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RA-5J Vigilante

Greatly inspired by the incredible creations of JD.Horx, the RA-5J Vigilante is a multi-role small-grid reconnaissance ship with a fully pressurized interior capable of interplanetary travel and long-term survival for up to four players. The RA-5J Vigilante is lightly armored, but heavily armed with four gatling turrets (two topside, and two on the bottom), one missile turret on top, and seven forward-facing gatling guns; she's a sure cure for things that go bump in the night. With it's numerous large ion and hydrogen thrusters, however, she'll get out of trouble very quickly when the need arises.

This ship will also serve well for planetary and/or space exploration or colonization. Its empty mass is 170 tons, but has been tested using 1-1-1 realistic settings to carry 275 tons planetside and for its ascent to space, and still have greater than 3/4 of its hydrogen gas stores in reserve. If not loaded too heavily, the ship will operate in a planet's atmosphere without using its hydrogen thrusters. The front two landing gear retract via a timer block, and a ramp is provided at the ship's stern for personnel access.

The ship's design does not use any MODs, but DLC is included. To further enhance the ship's design and function, hinges and rotors are also used for retracting the landing gear and operating the ramp. Finally, three scripts are used: 1) Isy's Simple Doors for the airlock, 2) a turret reset script from NickNDY that moves all turrets back to their default starting position (helps with being able to land properly), and 3) a landing gear status script that reports the status of the retractable landing gear (i.e., up or down).

SHIP STATISTICS
Empty Mass: 170T
Gross Mass: 275T (as-tested using 1-1-1 realistic settings)
Length: 44 meters
Width: 27 meters
Height: 16 meters (turrets reset and landing gear retracted)
Blocks: 2,039
PCU: 11,291

POWER
- 1 large reactor
- 4 batteries

FEATURES
- 3 control seats
- 4 cryogenic chambers
- 1 survival kit
- 13 air vents
- 3 small cargo containers
- 7 medium cargo containers
- 2 oxygen tanks
- 8 hydrogen tanks
- 3 O2/H2 generators
- 3 landing gear
- 14 gyroscopes
- 1 rear docking connector
- 4 programmable blocks
- 3 timer blocks
- 1 remote control, antenna, and ore detector

CONTROLS
--- Main Controls accessed via {Ctrl}-{1} ---
[1} Gun Camera
{2} Gatling Guns
{3} Camera Down
{4} Landing Gear, Switch Lock
{5} Landing Gear Retract/Extend Timer Block
{6} Atmospheric Thrusters ON/OFF
{7} Ion Thrusters ON/OFF
{8} Small Hydrogen Thrusters ON/OFF
{9} Large Hydrogen Thrusters ON/OFF
--- Ascent-to-Space Controls accessed via {Ctrl}-{2} ---
[1} Ramp Camera
{2} Ramp UP/DOWN
{3} Atmospheric Thrusters ON/OFF
{4} Ion Thrusters ON/OFF
{5} Small Hydrogen Thrusters ON/OFF
{6} Large Forward Hydrogen Thruster 1 ON/OFF
{7} Large Forward Hydrogen Thruster 2 ON/OFF
{8} Large Forward Hydrogen Thruster 3 ON/OFF
{9} Large Forward Hydrogen Thruster 4 ON/OFF
--- Miscellaneous Controls accessed via {Ctrl}-{3} ---
[1} Docking Camera
{2} Docking Connector, Switch Lock
{3} Atmospheric Thrusters ON/OFF
{4} Ion Thrusters ON/OFF
{5} Small Hydrogen Thrusters ON/OFF
{6} Missile Turret ON/OFF
{7} Gatling Turrets ON/OFF
{8} Marker Lights ON/OFF
{9} Spotlights ON/OFF

NOTES FOR BUILDING WITH A PROJECTOR IN SURVIVAL MODE
The projector's default settings align with a bottom block near the ship's center; set the vertical alignment to -1 to properly align the projector below the block's surface (see the last picture). Both the retractable front landing gear and ramp are subgrids that will not project. Rather than go into detail here, contact me if you want help building the subgrids. Or, better yet, just paste this thing into existence using creative mode.