Out in 0.8 seconds: hot launch and dock
Published
In short: in peace, craft slide calmly in and out of the carrier’s bays. With enemy craft near, it all goes hot: craft are shot out at full speed and come straight back in. It happens by itself and costs nothing.
At a glance
| Calm | 4 s out, 6 s in |
| Hot launch | straight out 400 m at full speed: 0.8 s for a Mk3 Striker |
| Hot dock | line up 400 m out, straight in, brake only inside |
| Squadron of 12 | about 6.5 s calm, 3.9 s hot |
| Goes hot | by itself, when enemy craft are near |
Calm and hot
- Calm: a slow slide through the bay, 4 seconds out and 6 seconds in.
- Hot launch: out along the bay’s line at full speed, carried 400 m out. Then the craft holds there or fights by its stance.
- Hot dock: the craft lines up on the bay’s line 400 m out, comes straight in at full speed and brakes only inside.
The bays have no catapult and no arrestor wire: the speed is the craft’s own.
When it goes hot
When an enemy craft is close enough to matter: within its own reach, plus the carrier’s point defence reach, plus the 120 m approach. A craft coming home from a fight, or with an enemy on its tail, docks hot even when all is quiet round the carrier.
A dock order beats the stance: an evasive craft told to dock flies straight in. The hangar is the safest place.
Squadrons
A squadron of 12 goes through one bay as a stream: each jet starts when the one ahead is halfway through. The whole squadron is out or in in about 6.5 seconds calm, 3.9 seconds hot. Other craft wait their turn for that bay.
More: the hangar, the carrier’s hangar devlog.