Baobobafet
commented
11 years ago Some quick pics of various sized hover vehicles:
http://conceptships.blogspot.ca/ http://conceptships.blogspot.ca/2008/09/concept-ship-by-graphmac.html http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/bp_skimmer.htm
robn
Some thoughts,
Hovercraft, Moonbus, snowspeeder, waterspiders call them what you will, are all vehicles designed for low altitude. Minimal upwards thrust and speed keeps these vehicles virtualy 'terrain locked'
They might be restricted to close terrain following hover modes (easier) to higher Alt operating vehicles (harder) but closer to regular spacecraft) Using hooks to or a modification of Pioneer's existing autopilot system.
Auto-Hover mode would be the mode the ship would go into the moment landing gear was retracted. (always keeping the ship no less than a minimum alt of 5-6 meters from the terrain surface.) Depending on type of ship these minimal hover altitudes could of course, vary widely. The ship's limited upwards thrust capability would have to be enough to reach any raised landing pads.
The upwards thrust function could be useful in 'catching air' so to speak, in coasting from one precipice to another over terrain features. The Pilot would still be responsible for making a reasonably smooth landing from any bounce off the terrain he may have attained - or suffer damage to the undercarriage of his ship. Same as in any collision with canyon walls.
These utility vehicles could be fun to fly since they would be able to utilize any generated terrain features as ramps and tracks. Depending on gravities, hover power settings may need some power ranges to be useable on planets with more extreme conditions.
After launch, the ship clears any buildings to find open terrain, where it can lower to proper operating altitude. The special autopilot slaved to the alt gauge holds the ship at minimum terrain avoidance height, applying appropriate upwards thrust. In this instance, with the wheels up, the ship will not crash or collide with terrain (unless extreme shock occurs) - but instead maintaining hover alt.
If landing gear is lowered the ship's alt lock is removed and the ship can then land on the surface.
Apart from having custom 'hover ships' with transparent built-in terrain avoiding autopilot functions, a more fully featured advanced autopilot system (for sale in the shipyard) could incorporate similar code extending this terrain following feature to larger ships.
Edit: I have used the term 'catching air' metaphorically - but in the case of planets with atmospheres, lifting wing designs could have real applications in extending the ranges and altitudes of such vehicles.