Aviation Assets.

[jester]

Light Easily Made Inexpensibe Planes:

It is VERY Simple to make such planes like the pipercub. A simple rec plane with either a thin sheet metal skin, or a fabric skin stretched over a frame of light metal tubing or wood. Personaly I would go with metal tubing or even metal framework, and a thin metal skin over would provide the best support.

You could make it where the wings simply unbolt from the frame and slide out. Another more complicated place, where and how to mount the engine. I would also use a pusher engine as it is more efficient and usualy allows for a more manuverable platform.

I would also have the wings in the high profile configuration with a centraly mounted engine.

Engines I would use, VW engines and Fiat engines would work well as they are aircooled and not watercooled, a 4 cylinder engine would do well in a light plane which is what we are going for.

Then, we simply install the control features in the fail and wings. These are usualy used by a pulley and wire system connected to the pedals and control stick.

As I said, get half a dozen aircraft mechanics, an engineer with the facilities and materials and they could probably put together such a craft that is safe and flys. It just won't have alot of the frills that most have these days.

Another idea with my aircraft design is you can fly it with landing gear that falls away from the aircraft. Which eliminates weight and drag, not to mention any controls. Upon landing it lands like a glider, another aspect of the high rear propeller.

And again, the bigger problem isn't making the aircraft, its the fuel to keep them flying. If one has a catonment they could manage a primative aircraft as they used to and still do store many in barns. As an evil GM I would balance the availability with a lack of technicians or fuel, making it very time consuming to process regular gas into avaiation grade fuel.

[Webstral]

One could launch a glider-type aircraft from what amounts to a giant slingshot or a fast-moving pulley powered by a counterweight. While this would not be a suitable weapons platform, it could be a very acceptable recce platform. With the right equipment, it might also be a radio relay station.

The real trick is having a sufficiently stable food source, a tolerable local security situation, people with the requisite skills available, and the right tools and materials. With some imagination, I'm sure many specific locales justifiably could be made to have all of these things.

I'm thinking that the Navy in SF Bay might put up an aerostat for radio relay and observation. If a pre-war aerostat can be refitted and repurposed, it may be possible to include a weatherized cabin with a radio room, etc. Crews might go up for approximately twelve hours at a time, although the intervals should be unpredicatble. The aerostat would be lowered for crew changes, then put back up for the next period of operations. If nothing else, a big balloon with the national colors and US NAVY on it visible from every part of the Bay should boost the good guys' morale.

Webstral

[headquarters]

we have a few older type planes on our site that were meant to use if you agreed on the older planes would be more useful theory in T2K .

(Or if you wanted to play some historical setting ).

Definently the older planes are more useful as they ned less fuel , have less electronics and can be maintenanced easier.

Biplanes for recce and artillery spotting would mean a huge advantage over a ground locked adversary .

Aerostats weer used in the war of the states using coal gas , in T2K it could very well make a comeback were no vantage points were available .

I believe the Grumman company already made one of their WWII type fighterbombers into a duster. I think its called the AgCat (Agriculture).

Given a cantonment with a steady food supply,a motivated leadership and some capable fellows to go out and get stuff , putting a few older type aircraft in the air is a possibility imho .

We have a non canon campaign that have seen a lot of aerial combat over the years - the players reverted to the "NotJagerprogramme" to counter the MilGov consolidation efforts . ( MilGov was crunching out a few WWII type planes and using them to gain airsuperiority .It could have meant constitutional rule of law in the CONUS.A disaster for the party.had to be stopped )

[Cpl. Kalkwarf]

Actually I always thought that much like at the beginning of WW2 where our military was very limited, that we would ramp up production once war began. Even after the nukes hit, there would be plenty of places that were not hit that could and would be turned into wartime production. I would think that we would at least be in short by at least 98 making counter insurgency type aircraft. Maybe even by 99 producing at least WW2 level of technology in tanks and APC's of even post WW2 armor and weapons.

Yea nuked American cities would be horrible, but one thing that was never taken into account is the American response much like to the twin tower or pearl harbor attack response. Auto factories would be turned into producing military trucks and tanks, small industry would be turning out other military equipment like mortars, fire arms, radios, uniforms, etc.

Just a thought and perhaps an interesting alternate time line anyway.

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by Cpl. Kalkwarf

Actually I always thought that much like at the beginning of WW2 where our military was very limited, that we would ramp up production once war began. Even after the nukes hit, there would be plenty of places that were not hit that could and would be turned into wartime production. I would think that we would at least be in short by at least 98 making counter insurgency type aircraft. Maybe even by 99 producing at least WW2 level of technology in tanks and APC's of even post WW2 armor and weapons.

Yea nuked American cities would be horrible, but one thing that was never taken into account is the American response much like to the twin tower or pearl harbor attack response. Auto factories would be turned into producing military trucks and tanks, small industry would be turning out other military equipment like mortars, fire arms, radios, uniforms, etc.

Just a thought and perhaps an interesting alternate time line anyway.

I believe that this would take place as well .Maybe such programs would have to be initiated by commandeering local resources by the local military cmdr.

[HorseSoldier]

The main choke points would be the level of complexity involved in manufacturing big ticket items like jets, tanks, etc. An auto plant could be pretty easily switched over to making Humvees (even up armored ones) instead of passenger cars, but making more M1 tanks would require a massive retooling and redesign effort to just get the facilities suitable for it, even before encountering any additional complications getting components, etc.

I do think the powers that be would un-mothball all the military production facilities available (if memory serves me correctly there were a couple plants for tank production and some ammunition producing arsenals kept in standby mode for just such an eventuality).

I don't know if there was much Cold War era ability to surge aircraft production, but I'd guess there'd be round the clock shifts pulling stuff out of the boneyard in Arizona to replace combat losses.

Once the nukes fly and the massive reduction in fuel distribution takes the food distro networks and most everything else with it, I don't think you'd see much above the local level -- even when government control is retained in a fairly broad area, the odds of having everything you need in one cantonment/area is pretty slim (remembering how defense contractors prudently spread production out among as many politically significant states as possible to keep Congressional delegations fighting for their programs and such). Anything much beyond the level of what you can accomplish with a well equipped machine shop is probably unlikely, but that still means that governments could be cranking out things like mortars, SMGs, rifles, uparmor kits for military and civilian vehicles, etc., pretty easily.

[jester]

I would suggest that even lighter artillery would be able to be produced for some time. And as was stated, the same could be said for airfraft of WWII era and just after, just not jet technology.

Such aircraft such as the old Flying Box Car and even C-130s would be certainly doable if you left off the frills of hi tech electronics and computers.

Again a large airframe of the C-130 class would take some time to build but could be done in a remote desert hangar what was large enough. The other airfraft, easier because they are smaller and of course lower on the technology scale. And that would make them well within the realm of ability in the T2K world.

I would also think a return to WWII style weaponry <recoil operated machineguns, much simplier than the gas piston systems> so I would say that we would see a return of the Browning and Maxim or Vickers class machineguns as they are simplier to make using just steel that is machined and a few stampings vice steel, steel and other alloys, stamping, welding and machineing and assorted polymers and plastics.

So, something along the lines of the Mini 14 could come into service as a primary issue rifle to suppliment small arms.

As I said, light artillery could also be produced on smaller numbers in the 105 and 75mm howitzer class is WWII technology that again would be quite capable in a small manufacturing shop.

And as was said, if parts manufacture was farmed out, as well as subcomponents done at another location/facility then the final assembly could be done and you could probably turn out a completed unit a week if materials and transportation remained uninterupted.