Aircraft Design Company- Matsura's Planes Are Always Fastest!

[open_sketch]

​

Stress 0​

Office Stress 0​

XP 5​

Spoiler: Character Sheet

Matsura Asuka
Head Designer for Ohara Airworks
Age 24 (Legally 25)
Year 12 AF (After Flight)

Design Stats
Aerodynamics Engineering - +2
Structural Engineering - +2
Chemical Engineering - +1
Mechanical Engineering - +1
Ballistics Engineering - +1
Electrical Engineering - 0

Personal/Political Stats
Social Skills - 0
Politics Skills - 0
Importance - 2
Income - 1
Investments - Ohara

Resources
Power - 0
Wealth - 2

Designs
Type 1 Series - Military Variation (Designated T1M1)
Type 2 Racer (World Speed Record October 1910-April 1911, 180kph)
Model 2 Scout (Designated T1M2)
Navy Scout Prototype (Drowned Rat)
Dive Bomber B1M1 "Duck"
Machine Gun Carrier R1A "Dragonfly" (World Speed Record May-July 1911, 200kph)
Naval Rescue Water-Landing Supply Plane NR1M0 "Dolphin" (World speed record 240kph)
Rhino Demon Train Hunter
The world's first airliner
The world's first pulsejet airplane

Assets
Slide Rule
Computator (1 Reroll per Routine)

Languages
Albian
Gallian

Familiar Vices
Drinking
Prostitutes
Dancing

Family Life
- Engaged to Arita Yachi, formerly the leading Ace in the Imperial Army. Designated #1 Cutest Army Boy, he's having some serious problems with PTSD right now.
- Taking a second try at dating Mikami Kiho, ex-dockerwork from the south.

Upgrades
- 3 XP to upgrade a stat.

Spoiler: Ohara Airworks

Ohara Airworks
Start Up, Imperial Capital, Akitsukuni

Owner
- Mr. Ohara, Rich. Aircraft Enthusiast. Business guy.

Engineers

Kibe Koume, 26, Office Manager
Tiny & angry, Kibe went to school in Albia, picking up the language, the religion, and a fuckload of swear words. Speaks Albian.
Mechanical +2, Ballistics +1
Office Manager: If Kibe is not assigned to a team, the Office Stress is reduced by 1.

Sakane Jun, 26, Second Team Leader
A soured patriot, Sakane is married and has a young child being raised gender-neutrally. His two brothers who fought in the war.
Structural +2, Aerodynamics +1
Team Leader: If there are any additional projects, Sakane will lead them.
Joinery: Sakane has training in the traditional Akitsukuni carpentry art of joinery, creating complex self-supporting joints with no fasteners or glue. When working with non-monocoque wooden spars or ribs, +1 Structural.

Tezuka Kenji, ???
A stoner with occasional flashes of insight. Nobody really knows what he does, but he's probably useful?
Aerodynamics +2, Chemical +1
Flashes of Brilliance: Each natural 10 rolled by any team Tezuka is assigned to gives +1 forward to the next research roll.

Hasegawa Morio, 26
A hopeless nerd with a photography habit, mostly on account of developing his own film, Hasegawa seems to do nothing but work and stack card houses, but somehow has an incredible attractive boyfriend. Speaks Gallian.
Chemical +2, Ballistic +1
Silent Workhorse: Hasegawa can work on two different projects at once for no cost to Office Stress, providing they use different stats.

Kawamura Yosai, 25.
Serially successful womanizer and incredibly attractive, Kawamura doesn't seem to have much of a personality outside of seducing women. Well, except for that time he seduced Asuka, which nobody talks about. Speaks Dyske.
Structural +2, Electrical +1, Social +1
Easily Distracted: If Kawamura is working on the same team as a female or non-binary employee, the team is at -1d10.

Koide Hatsu, 24.
One of the few female graduates of an Akitsukuni engineering school, Koide is brilliant and incredibly driven, but her first job at Akibara was both humiliating and exposed her to an abusive coworker. Her father is a rich businessman with factories in Joseon, and she's engaged to Ken from Castles of Steel. Speaks Joseon.
Mechanical +2, Structural +1
No Sleep: If you let her, Koide will work herself to death. She can work a second project for no Office Stress, but all her stats will be reduced to 1 for the routine.

Kobayashi Ayao, ???
Disowned heiress of the Kobayashi family, all Kobayashi wanted was a career and to be a modern woman. For her trouble, a cousin threw acid on her, scarring her face, neck, much of her torso, and her left arm. Despite appearing serene and above it all, she's actually an avowed communist activist and baseball player.
Aerodynamics +2, Social +2

Adachi Ren, 24
Adachi learned chemistry from her father, one of the most famous chemical engineers in the country, rather than through formal schooling. She's married, has a kid, and takes spirituality very seriously. Yes, you did the math right, she had Yuki when she was 17. It's 1912, folks.
Chemical +2, Electrical +1
Young Mother: Adachi will cause double Office Stress if she has to work multiple tasks.

Uyeno Sei, Ballistics Engineer, 31.
The oldest member of the crew, this is Uyeno's second career. Her first was as an officer in the Imperial Navy with specialized technical training: her very promising career was cut short by her transition. Her work in a naval arsenal on machine-guns landed her the job here. Briefly dated Satomi (the age range is a bit creepy but again, 1912), she's missing a piece of her ear and is deaf on that side, from an exploding cannon. Recently returned from Varnmark from experimental surgery, she's known for her skill navigating gendered bureaucracy.
Ballistic +3

Mi Kyung-Jae, 23
A recent graduate of the Imperial College of Heijo, Mi is from the recently annexed territory of Joseon. For those keeping track at home, that means he's a Korean national living in Imperial Japan in 1912. We haven't seen much of his personality because he's rightfully terrified of everything around him. He has a specialty in endurance engine design and modification. Speaks Joseon.
Mechanical +1, Chemical +1
Endurance Engines: Mi has an excellent understanding of metallurgy and tolerances. Any engine he works on gains +1 Reliability if a 16+ is rolled.
Pulsejet Wizard: Mi is now one of the world's leading experts on the pulsejet engine. He can be given his own project to custom-craft pulsejet engines, and he gives +1 to any pulsejet-related project.
Joseon National: Mi does not have security clearance to work on any top-secret projects.

Miyoshi Shigeri, 23.
A non-binary person and admirer of Asuka's work, they were in an support role in the Army before joining the company.
Structural +1, Mechanical +1, Aerodynamic +1
Mechanic: Miyoshi has some experience repairing and refurbishing aircraft. They get +1 if assigned on the clean-up phase.


Other Employees
- Ohara Satomi, 22, Mr. Ohara's niece and the company test pilot, Ohara is a general lesbian disaster. She's good at flying planes, driving cars, and kissing girls. She's bad at being patient, being respectable, and sticking to literally anyones conceptions of gender roles. Deeply in lesbians with Coralie D'Amboise.
- Fujkikawa Sotatsu, old, modelmaker. He's an old man and toymaker and we don't see much of him because he locks himself in his workshop a lot. He's friends with Kawamura?

Assets
- Engine Test Rig (Allows engine tweaking and optimization.
- Wind Tunnel (+1 Aerodynamics)
- Rapid Prototype Lab (+1 Clean Up)

Spoiler: Expanded Cast

Expanded Cast

Akitsukuni Industry
- Homura Mohoko: Head Engine Designer for Kobayashi. First female engineer in the country. A lot of sex appeal.
- Okumura: Head of Akibara aircraft design.
- Yamanaka Hajime: Kobayashi engineer. Young and eager.
- Igarashi Masazumi: Kobayashi engineer. Reserved and experienced.
- Admiral Akibara Toru: Imperial Navy Admiral. Maximum nepotism. Maximum douchebag.
- Lt.Cmnd Akibara Shinzo: The above's son. A hottie but very forward.



Character Families
- Matsura(?) Mizuko: Asuka's sister. Was paralyzed in an accident in Asuka's first flight. Lives Elsewhere and is married now. Can't forgive Asuka, even though she's tried.
- Adachi Motoki: Adachi's husband, an accountant. Legally blind.
- Adachi Yuki: Adachi's 7 year old daughter and wannabe pilot. Very adorable.
- Yachi's Brother: Exists.
- Sakane's Wife: Exists. Drives him a bit crazy, but he loves her.
- Yachi's Brother's Wife: Exists. Is statistically likely to be pregnant.
- Lt. Coralie D'Amboise: Gallian pilot in exile. Satomi's girlfriend. 25. Accomplished bisexual duelist. She flew in the war for a single day, and for her troubles got a hole blown in her cheek and had her left arm paralyzed.

Akisukuni Army & Ex-Army
- Lt. Torio Tanaka: Yachi's former observer as an enlisted man. Was jumped up to fly Ducks and lost a leg on his first mission. A trained painter, married to Torio Saya.
- Captain Amari Shiro: A Dragonfly pilot who ended up flying as Yachi's partner. Kind of delightfully twinky. They sorta slept together at one point, which wasn't great. He lost his previous boyfriend in the April Offensive and turned his plane into a shrine. He was shot in the gut and is still recovering.
- Major Izuhara: Logistics officer, Imperial Army, this bespectled officer stood up to the Caspian Crown Prince and accidentally kicked off the Akitsikuni-Caspian War. The guilt was so much that, after almost a year of running Army procurement, he shot himself in a phone both.
- Captain Nakai Sekien: Army scout pilot. First person to drop a bomb from an airplane, later head of the Duck Squadrons.
- Captain Teshima: A Desk pilot that fought with Yachi. Lost an arm in the process, took over for Major Izuhara after his death. Seems cheery despite it all.
- Captain Nashio: A real piece of shit dude and probably a rapist, he's also a war hero as the second-highest scoring ace on the Akitsukuni side. He was a young shitty kid in way over his head but it's no excuse.
- Lt. Kinjo: Kind of a dumb lump and Nashio's friend, one of the desk pilots. Dead at 19.
- Lt. Okazaki: Yachi's friend from before the war and pilot, he died in a spin in his dragonfly. His death probably hit Yachi the hardest.

Westerners
- Rose & Antoinette Sears: Pioneers of flight. Sisters. Black in 1910s not!America. Yikes.
- Timina Guasti: Famous aircraft designer from Otrusia. Likes big planes and green.
- Prince Protasov Vasilyevich: Crown Prince of Great Caspia. Real dick. You gotta hand it to him though, a decent flier.
- Count von Zeppelin: Invented rigid airships. Runs a successful airline business. Damned impressive.
- Bennhold: Aircraft Engineer. Experimenting with metal aircraft.
- Aileen Middlemiss: Albian reporter for the Artimis Times. Well meaning and oblivious.

Spoiler: Technology

Available Tech

• Materials: Wood, Duralumin, Molded Wood, Wood & Silk Composite, etc
• All engine mounts
• All wing types
• Basic reinforcement
• Wing warping and ailerons
• Basic water radiators
• Flying Wings
• Semi-Monocoque design (requires at least half the slots have frame pieces)
• Valved pulsejets
• Basic weapon mounts and turrets

Tech not Yet Developed

• Custom engines
• Monocoque construction
• Cantilever Wings and associated tech
• V and T tails
• Tailless designs
• Aluminum and titanium
• Cellulose surfacing
• Any kind of radar
• Weapon accessability mods
• Interruptor gear
• Geared propellers
• And Maybe Other Stuff

Spoiler: Akitsukuni & World

Akitsukuni
Island Nation

Government
Constitutional Monarchy
- The democratic portions of the government are dubiously legitimate.
- The head of state is the Empress of Akitsukuni. She gives her blessing to newly formed governments.
- The Navy and a small number of families have undue influence on politics.

Economy
Developing Mixed Market
- Most industry is controlled by a small number of wealthy, family-owned companies.
- The state provides most contracts to industry. Consumer good market is anemic.
- Exports are few, mostly cultural.
- Imports are raw minerals, food, oil, and expertise.
- Currently suffering an economic crash after the last war.

Politics
The Diet is currently ruled by a Constitutional Nationalist government. It has a system of nonlocal proportional representation, with representatives appointed by the party in accordance to their share of the vote.
- Constitutional Nationalists: 50%
- Purity Club: 9%
- New Independents: 26%
- Fairness Association: 11%
- United Communist League: 2%
- Monarchists: 1%
- Assorted Fringe Parties: 5%

Demographics
Akitsukuni is mostly very ethnically homogeneous. Around 5% of the population are various minorities, most from nearby countries. Roughly .1% are westerners here for business or in advisory positions.
- Population: 55 Million
- Religion: Mostly Kodo. Roughly 2% of the population follows western religions.
- Wealth: Most wealth is concentrated in the top 5% of the country. Nearly 20% of the population lives in conditions indistinguishable from peasantry.
- Urbanization: Heavily urbanized for a small economy: 35% and rapidly growing.

Military
At Peace
- Imperial Akitsukuni Navy (IAN): The 6th largest in the world, and the most experienced.
- Imperial Akitsukuni Army (IAA): 150,000 highly experienced soldiers, and a considerable reserve.

Aspects
- Poor Resources: Aluminum costs +1.
- Damn Akitsukuni Engines!: Engines have -1 Reliability.

Spoiler: Old Map

The Main Character Of This Quest Is Nonbinary And Uses They/Them Pronouns.

I Am Putting This Here Because The Next Person To Misgender Them Is Getting Yeeted Into The Trash

Also here's the Gayaverse TV Tropes page, because why not.​

 

[samdamandias]

On the note of stress, how are we looking there?

Click to shrink...

We had six stress, we got rid of three, so we're down to three stress going into the next design. Therefore, the first thing we do when we get back to the home islands is spend some time with Yachi, which removes two stress before we even start indulging our vices.

As far as the adding machine goes, we're about 40 years too early for a Curta, which is a little disappointing because Curtas are downright amazing.

Wait, if this financially irresponsible choice later turns out to be a financially responsible choice does that make the dare retroactively fail?

Click to shrink...

Shouldn't. The irresponsible part isn't that we made the bet, it's that we drunkenly bet all of our money on it.

 

[Artificial Girl]

I mean, using company money to buy a new toy for ourselves when we have a perfectly usable slide rule is kinda irresponsible.

Also betting all our cash on hand on the race, even if OOC we know we're likely to win, isn't responsible either.

 

[Simon_Jester]

We had six stress, we got rid of three, so we're down to three stress going into the next design. Therefore, the first thing we do when we get back to the home islands is spend some time with Yachi, which removes two stress before we even start indulging our vices.

As far as the adding machine goes, we're about 40 years too early for a Curta, which is a little disappointing because Curtas are downright amazing.
Shouldn't. The irresponsible part isn't that we made the bet, it's that we drunkenly bet all of our money on it.

Click to shrink...

Asuka would so end up having to pay the $300 reassembly fee.

 

[open_sketch]

Despite the hangover from your continued enjoyment of Albian beer, you were up bright and early for the race. Before dawn, in fact, filled with excitement. You made your way down to the train with all the other racers and crew staying at The Imperial, which took you to a field at the outskirts of the city. Satomi was already there with the Army mechanics and the racer, and you arrived just as dawn broke over a field of beautiful aircraft.

You were in heaven. Everywhere you looked were unique and wonderful aircraft, each different from the last, and you were overwhelmed by the field of designs in front of you.

The closest thing to a standard design was shoulder monowinged, single-engine tractor planes, the standard for most racers in the past few years. The most eye-catching example was the purple and black Dyskelandic model, which had a large engine up front which reminded you suspiciously of the F-Series. Other examples of the same general design came from Taxcoco (whose design's wings were curved, birdlike, and dihedral), Ellada (whose red and gold craft had an interesting twin-banked radial engine), and the Albian colony of Mzansi (whose design had two rudders and a whip-like spike out the top you think was used for in-air stability.)

Otrusia had a Timina Guasti design, and you could see her in her characteristic green scarf inspecting the design. She was a major influence on you and a huge pioneer of unusual and heavy aircraft designs, and this new one was no exception. It was a triplane with very long, very narrow wings, powered by a pair of engines mounted in booms leading to a connecting tail. Not unlike yours. There was a pod in the middle for the pilot, which would probably be her husband, who test flew all her designs, and at the back of the pod was a third pusher engine. It looked like it had a lot of drag but an equal amount of get up and go, and you were eager to see it work.

Unsurprisingly, the Albian design was intimidating. It was a squat sesquiplane with a fat nose housing a radial engine and a stubby little tail. The actual design wasn't terribly impressive, but it was by far the largest single engine on the field and it made you nervous.

The Albian island of Riada had been allowed to submit a design, and came in with a box-wing biplane with a skeletal body. There were also two Ganjay designs, one from Albian settlers and one by the locals. The Albian one used the same engine the E-Series was based on and was a long, skinny dart of the plane, while the local one was an equally skeletal design hanging below a wedge-shaped, flexible wing.

The Sears sisters were there, all the way at the back, with one of their characteristic biplane designs. This one seemed to have three propellers driven by a single engine, two pusher and one forward, and a single stubby body.

Then you started getting into the truly strange designs. Varnmark had the only two-seater in the competition, and it was also an unusual twin engine design, with an fan engine on both the front and back and a tail mounted around the rear engine. The Anatole Sultanate design had five boxed in wings and a tiny engine and you doubted it would get off the ground. Hesperia had a plane that was all just one wing, with a radial engine in the back and two stubby little stabilizers. Lusania-Carvale, who had been dominating the short-ranged racing scene, had a plane whose wings were a flattened oval in shape, mimicking a biplane without turbulence-generating wingtips. Burgandy had submitted a design with two engines in close nacelles on the monowing up front and the pilot sitting far at the rear almost inside the tail, held together with a copious amount of wire.

Then there was the Gallian design. It was a pusher biplane with an open nose and a farman tail, giving the pilot excellent visibility, and you didn't think much of it until you saw one of the ground crew come to turn the propeller to prevent lock-up and the entire engine spun with it. Your mind raced with the realization that somebody may have actually solved the air cooling issues plaguing high performance radial engines.

In the back was the elaborately painted design submitted by the Emperor of Cathay, or what was left of him, you supposed. It looked like a box kite and you weren't entirely sure how it was powered; it seemed to have a metal tube running under the fuselage and no visible propeller.

Then, finally, side by side, your beautiful little plane, which looked even more awkward and strange than anything else, now that you could see it alongside all these cutting edge airplanes. It was wide, unbalanced, and looked flimsy with so few wires and braces. You knew it was fast, but a moment of doubt swept over you...

...and right next to it, by some cruel joke, Grand Caspia's design. It had a pair of Anhedral wings and a v-bank engine mounted between them, with a skeletal tail and an inverted stabilizer. The pilot lay down on their belly under the engine assembly to steer. It was a remarkably clean design, all things considered, which you figured would have very little drag, especially since the wheels were pulled so close to the narrow cockpit. You could see the Crown Prince and his guards going over the vehicle now.

There were so many to look at, and the race started soon. You had to prioritize. And maybe you should check in on your own racer too.

What planes to do you check out?

[ ] Write In (Pick 3-5. The fewer you choose, the more you'll learn from them)​

 

[Simon_Jester]

No authentic Deperdussin monocoque.

S'ok, I love it anyway. I still want to see that rotary engine.

 

[Ramble]

Who thinks that the Crown Prince is gonna be horribly injured during the proceedings?

 

[brmj]

Oh fuck.

This looks like rather stiffer competition than the historical equivalents. Like, by a significant margin. We may not have this after all. A lot of these are kind of wacky, but even so we've got a rotary engine, what is likely a pulsejet (which, mounted on something close to a box kite, might very well lead to structural failure and/or self-immolation, but presumably they've tested it?), and a number of reasonably clean designs with better engines than we've got. Half the planes here may well beat the current record.

 

[samdamandias]

Hesperia had a plane that was all just one wing, with a radial engine in the back and two stubby little stabilizers.

Click to shrink...

Hello lifting body! How I have missed you!

Lusania-Carvale, who had been dominating the short-ranged racing scene, had a plane whose wings were a flattened oval in shape, mimicking a biplane without turbulence-generating wingtips.

Click to shrink...

Closed wings, interesting.

Then there was the Gallian design. It was a pusher biplane with an open nose and a farman tail, giving the pilot excellent visibility, and you didn't think much of it until you saw one of the ground crew come to turn the propeller to prevent lock-up and the entire engine spun with it. Your mind raced with the realization that somebody may have actually solved the air cooling issues plaguing high performance radial engines.

Click to shrink...

R O T A R Y E N G I N E

It looked like a box kite and you weren't entirely sure how it was powered; it seemed to have a metal tube running under the fuselage and no visible propeller.

Click to shrink...

Is that a pulsejet? Because from what I remember, they have incredible power to weight ratios, are thirstier than we are, have a distressing tendency to catch fire if you breathe on them, and cannot be restarted in mid-air. On the other hand, if you want to go fast, accept no substitutes.

The upside is that the Cathayan design will almost certainly need to stop for fuel.

[X] Plan I Like Big Engines
-[X] Hesperia
-[X] Gallia
-[X] Cathay
-[X] Ours (for last-minute tweaks and maintence)

 

[Shadows]

[X] Cathay, Grand Caspian, Lusania-Carvale, Ours, Sears

 

[Crasian01]

[x] Gallian design
-- [x] Try to memorize how the engine works, steal it, and tell the Kobayashi engine designer lady about it after you get back.

[x] Otrusian design
-- [x] Try to use it to get a chance to talk to Timina Guasti and learn from her

[x] Hesperian design
[x] Cathay-ian design

 

[Simon_Jester]

Oh fuck.

This looks like rather stiffer competition than the historical equivalents. Like, by a significant margin. We may not have this after all. A lot of these are kind of wacky, but even so we've got a rotary engine, what is likely a pulsejet (which, mounted on something close to a box kite, might very well lead to structural failure and/or self-immolation, but presumably they've tested it?), and a number of reasonably clean designs with better engines than we've got. Half the planes here may well beat the current record.

Click to shrink...

The Gallian design reminds me of, well, the Deperdussin monocoque (which also broke a heap of speed records and also had a rotary engine, along with the eponymous monocoque construction that gave it a streamlining and resilience advantage). I think that's one to watch.

I'm not so worried about the more extreme Wacky Races contestants, including the not!Chinese pulsejet; marrying a pulsejet engine to a lightweight frame sounds like a very bad idea.

 

[Night_stalker]

[x] Gallian design
-- [x] Try to memorize how the engine works, steal it, and tell the Kobayashi engine designer lady about it after you get back.

[x] Otrusian design
-- [x] Try to use it to get a chance to talk to Timina Guasti and learn from her

[x] Hesperian design
[x] Cathay-ian design

 

[Himmelhand]

Ooooh. I need to know more!

[X] Plan Sightseeing
-[X] Hesperia
-[X] Gallia
-[X] Otrusia
-[X] Ours (for last-minute tweaks and maintence)

I want to see the weird triplane more than the Cathay time bomb.

 

[hcvquizibo]

[X] Plan I Like Big Engines

 

[TeJay]

[X] Plan Design is Key
-Gallia = That Radial Engine cooling solution looks neat
-Caspia = Those tight curves and tight landing gears look neat
-Lusania-Carval = That wing shape is also neat

*Power to Weight is a very small problem with the current material being used, our main weakness is that our aircraft can't efficiently utilize the physics of design that lets it help with the performance, we currently have access to well made engines ourselves but not innovative design features.

 

[Axslashel]

[x] Quick check
-[x] Albia
-[x] Caspia
-[x] Gallia
-[x] Otrussia
These seems like the most dangerous ones in my opinion. Albias design might not be revolutionary but the have the biggest engine so they still have a lot of power. The Otrussian design is similar to ours but with both more drag and power. Gallia's "You spin me right round" rotary engine is always interesting to look at. And Caspia is our main rival both politically and by narrative (why do you think the were listed last) and therefore inspecting them is a must.

This is a quick check because I picked so many planes to look at but I prefer wide knowledge over deep if I have to choose. Anything we learn will only be useful after the race (unless the pilots are allowed to interfere with each other during the race). We can also look at the most successful designs when the race is over (I think, maybe).

 

[Balaur]

[X] Plan I Like Big Engines.

Things the Chinese Cathayans invented: Wheelbarrows, gunpowder, compasses, pulsejets...

 

[Simon_Jester]

[] Quick check
-[] Albia
-[] Caspia
-[] Gallia
-[] Otrussia
These seems like the most dangerous ones in my opinion. Albias design might not be revolutionary but the have the biggest engine so they still have a lot of power. The Otrussian design is similar to ours but with both more drag and power. Gallia's "You spin me right round" rotary engine is always interesting to look at. And Caspia is our main rival both politically and by narrative (why do you think the were listed last) and therefore inspecting them is a must.

This is a quick check because I picked so many planes to look at but I prefer wide knowledge over deep if I have to choose. Anything we learn will only be useful after the race (unless the pilots are allowed to interfere with each other during the race). We can also look at the most successful designs when the race is over (I think, maybe).

Click to shrink...

Bear in mind that the other end of the race is in not!Paris.

Satomi'll be there in a few hours, but the rest of us will have to take the train, a cross-Channel ferry, and another train.

 

[Axslashel]

Bear in mind that the other end of the race is in not!Paris.

Satomi'll be there in a few hours, but the rest of us will have to take the train, a cross-Channel ferry, and another train.

Click to shrink...

Good point. Anyone have any idea if parts of our team is already in Paris waiting for the plane to arrive? Would be weird for Satomi to be all alone when she gets there.

 

[Simon_Jester]

Amusing note: normal long-distance air races in 1910 or so often had ground crews in trucks more or less keeping up with the race. The planes weren't very fast, and range was limited enough that they'd usually have to land at one or more points.

 

[adisander]

[x] Gallian design
-- [x] Try to memorize how the engine works, steal it, and tell the Kobayashi engine designer lady about it after you get back.

[x] Otrusian design
-- [x] Try to use it to get a chance to talk to Timina Guasti and learn from her

[x] Hesperian design
[x] Cathay-ian design

 

[FlatlineAskari]

Is that a pulsejet? Because from what I remember, they have incredible power to weight ratios, are thirstier than we are, have a distressing tendency to catch fire if you breathe on them, and cannot be restarted in mid-air. On the other hand, if you want to go fast, accept no substitutes.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much right, as far as I know. Aside from fuel consumption (hiiiiigh) and efficiency issues (which aren't really issues, at this point, I guess? The turbines and rockets that'd outclass them are still probably some way off)

Spoiler: stuff

- Even when they don't catch fire, they run very hot
(As in, red hot; hard on the materials, and have to be isolated from anything that might catch fire. Best hope their engine fabrication is up to scratch, else it's going to spontaneously unweld itself; best hope their prototyping was adequate, or it might autoignite in midair)
- Wear and tear on the injector valve/s tends to be high - lifespan of maybe a couple of hours, for simpler designs
(Probably enough for a race this long, to be fair)
- Noise and vibration are crazy
(These things have to be built tough, or they shake themselves apart. This was still a major design consideration in the late '40s, so I guess it'll be what ultimately kills this design)

I'm not so worried about the more extreme Wacky Races contestants, including the not!Chinese pulsejet; marrying a pulsejet engine to a lightweight frame sounds like a very bad idea.

Click to shrink...

tl;dr ^^

 

[Crasian01]

The probably-pulsejet is very interesting though. From a physics standpoint, there's something there to learn, and you never know what you might be able to reuse at what particular time.

And who knows maybe it isn't a pulsejet.

 

[Ato]

[X] Plan Design is Key
-Gallia = That Radial Engine cooling solution looks neat
-Caspia = Those tight curves and tight landing gears look neat
-Lusania-Carval = That wing shape is also neat

 

[AlphaDelta]

[X] Crasian01

[X] Plan Design is Key
-Gallia = That Radial Engine cooling solution looks neat
-Caspia = Those tight curves and tight landing gears look neat
-Lusania-Carval = That wing shape is also neat

*Power to Weight is a very small problem with the current material being used, our main weakness is that our aircraft can't efficiently utilize the physics of design that lets it help with the performance, we currently have access to well made engines ourselves but not innovative design features.

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As a side note: in the future, can you properly use subvotes? It makes it easier to check on the tallier