Cobra Clipper SAR

ship name::Cobra Clipper SAR
Size (W×H×L)	120m×ship height::26m×ship length::62.5m
Cargo capacity	ship cargo capacity::10 TC
Cargo bay extension	ship cargo extension::25 TC
Maximum speed	ship speed::0.375 LM
Manoeuvrability	Roll: 1.8 Pitch: 0.95
Energy banks	ship energy banks::4
Energy recharge rate	Good (ship energy recharge::4.0)
Gun mounts	Fore
Missile slots	ship missile slots::4
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::225000 Cr

Overview

A Cobra Clipper SAR to the rescue

The Cobra Clipper Search and Rescue ship is frequently seen in the more advanced systems, scouting along the space lanes and their peripheries. Its intent is to locate any escape pod survivors, be it from pirate attacks or other space accident, and swiftly bring them back to safety. Although it is said to be a structurally sound adaptation of the Cobra Mark III, certain aspects have, according to its critics, left some things to be desired. What the improved engine gains in speed performance, it comes at the cost of a slight reduction of maneuverability, and a considerable loss of potential cargo space. Even though, feasibly, some storage volume can be reclaimed, this and its alleged sluggishness prevent the Clipper from being everyone's favourite ship.

The Beginning

When Obnoxicorp registered that its insurance division's profits were plummeting, they became aware that a campaign against them had been in effect for several years. Investigating the problem led them to identify that some customers felt they were getting little for their money, and other customers had died. Seizing the problem at its roots, the Obnoxicorp thinktank recommended that a charm offensive be launched towards the disgruntled customers, and measures be taken to keep them alive. With this, the Murgh Shipyards was given the task of constructing a rescue vessel to herald the new era, using the successful Cobra Mk.III as its foundation.

Bad PR

At first, this move seemed to benefit Obnoxicorp's insurance profits greatly, but inevitably, the SAR's honeymoon came to an end. The rumour spread that the much-hyped scanner wasn't nearly as effective as claimed, and reports of specifically targetted pirate ambushes (a large score being known as "hitting the gravy train" in slave trafficker parlance) became commonplace. As an additional own-shot in the foot, it got to be widely known that Clippers packaged with quick licencing were sold on the open market as Obnoxicorp sought more profit by franchising the EscapePod retrieval industry, and any remaining positive spin from the original campaign seemed to have vanished.

Notable features

While the Cobra Clipper SAR is said to have gleaned the most advanced scanning technology from captured Thargoid vessels, the reports of its performance has left few impressed. Its scanning range of reportedly twice that of the regular consumer model is frequently proven to be somewhat flawed, and a bit of an embarrassment to Murgh Shipyards. The results after the most recent recall remain to be seen.

Download

• Current version: Cobra Clipper SAR OXP v1.1
• Old version: Cobra Clipper SAR OXP v 1.0

Version History

• version 1.1, 25/5/2009: Removed a bug that the clipper never found escape capsules. This is actually an Oolite problem and even with this new 1.1 version it only finds the capsules with Oolite 1.71 or newer. With Oolite 1.65 theclipper just behaves as before.
• version 1.0, 12/8/2006: Original release