The Albatross V51

THE ALBATROSS

A long-range, script-driven planetary hauler and mobile base - with its own self-flying escape pod. Fuel-efficient autopilot with obstacle avoidance, one-button launch to orbit, a weight guard that won't let you sink into gravity you can't climb back out of, automatic low-fuel landing, auto-welding repair, airlocks, farming, refining and assembly - all wired together and ready to fly.

AT A GLANCE

• 1,250+ block large-grid hull, 3 custom turrets and a docked escape pod
• 40 hydrogen thrusters (9 large, 31 small) + 2 modular ion thrusters
• 2 bulk hydrogen tanks, 2 O2/H2 generators, 2 jump drives
• 2 reactors, 2 hydrogen engines, 12 batteries, 2 solar panels
• 10 Programmable Blocks running flight, life support and automation
• Medical room, cryo room and crew beds
• Refineries, assemblers, food processor, farm plots, algae and oxygen farms
• Repair projector carrying a full backup copy of the ship

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FEATURES

• AutoPilot 2 - flies to a GPS marker, follows the planet's curve at a set altitude, dodges obstacles with its cameras and stops about 1 km short of the marker
• Fuel-efficient cruise - flies on direct thrust instead of the game's autopilot, using roughly the thrust it takes just to stay up
• One-button launch to space - climbs straight out of the gravity well and parks in zero-g
• Weight guard - live lift-vs-weight check; refuses to descend into gravity it can't hold itself up in
• Low-fuel landing - lands in place before the hydrogen runs out, or parks in space
• Self-flying escape pod - opens its own hatch, ejects, flies to a GPS marker and lands; re-docks itself
• Auto-welding repair - welders switch on by themselves when any block is damaged
• Flight HUD - Horizon, Radar, Minimap and LCD2 info screens
• Four automated airlocks - interlocked inner and outer doors
• Automated docking, inventory sorting, hull monitor and farm display

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HOW TO USE THE AUTOPILOT

Everything runs from the pilot seat's hotbars.

1. Set a destination

Open your GPS list, right-click a marker and choose Copy to clipboard. Open the PA Programmable Auto Pilot block, press Edit Custom Data, paste the GPS line on its own line and close it.

2. Fly there

Press Hotbar 3, Slot 4 (autopilot on/off). The ship climbs to its cruising altitude, turns toward the marker and cruises at 95 m/s. Close to the marker it slows down, descends and stops about 1 km away, level and holding position.

Press Hotbar 3, Slot 4 again at any time to take the controls back.

No GPS set? The ship holds its heading and orbits the planet at cruising altitude. In space, it holds a straight line.

3. Launch to space

Press Hotbar 3, Slot 7. The ship climbs straight up, keeps itself level and parks once it reaches zero-g. Press it again to cancel. Make sure nothing large is directly overhead.

4. Settings

Add any of these lines to the same Custom Data (one per line):

• CruiseSpeed=95 - cruise speed in m/s
• CruiseAltitude=8000 - cruise height above sea level, in metres
• LowFuelPercent=6 - hydrogen % at which it lands on a planet (0 = off)
• LowFuelPercentSpace=2 - hydrogen % at which it parks in space
• WeightLimit=1.5 - thrust-to-weight the warning asks for
• WeightGuard=1 - 1 = enforce, 0 = warn only

Weight guard

The ship always compares its lift with its weight - cargo included - in the gravity it is in. As you get close to the limit, the transparent cockpit screen shows the margin; past it, the warning turns red. When coming down into a planet, it will not let the ship descend lower than it can still climb back out from. Hotbar 3, Slot 9 hides or shows the warning screen; the guard keeps working either way.

Low-fuel landing

If hydrogen drops below the low-fuel level on the autopilot, it stops the trip and lands where it is (or parks, in space) instead of running dry in the air.

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ESCAPE POD

The pod hangs in its bay under the ship. While docked it charges from the ship and its thrusters stay off.

• Set a landing spot (optional): paste a GPS line into the Custom Data of the pod's Pod Autopilot block. With no GPS it flies clear of the ship and lands.
• Launch: sit in the pod's seat and press Hotbar 1, Slot 1. It opens the hatch, drops out, turns upright and flies off.
• Slot 2 = outside camera, Slot 3 = land now, Slot 4 = stop and take control.
• Long trips: it plans its route by fuel - far markers are reached by climbing to where gravity is weak and cruising there.
• Parachutes: put a Canvas or two in the pod's cargo box. Pasted blueprints arrive with empty chutes.
• Re-docking: fly the pod back under the bay hinge. Once it has been gone 30 seconds, the bay hinge grabs it again automatically.

The pod's status screen shows its fuel, height, route and distance to the marker.

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HOTBAR REFERENCE

Hotbar 1 - 1 Thrusters | 2 Spotlights | 3 Landing gear | 4 Gear lock | 5 Bottom connector | 6 Camera | 7 Welders | 8 Jump | 9 Batteries recharge Hotbar 2 - 1-4 Connectors | 5 Railguns | 6-8 Turret controllers Hotbar 3 - 1 HUD cycle | 2 LCD2 info | 3 Auto docking | 4 Autopilot | 5 Minimap mouse | 6 Minimap select | 7 Launch to space | 8 Low power mode | 9 Weight warning Hotbar 4 - 1 Reactors | 2 Hydrogen engines | 3 Refineries | 4 O2/H2 generators | 5 Outside lights