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Seems to me the racconians missed a trick here.. the reason the lev-boat was out of control was that, like an ice boat, there's nothing to counter the effect of the wind, not unlike the troubles a lighter than air craft has. But hey, they HAVE solved that problem with LTAcraft! Using those devices that grab on to the ley lines, it gives the luftships the "traction" (for lack of a better word) the luftships need.

So... why not use something similar for a lev-powered "airboat"? A pair of knobs to grab the nearest line and provide some leverage to use to tack against the wind, as well as an 'anchor' to slow down with.

Anything that would prevent that, RH?

Nothing at all - that's what the luftships are. BUT, IIRC, the luftships are restricted to traveling along the ley lines. These jaspers tried to do one on an overland route with windpower and discovered that anything floating in air moves with the wind, uncontrollably.

Except that they should be able to tack against the wind.

Tacking requires a keel that pushes against the massive and comparatively motionless water. In this case one would have to use something that would cut through the soil (or at least one wheel riding on the surface), which would create enough drag and vibration that the entire purpose of levitation instead of wheel vehicles would be negated. Although PERHAPS if you had a light wheel with good traction and the lifting effect only held 50-90% of the weigh then something might be worked out.

Or they COULD take down a few sails and decrease that surface area? Add a rudder or two?

There is horsepower but is there horse-sense (or goat sense)? One of the atractive things about animal-drawn carrages is the "automatic guidance system" in the brain of the work animal. It is clear that rac conan can and do get drunk and need to get home safely... here the animal drawn carrage makes a lot of sense. I can also see a "Santa Clause" mode being available where the carrage's lux-lift can raise the goat too for traversing rough ground or swamp but still employing the grip of the hooves for controlled movement.

One point of interest: have the Rac Conan "discovered" the wheel yet or did they just skip that invention due to lack of need?

Just get a heavy weight and tie it to a rope, emergenct brake.

Jack Vance once described a system of airships attached to dollies by long ropes. The dollies would run along tracks defining the airships' routes. If an airship were to break free its crew would try to guide it to the nearest available rail and reattach it using a spare dolly. I imagine the system would work just as well for lev-boats, but then someone would need to lay miles and miles of tracks, and if you have already have ley-lines that luftships can follow there wouldn't be much point.

Rather abbrupt one too.

Granted my idea was to slap a couple air rudders on the back of the thing and try to control it like a Ground Effects Vehicle (hovercraft, and some other neat new designs that are comming out). Its a whole heckavalot more tricky to drive a GEV than a boar or airplane, but we've provven it can be done, heck, if the Mythbusters can do it.....

Since lux is in finite supply, especially a ways from the luxfont, wheels might be practical.

Draco's got it right. You need something to push against to tack. Balloons -always- float with the wind. To tack an airship requires propellors (or jets) to provide a force vector in some other direction than the wind. A ground drag would work, but eliminate most of the use of being an airship. A rock anchor for an emergency brake wouldn't work at all... You throw it out, the lower weight makes the ship rise, and you have a ship with a rock dangling off the side. Not particularly helpful...

Maybe I should stick to HTA, airplanes and me, we get along real good....

I freekin want one!

Yeah, and why didn't the just take down the sail? That would slow them down quite well.

sailboats are capable of sailing ALMOST into the wind, not quite into it but almost.

when their destination is into the wind they sail nearly into it at an angle and then turn (they have to turn the long way around when they do this) and change the angle so they overall travel in the opposite direction the wind is blowing.

wind sailing is an art in and of itself, most naval battles (or so I hear) was mostly just ships trying to 'out position' themselves.

and I've tried a sail attatched to a little row boat, maybe if we'd had more then just one sail a deeper keel and a rudder in the back we might have ended up somewhere other then the downwind side of the pond. (more of a swamp really but it was a pond to us)

if they can make lux repel something they can make lux restrict movement in certain directions (prevent it from sliding left and right which is one of the main jobs a keep does) and allow it to be steered (the job of the rudder) then have multiple sails so as to allow for steering using the wind instead of in spite of it. well with all this they MIGHT be able to make a wind powered hovering thing. lots of work but that's never stopped anyone yet has it? er has it?

Dragoon The Griffin wrote:Yeah, and why didn't the just take down the sail? That would slow them down quite well.

Antifriction spells I guess. Levy carrages would be far more dificult to move if there was air resistance, they ain't exactly streemlined.

Dragoon The Griffin wrote:Yeah, and why didn't the just take down the sail? That would slow them down quite well.

Heh. You'd think so, wouldn't you? But it doesn't. Once you're moving at wind speed, the sail hangs limp anyway. All having a sail does is make the ship respond faster to wind -changes-.

Dragoon The Griffin wrote:Yeah, and why didn't the just take down the sail? That would slow them down quite well.

They forgot about breaks and they did not design the steering right (does not work) so they might have also forgotten to make a way to take down the sail (especially when going full tilt and having the sail full of wind and tight)

Ann Vole wrote:One point of interest: have the Rac Conan "discovered" the wheel yet or did they just skip that invention due to lack of need?

This stone wheels imply that yes thought I think that the racoonan didn't discovered by themselves but rather learn from some other species that they trades with. Human or some other civilizations could have invented the wheel and trade tranported the new invention in their country. This happened often in the past. Like you said before they seem have a less strong need for wheel that the other civilizations.

Après tout ils ne peuvent pas être les meilleurs dans tous les domaines...

S.P.P.

Heh ... nice interlude between stories.