KerbalX

Description

The ‘Cobia’ Class Flying Boat the Arcan Aeroplane Firm’s successor to the ‘Empire’ Class flying boat. Larger, faster and capable of flying further than Arcan’s previous flying boat aircraft, the ‘Cobia’ Class was amongst the last generation of successful large flying boat aircraft before getting eclipsed by comparable land-based airliners.
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History

By the late 930s, the civilian flying boat market had become a lucrative endeavor. Rapid growth along the Troscan Archipelago commenced owing to the displacement of Troscan Citizens following the loss of the Continental War. As such, the demand for air travel between emerging regional centres grew almost exponentially seemingly overnight.
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Though Arcan had correctly identified this meteoric rise in air travel demand early on through the introduction of the ‘Empire’ Class and ‘Napier’ class, Arcan’s offerings soon lagged behind that of Grant Heavy Industries with their ‘Sunfish’ Class and ‘Sunfish Major’ Class flying boats, which offered superior capacity and range. Aiming to rectify this gap, Arcan set to develop a versatile aircraft; what would become the ‘Cobia’ Class which, was named after its shape’s resemblance to a Cobia fish.
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Development began in 939 upon the ‘Sunfish’ Class’ introduction into the Imperium Airways fleet. To improve performance, firstly, four much larger, 2200hp 18-cylinder radial engines were fitted. Secondly, a far more streamlined fuselage was designed, reducing drag, thus improving efficiency and range. Lastly, the wings were proportionately made larger to fit larger fuel tanks further increasing range. As the design was not necessarily a great departure from Arcan’s already existing designs, it entered production with relatively few hiccups and became a part of the Imperium Airways Fleet by 944.
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Though designed primarily for shorter distance, ‘Island-Hopping’ style flights between regional centres, the ‘Cobia’ was versatile enough to serve longer-distance intercontinental roles like the Sunfish Class. Being far simpler to maintain, it ended up serving in this role longer despite not originally being designed for it.
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The type served into the early 950s, eventually being superseded by land-based designs.

Details

• Type: SPH
• Class: aircraft
• Part Count: 2520
• Pure Stock
• KSP: 1.12.5

SPECIFICATIONS

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MANUFACTURER:
Arcan Aeroplane Firm
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UNITS PRODUCED:
~85
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SERVICE LIFE:
944 - 956
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TOP SPEED
~70m/s (in game)

READ ME!

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FOR TAKEOFF
1) Move craft in the water with hack gravity or the craft teleporter. (DO NOT USE VESSEL MOVER, IT WILL EXPLODE)
2) Press 1 to switch to the correct probe core
3) Press R to enable the flaps for takeoff
4) Throttle up and hold S until airborne and then retract flaps
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FOR LANDING
1) Slow down to less than 25m/s before landing
2) Make sure nose is slightly pitched up
3) Land as gently as possible