I still think the catgirls are winning it, but since taking part is important....
---------------
{{vehicbox
|vehiclename = LF-162-Wasp
|vehicleimage =
|caption =
|chassis = He-162 copy.
|length = 9 m
|width = 7.2 m
|height = 2.6 m
|mass = 1.2 tons empty.
|drivetype = Multiple
|driverating = Rated at .16C top speed.
|weapons = 30mm Twin Fusion cannon, or Single 40mm Railgun. 2 hardpoints.
|manufacturer = Asagiri/Prototype
|owner =
|flag =
|faction =
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|crew = 1 (pilot)
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"It's really like a Zero fighter, both in ethos and in spirt. It's fast, Insanely Maneuverable and packs enough of a punch to be dangerous. But for God's sake don't get hit. Sending one pilot into battle with only basic training will probably get you one dead pilot. Sending one pilot into battle with hours of practice, drilling and experience, will get you a dozen dead pilots. That's my summary. I'd take one to a racetrack any day, but would I take one into combat?" - Summary on evaluation sheet. $author
LF-162 "Wasp"
The oldest basic design in the 2025 competition, the LF-162 is a derivative of the WWII-era Heinkel He-162 'Salamander'. It consist of an all-carbotanium fuselage monocoque formed in one primary weaving. Automatic folding wings allow it to fit in a cargo bay the size of Lun's. A single engine is mounted in an ejectable podded nacelle, strapped to the fighter's back.
Primary armament consists of a pair 30mm fusion cannon in the nose, or a single 40mm railgun for a 100kg penalty to empty weight. A pair of hardpoints on the aircraft's back, on each-side of the engine nacelle, allow the mounting of any standard stores. Fusion cannon ammunition is inert, making cook-off's impossible. Both main guns carry around 12 seconds worth of ammunition.
Fire control, navigation and sensor systems are derived from the Stingray project, via those used in the Kulbit racer, rather than conventional combat systems. Rather than having a HUD, a virtual instrument display is created in the pilot's helmet, with controls on the throttle and sidestick arming and targetting the weapons. The systems owe more to the Stingray project and hardsuit practice, than conventional fighter practice.
==Characteristics==
The Wasp is lightweight fighter/trainer, designed to replace the Zig.
It builds on experience gained from the Kulbit racer, and offers a very-high sustained turn rate and extremely fast roll rate - exceeding that of the original Zig. A full set of dive-brakes allow for rapid direction and velocity changes. The pilot must wear a Fortified Suit flightsuit and custom seat- there is no provision for conventional systems, or conventional six-point harnesses. On the other hand, controls are somewhat light for novice pilots, and the fly-by-wire controls lack any sort of flight envelope protection or mitigation. The pilot always has full control authority, for better or worse.
Engine performance is impressive, with the fighter able to maintain kinetic energy even through intensive maneuvers better than most spacecraft that aren't racers. Light weight more than makes up for a smaller than normal engine.
Engine maintenance and repair especially is uniquely simple. The entire nacelle is simply swapped for a good one, then repaired at leisure on a workbench, rather than in the craft. The podded engine allows a number of different drive-types to be fitted. The prototype first flew with an underpowered Zig engine, before settling on a modified hurricane fusion thruster to achieve the required combination of range and speed. Otherwise, the single-piece construction of the spaceframe can make repairs and maintenance of the internals somewhat tricky. Fortunately, there's not much to go wrong.
Hardsuit-derived controls are fully HOTAS compliant, with shift and modifier thumb-keys allowing for full control of the craft with just fingertips. Eye-tracking software in the helmet in theory allows for rapid target selection and engagement. Experienced pilots can have trouble adjusting to the different control paradigm, though a fresh trainee would have no such difficulty. Whether it's better or not compared to conventional systems is a matter for vigorous debate. But it is very different. Backup cockpit instruments are the most basic permissable to fly and navigate.
Surviveability is rated as poor - the craft was built to be absolutely lightweight first and formost, prioritising range, maneuverability and efficiency. The majority of the fuselage aft of the pilot consists of fuel tank, with a wet skin. The wings and tail are mostly hollow and there is very little structural redundancy anywhere.The main armament is tied into the same fuel supply as the engine - specifically the forward tank. Therefore, it takes very few hits to knock one out of the fight. Ammunition feeds do provide a measure of 'armour' protection for the pilot.
The spacecraft has a marked tendancy towards pitching nose-down whenever thrust is applied from a low power setting, amplified when the spacecraft is light on fuel. This could cause an issue for an inexperienced or inatentive pilot on a low-power go around. The effect is even worse if the ammunition load is still present. Lightweight landing gear doesn't help with the resulting hard landings.
==Quirk==
'Battle bred. Race tested. ': Disarmed variant offered for public sale as a 'Sports' spacecraft. With armament removed, the nose-heavy tendancy is reduced.
'Well, back in the war...': Playing the soundtrack from a WWII aviation movie at engine startup can have a number of unusual effects:
*633 Squadron: Automatic Terrain Following Function enabled in autopilot. Targetting computer will not work.
*Dambusters March: Bonus while hunting enemy bombers. Penalty against enemy fighters.
*Luftwaffe March: Reduced fuel consumption on long cruises. Reduced engine power. Both by half.
*Tora!Tora!Tora!: Radar Stealth. And infra-red stealth versus craft derived from US Military designs. Signature reduced by up to 90%. Requires all (including passive) radar, radio and interwave systems to be shut off for the duration of the mission. Stealth effect is lost for the rest of the mission if they are ever turned on.
Use is limited to one song each time the engine is started.
'Built in a cave. From a box of scraps.' The hardest part of building a Wasp is the monocoque. It can be done in 4 hours using a concurrent-cure carbon loom around jigged-up internal fittings, or in a week using hand-laid carbon fibre on a mould. But it can still be reliably handbuilt using technology within reach of most individuals in Fenspace, and will fly with a number of engines. (The prototype has carried a Zig engine, twin Jet-Cat thrusters, and a hurricane acceleration thruster, which was then modified with a new ejector coil to function as more conventional speed-drive)
'Easy to fly': Despite a few known vices, it's not a tricky craft to get in and fly around for any casual fenspace pilot.
'Hard to Master'; This is spacecraft that rewards training and mastery, rather than masks inexperience.
-------
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
---------------
{{vehicbox
|vehiclename = LF-162-Wasp
|vehicleimage =
|caption =
|chassis = He-162 copy.
|length = 9 m
|width = 7.2 m
|height = 2.6 m
|mass = 1.2 tons empty.
|drivetype = Multiple
|driverating = Rated at .16C top speed.
|weapons = 30mm Twin Fusion cannon, or Single 40mm Railgun. 2 hardpoints.
|manufacturer = Asagiri/Prototype
|owner =
|flag =
|faction =
|registry =
|date =
|purpose =
|crew = 1 (pilot)
|supcrew =
|auxvehicles =
|status =
}}
"It's really like a Zero fighter, both in ethos and in spirt. It's fast, Insanely Maneuverable and packs enough of a punch to be dangerous. But for God's sake don't get hit. Sending one pilot into battle with only basic training will probably get you one dead pilot. Sending one pilot into battle with hours of practice, drilling and experience, will get you a dozen dead pilots. That's my summary. I'd take one to a racetrack any day, but would I take one into combat?" - Summary on evaluation sheet. $author
LF-162 "Wasp"
The oldest basic design in the 2025 competition, the LF-162 is a derivative of the WWII-era Heinkel He-162 'Salamander'. It consist of an all-carbotanium fuselage monocoque formed in one primary weaving. Automatic folding wings allow it to fit in a cargo bay the size of Lun's. A single engine is mounted in an ejectable podded nacelle, strapped to the fighter's back.
Primary armament consists of a pair 30mm fusion cannon in the nose, or a single 40mm railgun for a 100kg penalty to empty weight. A pair of hardpoints on the aircraft's back, on each-side of the engine nacelle, allow the mounting of any standard stores. Fusion cannon ammunition is inert, making cook-off's impossible. Both main guns carry around 12 seconds worth of ammunition.
Fire control, navigation and sensor systems are derived from the Stingray project, via those used in the Kulbit racer, rather than conventional combat systems. Rather than having a HUD, a virtual instrument display is created in the pilot's helmet, with controls on the throttle and sidestick arming and targetting the weapons. The systems owe more to the Stingray project and hardsuit practice, than conventional fighter practice.
==Characteristics==
The Wasp is lightweight fighter/trainer, designed to replace the Zig.
It builds on experience gained from the Kulbit racer, and offers a very-high sustained turn rate and extremely fast roll rate - exceeding that of the original Zig. A full set of dive-brakes allow for rapid direction and velocity changes. The pilot must wear a Fortified Suit flightsuit and custom seat- there is no provision for conventional systems, or conventional six-point harnesses. On the other hand, controls are somewhat light for novice pilots, and the fly-by-wire controls lack any sort of flight envelope protection or mitigation. The pilot always has full control authority, for better or worse.
Engine performance is impressive, with the fighter able to maintain kinetic energy even through intensive maneuvers better than most spacecraft that aren't racers. Light weight more than makes up for a smaller than normal engine.
Engine maintenance and repair especially is uniquely simple. The entire nacelle is simply swapped for a good one, then repaired at leisure on a workbench, rather than in the craft. The podded engine allows a number of different drive-types to be fitted. The prototype first flew with an underpowered Zig engine, before settling on a modified hurricane fusion thruster to achieve the required combination of range and speed. Otherwise, the single-piece construction of the spaceframe can make repairs and maintenance of the internals somewhat tricky. Fortunately, there's not much to go wrong.
Hardsuit-derived controls are fully HOTAS compliant, with shift and modifier thumb-keys allowing for full control of the craft with just fingertips. Eye-tracking software in the helmet in theory allows for rapid target selection and engagement. Experienced pilots can have trouble adjusting to the different control paradigm, though a fresh trainee would have no such difficulty. Whether it's better or not compared to conventional systems is a matter for vigorous debate. But it is very different. Backup cockpit instruments are the most basic permissable to fly and navigate.
Surviveability is rated as poor - the craft was built to be absolutely lightweight first and formost, prioritising range, maneuverability and efficiency. The majority of the fuselage aft of the pilot consists of fuel tank, with a wet skin. The wings and tail are mostly hollow and there is very little structural redundancy anywhere.The main armament is tied into the same fuel supply as the engine - specifically the forward tank. Therefore, it takes very few hits to knock one out of the fight. Ammunition feeds do provide a measure of 'armour' protection for the pilot.
The spacecraft has a marked tendancy towards pitching nose-down whenever thrust is applied from a low power setting, amplified when the spacecraft is light on fuel. This could cause an issue for an inexperienced or inatentive pilot on a low-power go around. The effect is even worse if the ammunition load is still present. Lightweight landing gear doesn't help with the resulting hard landings.
==Quirk==
'Battle bred. Race tested. ': Disarmed variant offered for public sale as a 'Sports' spacecraft. With armament removed, the nose-heavy tendancy is reduced.
'Well, back in the war...': Playing the soundtrack from a WWII aviation movie at engine startup can have a number of unusual effects:
*633 Squadron: Automatic Terrain Following Function enabled in autopilot. Targetting computer will not work.
*Dambusters March: Bonus while hunting enemy bombers. Penalty against enemy fighters.
*Luftwaffe March: Reduced fuel consumption on long cruises. Reduced engine power. Both by half.
*Tora!Tora!Tora!: Radar Stealth. And infra-red stealth versus craft derived from US Military designs. Signature reduced by up to 90%. Requires all (including passive) radar, radio and interwave systems to be shut off for the duration of the mission. Stealth effect is lost for the rest of the mission if they are ever turned on.
Use is limited to one song each time the engine is started.
'Built in a cave. From a box of scraps.' The hardest part of building a Wasp is the monocoque. It can be done in 4 hours using a concurrent-cure carbon loom around jigged-up internal fittings, or in a week using hand-laid carbon fibre on a mould. But it can still be reliably handbuilt using technology within reach of most individuals in Fenspace, and will fly with a number of engines. (The prototype has carried a Zig engine, twin Jet-Cat thrusters, and a hurricane acceleration thruster, which was then modified with a new ejector coil to function as more conventional speed-drive)
'Easy to fly': Despite a few known vices, it's not a tricky craft to get in and fly around for any casual fenspace pilot.
'Hard to Master'; This is spacecraft that rewards training and mastery, rather than masks inexperience.
-------
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?