by Simon Coates
The following is the second detailed spaceship test report written by John Messier, Formula X Galactic Champion in 2283 and 84. For this test, Solar Racing gave permission for John to fly the ship over Earth a number of times and to give you a unique insight into what a Formula X racing spaceship feels like. Such an opportunity is very rare indeed, not just the aspect of getting an actual test report on such a unique machine, but the fact that it was the actual current ship rather than a retired ship from a few years ago. The test was done a week before the sixth race of the 2298 racing season which comprised of one hundred laps of Earth. Over to John…
"Right, first things first. This is an incredibly valuable machine. Formula X spaceships are of course not available to buy in the normal sense; you would generally only be able to buy one if it came up for auction. And even if you did get hold of one, they are not legal for use as a mode of transportation anyway. To put things into perspective, a Formula X ship that won the Galactic Championship would easily be worth over Cr 10m. The ultimate toy, you could say. This Solar Racing machine sits in second overall in the championship, so if it ever became available to buy, it would likely sell for the same sort of value, if a bit less. It is actually frightening to think about this, considering my job is to pilot it. This is a ship with no autopilot, don’t forget. And being a highly tuned racing machine, very, very sensitive handling. And I am going to be flying this thing a few hundred meters above sea level on Earth, at speeds approaching 300,000mph. This should be interesting… I promise to be very careful… The great thing about this specific machine is that this one is one of the top racers in the current year, so it represents the absolute state of the art in spaceships today.
So, down to business. In this test I wanted to find out what a modern Formula X spaceship was like. This is a fantastic and very rare opportunity to be given. My objective is to answer the questions you will no doubt have wondered about, if you follow Formula X; what is such a ship like this really like to fly? What does the acceleration feel like? What sort of sound does it make in the cabin? How does it compare to, say, a Sunstar Type C, the most powerful and fastest public ship ever made? I hope I will be able to answer these questions in this very unique test.
Firstly, the basics. I did compete in the early years on Formula X, which was a totally different sport than it is today. The ships we had were basically modified public ships; but as I competed I do have a racing licence, one of the pre-requisites to be able to pilot a Formula X ship.
OK, the specification; that will hopefully put this into some sort of context. The Solar Racing Horizon has a maximum power of around 16,000 THz, and weighs 9 tons. A normal public ship such as the very nice Galaxis N5 has figures of 320 THz, and 35 tons, respectively. That gives a power to weight ratio of 1,800 THz per ton for the Horizon, and 9.14 THz for the Galaxis. That is 200 times more!! My old racing ship had 6,500 THz and weighed 25 tons, so 240 THz per ton. And it felt disgustingly rapid. This Solar Racing has over seven times the ratio of my old racer. Seven times!! So the Horizon is really off the scale. Even compared to the Sunstar Type C, with 200 THz/ton, the Horizon is literally off the planet. I’m beginning to think this experience of piloting this ship is going to be quite memorable, and that my ideas of what constitutes a ‘fast’ spaceship is going to be completely altered. And then you consider the cost of putting this team together, just to end up with a machine like the Horizon, the Solar Racing team has a yearly budget of Cr 30 million. That really is a colossal amount of money. So, with the basic stuff dealt with, let’s have a close look at the machine.
The ship itself is very sleek and minimalist. It really is quite small; seeing it in the flesh really hits home how miniscule it actually is. It is a very focussed flying machine indeed with absolutely no extraneous details. In many ways it is what a spaceship should look like, shorn of all the bits we expect to have on our public ships, such as sleeping quarters, lounge area, and larger engine compartments for the artificial gravity system and so on. I think it looks stunning in the flesh, a real mean machine. Just the sight of such a beast is enough to get me excited. The main body is sleek, with a huge thruster unit at the back, with the two side units for steering. This ship looks amazing, it is a pure race ship, designed for one purpose, to go as fast as possible. Pure Formula X. Let's get on board and fly the thing.
To prepare to fly a Formula X racing ship is not a straight forward process. Firstly, it is a two-man job to get you in the pilot seat, where you are securely fastened to the ship; in fact, the harnesses are actually attached to the chassis, so you really are literally fixed to the ship. My head is then covered by the special helmet.
“Five minutes in this thing on full throttle without the helmet and you will be deaf,” retorts the man helping me in, and then my neck is secured, to the point that my head can barely turn more than a few degrees, “Otherwise your head will be ripped off with the acceleration force," again from the same person.
His expression indicates to me that he is not joking. Right-oh then.
I have now no way of talking to anyone face to face, as the technicians close the hatch and switch the main power on. The process of getting the thing started is very complicated; it takes about five minutes of getting certain systems engaged and then we are ready.
The starter spins up and the engine literally explodes into life as the main engines start up. Holy mother. What a noise! The sound coming from the back is absolutely massive; even with the soundproofed helmet the noise just penetrates through and into my ears. My body shakes uncontrollably from the vibrations of the ship as it reverberates to the engine being turned over. It is so bad I have to cough uncontrollably. And we haven’t even got going yet!
After a quick briefing from central control, I get the machine to hover above ground, and ease the control to accelerate; they advise me to take it easy, just to get used to the feel. Even though it is just cruising, barely above 1,000 mph, there is a perceptible increase in the engine sound. The controls are very close to hand, and the messages coming from central control keep me informed. Maybe they are questioning their sanity allowing a complete stranger loose in one of their machines!
After a very slow lap of Earth, I get the go-ahead to really give it some. The control is very easy to move; there is almost no resistance in the movement as I push the accelerator down. The engine note responds instantly and the ship fires forward. My jaw at this point would hit the floor if it could, but it is held tightly in position by the helmet. The noise coming from the engine is absolutely astonishing as the ship surges forward. I then go for full throttle.
Oh. My. Goodness. Words not allowed to be printed here come from my mouth as the ship accelerates with simply incredible force. It is absolutely savage. The speed just piles on, increasing by thousands of miles per hour in what seems like seconds. The view out of the window is just one of the horizon of Earth, and I am going so quickly, I have to constantly make the ship lose altitude as the curvature of the Earth becomes a constant corner. The sheer noise of the engine as we close in to 200,000 mph is pure violence. The noise of every mechanical movement seemingly magnified many times over, to the point where it feels like I am in the engine, or that the engine wants to break out behind me and join me in the cockpit. It sounds absolutely wonderful, like it is really, really angry, when pure race engines are at their best. It is like the Gods of War are sitting in the engine, having a very heated argument.
It is difficult to describe the feelings to be honest, things happen so fast. The sheer intensity of the noise, the vibrations, and the savagery of the power delivery is utterly intoxicating, bordering on absolutely terrifying. Going for the turbine bypass facility to liberate more power increases the intensity even more; the noise is now full of ‘pops’ and ‘bangs’ as the energy from the engine goes straight to the thrusters. And the cockpit is very hot; despite having a special suit that keeps me cool the heat just piles on. After going full throttle I go for a fast lap of Earth, which I do in 6 mins 47 s
ecs; I thought this was really fast, I couldn’t see where I could have gone faster, until I realise that the racing pilots earlier in the year lapped in less than five minutes; serious respect! Of course, that race was ten laps; the ship I am in is set up for one hundred laps, so it is detuned substantially, but hey…
Time comes to slow down, so a good chance to test the brakes; I go for reverse thrust. The force is utterly amazing. From the savage acceleration, we go for mind blowing braking force. Now I know why the neck is held in tight; without this restraining gear on I really feel as though my head could be ripped clean off my shoulders. And I’m not joking either. After a total of three laps I am spent; to think this machine did this for the 10 laps race and now set up for the upcoming 100 laps race of the Earth is staggering; how on earth they are able to race flat out for so long leaves me in awe of the current crop of racing pilots.
To sum up then; this ship is truly amazing with utterly insane performance. The savagery of the power delivery is absolutely off the scale, way, way ahead of anything including the fastest public ships. To have been given the chance to fly this ship is a rare privilege. Many thanks to Solar Racing for giving me the chance to fly their machine and I hope it gave you an insight into what it is like to fly one.
Overall – Wow what a machine. Absolutely amazing.
Pros – The speed, noise, feel, balance, and probably a hundred other aspects I can't think of right now.
Cons - You've got to be kidding!"