repairs made although no wing orunderbody weapons may be reloaded and no wing or underbodyrepairs may be made.A microplane may be carried as interior cargo. This takesadditional spaces equal to double the microplane's spaces. Amicroplane carried as interior cargo may be fully serviced, iftools and supplies are available.Launching a microplane from the harness takes 5 seconds.On the first second the lowering process begins. The next threeseconds have the microplane lowering; the microplane's enginemay be turned on during this time, warming up. On the fifth

second the harness is detached allowing the plane to fall freeD3 m aneuver. The plane is moving at the carrier's current speand m ay accelerate immediately.Carriers may not mount weapons in armor locations used mount microplane harnesses. Underbody weapons cannot used until all planes are detached and the harnesses returned "up" position (which takes one second after the planes havdetached).Solar Panels 1 DP, $1,000, 100 lbs., 2 spaces. The panis protected by top armor (but only when not deployed) and c

be mounted on any vehicle that can mount a turret. When dployed, each panel automatically positions itself for top efciency, recharging 20 power units per panel per hour in daytimunder clear skies (half that under partly-cloudy skies). It takesturn to deploy or retract and can be targeted at -2.Rigid airships can mount solar panels atop the envelopThese panels weigh 1 50 lbs. per panel instead of the regular 1lbs. per panel, because of the need for extra bracing. An airshcan mount solar panels all along the top of the envelope this the envelope length times V3 the envelope diameter, rounddown. For example, a large airship has room for [32 x (6/3)]96 solar panels

Airship-mounted solar panels cannot be "retracted" beneaarmor, and can always be targeted. Any shot hitting the envl o p e f r o m a b o v e h i t s a s o la r p a n e l o n a 1 d r o l l o f 4 6 . A n y s h o thitting the envelope from the side hits a solar panel on a 1d rof 6. Solar panels can't be hit from underneath, front or backThese solar pane ls do not block the m ounting of turrets atthe envelope.Airship Counters

The airship counters and templates (pp. 41-42) are given air-to-air scale. Ground-scale counters for even the smallest airships are too large to fit on the counter sheetThe templates provide outlines for the different-sized envlopes, and may be photocopied for personal use only.


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Other FliersAirplanes, helicopters and airships are not the only things inthe air. Other devices share the skies with the more commonfliers. Some of these devices are basic, like gliders others aremore complex, like jet-packs. All are detailed below.

AutogyrosAutogyros look like helicopters but have little or no powerto the rotor. Rotation to provide lift is supplied by forwardmotion, so autogyros are not VTOL but STOL aircraft.Autogyros are built on microplane and airplane bodies.Body weight is reduced 25%. Autogyros cannot use wing op-tions but are automatically STOL, with a stall speed reduction(see p. 20) of 33%. They have no wings, so they don't worryabout wing options, mounts or DP.Autogyros use a rotor to supply their lift instead of wings.The rotor limits the size of autogyros; the largest body type thatcan be converted to autogyro is Large Airplane. Autogyrosdon't need or have a stabilizing rotor they have regular air-craft tails. Autogyro rotors can be armored and may have extrablades installed. They cannot use CACR. Autogyros are limitedto a maximum speed of 250 mph and a maximum HC of 3. Anautogyro uses the HC of its aircraft body type or 3, whichever islower. Main rotor DP is determined as follows.

Autogyro Rotor DPMicroplane Body Type DP Airplane Body Type DPSmall 3 Small 4Medium 4 Medium 6Large 5 Large 7Cargo 6Large Cargo 6

Autogyros must mount a propeller either F or B (props maybe mounted F and B if desired) to propel the vehicle.As usual, wheels must be added for landing gear. Autogyrosmake rolling take-offs and landings.Autogyros mount weapons F, R, L, B and U. Turrets may bemounted U only. Unlike airplanes, autogyros may mount side-mounted weapon EWPs.Autogyro acceleration and deceleration are identical tomicroplane and airplane rules.Autogyros maneuver like microplanes, except that theydon't have to bank to turn. Autogyros climb like microplanes,but the amount of speed used to climb may never exceed theamount of speed used for forward motion. Autogyros dive likehelicopters. An autogyro that drops below stall speed beginsauto-rotation (see p. 26).When an autogyro suffers control loss, roll on Crash Table7. Every time a Wing Check is called for, make a Rotor Checkinstead, using the rules on p. 27.

CarplanesCars that convert to airplanes have been around for almost100 years. An attempt was made in the 1950s to mass-produceand market airplanes that turned into cars for road travel theproject fell through because of mass disinterest. With aerialtravel being the safest way to get around, due to poorly-main-tained highways, the carplane is experiencing a resurgence in

popularity.

Carplanes are constructed from sub-compact, commid-size auto bodies. They are built normally, excepbody costs double this buys the wing and tail assemthe fold-up modes necessary and the power plant cosmore, to cover the dual-purpose mode of use. A carquires four tires, a power plant, space for the driver (angers if desired), weapon(s), a propeller (mounted F owing-mounted props on carplanes) and a trailer hitch. Tand-tail trailer requires two motorcycle wheels; the aweighs 10% of the carplane's maximum allowed weighing modifications for chassis strength).When on the ground, the carplane is separated parts. The main body is the car. The wing and tail assfolded into an odd-looking trailer that is towed behindWhen preparing for flight, the wing and tail assembfolded and fastened to the car body. Fastening or remassembly requires 10 minutes, or 5 minutes if the drivassistant. The trailer wheels are attached to the carflight.

Carplane wings have no weapons spaces and cannEWPs or bomb racks; they exist solely for the purposviding lift. Sub-compact wings have 4 DP and the tail Compact wings have 7 DP and the tail has 20 DP. wings have 9 DP and the tail has 13 DP. Carplane wdamage like microplane wings; tails take damage reguCarplanes can't mount any turrets except for a pturret mounted U; the top of the vehicle has the wing-mit. On the ground, carplanes maneuver and fight as cHC determined by their suspension. In the air, carplaneHC of 2 and maneuver like microplanes. They land anas airplanes. Carplanes have two accelerations and twmum speeds listed one each for car and plane moplanes have a stall speed of 50 mph.

HoverplanesAn idea introduced in the late 20th century, hoverphovercraft that sprout wings and convert into ungainl

able aircraft. Only one-man and small hovers may be cthis way; the conversion doubles the cost of the body,V4 of the body spaces (rounded up) and weighs V 3 bod(rounded up). This provides a pair of retractable winspecial stabilizer assembly for the hovercraft. The staalways out, serving as the hovercraft's steering mecthis also serves as a vertical stabilizer when operatingcraft mode. The wings fold in and out of the hovercrExtending or retracting the wings is a firing action take two turns to fully extend or retract. The wings canweapons and take dam age as m icroplane wings. One-mwings have 5 DP, small hover wings have 8 DP. The is protected by the back armor. Hoverplanes may mouons normally.Hoverplanes behave as hovercraft on the ground. have as microplanes in the air, with an HC of 1. Hoverpspeed is 50 mph. They are treated as pusher aircraft props mounted back) and use their normal fans to propethe ground and in the air. Hoverplanes require two accand maximum speed ratings one for hover modeplane mode.


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BalloonsBalloons are a popular surveillance device, and have beenfor over 100 years. They require little power, are easy to main-tain and cheap to buy. Some people use balloons for travel, but

only on short joy-rides they are at the mercy of the wind andcan't carry enough armament and armor to survive much. Mostballoons hang above towns and cities, armed with cameras andradar.Gas-Cells Balloons are constructed from gas-cells con-

tained within an envelope. Each gas-cell costs $200, weighs 25lbs., and provides hot-air lift for 125 lbs. Any number of cellsmay be linked together to form a balloon, theoretically. Thepractical limit is 15 cells. Each cell is a separate lifting body andhas its own 5 DP.Cells take damage like airships, except that burst-effectweapons do full damage (the cells are so close together that theweapon rounds hit enough resistance to trigger the fuse).If enough cells are destroyed that the balloon's lifting capac-ity dips below its payload (basket and tether plus the weight ofthe cells) the balloon begins to fall (see Falling, p. 25). The rateof descent is 5 mph per 100 lbs. (round up) that balloon lift fallsshort of payload weight up to terminal velocity. Remember thatfor each 1" of altitude loss, tethered balloons shed 15 lbs. ofpayload 15 feet of cable is lying on the ground and no longercounts against the balloon's payload weight. Balloons are nor-mally treated as stationary targets. Falling balloons are not sta-tionary.The templates for balloon counters are provided on pp. 41-42. These may be photocopied for personal use only.If desired, a balloon's cells could be filled with hydrogen orhelium for non-powered lift. Calculate the balloon's counterarea to determine how much the lifting gas would cost, using thecosts given on p. 13. Subtract $150 per gas cell if the balloon'scells are not equipped with air-heating gear.

Baskets Most balloons lift a basket. This is the armoredbox that contains the equipment the balloon mounts. Basketscome in two sizes: Regular ($250, 200 lbs., 3 spaces for equip-ment, armor cost/wt $10/4 lbs. per point) and Large ($400, 200lbs., 5 spaces for equipment, armor cost/wt $15/6 lbs. perpoint). Baskets have six armor facings, as usual, and can use anykind of armor. The regular basket can mount a 1-space turret Uand the large basket can mount a 2-space turret U. A balloon canonly have one basket, which is represented by a V2" by V 2counter suspended V 2 beneath the balloon counter.

Tether $100 and 15 lbs. per 1" (15') of length. To pro-vide power and communications, balloons use an armored elec-tric cable to anchor them to the ground. The cable has 12non-cumulative DP the cable must be severed cleanly in oneshot to cut it, and is -8 to hit. This is because the damage has tobe on the same spot to cut the cable. Someone with an axe on theground could sever it cumulatively. So could someone shootingdirectly at the cable on the ground at Vs" (2 feet) range.Raising and lowering the balloon via tether takes a simpleelectric winch on the ground. This winch costs $200.The balloon is considered a stationary target. The tether isnot, since it moves in the breeze.

Barrage Cables $500, 500 lbs., no spaces. This accessoryhangs long cables from the balloon. The cables hang directlyunder the balloon counter and cover an area equal to the counterfrom the balloon's altitude down to 10" (150') beneath the bal-loon. The cables cannot be destroyed there are too many ofthem and ramming them is treated as a vehicle collision. Thetether cannot be targeted for 10" beneath the balloon; it's mixedin with the other cable.

Balloons with the barrage option aren't worth much excepas aerial roadblocks. The cables obscure basket equipment, making a basket useless. However, well-placed barrage balloons caforce attacking aircraft to stay clear of an area lest they run intthe balloons.Free FlightIf a tether is released or broken, the balloon floats free on thwind. With the power cut off, the cell air cools and the ballooloses 100 lbs. of lift every 15 minutes. Cycle power plants mabe mounted in the basket to heat the balloon. A power plancharge keeps the balloon aloft 15 hours per 100 power factordividing by the number of cells in the balloon. For example,small cycle plant would keep a 1-cell balloon aloft for 60 houwith its 400 PF. It would keep a 9-cell balloon aloft for 6 houand 40 minutes, or a 13-cell balloon aloft for 4 hours and 3minutes, etc.Balloons in free flight move in the same direction and speeas the wind. They have no HC and can't suffer crash results. Afree-flight balloon may gain or lose altitude, if it has a powplant and someone there to control it (remote control works well as live pilots). Balloons gain and lose altitude at 1/4" pturn.

GlidersGlider AircraftAnother flying machine that relies on the wind, gliders woon the opposite principle from balloons. They use the air for liinstead of movemen t.Gliders are microplanes, with the following modificationHalf maximum load, no power plant or propellers and HeavLift/STOL wings. Electrical equipment is kept running by aon-board battery system. Lasers require a laser battery. Glidemay be streamlined. They generally don't carry EWPs or bomracks because of the drag these objects produce. The wheels amounted in the body and take up 1 space; if the glider is streamlined, so are the wheels, automatically.Gliders are used to carry cargo, or for the pleasure of flyilike a bird, unpowered except for the power of nature beneaone's wings. They have to be towed into the sky by anothairplane or launched through the use of a catapult (see catapuand tow cable, p. 17). They may only be landed by the glidpilot a towed glider doesn't brake too well and tends to smainto its tow plane when the plane decelerates.Gliders fly the same way that microplanes do, except thwhen a glider is not climbing, diving or in an updraft or dowdraft it loses V 4 of altitude per turn. The only way a free-flyiglider has to accelerate is to dive.

Gliders can gain altitude by climbing, but this is costly terms of speed. They may gain altitude without speed loss frothermal updrafts (see Storms, p. 23).Powered GlidersAlthough a powered glider would seem to be a contradictiin terms, it is possible. A powered glider cannot weigh mothan half the microplane's listed maximum load and cannot haan acceleration better than 10 mph. It must still have HeavLift/STOL wings and must also include standard retractablanding gear rather than the special glider landing gear aboveThe advantage of a powered glider is its extended range (ahigher ceiling, although that rarely matters in Aeroduel).powered glider has double the range of a normal microplawith the same engine.


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Glider A ccessoriesTow Cable $200, 50 lbs., 1 space, 1 DP. This is mountedin the tow-plane, not in the glider it must be mounted B. It isa very strong 3" (45') cable that attaches to the nose of a glider.The cable allows an airplane to take off towing a glider treatthe glider as a car treats a trailer for purposes of airplane accel-eration. The cable can be detached at any time. Detaching thecable is a firing action. Once detached the glider is in free flight.The cable is -10 to hit and has 10 DP.Catapult $3,500, 2,000 lbs., 10 spaces, 10 DP. This is a

ground-mounted winch that reels in a glider's tow cable withgreat force and speed, yanking the glider up to its stall speed.The catapult provides 10 mph per turn acceleration for fourturns. The catapult includes the 150' (10") tow cable in its costand weight. A catapult can launch any aircraft up to 3,000 lbs.,as long as the aircraft has no propeller mounted F and isequipped with a tow hook.A catapult exerts far too much force for it to be mounted onany vehicle short of a large ship. Size and w eight are included incase it is carried as cargo. The catapult can be carried and set upfor use it does not have to be permanently mounted. Settingup a catapult takes 30 minutes.

Hang GlidersHang Gliders $500, 60 lbs. and 1 space as cargo, 1 GEwhen "carried," 2 DP. Hang gliders are unpowered single-wing surfaces that hold one flyer. The pilot must take off from aheight to dive for the speed necessary to keep the glider in theair. The pilot launches himse lf and the glider off a 50' tall (about3") or higher cliff or building at running speed. The gliderhas a stall speed of 15 mph, a maximum speed of 50 mph and an

HC of 2.Once in the air, hang gliders climb like microplanes and divelike helicopters. They may turn, shift and drift. They cannotaccelerate in any way except by diving, and lose V4" of altitudeper turn when they're not climbing or diving. Hang-gliders thatstall at 15 mph or lower must immediately dive to push theirspeed back to 20 mph or more.Hang-gliders, like their larger cousins, rely on updrafts formost of their altitude gain. See p. 23.When a hang-glider loses control, it stalls automatically.

Hang-gliders only take damage from flamethrowers and are+1 to hit. The pilot underneath is at the usual -3 to hit.

ParachutesParachutes act like hang-gliders once they've deployed anddecelerated the wearer. Personal parachutes take 16" to deployfrom the holder; vehicular parachutes take 20" to deploy. Per-sonal parachutes brake the wearer for the next 4"; vehicularparachutes brake the cargo for 10". After the deployment andbraking, the parachutes are treated as hang gliders.Parachutes are not as versatile as hang gliders, and they'remuch harder to control. Personal parachutes have an HC of 1,and vehicular parachutes don't steer or maneuver at all. Personalparachutists may make shift, coordinated turn and veer maneu-vers. Parachutes descend at V2" per turn when they're flyingstraight. Since only personal parachutes can make the climbmaneuver, vehicular parachutes merely glide their cargo to the

ground gradually (which is better than smashing it all over theground). Vehicular parachutes glide in the wind direction at 5mph slower than wind speed until the cargo hits the ground.Personal parachutes may do the same, although they move at thewind speed and may turn into other directions.

When parachutes are being used, it is important to dthe wind speed and direction. This can be accomplishroll (see p. 24).Parachutes don't have a stall speed. They never movthan 5 mph, even if there is no wind.Rocket Packs

Rocket packs are one-man rocket-propulsion unitsshort-lived and dangerous, they offer maximum mobilindividual fighter. They require the Rocket Pack Piloperson without this skill has no chance of using onedisaster. Rocket-pack pilots go through weeks of straining before strapping on the real thing.Each pack costs $10,000, weighs 100 lbs., takes uif carried as cargo, and has 2 DP. Refueling a pack coper turn and requires a special high-energy fuel, availat military bases, Combat Zone supply areas, and socities. A rocket pack takes up 3 GE when worn. It seconds to put on a rocket pack; a quick-release harneit to be removed in 5 seconds.Rocket packs have an acceleration of 10 mph; theydecelerate at up to 15 mph (10 mph from the pack, 5 mthe body's natural wind resistance). They have only 60fuel. On any turn when the pack is not activated, or fuel is gone, the wearer decelerates by 5 mph and free-Falling, p. 25). There is no "stall speed" - the user flturn the pack is activated, and falls every turn it's off.the pack on or off is a firing action.Rocket packs can rotate, shift, drift and make cooturns and veers, but can make no more than two maneturn no matter what the flier's current speed is. They speed for height, or vice versa, climbing and divinairplane. Rocket packs have a maximum horizontal spmph.Should a rocket-pack flyer fail a control roll, he doto any specific Crash Table. Instead, he is stunned onfor every point by which the control roll is failed. Hnothing during this time not even turn the pack on oRocket pack wearers can only use pistols and ohanded weapons while in the air; the other hand is ncontrol the pack.Rocket packs can be targeted at a -5 to hit. If the hit, the pack may be hit. If hit from the front, there is nof hitting the pack. If hit from the side, there is a 33% cor 2 on d) of hitting the pack. If hit from the rear, t66% chance (1-4 on d) of hitting the pack. When a rocloses both its DP it blows up, doing 1 point of damageof fuel left in it in a 1" radius.


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Aircraft AccessoriesAircraft Radio $1,000, no weight or space. Similar to along-range radio, but with a 200-mile range.Bomb Bay $1,000, 100 lbs., 1 space. A bomb bay is alarge set of underbody-mounted doors through which largeequipment can be dropped or lowered. The bomb bay replacesone underbody-m ounted turret. Opening and closing it is a firing

action and takes until the end of the turn after opening or closingis begun to accomplish for example, a bomber opening its bayon turn 5 has to wait until the end of turn 6 to have it fully open.When the bomb bay is open there is no underbody armor on theaircraft (or that section of the aircraft, if it has multiple under-body armor locations).The advantage of a bomb bay is that bombs and otherdropped ordnance can be mounted and dropped as one allbombs mounted in a bay are automatically linked without extracost. Regular bomb mounts are small, single-bomb "bays" andmust be linked to drop them simultaneously.

Bomb Rack Costs $100 and weighs 50 lbs. per space ofbomb capacity. Holds bombs externally on the underside ofaircraft. Cannot be mounted on a fuselage that has one or moreunderbody turrets. Size limits for mounting are the same asEWPs i.e., treat the BR as an EWP for mounting purposes. Abomb rack is limited by spaces, not by bomb weight.For instance, a Large Cargo airplane could mount up to twofive-space bomb racks on each wing, instead of EWPs. Thebomb racks could hold up to five regular bombs (or larger sizes,up to one 1,000 lb. bomb per rack). Bombs mounted on bombracks can be any combination as long as the rack is large enoughto hold the bombs and the aircraft can carry the weight. Forinstance, a 4-space bomb rack could carry four regular bombs,one 500-lb. bomb and a cluster bomb, two cluster bombs andtwo regular bombs, etc. as long as the combined size of thebombs carried didn't exceed 4 spaces.Bomb racks may be used to carry torpedoes for use againstwater-borne targets.

Dive Brakes 5% of body weight and cost, no spaces. Divebrakes allow an aircraft to safely decelerate up t

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