VA Cyclone 2

[RedDwarfIV]

The Cyclone 2 is an improved, more compact version of the Cyclone - which proved to be distastrous with whatever launch stage it was sat on. This was determined to have been caused by the massive wings it had, and on looking at designs by other large cruiser manufacturers, it was decided that the wings should be stubby and run as much of the length of the craft as possible. It has not been tested on a launch stage as of yet, but the engineers are hopeful. This LTOL beast can not only land, but take off too. This feature, it must be noted, is only available when landing on a flat plain. The image below shows a safely landed Cyclone 2 that is unable to take off, having toppled over due to being on a sloping plain. It has very good fuel economy, and reasonable agility. Will flip out violently if ASAS is left off at 2X warp, but it can recover from this.

However, the landing difficulties have been remedied with this version - it has an undercarriage designed to spread the weight as evenly as possible, so no falling over. However, it does carry the risk of that the landing gear can damage the craft itself under some conditions. In fact, it works even better with pontoons fitted. We\'ve tested it as a seaplane. Like the original Cyclone, its faced with an inability to take off [on water, its fine with land]. But at least you can recover it.