Fuel, Ramjets, and the Darwin Awards (was Re: in 'defense' of FT missiles... ;-) )

At 09:27 PM 5/6/97 -0500, you wrote:
>I'm sure many of you have seen this before (snipped the JATO/Chevy
Impala
story).

<<off topic>>
Wow, talk about syncronicity. My friends and I were discussing this
story on
Monday!

Okay, the story is not true. It's an urban legend. Actually, it's in the
sub-genre of Urban Legend: the Net Myth. For more stories, many of which
are
TRUE, check out the Darwin Awards site at:

http://www.dnaco.net/~jimpen/darwin/darwin.html

This year's recipient of the Darwin Awards is about a lawyer from
Toronto
(and is definitely true). Check it out.

<<on topic>>

Now, to keep the topic hounds off my back, the mentioning of solid
rockets
brings a question to mind: fuel. Has anyone looked at fuel usage in FT?
I've
got some house rules percolating in my subconscious to deal with Bussard
Ramjets, fuel skimming, and other effects. Just wondering if anyone has
done
something about this. 

I like the idea of ramjet armed ships. The front firing arc would be
unusable (and using regular FT rules, so would the rear arc!). However,
if
the front arc came within a certain range of the enemy, a certain amount
of
damage would be done (maybe like a mini wave gun). The ramjet would be a
separate system, prone to threshold checks. Losing your ramjet would
shut
down your thrust COLD. Or, you just make the ramjet part of the engine
and
when the engine is knocked out, so is the ramjet. Should the ramjet
scoop
act like an automatic level 3 shield when activated? 

Anyone interested in me pursuing this ramjet idea further?

Allan Goodall:	agoodall@sympatico.ca 
"You'll want to hear about my new obsession.
 I'm riding high upon a deep depression. 
 I'm only happy when it rains."    - Garbage