Controls:
Throttle, Pitch, and Trim controls are normal. Roll input is both yaw and moderate roll. Yaw input is disabled.

VTOL controls the orientation of the engine nacelles for rapid climbing and descending. Adjust with caution, and use only moderate thrust at higher angles.

Buoyancy is regulated from the console to the right of the helm. Default is slight negative buoyancy. Increase "Trim Lift" until you have achieved your desired rate of climb. The airship has an operational ceiling around 20,000 feet. Engine performance will degrade, and overpressure in the gas cells will increase. If overpressure gets above 10, the cells will rupture. Warning lights will illuminate before this point.

LORE BELOW

[From the records of the Dirk’s Mesa Airship Spotters Club. We are an independent, volunteer-run organization of airship enthusiasts. If you found this record helpful, please consider making a donation. Your silver keeps us flying!]

NCPS Hawksbill-class Airship 3032
“Ghostwriter”

Owner/Master: Waters, Myles
First Officer: unknown
Chief Engineer: unknown
Assistant Engineer: unknown
Airman, Able: unknown
Airman, Able: unknown
Airman, Able: unknown
Airman, Trainee: unknown

Specifications sourced from Northreach Consortium Postal Service Archives.
[Please note that anecdotal evidence suggests significant modifications to the original airframe and powerplant have been undertaken by subsequent owners. All dimensions and power ratings are provided merely as a courtesy, and should not be considered official ratings for docking, tankage, or tonnage tax purposes.]

Type: Postal Service light freighter
LOA: 199 ft
Wingspan: 106 ft
Height: 51 ft
Powerplant: 2x Nakawe/Aurocorp high-torque radial class-2
Useful lift: 4.1 tons
Armament: 6x Air-to-ground rocket
Top Speed: 99 kts
Cruising speed: 70 kts
Range: 4,025 nm

Notes and Observations:
The Northreach Consortium midweight postal class was a pre-war craft designed as an answer to increasing demand from the outer territories for a timely and reliable delivery service. A ship was needed that could dock at even the smallest harbours of the territories while still maintaining the safety and reliability that were the watchwords of the pre-war NCPS. The class, which came to be known as the “Hawksbill,” was manufactured over a fifteen-year period leading up to the outbreak of hostilities in ME 1077.
In total, thirty-two Hawksbill-class ships were constructed. Of these, twenty-eight saw service in the NCPS, while the remaining four were commandeered directly by the NCN for use as light-armour corvettes. The design’s long range and relatively high cruising speeds made the Hawksbills well-suited for use as postal delivery vessels, but came at the expense of the durability and heavy lift capacity common to purpose-built military craft. As such, very few of the original fleet survived the War of the Schism. It is estimated that between three and five Hawksbills remain airworthy to this day, all with varying degrees of modification to the original design.
Sightings are rare but prized among enthusiasts. The Hawksbills are considered by many to be a prime example of the late pre-war “Skysilk Renaissance” era of shipbuilding. Textbook examples of this school of design are the XLG-1115s, the so-called “Duralumin Duchess” passenger liners. Of the Hawksbills known to have survived into the modern day, only three are regularly spotted.

Quirks of the Design:
The early models of the Hawksbill class infamously suffered from pitch control issues stemming from their high centre of thrust. Later models lowered the engine mounting by several feet, eliminating this flaw.
Like all postal service airships, the primary pilot position was located on the starboard side of the bridge. The origins of this tradition are unknown, but it holds true throughout the settled world.
The flattened shape of the envelope created a significant degree of aerodynamic lift. This in turn caused some pilots to complain of difficulties when attempting to lose altitude during high wind docking approaches.