Rebuilding the P-51 Mustang

[Giovanni Blasini]

So, I'm working on a Tech Level D fusion-powered version of the Mustang, something like the Piper Enforcer for a later era, and I've run into a few problems doing so.

First, my initial attempt from ten years ago:

Code: [Select]

Class:   Small Fixed-Wing Aircraft
Mass (kg):   4,830.00
Free Mass:   0.00
Total Item Slots:   5.00
Free Item Slots:   2.00
Tech Level:   D
Powerplant:   Fusion

Base Chassis Mass:   8.00%
Tech Level Mod:   1
STOL Modifier   1.5
Enviromental Sealing   2
Armored Chassis Mod:   1.5
Prop Modifier:   1.2
Final Chassis Mass:   2087 kg

Base Engine Factor:   0.5
Safe Thrust:   6
Max Thrust:   9
Movement Factor #1:   40
Engine #1 Wt. Mod:   1
Base Engine #1 %:   20.00
Final Engine #1 %:   20
Final Engine #1 Mass:   966 kg
Thrust Points of Fuel:   n/a

Max Potential Armor:   9
Barrier Rating:   10
Kilograms / Armor Point:   63
Allocated Armor Pts:   9
Used Armor Pts:   9
Allocated Armor Mass:   567 kg
  ----  Nose:   3
  ----  Left Wing:   2
  ----  Right Wing:   2
  ----  Tail:   2
Structural Integrity   6
Armor Threshhold:   1

Ejector Seats (2):         200 kg
Heavy Support Pulse Lasers (2):   600 kg, 2 equip. slots
External Stores (1 hardpoint):   200 kg, 1 equip. slots
Advanced Fire Control:          60 kg
Crew: 2               150 kg

Total Cost:   244,574 C-Bills
Total BV (no ordinance): 166
Total BV(w/ RL-10): 193
 --- Defensive BV: 22
 --- Offensive BV (no ordinance): 144
 --- Offensive BV (w/ RL-10):   171
So, obviously this predated the handling of the Mustang under Experimental Tech Readout 1945 by a number of years, and revamping the design is proving problematic, probably due to the liberties taken in XTRO 1945.  Armor should be 8 points max and, as a prop bird, it's going to be limited to 6 thrust, anyway. 

When looking at the guns now, I see that the heavy support pulse laser, while my mass is correct, only does 0.98 points of damage and has a crew requirement of 4.  Page 131 of Tech Manual says that light weapons require 1 gunner/weapon (doesn't state whether this includes the pilot), while medium weapons also require 1 gunner/weapon, but that may include the pilot.  So, my two lasers should require 2 crew?  This appears to be one of the areas where XTRO 1945 kind of fudged the rules a bit.

For damage, if I'm not mistaken, I'm now looking at two 0.98-point weapons, which round up to two 1-point attacks, with a 4/8/12 range, or Medium aerospace range bracket.  For half that weight, though, I could keep the original guns, which do 0.94 points each, rounding up to 1 point each, and get treated as two clusters of three 1-point hits, with a range of 2/4/6, or short Aero range.  Is this correct?

External hardpoints normally are allowed at one for every 10 tons of vehicle, rounded down, though obviously XTRO 1945 had its own bomb hardpoints that the original Mustang required.

So, am I missing anything?

[NullVoid]

If you check out the Additional Crew table on page 131, subtable Minimum Gunners(by Fire Control System), a Small vehicle with Advanced FCS is listed as "1 per facing‡/‡‡", with footnotes being "‡Turret and pintle mounts counts as separate facing" and "‡‡Includes the vehicle’s driver"

Therefore, if all your weapons point forward and you have no pintle mounts (which are illegal anyway on a fixed-wing SV), your pilot is your gunner. Maybe you're using an older edition? Check out the errata if so.

(Aerospace) Range and damage are hidden within the text of page 136.  Basically, 0.4999... rounds down to no damage, while 0.5 rounds up to 1, and so forth. For example, a Man-Portable Plasma Rifle has a listed damage of 1.58, which due to being between 1.5 and 2.4999..., rounds to 2. Crew requirements can be ignored. Range is as you'd expect, 0-9,10-19,20-24, and 25+ for Short, Medium, Long and Extreme aerospace ranges.