SV Antares

From FenWiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Spacecraft Registry
SV Antares
Spacecraft Characteristics
Base HullBoeing 747-8F
Length78.3m
Width68.4m
Mass460 tons maximum
Drive Type8 x Twinned Axial-compression Bussard Turbofans
Drive RatingMach 0.9
ArmamentIt’s registered as an airliner - with all that implies.
Primary ManufacturerBoeing Commercial Aircraft
OwnerMighty Antares Freight Services
Flag of RecordUnited States/Crystal Millennium
Faction'Danelaw (Legally)/Crystal Millennium
LaunchedAfter 2025
PurposeCargo Hauler[1]
Primary Crew* Mitchell Gant (Captain/PIC)

* Petter Kelsey (First OFficer)
* Lun Alekseeva (Astrogator)

* Supernumeraries as required
Auxillary VehiclesFreight handling equipment as required.
Operational StatusActive
This box: view  talk  edit



The Final 747.

Built for a Russian Freight Airline then mothballed out of the factory by Sanctions, 747-8F Line Number 1574 was doomed to be recycled with less than 8 flight hours on the clock, having only ever flown from Everett to the Arizona desert boneyards to be used as a parts donor for its flying brethren. For years it sat in the desert, still wearing factory-green corrosion protection.

Eyebrows raised when it left the Boneyards under its own power 2 years later, returning to Everett. It would later be spotted in test-flights around the Washington area, with a brand new set of engines - and some obvious structural changes to the topside of the fuselage to carry an external load.

The engines - eight of them in twin-pod nacelles to improve ground clearance - had come from Atalante. The actual purchaser - a mystery until a delegation from 77 Frigga attended the rollout ceremony. The source of the funding, and the actual cost, remains a 'commercial' secret. [2]

It's official paper's holding certified Air Operator is 'Mighty Antares Freight Services'.

It's purpose, originally, was [3] to carry prefabricated reactor components from John Henry station to 77 Frigga - which could not be transported by any other available craft. When not required for that role, it runs charter freight. Whether it's a hundred tons of fresh food and supplies from Atlanta to 36 Atalante, 6 Nacelle's worth of engine parts from Atalante to Hostomel, thirty pallets of patterned shirts from Hawaii to Kandor City, a bunch of rockhopping belters and their equipment from minor planet to minor planet, Undisclosed parts to an Undisclosed recipient, or Endeavour to Hephaestus for Yet More Repairs, it's gained enough charter work to pay it's fuel, crew and maintenance bills.

It can and has done occasional bout of line work for actual airlines, where requirements are urgent and freight rates are high enough to justify it - or for those airlines whose management would like to see it in action. It's proved successful enough that at least three 747's are known to be undergoing the same process.

Internal cargo capacity is a little more limited than a standard 747, due to cargo handling equipment, required reinforcements to the holds for vacuum protection, and crew quarters being built into the rear of the aircraft.

Exactly why a new aircraft was used for Antares is not known. [4]

Compared to a Gagarin-class - it can fit in actual airports, carry a lot more voluminous freight, but is a far less comfortable place to be on a long journey. It can carry a shuttle, or compatible cargo-pod externally for bulky loads. If it had been built from a salvaged 747, or even a flying cargo-conversion, it may even have been *slightly* cheaper. Compared to Lun, it can land on solid ground, burns less fuel, can actually carry more than fifteen tons of cargo, is a far more comfortable place to be for a long journey, and doesn't smell of fuel oil, bleach, chloramine and that vague, Soviet-era mustiness. But it can’t end the world either.

Antares is one of 17 747, and 747 derived, airframes doing their job in Fenspace. [5]

General Characteristics

  • N1574Z - Certified by the manufacturer, registered with the FAA , papered and fully compliant with international aviation laws. [6]. It is, for the time being at least, a true commercial airliner with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. Airports know exactly how to handle it. It can fly, transit and land anywhere US-flagged aircraft are permitted to land, and exercise such cabotage rights as permitted to US-flagged aircraft. If chartered by a US Airline registered as part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, it may provide airlift services for the Department of Defence. It may theoretically operate as ‘Executive One' - although the chance of the current POTUS flying on a freight aircraft with a connection to the Fenspace Convention (With all that entails politically) are probably something like a million to one at least. All this, provided, of course, those cert's, competencies and service records are maintained - and the appropriate paperwork is filled out, and it doesn’t act contrary to US interests.
  • SV Antares - Also, a Fencraft registered with Crystal Hiroshima and the heir of a five-decade legacy. A symbol of a big world made smaller and those moments of anticipation before an exotic journey, and of cheap shipping of figurines of questionable taste across the world from Japan. It may land at any spaceport open to being visited by the vessels Crystal Millennium (provided it fits) and exercise such cabotage rights granted under the Articles of Convention to freight spacecraft. It may receive charter work from the SAM, or be requisitioned as required for such duties as the crown sees fit. It may theoretically operate as ‘Crystal One’ - although the chance of the current Monarch flying on a freight spacecraft with a connection to the United States(With all that entails for the principals of social justice) are probably something like a million to one at least. All this, provided, of course, that all the appropriate crew competencies, Militia training and insurance are maintained - and the appropriate paperwork is filled out, and it doesn’t act contrary to the tenants of Love and Justice. [7]
  • The last Scion of Joe Sutter: While there may be other existing 747's put through the same process as a part of their maintenance to extend their lifespans - there will never be a Line Number 1575. The production lines are closed. The factory repurposed. The 747 is passing into history. [8]
  • That’s one good thing about the 747 - it can do anything but read: Can carry some equipment to self-service at remote locations. Can also be configured ti carry just about anything, from external cargo pods and Space Shuttles, to livestock and humans, to a parasite craft under the left wing on a dummy engine mount, to engines for other spacecraft. All needs is around a 2-3 kilometer stretch of solid, boulder-free flat ground to land or takeoff.

Known Quirks

  • I *work* for a living..... This is a machine built to 'work'. As a true Air*Liner*. It’s built to be worked hard, day-in day-out, loud-up, fly, land, load again, fly again, land again, day after day after year after year. Whatever else it may be, it’s first and foremost, a tool to meet an end. Notably, it's running efficiency drops off the longer it sits, or the lighter it's loaded. In general Antares is chartered to other freight and transport providers (For a specific job, or a specific time period), rather than taking on its own work.
  • Named for the sound it makes when it hits the ground: Bounces landings with a remarkable frequency - no matter how smoothly it's handled.
  • Yes, I remember I had the lasagne: The last meal left behind in the galley is always a healthy vegetarian lasagne that will always be good to eat. [10]


Sister Craft

One rich Grawlix’s Eagle

Iolair

Not to be out-done, Padraig O'Niell has gotten his hands on the second 'New' 747 in space, finding himself the owner of a 747-8i formerly ordered by the government of Saudi Arabia, then abandoned when the Prince responsible found himself forced to rule from the underground timber palace.[11]

While wondering how a ‘foking skobe’ like Jet managed to scratch together the cash needed to pay for private airliner’, he's managed to buy the jet, fit it out, then sell it again to an aircraft leasing agent, and lease it back to himself ‘As the big-boys do it loike’. It's technically owned by a Guinness O'Lostaigh Aviation Leasing.

The upper deck has been converted into one man’s paen to intergalactic indolent luxury. The lower decks are fitted out more modestly - a mix of staff accommodation and cargo decks.


It’s showtime!

Betelgeuse

The Third converted freighter - also from a -8i.

To be operated by the Artemis Foundation, she is planned to be the successor to the original two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, being able to support Artemis missions to places a Gagarin won’t fit - or which may involve transporting outsized equipment.

Currently in the pre-design and funding stage.

It is specifically planned for her to have more crew accommodations on the lengthened upper-deck, for long-term spaceflight to other star-systems.

Compared to Antares, it has a longer main cargo deck, and better crew accommodations on an extended upper deck, rather than having quarters aft of the rear cargo door. It’s nose does not open up. It seems to have a much better sense of what it's going to be used for from Day One. It will also be fitted with four second-generation engines, giving it a more traditional appearance and better fuel economy.

A Dream Reborn

There is a Second.....





  1. Cash incinerator
  2. It appeared shortly after Boeing borged Stingray Motor Engineering, and Sylia Stingray disappeared to a life of private luxury
  3. as a grand financial incineration
  4. Especially when good, fully airworthy 747's are remarkably cost effective
  5. The first customer 747 - N747PA - being among them, having been salvaged from its fate as a Korean BBQ restaurant, and restored to Pan-Am replica glory.
  6. A specific condition of sale
  7. There may be some jurisdictional issues in the near future.
  8. It even has a fancy plaque attesting to that fact.
  9. The weaknesses of a 747 are also well documented in the accident record…
  10. Don't eat the fish
  11. Natural causes, we swear.