The Rukh Touring Shuttle, sometimes called 'Big Bird', is a a large shuttle designed for those who want to explore space freely, but do not have the crew or funds to operate a freighter.

The Rukh is designed to be an affordable, low maintenance alternative to space travel. With this in mind Ken-TEC made sure to make the interior comfortable and practical. Rather than focus on revolutionary technologies, the Ken-TEC engineers that worked on the Rukh focused on using reliable and well-understood components to create something that any space enthusiast would be able to work with.

Production for the shuttle began in YE 40.

The most prominent feature of the Rukh is its impressive size. Being considerably larger than a normal shuttle, it has a larger cargo capacity and has room for comfort. Another notable feature is the simple straight forward design that allows hobbyist to modify the Rukh easily.

With simplicity and ease of use as it's primary focuses, the Rukh makes a great ship for those just getting started with independent space travel. The bridge style operations make it a great way to train crews for operating larger ships in real conditions, without having to pay for larger ships. However, something that really stands out is that it was designed intentionally with aftermarket modification in mind so it can suit the buyer's needs.

• Personal space travel
• Atmospheric flight
• Extended scouting missions

The main body of the Rukh is a 2 deck teardrop shape with hard angles outlining it and a visible bridge on the second deck. Two large nacelles are attached to the main frame that house the combined engines and generators. Extended from the nacelles are the wings used for atmospheric flight. All in all the craft looks more like a fighter jet than the usual appearance for an interstellar shuttle.

The shuttle comes in just about any solid color you can think of, but also “Kennewes Camo” which consist of greens, reds and browns. It does not serve as camouflage though, everyone just thought it sounded cool. Other colors are available on request.

During the early stages of Ken-TEC's inception, many engineers gathered from many locations to form the company. Some of these individuals were previously assigned to a position in a station, so they were unaccustomed to staying planet side for long. However, when they wanted to spend some of their break time in space they realized that the company was not in possession of any craft that they could easily take off into space. Rather, it was easier to charter a flight than to get the cargo ships into the sky.

So in true engineer fashion, rather than simply buying trans-atmospheric craft, they decided to develop one. The hardest part of the process was deciding on what the concept of the design would be. The deciding factor was when one of the engineers received a letter from home, asking if it was a good idea to fly in space without an experienced engineer on board. Their mission became to create a craft suited for private use that had a low barrier of entry to operate.

After several months of design, the Rukh Touring Shuttle was born. The first model was not painted in Ken-TEC colors, but rather brown and off-white so that it resembled a bird of prey.

The Rukh has a reasonable performance that makes it a viable form of transportation in any of its uses. Because it is built from more standardized technology, however, it does not shine in any area.

• Class: KT-T1-1a
• Type: Shuttle/Transport
• Designers: Ken-TEC
• Manufacturer: Ken-TEC
• Fielded by: Ken-TEC

Crew: 2 operators are recommended, 1 is required, and the maximum crew is 4.

Maximum Capacity: There are accommodations for 4 people, but can easily be configured to fit 8. Over 100 people can squeeze in for emergencies

• Length: 28 meters (~92 feet)
• Width[wings out]: 38 meters (~125 feet)
• Width[wings folded]: 24 meters (~79 feet)
• Height[at fin tips]: 9 meters (~3 feet)
• Height[of body]: 7 meters (~23 feet)
• Decks: 2 (3 meters each)

• Continuum Distortion Drive: 4250c (0.4848 ly/hour)
• Hyperspace Fold Drive: 236,682c (0.45 ly/min)
• Sublight Engines: .325c
• Atmosphereic Engines: 1800 kph¹⁾
• Range: Can travel casually for a month without refueling.
• Lifespan: “As long as you treat it good.”
• Refit Cycle: 5 years recommended, but can easily go further with proper maintenance

See Damage Rating (Version 3) for a guide to damage ratings to include.

SARPv3 Tier: Medium Mecha

Despite its small size, it is surprisingly spacious due to some clever engineering to remove as much filled space as possible. This was done by moving the power systems to outboard systems, and rather than giving the computer its own room, having it stored under the bridge.

Though it technically has two decks, the upper deck is only a fraction of the size of the lower deck to keep the weight and cost down.

While larger than a lot of the shuttles on the market, the Rukh is still not a full sized ship, and as such does not have many facilities.

Located behind the bridge, the only other room on the second floor. This room is fairly spacious, and has heavy duty outlets to plug up appliances. It also comes with a large magnetic table, so common uses for the room are as a kitchenette, a ward room, or a rec room.

Rather than having a cockpit like most shuttles, the Rukh is fitted with a 4 station bridge. This is to emulate the experience of flying a starship rather than a shuttle.

The front section of the shuttle has been sectioned off to house a roughly 8mx8mx4m cargo hold, complete with a loading ramp.

There are two rooms outfitted with two-man bunks in the rear of the ship. The rooms are not large, but come with restrooms and if need be can be modified to accommodate more people.

Located behind the cargo hold is an empty room that can be customized how the owners like, or just be used for extra storage for things they'll need along the trip.

Most rooms are directly connected to each other through blast shutters, but there is one T shaped hall way that runs from the airlock in the back to the empty room. This is so that people don't have to walk through the cabins to reach the ladder to the second floor, or to reach cargo.

With an emphasis on reliability and simplicity, the Rukh trades in cutting edge tech for systems that even amateurs can repair.

The hull is made primarily out of Durandium Alloy and welded onto a Nerimium frame. This is to minimize cost and weight, while keeping frame of the ship from warping, so that major repairs that have to be sent to the factory can be avoided.

The whole electronics system has slightly improved EM shielding to protect the simple AI used to assist with the ship's operations. There is a bit of a lag when calculating larger hyperspace jumps, but it was a trade off for improved flight control assist for a smoother ride for less experienced pilots, especially in atmosphere.

Along with blast doors and basic emergency systems, there is a back up power supply in the ship to power the CDD and systems should the power be cut form the nacelles.

In order to make room inside the body, the generators have been moved to the outboard nacelles but they handle supplying the ship and engines with power.

The Rukh focuses on using industry standard technologies, and as such its hyperspace engine and Continuum Distortion Drive are very basic. However, it possesses two specially fitted outboard plasma thrusters as its primary propulsion. The construction is still simple and can be serviced by anyone with experience in the engine type.

Along with these systems, a simple gravity propulsion system is used for hovering and delicate maneuvering in atmosphere, where the maneuvering thrusters wouldn't be strong enough.

The Rukh comes standard with a bubble type barrier rated for medium-class mecha and starfighters. It also comes with the standard navigational, radiation, and EM shields necessary for comfortable space travel.

The Rukh does not come with any weapons installed, but weapons can easily be installed on the nose, the top, or the frame between the engines and main body.

Below, one can find the pricing, various accessories, and future variants when made.

Designed to be cheap and affordable the pricing is kept low, and maintenance is made readily available.

• Rukh Touring Shuttle: 12,000 KS.
• Basic Repair and Maintenance²⁾³⁾: Between 1000 KS and 5000 KS

The Rukh can easily be modded and refitted with all sorts of things but a few quality of life kits are for sale too.

• 8 man crew configuration⁴⁾: +1000 KS
• Kitchenette⁵⁾: +1000 KS

The following section will house links and brief descriptions of the variations made upon the Rukh Touring shuttle

Syaoran created this article on 2018/07/13 09:27. It was approved by raz on 2018/07/31 15:57 in this thread.

3D renders by Syaoran