A staple of Elysian ground forces, their main (and only) combat air-breathing craft is the multi-role VTOL. Equipped with a pair of wing mounted heavy lasers and ordinance hardpoints on the underside, it was a familiar sight in the skies over Dave’s World. A single pulse-fusion engine in the after fuselage fed superheated air into a pair of swivel nozzles on the tail end of the main body. The split nozzle setup provided superior maneuverability, allowing it to stall and hover as the pilot wished, but it required substantial amounts of skill to take full advantage. Another flaw was that the VTOL was more designed primarily for air interception and superiority, with ground strike as a secondary task. This meant that it couldn’t take as much abuse as other contemporary craft, even compared to the deWulf Rassler-class.
After drawing the Rassler, I realized that the Elysians needed something to match. Following the whole “bird” theme that they have, their VTOL has wings that resemble outswept wings, and a crow-foot landing gear system. It’s not one of my better bits of work. Smooth curves are still a challenge, as are more organic shapes. But as they say, practice makes perfect.
Dollarton Proxima Shipyards 