Perils of the world-Life of a Sky sailor

[Clara Skyborn]

Maybe. Been a while. Hmm.

[Lord Dick Tim]

I like how my wild threads keep pulling Jess in to drop small hints to correct the wild wonders I cook up. 
Trying to avoid another incident of flying creatures becoming a thing, I know I would muzzle me.

Lifting envelope though?  Man, ya... I can see how that doesn't roll off the tongue very well.  One of the problems I'm having finding good translations for other words is english just seems to replace most other languages jargon very quickly when a culture is exposed to it for any amount of time.
So I'm finding it hard to figure out if the nautical terms I'm seeing are still in use, or where strictly around during the age of sail. 
What is the russian word for armor/hull?  So far I've gotten Carapico, in roman alphabet, I don't think that is right though...

[JaegerDelta]

yeah, thats a consequence of the brittish empire and then the rise of the US post-war. but i think, rather than looking for multiple languages in this world, regional dialects would be, well frankly, just easier .  like someone in this world is ethnically arashi, and has their own way of saying certain things in the overarching language in the world, someone from the fjords might give them quizzical looks for referring to something a certain way. (much in the same way that someone from, say, Minnesota would use the word pop, while someone from Florida would use the word soda, when referring to a sugary carbonated beverage. using U.S. examples because thats what i know but in every reasonably sized country its the same kind of thing. its just how language works.)

this way some places can call it the helm, others the controls, others still the wheel, etc.

this also allows for easy translation to other languages for the game as every language ( i would assume but who knows im no linguist) has synonyms

[Machiavelliest]

"Fuselage" is usually used as tech-speak to differentiate the main body skin component from lift-generating surface skin components.  As there aren't any lift-generating surfaces, "hull" would be more correct.

I really think it'd just be 'engine', especially with the contra-rotating propellers being an aeronautical thing, as well as the fact that the design and implementation of the thrust-producers follow aeronautical principles, not the marine side of fluid dynamics.

Maybe I'm getting too into the weeds here, but 'engine' is usually used because that's the baseline for maintenance, part life cycle, and thrust considerations.  You don't adjust the individual props, you adjust an engine.

[Lord Dick Tim]

Your in the weeds yes, but that's exactly what I was looking for.  And now that you've covered both points I agree with you completely.  Engine does indeed work better, and hull as you've finally explained the purpose of the word fuselage in a way I can understand it.

So when we are working in a creative writing space and we want to be descriptive, but not flood somebody with techno babble, what's a good way to describe how the wheel is adjusting the thrust of each engine without getting into the mechanical properties?

Would we still use the term rigging for the netting and ropes coming off of the balloon?  I ask because, let's say, I need a grease monkey to get ontop of the rigging and check the surface of the balloon for punctures or tears in the cover.

That's another question, what's the tarp called that covers the balloon?

[JaegerDelta]

So when we are working in a creative writing space and we want to be descriptive, but not flood somebody with techno babble, what's a good way to describe how the wheel is adjusting the thrust of each engine without getting into the mechanical properties?

well the simplest system i can think of is a cog inside the steering column that the wheel is on that adjusts two rods on either side. when you turn left the left one goes down and the right one raises and and vice versa. These rods would have to be connected to a throttle on each engine so that when the rod is lowered the throttle is released and when it is raised the throttle is engaged.

but the first half of that (cog and rods) would be sufficient explanation to a layperson not crewing the ship on how the helm functions (all members of the crew should have a fairly good understanding of how everything on it works, with the captain being an expert on everything concerning his/her ship)

[Gato Blanco]

Jaeger, we have to remember that the throttle goes both forward and reverse.  For example, turning right while going full speed might simply reduce or kill the right engine, while turning right at full stop might put the right engine in reverse and the left ening at full forward.  There might be another mechanisim between the sum of the throttle and turning input and the engine itself, something like a differential in a car, kindof.

Thinking more on this, I'd propose that the turning engines are influenced by both the throttle and the wheel.  Both can alther the throttle of the turing engines, and only up to a certain extent, say 75% each, whereas the throttle has full control of the thrust engines.
 
For example, full speed, turning right; 100% left engine, 100% thrust engine, 25% right engine. (leads to a 75% engine throttle difference between turning engines)

3/4 speed forward, turning right; 100% left engine, 75% thrust engine, 0% right engine (100% engine throttle difference between engines)
100 50 -25 (125)
100 25 -50 (150)
Turn right from a standstill; 75% left engine, 0% thrust engine, -75% right engine (150% thrust difference)

Ok so that might not be perfect, but it helps to explain ships turning faster at a standstill. 

And for the things that hold the baloons onto the ship, in gas baloons its called the netting line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_balloon but I could see it being called the tarp, kite, boon, or any combination of those.  I prefer the term boon, myself.

Boon boon boon.

[Lord Dick Tim]

Wow jaeger, that's exactly what I was hoping for.

Just, wow.  How often does that happen?

Another note, what about rope contact points?  Anywhere a rope touches a surface, is a place where the rope can get frayed, or could create friction and wear through an object.  Does anyone know if that already has a name?

[Lord Dick Tim]

Would it be accurate to say, "Get up on the boon and check the netting line for frays" ?

[Gato Blanco]

That sounds pretty good to my landlubber ears, Tim.

[Lord Dick Tim]

Right on, thanks gato, and thank you for your contributions as well.  I'm glad this conversation keeps rolling in several directions in several different threads.

[Machiavelliest]

Okay, the turning wheel.  I've nerded out about this a bit, so let me explain.

The throttle (there was an argument about this before--it is a throttle) has full forward to full reverse.  When you turn your ship, it doesn't slow down, so you're not reducing thrust on any engines.  However, shooting out maneuvering engines makes it so you can't turn.  That means that engines are the real turning aspect.

If you want to reconcile the fact that the engines are already running at full throttle, yet there's differential thrust making it turn, the helm would have to be adjusting the pitch of the propellers.  One could argue that you should be able to just yank the linkage from the helm to the engines to make the thing go even faster, and theoretically you could.  It's just ships aren't built that way.

EDIT:  Actually, if you watch the engines, they reverse when they're inside of a turn.  So I have no idea how to reconcile the GoI ships' performance with science.

[Lord Dick Tim]

Ok so we are at that stage where we implant unknown device into the gears that make it all work.  The flux capacitor of goi.

[Gato Blanco]

Shouldn't be that difficult, an engineer with an afternoon could throw together some facimily of what could control the turning of a ship.

Now, heres a question; communication in the world (Also, what is the name of the world?).  Im talking, short range, like 1km, across a battlefield, across a nation, international, and world (again, whats the name?)

would they use ham radio, morse code, owls?

[Lord Dick Tim]

We could say that the radio was never invented.
Signal lighting would likely still be in heavy use on sky ships, and flags.