What Ship interviewgogz69 wrote:Latest photograph from the What Ship review mag.
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Today, we have an exclusive interview with Derik Rohi, the test pilot who flew the Xarik spaceplane prototype.
WS: Thank you for speaking with me today, Mr. Rohi.
DR: No problem. I trust your flight to the bar wasn't too harrowing. These Anarchy systems can get rather wild.
WS: Yes, without a doubt. So... The Xarik spaceplane. Why is it called a spaceplane?
DR: Pteradyne took an interesting direction with it's design. As you're probably aware, there's no frictional resistance in space, apart from little bits of spacedust. So a spaceship can be any shape, with little impact to it's performance. But in atmosphere, it's a wholly different ballgame. Atmosphere has resistance, lots of it. The Xarik isn't a spaceship retrofitted to fly in air, it's an aircraft designed to operate in space.
WS: Ahh...I see...I think. Forgive me, I'm not too familiar with aircraft. Moving on, what's it like to fly a Xarik?
DR: I take it you fellows haven't got one to review yet?
WS: No sir. They've just went into production, and it seems there's already a lot of interest.
DR: Oh. Well, there were two prototypes. The first prototype didn't handle too well...Very twitchy in space, and even worse in the air.
The engineers used the flight recorder data and my recommendations to tune the flight computer on prototype two. After that, it was just simple tweaks to get very smooth performance.
WS: We've heard that the flight control system is customizable by the crew.
DR: That's true. The flight computer comes with user-definable software. It's an ingenious approach; you don't like how it performs? Do something about it. Of course, as the used land vehicle salesbeings like to say, 'your milage may vary'.
WS: The Xarik is said to be heavily armed, some may say too much so. Your thoughts?
DR: Between pirates, Thargoids, and others that for whatever reasons want you dead, combat is an enviable reality. The Xarik is meant to be a multirole craft, and unfortunately, surviving getting shot at just happens to be one of the roles in question. Compared to a Dragon, the Xarik's armaments are rather light in my opinion. But the Xarik can do things a Dragon cannot, like enter atmosphere and make a profit on the milk run routes.
WS: OK, that makes sense. We've priced it, and for such an adaptable machine, it's incredibly inexpensive.
DR: It may not look it on the outside, but on the inside it shows - the Xarik is built as cheaply as they can get away with and maintain structural stability, as well as meet design goals. It's not a luxury craft. It's a no-frills, gets the job done machine. The old Cobra 3 is the height of luxury compared to a Xarik's cockpit. Much of the components have been around for decades. There's no reactor; it uses thermodynes and solar collectors for energy generation. At least it's reliable and easily serviced, something you just don't get in bleeding edge components.
WS: Sounds like if I buy one, I'll have to bring my own seat covers! And hire a co-pilot who's also a shadetree mechanic and computer geek.
DR: <chuckling> Precisely. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go. Too much ale and it wants to leave.
WS: I understand. Thank you for your time, and this wonderful insight.
So there you are, folks. The Xarik, from the first pilot to warm it's seat and handle it's controls.
