[GZG] [OFFICIAL] Question: troop-carrying VTOLs....?

Quick question to the list hive-mind......

I'm going to be doing a troop-carrying version of the Mantis VTOL (in 
15mm), in response to many requests, but I'm torn between two basic 
design ideas"

1) keep the Mantis cockpit off the Gunship, and have a troop "pod" 
behind it (a box that is either a fixed part of the main fuselage or 
could be demountable/deployable?)  so that there is no direct access 
between troop bay and cockpit, or...

2) sculpt a complete new cockpit as an integral part of a much wider 
troop-carrying fuselage, in the style of most modern helis, so that 
the grunts in the back have direct access to the crew in the front.

Especially for those of you who have real-world military experience, 
if you're (say) a squad leader riding in the back of a helo, is it 
advantageous to be able to move "up front" to see what's going on and 
talk to the pilot, for morale if not tactical reasons? I know that 
this is SF and we can just say that the guys in the back can have 
complete VR views relayed from the cockpit, and of course anyone can 
talk to each other via commlink at any time, but does it make a 
difference on any level? Is the pilot considered part of the unit (by 
the grunts themselves, not necessarily on the TO&E chart), or do they 
just look on him as a taxi driver....?

Jon (GZG)

_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@vermouth.csua.berkeley.edu
http://vermouth.csua.berkeley.edu:1337/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l