Zephyrus Mk5 | Survival Airship

DO NOT ROTATE SCHEMATIC

Some create blocks are still direction oriented so i recommend that you don't rotate or mirror the schematic. Keep it pointed North. It wont destroy the craft, but some controls might become inverted or the engine pistons might visually bug out. The steam engines might not have their shafts connected.

My survival airship! It runs using passive steam power to generate 24k SU, can be boosted to 53k SU with lava. A hose pulley at the rear is used to extract lava from open lava pits. The ship is medium sized, compact, has a basic Create workshop inside, and when boosted can cruise at 21m/s at 230m in altitude.

Power System

• The portable engines are only used to jump-start the steam engines. They do not need to remain fueled after startup.

• Passive steam operation produces roughly 24k SU, enough to sustain the main drive system at 145 RPM with turning capability.

• Boosting two boilers increases output to roughly 53k SU, allowing simultaneous usage of all three powertrains. Maximum main drive RPM, maximum workshop RPM, and limited RPM auxiliary control usage.

• The workshop RPM can safely be set to maximum and forgotten. An overstress clutch will trip before lockup occurs if power demand becomes too high.

• The ship was designed without the intention of every system operating at maximum RPM simultaneously, since auxiliary maneuvering is mainly intended for docking, hovering, and fine positioning rather than high-speed travel. Not to say that you cant, you will just need to carefully tune the RPMs

Powertrain and Control Systems

• Main Drive System
  Controlled from the right-side cockpit speed controller. Handles forward/reverse thrust and yaw turning. Includes a clutch near the portable engines allowing forward thrust to be disengaged so the ship can pivot in place.

• Auxiliary Drive System
  Controlled from the left-side cockpit speed controller and clutches near the portable engines. Handles minor vertical thrust and left/right translational movement for precise docking and altitude trimming. It does not provide forward or reverse movement.

• Workshop Drive System
  Controlled by a speed controller within the workshop. Powers the onboard Create workshop and pumps, independently from the propulsion systems.

  All controls are analog, no wireless redstone links. Not that I'm against using them, but if feels more like I'm actually piloting a ship. I am considering setting up wireless controls for a Mark 6 variant.

  Additional controls are located in the rear workshop above the press and mixer. These allow the pilot to stop or reverse the main forward thrust while standing over the floor window, making it possible to precisely align the ship above lava pits or docking ports without running back to the cockpit.

  Docking is easy enough with these controls, and can be used to transfer lava to or from the ships fuel tank. Default behavior is it transfers TO the ship, but a wrench can easily reverse the pump direction located on the bottom of the craft near the docking port.

  There are hidden hot air burners accessible via trapdoor from the cockpit. These act together to establish the minimum altitude of the craft. This allows the altitude lever to be set to 0 without the airship dropping like as stone. It will instead fall to that minimum altitude which is around sea level. If you'd like to go lower, just reduce the values on those hot air burners. There is an additional hidden hot air burner above the cockpit seat which is not connected to the altitude lever and is there for more fine control over altitude.