Re: Cargo Pods

Michael wrote:
>The idea of a RO-RO aircraft is delicious.

The C-5 and AN-225 have doors at each end for exactly that reason :o)

>Container pods might be worth doing for 1/300th
>terrain as well, either for cover around a spaceport
>or as habitation units for a young colony - drop cargo
>pods, unload them and use them as housing.

Specifically why I mentioned them. I've a game which uses nestled
hexegons to 
allow vertical 'stacking' movement and have actually been using it as 
'terrain' elevations in BattleTech at one point.

I'd also been in on a discussion in a group I belong to, (First
Millennial 
Foundation/Living Universe Foundation) on using 'pre-made' hexegonal
modules to 
build up a living area.
Given 'plug-&-play' connections for power/water etc, it would actually
make a 
lot of sense to use them as temporary housing. (The idea session
extended to 
using standard ISO shipping containers for terrestrial uses along the
same 
line)

>Maybe even have passenger pods that conform to the
>standard so you can use any freighter to move them and
>they can live in the pods when they arrive.

Wouldn't be 'good' from a comfort sense such as a high-price
'cruise-ship' 
type operation, but it would probably make sense in an 'airline' style 
'mega-passenger-mover' type operation.
You could even 'extend' the idea to have tugs standing by to route
passenger 
pods between ships for 'faster' travel times :o)

>The militaries might use the pods as well - a field
>hospital packed into pods and so on.

Easily. We already have that in that we have full-up MASH units packaged
as 
standard containers. They load them on a train/plane/ship and offload
them onto 
a truck. Drop it at the site and unfold the sides and ends and set it
up.

Beef up the structure and add 'landing' engines and you could drop them
as 
light hard-points for taking and holding a landing zone.

Randy