RE: [FT] DDs and DHs inspired by WW2 types

On Tue, 29 August 2000, devans@uneb.edu wrote:

> I'm
> just not sure that at some point, long and somewhat pointy hulls for
high
> thrust vehicles might not still be the most effective, perhaps to keep
the
> weight centered on the thrust line.

The problem with a pointy ship is that it would take more force to spin
it around and to stop it spinning than if it was round. The old
conservation of angular momentum thing comes into play. A long pointy
ship will simply NOT spin as quickly as a round ship. On the other hand,
the trade-off is that it should be able to roll on its axis faster than
a round ship.

My guess is that short and squat ships would end up being the basic
shape, but that you might see different weirdly shaped ships in a
"combined arms" style fleet. 

Allan Goodall - agoodall@canada.com
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