Back in September, thundernuns and MattG became the first CMDRs to make it to 3,000 LY below the galactic plane. But I don't think anyone has been to 3,000 above so I thought I would give it a try with the aid of neutron star boosts. That's not too hard since there are plenty of neutron stars at around 2,800 LY up. Just go to one and jump higher. Slight problem there, I don't do suicide runs so I could only attempt this if there was a route back.
Looking for possibilities I quickly became disheartened as there just don't seem to be any neutron star systems over 3,000 LY up. But then the (admittedly somewhat obvious) realisation hit me: black hole systems can also have neutron stars. And with a renewed search, I found Cryio Aihm FG-Y g0, a BH/NS combo at 3,020 LY above the plane. It had the bonus that it was on the southern edge of the Core, only 15,000 LY from the Bubble. There was a neutron star system just over 200 LY below it, so it was on!
My route was:
Cryio Aihm MH-M d7-0 (class K star, last chance to refuel)
58.83 LY jump to Cryio Aihm TD-T e3-1 (neutron star system)
206.55 LY jump to Cryio Aihm FG-Y g0 (black hole with neutron star some 400,000 LS distant)
As you can see, it can be done with just a 51.64 LY base jump range so is quite easy with many modded explorer ships.
Being on the edge of the Core, the views are actually better than from directly above it. But, let's be honest, they are not that much different from those a few hundred LY further down. I strongly recommend explorers to experience the views from far above or below the galactic plane at various distances from the Core, but if the view is what you are after then there really is no need to go to extremes!
Cryio Aihm FG-Y g0 itself is a reasonably interesting system with a decent number of landable planets:
Having achieved the +3,000 LY mark, I then turned my thoughts to just how far up could I get... After a lot of searching I came up with Phao Aoc BA-A g5 at +3,145 LY. This was going to be trickier. Rather than just one neutron boost, this was going to require two, meaning four for the round trip. And with a fuel tank that only allowed for 3 maximum range jumps that meant potential trouble. But I could estimate the jump distances required and calculate the fuel usage so I knew it was safe enough. Right? Well, yes, but if you are going to try and be so precise then I would really recommend getting your figures right. After getting there, I checked the fuel usage via EDD and realised I had screwed up
. I had somehow managed to correctly account for my reduced mass life support module, but not for the greater increased mass from the enhanced FSD. It didn't help that there was a 80,000 LS trip from the entry BH to the NS during which my reserve fuel tank drained. For a while I thought I would need the mother of all Fuel Rat rescues, but after inputting the correct values I was relieved to find I would just be OK. Not much time for photos though so it was straight to the NS and boost back.
Next issue. I don't know if it was down to the somewhat small and wispy NS jet or my poor technique, but I just couldn't stay in the jet long enough to get a FSD supercharge! I swear it took me ten attempts before I finally did so - and even then only by flying into the end of it whilst directly facing the NS. It worked, but please don't try that method with larger jets
Anyway, I made it back to where I could refuel with maybe 0.5 ton of fuel to spare. Given that none of the jumps required a really huge range, more fuel capacity would have definitely been advisable
The route I took was:
Phao Aoc ZO-R d4-2 (neutron star system with a class M about 8,000 LS out for refuelling)
227.92 LY jump to Phao Aoc BA-A g7 (BH with two neutron stars)
195.88 LY jump to Phao Aoc BA-A g5 (BH with NS some 80k LS away)
Only recommended for ships that can do 57 LYs with 4 jumps of fuel onboard.
The Phao Aoc BA-A g5 system itself just comprises the BH & NS. As for the view, well as above, I didn't hang around but it wasn't really any different to what you would see from 3 or 400 LYs further down.
My next goal was to see if I could make it a similar distance down. A lot of searching later and I found Hyphudgue DL-Y g2 at -3,188 LY. After the dramas of the last excursion, this was a walk in the park. My route was:
Hyphudgue JH-V f2-0 (Black hole with three neutron stars)
160.84 LY jump to Hyphudgue DL-Y g16 (BH with a NS and class A star some 2k LS away - use the class A for refuelling)
211.47 LY jump to Hyphudgue DL-Y g2 (BH with NS some 3k LS away)
From DL-Y g2 you can also use jumponium to travel 78.8 LY to DL-Y g5 which is a class O system for a further refuelling opportunity (you could also use this as a stepping stone on the route down, but remember that you would still need to do the full 211 LY jump on the way back!)
With the ability to refuel at the penultimate system (and the diversion to g2), fuel capacity isn't an issue so there's more scope for photo ops, but they still don't look meaningfully different to those from a bit closer to the plane:
Disappointly, Hyphudgue DL-Y g2 also turned out to just have the BH and NS.
Of course, the question now becomes: is there a returnable route to +/-3,200 LY?
Looking for possibilities I quickly became disheartened as there just don't seem to be any neutron star systems over 3,000 LY up. But then the (admittedly somewhat obvious) realisation hit me: black hole systems can also have neutron stars. And with a renewed search, I found Cryio Aihm FG-Y g0, a BH/NS combo at 3,020 LY above the plane. It had the bonus that it was on the southern edge of the Core, only 15,000 LY from the Bubble. There was a neutron star system just over 200 LY below it, so it was on!
My route was:
Cryio Aihm MH-M d7-0 (class K star, last chance to refuel)
58.83 LY jump to Cryio Aihm TD-T e3-1 (neutron star system)
206.55 LY jump to Cryio Aihm FG-Y g0 (black hole with neutron star some 400,000 LS distant)
As you can see, it can be done with just a 51.64 LY base jump range so is quite easy with many modded explorer ships.
Being on the edge of the Core, the views are actually better than from directly above it. But, let's be honest, they are not that much different from those a few hundred LY further down. I strongly recommend explorers to experience the views from far above or below the galactic plane at various distances from the Core, but if the view is what you are after then there really is no need to go to extremes!
Cryio Aihm FG-Y g0 itself is a reasonably interesting system with a decent number of landable planets:
Having achieved the +3,000 LY mark, I then turned my thoughts to just how far up could I get... After a lot of searching I came up with Phao Aoc BA-A g5 at +3,145 LY. This was going to be trickier. Rather than just one neutron boost, this was going to require two, meaning four for the round trip. And with a fuel tank that only allowed for 3 maximum range jumps that meant potential trouble. But I could estimate the jump distances required and calculate the fuel usage so I knew it was safe enough. Right? Well, yes, but if you are going to try and be so precise then I would really recommend getting your figures right. After getting there, I checked the fuel usage via EDD and realised I had screwed up
. I had somehow managed to correctly account for my reduced mass life support module, but not for the greater increased mass from the enhanced FSD. It didn't help that there was a 80,000 LS trip from the entry BH to the NS during which my reserve fuel tank drained. For a while I thought I would need the mother of all Fuel Rat rescues, but after inputting the correct values I was relieved to find I would just be OK. Not much time for photos though so it was straight to the NS and boost back.Next issue. I don't know if it was down to the somewhat small and wispy NS jet or my poor technique, but I just couldn't stay in the jet long enough to get a FSD supercharge! I swear it took me ten attempts before I finally did so - and even then only by flying into the end of it whilst directly facing the NS. It worked, but please don't try that method with larger jets
Anyway, I made it back to where I could refuel with maybe 0.5 ton of fuel to spare. Given that none of the jumps required a really huge range, more fuel capacity would have definitely been advisable
The route I took was:
Phao Aoc ZO-R d4-2 (neutron star system with a class M about 8,000 LS out for refuelling)
227.92 LY jump to Phao Aoc BA-A g7 (BH with two neutron stars)
195.88 LY jump to Phao Aoc BA-A g5 (BH with NS some 80k LS away)
Only recommended for ships that can do 57 LYs with 4 jumps of fuel onboard.
The Phao Aoc BA-A g5 system itself just comprises the BH & NS. As for the view, well as above, I didn't hang around but it wasn't really any different to what you would see from 3 or 400 LYs further down.
My next goal was to see if I could make it a similar distance down. A lot of searching later and I found Hyphudgue DL-Y g2 at -3,188 LY. After the dramas of the last excursion, this was a walk in the park. My route was:
Hyphudgue JH-V f2-0 (Black hole with three neutron stars)
160.84 LY jump to Hyphudgue DL-Y g16 (BH with a NS and class A star some 2k LS away - use the class A for refuelling)
211.47 LY jump to Hyphudgue DL-Y g2 (BH with NS some 3k LS away)
From DL-Y g2 you can also use jumponium to travel 78.8 LY to DL-Y g5 which is a class O system for a further refuelling opportunity (you could also use this as a stepping stone on the route down, but remember that you would still need to do the full 211 LY jump on the way back!)
With the ability to refuel at the penultimate system (and the diversion to g2), fuel capacity isn't an issue so there's more scope for photo ops, but they still don't look meaningfully different to those from a bit closer to the plane:
Disappointly, Hyphudgue DL-Y g2 also turned out to just have the BH and NS.
Of course, the question now becomes: is there a returnable route to +/-3,200 LY?
