the cabin interior

Development

     The Quequod and Gull vehicles were developed as a private venture by Morrow Industries, with the first prototypes being completed in 1979. They were never provided for sale, being entirely designed for use by the Morrow Project.

Description

     This air-cushion vehicle (ACV) is meant for employment on lakes, swamps or grassland; the hull will float even with the engines off.

     The five crew members are the pilot (front left seat); the radio operator/observer (front right seat), commander (centerline seat, under the top hatch), and scouts (left and right seats, behind the commander).

     All the regular seats in the cockpit have lap and shoulder belts; the jump seats only have lap belts. The commander's seat can be jacked up to allow a semi-seated position when using the top hatch weapon mount. The scouts seats can be rotated to face aft (towards the equipment mounted at the rear of the cabin).

     There are windows to the front and sides, and two small firing ports adjacent to the scouts' seats, one on each side of the cabin. The two side doors can be locked and unlocked from the outside with Morrow Project ID cards; they swing up "gull wing" style. The top hatch cannot be locked shut from the inside, but cannot be unlocked from the outside; the opening is 54 cm in diameter (same as for an M113, for comparison).

     The side doors have interlocks (rather like the usual dome-light switches on regular automobiles) that cut out the overpressure system for the vehicle when the doors are unlatched, or within an inch or so of being unlatched. Even so, the driver or observer might do well to turn off the overpressure system when the side doors are being opened (or the air pressure will pop them ouwards an inch or two).

     There are two internal dome lights, with switches on them (they can also be controlled from the pilot's console).

     There are storage lockers built into the external deck, one on each side; these are 1.5 meters long, 0.4 meters wide and 0.25 meters deep. Their doors can be locked and unlocked with a Morrow Project ID card. Most of the rest of the vehicle outside of the cabin is buoyancy chambers, filled with foam.

     A 270 degree skate ring mounts a MAG-58 machine gun.

skate ring, gun mount and hatch

Dimensions

Height, skirt inflated:  2.74 meters

The sensor mast stands about 1 meter above the roof, including the radar antenna, but not including the flexible radio antenna. It's still lower than the top of the propulsion fan shroud, however.

Height, skirt deflated:  2.13 meters

Height, floating in water:  1.5 meters

Draft, floating:  0.63 meters

Width:  3.65 meters

Length:  7 meters

Maximum Gross Weight:  1070 kilograms

Maximum Cargo Weight:  650 kilograms (this includes the crew, who average 100 kg each with their equipment)

Construction

     The cabin, hull, fan shroud and air rudders are made from epoxied Resistweave material (armor value 8), and weigh about 110 kg; the skirts are made from 'regular' Resistweave (armor value 7) and only weigh 20 kg. Windows are made from 8mm thick polycarbonate (armor value 10), and weigh a total of 70 kg. Projectiles aimed at the lower part of the cabin have to pass through either the hull, or the skirt, on their way to the cabin armor.

     Various structures not made of Resistweave are mostly formed from 1mm thick aluminum.

     The cabin is about two meters wide, and four meters long, with a ceiling height of two meters. There are doors on the left and right side of the cabin, plus the cupola hatch in the middle of the ceiling.

Performance

     The ACV operates best over calm water or flat paved surfaces, but can also travel over level ground. It's maximum speed over water or pavement is 64 kph, but normal cruising speed is best held to 50 kph. Speed over land, presuming grass, small rocks, ruts and uneven surfaces, is 50 kph maximum; best cruise is 30 kph.

     Wind conditions greatly affect all ACVs; the Gull cannot operate in winds exceeding 43 kph -- there is extreme danger of flipping over. Top speed should be limited to 25 kph if wind speed exceeds 36 kph. In any case, the ACV is prone to side-slipping in crosswinds.

     The Gull cannot negotiate rough water (sea state 3 or more); the skirt will lose containment and the ACV will drop into the water. On land, the craft cannot climb vertical obstacles of more than 0.6 meters height, or traverse slopes of greater than 1 in 8 grade.

     When afloat (lift engine off) the water level lies just a few centimeters below the "deck" level, which will frequently be awash. The propulsion fan can move the ACV while afloat in the water at a top speed of just 25 kph (producing quite a lot of spray and roostertail when doing so).

     When hovering at a stand still, this ACV can slowly rotate in place; as speed increases, the turn radius increases quite a lot.

     The sounds of the lift fan and propulsion fan are a bit quieter than (say) a helicopter, but still noisy. Hovering but not using the propulsion prop, the Gull produces 70 dB (about the same as a vacuum cleaner); underway at full speed, it's about 80 decibels at 10 meters (about the same as a passenger automobile on pavement). The Gull is very easy to see when hovering or moving -- lots of spray or dust is kicked up, along with a roostertail at even moderate speeds.

Propulsion

     A single Mk 1 fusion pack powers the Gull. It has a maximum rating of 500 kilowatts output power; only about 200 kilowatts of that is used for propulsion. Output power is available at 24 V DC (for vehicle accessory systems), 12 V DC, 120 V AC and 240 V AC (for the motor and external accessories); outlets are available within the cabin and under the side engine hatch. The electric motor has a special 240 volt, 850 amp connection to the reactor. When fully-fueled, the reactor can run at full power (more than the vehicle needs to operate) for about 8 years. The reactor itself is a cylinder, 0.3 m diameter by 1 m long, and weighs 250 kg, including fuel. The Morrow Industries data plate describes it as "Electrical Generator, 500 kW". 

     Two Project vehicle batteries provide power for starting the generator, and as backup in case of damage.

     The propulsion fan is driven by a 200 kilowatt electric motor -- the same as used in the Project's V150 vehicles. It weighs about 100 kg, and is an expensive -- but contemporary -- product from the 20th Century. A smaller 10 kilowatt electric motor powers the skirt inflation and lift system. The lift fan is 1.11 meters in diameter, with seven blades about 15 cm wide each; the propulsion fan is 1.4 meters in diameter, with three blades. 

     The solid-state radiator consists of about two hundred vanes, about 10 cm by 10 cm, mounted so that air from the lift fan blows over them. When the ACV is traveling at top speed, heat output from the radiator is about 400 kilowatts. The radiator cools the reactor and the electric motor; a damaged radiator can quickly bring the vehicle to a stop. If the radiator is completely destroyed or disconnected, the reactor can only produce about 5 kilowatts of electrical power while remaining at safe operating temperatures. The radiator is made by Morrow Industries; an Electrical Repair or Electronics skill roll will identify the solid-state vanes as being futuristic technology.

     A pair of heavy, sealed 240 V batteries store a total of 3 kilowatt-hours of electrical power, or enough electricity to run the lift and propulsion motors at full power for a minute -- or the cabin sytems and minor accessories all night. The reactor has a built-in battery for starting from shut-down; this power can't be drained down by vehicle systems or accessories. The batteries have Morrow Industries data plates; their name is given on the plates as "Vehicle Battery, 240 Volt". An Electrical Repair or Electronics skill roll will identify the batteries as being futuristic technology.     

     Five "air rudders" are mounted behind the propulsion fan, for steering. There are no puff ports, skirt lifters, or other control-assisting systems.

Other Systems

     Normal maritime running lights (port, starboard and toplight) and twin halogen headlamps are fitted. Wipers are fitted to the two forward windows. There is also a double-flashing amber light on the top of the propulsion fan shroud.

     There is a heating, air conditioning, air filter and NBC system, mounted on the cabin roof (below the sensor mast). It has a washable filter; it should be cleaned after any suspicion of exposure to toxic agents, or to excessive dust. Note that the system doesn't know whether the vehicle is sealed or contaminated. It does have the equivalent of an M1 CBR Kit, which monitors external conditions; a display/control  unit similar to the MI CBR Kit is mounted at the observer's console. The CBR sensor can be connected to an M42 chemical alarm (a loud noise, blinking light kinda thing) by a simple "field telephone" two-wire cable, 5 meters long (but longer cables could easily be arranged). The NBC system provides a slight overpressure within the cabin, to keep dust and toxins out (somewhat).

     An external washdown system is fitted, controlled by the pilot. The recommended amount of water to use for complete cleaning of the upper surfaces is 10 liters; water for this is drawn from the "dirty" water tank.

     There is only 10 centimeters of space between the cockpit floor and the underside of the hull; that space contains structural elements, power and control cables, and two bilge pumps. Each pump can drain 189 liters of water per minute; one serves the center buoyancy compartment and the cabin, the other serves the "engine" compartment".

     There are two 20 liter water tanks (actually under the deck, but the taps, filters, etc. are inside the cabin). One (the "dirty" tank) fills from the outside; a washable ceramic filter connects from that tank to the 'clean' tank; the filter can treat 10 liters of water per hour. Keep in mind that the filter will not remove chemical contaminants, viruses, and other small things. Two GHT water taps are fitted in the rear area workspace, feeding from the 'clean' water tank; one provides 65° C hot water. There is a single spare filter; the filter in use should be swapped at regular intervals, or when the local water supply is known to be contaminated, and the dirty filter washed thoroughly with clean water.

Installed Equipment

     In the front of the cabin:

• Raytheon Pathfinder 1900ND surface search radar. The 1 meter diameter antenna is on the sensor mast.
  

• PRC-70 radio, mounted in a power supply/amplifier/speaker frame at the observer's position. A tall antenna is mounted on the sensor mast.

• ARN-89 radio direction finder, at the observer's position. The antenna is on the hull roof.
  

• intercom and gas mask plugin stations for each of the seats

• a chemical fire extinguisher

• Morrow Project PC

• converter box to connect the computer to the radio and radio direction finder; can thus act as a 9600 baud modem, and allow sending of Morse by software

• Autonav Model A1B

• Resistweave blackout curtains for the windows

   

    At the rear of the cabin:

• Morrow Project laserdisc drive

• laserdisc library set:  survival, computer software, maps, and medicine
  

• a chemical fire extinguisher

• two 'burner' electric stove

• 600 watt microwave oven (installed after 1984)

• intercom and gas mask plug points, one on each side

• electrical power outlets, for 110 volt 60 Hz AC, 24 volt DC, 12 volt DC
  

• cabinets for storage, and stainless steel work surfaces

• storage for team equipment