Foreword

The Hognose is my first upload on SP, but it will definitely not be my last.

It took a total of 6 days for this build to be completed, throughout
this journey, I received help from friends and strangers alike.
And now, I would like to thank those who have helped me,
without all of you, I would not have come this far on my own.

Overview

The Hognose is the second ship of the Garter class gunboats,
a class of gunboats known for their heavy weaponry and speed.

An all-around fun craft to fly! Fast and maneuverable, and packing a literal nuclear punch, this ship flies fast and hits hard. It’s defensive systems keep it from being harassed by ground-based and air-based missile systems, and its offensive weaponry wipes the floor with the enemies!
-Thelegitpilot13

Fitted with powerful cannons, Hognose is intended to easily
take on ground targets and raid bases while protecting itself
from fighters with its powerful anti-air guns.

Weaponry

Main battery (AG 2 and 3)
The main battery is made up of 8x1 750mm/29.5in main guns,
with 4 pointing to the front and another 4 pointing to the rear.
These cannons are rotatable 90° to the left and right and are
able to elevate from 0° to 45°.

Secondary guns (AG 4)

The port and starboard are each equipped with 8x2 325mm/13in guns.
These guns can all be elevated 45° and rotatable 180°, 135°, and 90° respectively.

AA guns (AG 1)
There is a total of 17 AA guns carefully placed on each part of the ship.
All of the guns can be elevated 45° and are also rotatable 180°, 135°, and 90° respectively.

Railgun (AG 5)

Of course, the most powerful weapon is theHognose's railgun.
At 2000mm/79in, most ground targets can be taken down in one hit.
On top of that, it also features an automatically opening/closing nose
to reveal the railgun. (courtesy of Thelegitpilot13)

Internal mechanisms

Now, this is where the real magic comes in.

Hognose utilizes the nutshell theory to stay afloat in the air,
the nutshell theory is where a large mold that has 0 mass and drag
is built onto a small internal plane.
Maneuverability is totally concentrated on the internal plane, nicknamed the nut,
where the exterior, nicknamed the nutshell does not interfere with the flying.

Below, we could see a heavily damaged Hognose.

the reason that it can still fly like this is because of the nut inside the plane

As long as the nut stays intact, Hognose can still fly and maneuver no matter how badly damaged
the nutshell is.

Controls

Pitch: pitches the ship up
Yaw: turns the ship left and right
Roll: Rolls the ship

Grouping
AG1: AA guns (VTOL+TRIM)
AG2: Back-facing main guns (VTOL+TRIM)
AG3: Front-facing main guns (VTOL+TRIM)
AG4: Secondary guns (VTOL+TRIM)
AG5: Railgun (Nose automatically opens/closes)
AG7: VTOL nozzles control
AG8: Gyroscope

Tips
When engaging, deactivate gyroscope, it makes maneuvering easier
When cruising, activate the gyroscope for stability.
Always turn off gyroscope when evading anti-air fire

Gallery

Special thanks to:

Thelegitpilot13 for providing help, testing out and making additional changes to the Hognose and many of my other projects,
Shadowed for providing suggestions on my builds,
Xeurith for listening to my insane ramblings and theories,
the countless people that had lent me a helping hand,
and most importantly, you too, whoever is reading this right now.