I've test-driven an Eel Rapier

[JohnnyBoy]

While in a TL15 station (Xevera, G5) I traded in my SuperCobra for an Eel Rapier, re-bought all of the expensive gizmos and left the station without saving to disk.

The first thing I noticed is that it's fast; slightly slower than a Tiger, but noticeably quicker than my SC. The difference in speed is multiplied when using the injectors. But this plus-point is counter-balanced by a poor rate of climb and dive. Never mind. The real test would come in combat, so I witched to some anarchy systems to see how it fared.

Oh, Lord Lummy! I nearly felt sorry for the pirates. I could speed into a group of 5 or 6 of them, with most of the group attempting to hit me with laser fire. Even at a distance of 3 or 4 km, perhaps only one of their laser bursts would actually make contact with the Eel's super-slender hull. By contrast, I'd knock out a couple of them before my front laser overheated. Then I'd fly through their group, switching to the rear laser to polish off something large and cumbersome like a Longshot or Mosquito Trader. Then at close quarters, it was clear-up time, which was slowed down by the Eel's pitch rate.

In combat, it's a fantastic ship - fast and hard to hit with a laser. Once you've added a navel energy unit, military shield enhancement and a cloaking device, it's nigh-on invincible. Forget mere bounty hunting; if you wanted to take on the Galactic Navy, you could do it with this ship.

But what it gains in combat, it loses as a trader. That 10 tonne cargo hold means that although it would be perfect for hauling a couple of thousand kilos of platinum across the galaxy, those contracts will never be offered to a ship that hasn't already shifted its fair share of textiles and machinery.

So for now, it's back to the Soopy.

[pagroove]

Hi,

Maybe you could write about your 'test' experiences on the Oolite Wiki

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Eel_Rapier

This page is still empty.
Maybe you could write a 'story of a test pilot' for this page or a 'What Spaceship' review

[Wolfwood]

I could speed into a group of 5 or 6 of them, with most of the group attempting to hit me with laser fire. Even at a distance of 3 or 4 km, perhaps only one of their laser bursts would actually make contact with the Eel's super-slender hull.

I thought the pirates hitting you had nothing to do with your hull shape or your evasive manoeuvres in Oolite, or has this changed? Or have I misunderstood something?

[TGHC]

The Imperial Courier although a big ship is much more difficult to hit than something like the flat side of a wedge shape cobra, it's not the overal size but the visible surface area in you laser sights, a jousting run with an IC can be tricky.

[Star Gazer]

Indeed, I have found this to be so... (apologies to Christopher Judge)