Chrysopelea MK-I

Chrysopelea MK-I
Size (W×H×L)	31m×21m×73m
Cargo capacity	9 TC
Cargo bay extension	No
Maximum speed	0.33 LM
Manoeuvrability	Roll: 2.0 Pitch: 1.5 Yaw: 1.2
Energy banks	3
Energy recharge rate	Excellent (4.6)
Gun mounts	Fore, Aft
Missile slots	4
Shield boosters available	Yes
Military shields available	Yes
Hyperspace capable	Yes
OXP or standard	OXP
Available to player	Yes
Base price	226000 Cr

Overview

The Chrysopelea MK-I has been designed by the state-owned Design Bureau for Advanced and Fulfilling Technology on Erlage. It is to date the only ship ever produced by said company. Today the manufacturing process is optimized and the resulting product cheap enough to compete with other ships in Galaxy 1. But the development and the first years of series production have been such a burden on the state treasury that the birds of Erlage collectively decided to never try something like this again.

The design is generally similar to existing ships. The one thing that stands out (other than the weird look) are the strong heat radiation systems. They allow to not only fit a single heat radiator or maybe two, but up to twelve units. If you fit a capable heat radiator, you can easily reach an energy recharge rate of over 4.5 E/s. Some also argue that a good heat radiator improves laser beam efficiency though there is no hard data that supports this claim.

Theoretically, you could fit any heat radiator that supports the de facto standard heat radiator interface specification HeRa-1-8836. If you buy a new Chrysopelea MK-I it will be fitted with twelve advanced CactusWren A-1000 (which are also produced on Erlage, though the company CactusWren isn't directly associated with the government). You could also use some reptiloid radiators, but they do not perform well for a demanding ship like the Chrysopelea MK-I, as they rely exclusively on passive heat management.

If you decide to keep the wonderful engineering solution by CactusWren you don't need to worry about any excess heat on the bridge or anywhere else where you would want to reside on the ship. You only have to be careful in case you install an extra passenger cabin. If it is too close to a heat radiator, your passengers might start to grumble around (though some reptiloids like the heat, so you have to decide on a case to case basis). The Chrysopelea MK-I has been designed to make a profit, and to maximize potential buyers the interior decoration is kept very simple to not offend anyone. You have the option to order very bird-friendly furnishing (mainly using Erlageian tree wood), though it might get quite expensive if you're not ordering from a fat bird or frog inhabited planet.

In recent years the Chrysopelea MK-I is unfortunately seen often in hands of pirates. The official stance of the Erlageian government is that they only sell to background-checked individuals. While that might be true, there are quite a few contracts between the Design Bureau for Advanced and Fulfilling Technology and the government of Aerater. The state of Aerater is basically just a proxy for several pirate groups in Bivea from where pirates from the whole galaxy get their shiny new Chrysopelea MK-I, probably already fitted with state-of-the-art beam lasers and all four missile slots loaded.

Gallery

• 

  A Chrysopelea MK-I firing one of its four missiles.

• 

  Older texture and model [Version 1.0]

Download

The Chrysopelea MK-I is available in the in-game expansion manager. [Version 2.3]

BB thread

https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9686&p=274511#p274511

Links

• Timewarp Machine also by Tsoj (2016) - needs Oolite developer version. BB post & YouTube video.