Xarik

ship name::Xarik Spaceplane
Size (W×H×L)	83m×ship height::12m×ship length::113m
Cargo capacity	ship cargo capacity::15 TC
Cargo bay extension	ship cargo extension::30 TC
Maximum speed	ship speed::0.36 LM
Manoeuvrability	Roll: 2.0 Pitch: 1.0 Yaw: 1.0
Energy banks	ship energy banks::4
Energy recharge rate	Excellent (ship energy recharge::5.2)
Gun mounts	4
Missile slots	ship missile slots::6
Shield boosters available	ship supports shield booster::Yes
Military shields available	ship supports mil shields::Yes
Hyperspace capable	ship can hyperspace::Yes
OXP or standard	{{#set:ship is standard=OXP}}OXP
Available to player	ship is player flyable::Yes
Base price	ship base price::155000 Cr

Xarik Spaceplane

A space-capable advanced aircraft, the last creation of the late Prof. Eisel Xarik.

Used by pirates, traders, and hunters. A special variant is flown by GalCop vice police. Two paint jobs available to the player: The standard silver/red edition, and a classy metalflake gold. :)

Story

Interview with magazine What Spaceship.

Today, we have an exclusive interview with Derik Roh'i, 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 its design. As you're probably aware, there's no frictional resistance in space, apart from little bits of space dust. So a spaceship can be any shape, with little impact to its 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 mileage 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 multi-role 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.

Requirements

• Oolite v1.72 or higher.
• No dependencies.

Download

Xarik Spaceplane (2.6MB) Updated 01/02/2010.