Nice!!

I'll let 'Ski know you posted this.

- Soul

Oooooo...

I like the Firefly-esque tail end, but not so much the wings. Did you read the description I wrote in my Chp1 of rebirth? I used the original design, but with several of your fabulous design mods.

Raptor Class Mid-Bulk Transport Dragonbuster…

The Raptor Class Mid-Bulk Transport was supposed to be the successor to the Firefly line. Approximately the same height and width, and only slightly shorter than its predecessor, it actually had more room on the inside. The ship had three hulls, sandwich style, and a detachable cargo bay. The two outer hulls were shaped like thick hexagon halves laid on their sides with the corners pointed in. These hulls contained one enclosed standard shuttle bay each, as well as heavy VTOL thrusters at each corner. The ship-to-ship airlocks were also located in the outer hulls, and the main gimbaled thrust engines were attached to outside of each one.

The center hull was two decks high, and contained all the personnel spaces. At the very front was the two level bridge, with operations and communication/navigation stations up top, and the pilot’s station down low and furthest forward. Multiple viewports gave excellent visibility. The lowest deck housed crew cabins, Captain’s office, shower facilities, and access to the engine room. The upper deck held the mess/galley, as well as an exercise room, and another access point to the engine room. Finally, the center hull ended in the pulse drive tail, a long spire with eight deflector flaps around its outside. On top of the center hull, just before the pulse tail, were two more fixed thrust engines with a vertical t-shaped stabilizer above them.

The cargo bay was really the selling point of the whole ship. Attached to the bottom of the center hull, this truncated pyramid shaped structure had loading ramps at both ends, belly doors, and winches to serve each. Not only did it allow unprecedented access, but also it was also detachable. A crew could drop the cargo bay, load or unload, and the ship could go run other errands.

The ship took its name from the bridge, which had the shape of a predatory bird’s head, and from the way it flared on landings. The four VTOL thrusters also gave it extraordinary maneuverability, and it had exceptional speed from its four thrust engines. All in all the Raptor would have been the perfect transport, had its price not made it completely impractical for over ninety percent of the merchant population.

I'm thinking I may have to edit my fic to include the new tail... I think I really like the look of it.

I read that 'Ski, that's what pushed me over the edge to try the rear engine. It had to be the sameover style but different...

I'm not sure I like the wings either.

I liked the rear engines and tail wing, and am still thinking of a way to incorporate them.

Well... I've already edited my fic to include the new tail, and the upper engines & tail.

I liked it better without the wings

I dunno...I kinda like the added wings. If a Raptor-class was the next-gen design after a Firefly-class, then there would be similiarities to the two classes; having wings/winglets sorta bridges the gap...plus I thought the earlier design would fly like a friggin' brick with only the variable geometry (fancy name for VTOL engines, I guess) engines for manoeverability. This makes it a little more bird-like.

One tiny criticism for both...basic design recalls a Colonial Marine DropShip from "Aliens" but that's cool. The wings help with both the distancing from the USCMC DropShip and helps bring it closer to a advancement to a Firefly.

BEB