Just for grins I bought a Mamba. I’m primarily a merchant and don’t do combat, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a classy “space yacht” for touring and knocking about the bubble. Besides, there’s nothing else to do with all those credits my StarLine freighters and passenger liners pull in except buy ships.
Mamba is a beautiful ship, reminiscent of the offshore racing powerboats of 20th century earth. I was pretty excited when I saw it had a large bubble canopy covering its two-seat tandem cockpit. I fly in VR and sometimes take friends and family on spaceship rides ( yes, I have two Oculus equipped work stations), so was looking forward to an unrestricted upper hemispheric view from both seats. Except the view turned out to be a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, the view out is pretty good for an EliteDangerous ship. It just could have been so much better. It starts off fine from the front and going back until just ahead of the pilots seat. There the canopy belt-line bumps up a half meter then continues aft so the fuselage is blocking the pilots view directly to the side. Plus those engine pods that look so cool from the outside also block your view. Speed is great and handling adequate for a yacht. All A rated, shielded and with level 3 extended range frame shift.
Zorgon Peterson Mamba “Ariel” LA-15M
While researching the Mamba, I saw a lot of comparisons with the Fer-de-Lance, another Zorgon Peterson beauty. It’s cockpit, while not a bubble canopy, looked to have a good view out. So I bought one to check it out. For my taste, the view out is better than the Mamba, although not without its own issues. Pilot’s seat is offset to the right rather than centered, so it is close to the right front canopy frame. Annoyingly close with a 2D monitor but not so bad in VR. I don’t see why it needed to be offset at all since the second seat is set behind and to the side. It has a clean view to the sides going well aft of the pilots seat. The fuselage does block your view up to each side starting behind the pilots seat with a clear view vertically. Internals are pretty much identical to the Mamba. While not as fast as the Mamba, the Fer-de-Lance has nicer handling. Another fine “space yacht.”
Zorgon Peterson Fer-de-Lance “Astris” LA-17F
Both these ships are relatively short jumpers. Engineering makes them adequate and both have an A rated fuel scoop installed in the largest optional internal as well as an additional fuel tank which makes travel fast and painless. They carry an SRV hangar for visiting interesting places along with supercruise assist for orbiting interesting moons and planets. Cargo capacity is limited, but then I only need to carry my luggage.
Mamba is a beautiful ship, reminiscent of the offshore racing powerboats of 20th century earth. I was pretty excited when I saw it had a large bubble canopy covering its two-seat tandem cockpit. I fly in VR and sometimes take friends and family on spaceship rides ( yes, I have two Oculus equipped work stations), so was looking forward to an unrestricted upper hemispheric view from both seats. Except the view turned out to be a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, the view out is pretty good for an EliteDangerous ship. It just could have been so much better. It starts off fine from the front and going back until just ahead of the pilots seat. There the canopy belt-line bumps up a half meter then continues aft so the fuselage is blocking the pilots view directly to the side. Plus those engine pods that look so cool from the outside also block your view. Speed is great and handling adequate for a yacht. All A rated, shielded and with level 3 extended range frame shift.
Zorgon Peterson Mamba “Ariel” LA-15M
While researching the Mamba, I saw a lot of comparisons with the Fer-de-Lance, another Zorgon Peterson beauty. It’s cockpit, while not a bubble canopy, looked to have a good view out. So I bought one to check it out. For my taste, the view out is better than the Mamba, although not without its own issues. Pilot’s seat is offset to the right rather than centered, so it is close to the right front canopy frame. Annoyingly close with a 2D monitor but not so bad in VR. I don’t see why it needed to be offset at all since the second seat is set behind and to the side. It has a clean view to the sides going well aft of the pilots seat. The fuselage does block your view up to each side starting behind the pilots seat with a clear view vertically. Internals are pretty much identical to the Mamba. While not as fast as the Mamba, the Fer-de-Lance has nicer handling. Another fine “space yacht.”
Zorgon Peterson Fer-de-Lance “Astris” LA-17F
Both these ships are relatively short jumpers. Engineering makes them adequate and both have an A rated fuel scoop installed in the largest optional internal as well as an additional fuel tank which makes travel fast and painless. They carry an SRV hangar for visiting interesting places along with supercruise assist for orbiting interesting moons and planets. Cargo capacity is limited, but then I only need to carry my luggage.
