Aqueduct Conversion

[Rayneth]

So being one of newer Battletech fans, I am currently going through an intensive "Create your own Faction" phase. Specifically in the Periphery!

To that end I was interested in converting some ubiquitous civilian class dropships into a makeshift military dropship in a similar vein to the Trojan/Danais.

So I trawled through the books and dismissed the Mammoth due to the difficulties in maintenance, before turning my attention to the Mule and the often forgotten about Aqueduct.

I was eyeing the Aqueduct at first because of its size and sturdiness, but then I saw their dimensions. While the Mule had had a Length and Width of 158m and a height of 100.4 meters, the Aqueduct is more than a little bit smaller terms of dimensions at Length and width of 112 meters and height of 99 meters, which is odd considering it is 4 times its final mass once both are fully loaded.

Is this deliberate you all think? Or should its size be more in line with a ship very often described as being visually similar to it, the Mammoth. Would it be a feasible to fully utilize the massive cargo hold within in such dimensions if not?

[Alsadius]

The impression I get is that those numbers are not the primary focus for the design team, and thus aren't generally internally consistent.

That said, in this particular case, it may have to do with the type of cargo carried. Water isn't that dense, but it packs extremely densely. The Aqueduct's four cargo bays would form a cube less than 30 meters on a side, so 100 meters in each direction seems quite reasonable. Conversely, a lot of bulk cargos will be loosely packed, or will require the ability to walk around in the cargo bay, so the Mule might need more space for the same tonnage. The Mule is also called out as being particularly spacious for the crew and simple/easy to maintain (which usually means a lot of space around the equipment), so it'll trend bigger as well. For this pair, the stats seem pretty plausible to me.

[Rayneth]

Yea after thinking about what you said, storing fluids tends to be more efficient space wise once you use a tanker since it fills out easier.

That said I think what you mentioned about the lack of consistency of measurements is an accurate one, since the Jumbo is barely bigger than a Union, yet carries more cargo and fulfills the same role as a Mule. I think for this particular case I'll ignore unit measurements and use tonnage as the only yard stick.

Thanks!