Post by Squall Leonhart on Nov 19, 2006 1:12:50 GMT -5
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Pirate Seaplane
While CT-37 fighters and the awesome Iron Vulture are the core elements of the Air Pirates’ mobile forces, there are numerous other planes that the Pirates employ in their far-from-legal activities. These craft range from decrepit, converted cargo haulers to "liberated" military fighters a generation out of date. Anything with wings and a working engine is useful to the Pirates in plying their criminal trade.
Occasionally, the Air Pirates will fabricate a completely new plane out of retooled components and spare parts. While crude, these makeshift vehicles are better suited to the Pirates’ purposes than ordinarily-converted models.
The Pirate Seaplane is one of the Air Pirates' custom-built transports. Constructed out of parts from obsolete SA-10 seaplanes, this spindly craft is basically a box with wings and pontoons, so fragile-looking that cliff gunners joke that the planes will rattle apart before they are even fired upon.
However, appearances can be deceiving. The Pirate-built airframe, while extremely lanky, presents a very small target profile for ground-based defense guns. This in addition to the hollow construction of the wing carriages makes the Pirate Seaplane nearly impossible to hit with anti-aircraft fire. Flak guns fare no better: the large wingspan and low speed of the seaplane allows the pilot to make intricate maneuvers, deftly weaving the craft around the deadly bursts of shrapnel exploding in midair.
While the overall design of the craft is slender and skeletal, the main fuselage is quite roomy. The plane's cargo hold can carry a maximum of two tons of cargo. Most of the cargo hold's windows are covered with armor plates. The only access to the interior is through a side door or an offloading hatch installed in the floor of the hold.
Pirate Seaplanes are typically unarmed, but a select few Pirate seaplanes have been covered with thick metal panels, bolted or fused right on top of the existing hull. Some seaplanes are encased in up to three layers of armor. Bristling with machine guns and turrets, these flying gunships loiter above a combat area, providing assistance and cover fire for the Pirate fighters. Such heavily-armed pirate planes are rarely if ever seen but are confirmed to exist.
The Seaplane is also used on reconaissance and interdiction missions in which it deploys Pirate submarines. Able to carry one submarine each, the planes fly near a shore or coast and drop the sub into the waters. After the pirates are done looting the area, they navigate the submarine to a rendezvous point where the seaplane picks them up. Definitive drop-off procedures are non-existent; methods vary with the seaplane’s crew. In some instances the submarine was deployed from altitudes no less than 2,000 feet above the water!
Pirate Seaplane
While CT-37 fighters and the awesome Iron Vulture are the core elements of the Air Pirates’ mobile forces, there are numerous other planes that the Pirates employ in their far-from-legal activities. These craft range from decrepit, converted cargo haulers to "liberated" military fighters a generation out of date. Anything with wings and a working engine is useful to the Pirates in plying their criminal trade.
Occasionally, the Air Pirates will fabricate a completely new plane out of retooled components and spare parts. While crude, these makeshift vehicles are better suited to the Pirates’ purposes than ordinarily-converted models.
The Pirate Seaplane is one of the Air Pirates' custom-built transports. Constructed out of parts from obsolete SA-10 seaplanes, this spindly craft is basically a box with wings and pontoons, so fragile-looking that cliff gunners joke that the planes will rattle apart before they are even fired upon.
However, appearances can be deceiving. The Pirate-built airframe, while extremely lanky, presents a very small target profile for ground-based defense guns. This in addition to the hollow construction of the wing carriages makes the Pirate Seaplane nearly impossible to hit with anti-aircraft fire. Flak guns fare no better: the large wingspan and low speed of the seaplane allows the pilot to make intricate maneuvers, deftly weaving the craft around the deadly bursts of shrapnel exploding in midair.
While the overall design of the craft is slender and skeletal, the main fuselage is quite roomy. The plane's cargo hold can carry a maximum of two tons of cargo. Most of the cargo hold's windows are covered with armor plates. The only access to the interior is through a side door or an offloading hatch installed in the floor of the hold.
Pirate Seaplanes are typically unarmed, but a select few Pirate seaplanes have been covered with thick metal panels, bolted or fused right on top of the existing hull. Some seaplanes are encased in up to three layers of armor. Bristling with machine guns and turrets, these flying gunships loiter above a combat area, providing assistance and cover fire for the Pirate fighters. Such heavily-armed pirate planes are rarely if ever seen but are confirmed to exist.
The Seaplane is also used on reconaissance and interdiction missions in which it deploys Pirate submarines. Able to carry one submarine each, the planes fly near a shore or coast and drop the sub into the waters. After the pirates are done looting the area, they navigate the submarine to a rendezvous point where the seaplane picks them up. Definitive drop-off procedures are non-existent; methods vary with the seaplane’s crew. In some instances the submarine was deployed from altitudes no less than 2,000 feet above the water!
Pirate Fighter
Of all the planes traversing the skies, the sight of a squadron of CT-37 fighters is enough to send most pilots scrambling for the controls. Designed and developed as combat aircraft for the military, the CT-37 instead ended up in the hands of pirates and thieves and is now — with the exception of the Iron Vulture — the most widely-recognized symbol of the dreaded Air Pirates of Don Karnage.
CT-37s — more commonly known as "pirate fighters" — utilize a biplane wing configuration, the only fighter plane to do so since the bygone fighters of the Great War period. Instead of a raised-wing design, the wings are attached to the sides of the fighter plane and connected by metal braces to stabilize them.
Not equipped with landing gear, the CT-37 instead uses pontoons mounted on the bottom of each wing brace. While this enables the fighter to make water landings, the pontoons tend to gather momentum during rapid maneuvers, making it difficult for the pilot to steer his plane at times. In addition, the rocker-like shape of the pontoon underside causes the plane to flip over during landing if the nose is too far forward. Several rookie pilots have wound up with their noses in the dirt by forgetting to pull back on the stick after touching down.
Except for their drab blue and brown color schemes, pirate CT-37s are quite different than they were when first built. Several have new components, many have replaced or salvaged parts in them, all have had something done to the controls and instruments, and a select few have been completely overhauled — although operations of this degree are a luxury to the parts-hungry Pirates.
Pirate fighters are used almost constantly in shipping raids and combat with air patrol planes. As a result, CT-37s have the lowest survival rate of any one-man aircraft in service. Although several planes a month are lost to gunfire, crashes, or ordinary wear and tear, the Air Pirates seem to have an endless supply of them — at least enough at any one time for each pirate to use. This suggests that the pirates may actually construct their own CT-37s from scratch, or simply salvage enough parts from the wrecks to rebuild them.
Each pirate to some extent personalizes the plane he rides in. While each pirate-modified CT-37 carries illegal radio equipment, other custom features can also be incorporated. Some pirates install homemade ejection seats; others slap makeshift bomb racks on the underside of their planes. Very few pirates add a custom paint job to their planes, often because they lack sufficient rank to do so.
The most important modifications, however, are those done to the weapons. Originally the CT-37s came standard equipped with two 20-millimeter cannons mounted on the wing stabilizers. Observers claim that the guns on the fighters have not been replaced, but they have been modified to use various types of ammunition — an important innovation, since the pirates’ raids seldom provide them with the one unique type of ammo the guns originally required.
In spite of all its superior attributes, the CT-37 has its share of flaws, the biggest of which lies in the construction of the plane itself. The engine, fuel tank, and cockpit are all packed into the main fuselage, making a rather large portion of the fighter especially vulnerable to attack. With the key components so close to each other, a few well-placed hits up the belly can send the CT-37 down in flames.
Also, the plane's engine has a critical fault. A Viper Turbo-1 powerplant, the engine performs well enough during normal flight, but steep climbs have some unknown effect on the fuel manifold and air intakes, causing the engine to stall in midair. Unless the fighter was flying at a high altitude, there usually isn't enough time for the engine to restart before the plane hits the deck.
In spite of these aforementioned limitations, the CT-37 fighter in the hands of the Air Pirates remains nearly unequaled in the air.
Of all the planes traversing the skies, the sight of a squadron of CT-37 fighters is enough to send most pilots scrambling for the controls. Designed and developed as combat aircraft for the military, the CT-37 instead ended up in the hands of pirates and thieves and is now — with the exception of the Iron Vulture — the most widely-recognized symbol of the dreaded Air Pirates of Don Karnage.
CT-37s — more commonly known as "pirate fighters" — utilize a biplane wing configuration, the only fighter plane to do so since the bygone fighters of the Great War period. Instead of a raised-wing design, the wings are attached to the sides of the fighter plane and connected by metal braces to stabilize them.
Not equipped with landing gear, the CT-37 instead uses pontoons mounted on the bottom of each wing brace. While this enables the fighter to make water landings, the pontoons tend to gather momentum during rapid maneuvers, making it difficult for the pilot to steer his plane at times. In addition, the rocker-like shape of the pontoon underside causes the plane to flip over during landing if the nose is too far forward. Several rookie pilots have wound up with their noses in the dirt by forgetting to pull back on the stick after touching down.
Except for their drab blue and brown color schemes, pirate CT-37s are quite different than they were when first built. Several have new components, many have replaced or salvaged parts in them, all have had something done to the controls and instruments, and a select few have been completely overhauled — although operations of this degree are a luxury to the parts-hungry Pirates.
Pirate fighters are used almost constantly in shipping raids and combat with air patrol planes. As a result, CT-37s have the lowest survival rate of any one-man aircraft in service. Although several planes a month are lost to gunfire, crashes, or ordinary wear and tear, the Air Pirates seem to have an endless supply of them — at least enough at any one time for each pirate to use. This suggests that the pirates may actually construct their own CT-37s from scratch, or simply salvage enough parts from the wrecks to rebuild them.
Each pirate to some extent personalizes the plane he rides in. While each pirate-modified CT-37 carries illegal radio equipment, other custom features can also be incorporated. Some pirates install homemade ejection seats; others slap makeshift bomb racks on the underside of their planes. Very few pirates add a custom paint job to their planes, often because they lack sufficient rank to do so.
The most important modifications, however, are those done to the weapons. Originally the CT-37s came standard equipped with two 20-millimeter cannons mounted on the wing stabilizers. Observers claim that the guns on the fighters have not been replaced, but they have been modified to use various types of ammunition — an important innovation, since the pirates’ raids seldom provide them with the one unique type of ammo the guns originally required.
In spite of all its superior attributes, the CT-37 has its share of flaws, the biggest of which lies in the construction of the plane itself. The engine, fuel tank, and cockpit are all packed into the main fuselage, making a rather large portion of the fighter especially vulnerable to attack. With the key components so close to each other, a few well-placed hits up the belly can send the CT-37 down in flames.
Also, the plane's engine has a critical fault. A Viper Turbo-1 powerplant, the engine performs well enough during normal flight, but steep climbs have some unknown effect on the fuel manifold and air intakes, causing the engine to stall in midair. Unless the fighter was flying at a high altitude, there usually isn't enough time for the engine to restart before the plane hits the deck.
In spite of these aforementioned limitations, the CT-37 fighter in the hands of the Air Pirates remains nearly unequaled in the air.
