Type-6 Shuttle Terminal Velocity

[2046]

A truncated version of a blog post of mine here . . .

In brief, the terminal velocity of a Type-6 shuttlecraft . . . the speed it would reach if dropped from a great height . . . is approximately equal to Mach 1 (340 m/s^2) at sea level, and greater than Mach 1 at higher altitudes . . . for instance, at 7500ft, it would be 390 m/s^2.

To calculate this, I used a mass of 29 tonnes based on the density of Voyager and the Delta Flyer, a guessed-at drag coefficient of 0.55, and was able to use SketchUp and a decent model of the shuttle (or at least it was decent until I flattened it like a pancake) to obtain a frontal area of 7.55 m^2, and plugged this in to an equation for estimating terminal velocity.

The interesting visual takeaway is that you could, in principle, have a shuttle diving to the surface and producing transsonic condensation clouds around it right before it smacks, just like in those nifty pics of fighter flybys.

[Mike DiCenso]

Sorry, the title of this thread makes me think of Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail movie. ;-)
-Mike

[2046]

A^2 blog^2 commenter^2 pointed^2 out^2 that^2 I^2 had^2 repeatedly^2 typed^2 unnecessary^2 squarings^2 of^2 assorted^2 velocity^2 figures^2 . . . an^2 instance^2 of^2 late^2 night^2 muscle-memory^2 typing^2 which^2 I^2 have^2 hopefully^2 resolved^2.

Er, wait, d'oh^2!

Anyway, it is obviously just meters per second, not meters per second squared for the velocities noted.

[Khas]

Sorry, the title of this thread makes me think of Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail movie. ;-)
-Mike

Are the swallows African or European? And are they carrying coconuts or no?

[Mike DiCenso]

In this case it's "Are they Vulcan, Andorian, Telarite, or Terran constructed Type-6 shuttles? And are they carrying irate Klingons?" ;-)
-Mike