A small personal transport aircraft designed to carry high status individuals and their families or entourage in style, comfort, and luxury.

Credits:
The MARTLET Aerial Yacht (named for a mythical heraldic bird usually depicted without feet, as it was supposed to live its whole life on the wing, without ever touching the ground) is an original aircraft that shares design cues with other vehicles of the ARCHON CHANCELLERY. Please note that all the advanced modifications used herein are the products of you wonderful folk here on SimplePlanes. Since I am unable to do these myself, your works have been thoughtfully used with much gratitude, and your talents are hugely appreciated. Thank you.

Background Story:
As the fifth cycle of the XIX Dynasty drew toward a close, the High Command was approached by a number of wealthy patrons, many of whom had seen the SPHINX diplomatic courier, and who now desired an aerial transport of their own--though perhaps something a bit smaller and considerably more luxurious. Upon consideration they determined that such an aircraft might indeed be a profitable addition to their usual military planes, and consequently, they commissioned the Archon Chancellery to develop a small private luxury transport. The Chancellery responded by offering a sleek, standard plan floatplane that combined the Chancellery's signature SERAPHIM multi-wing architecture with long, thin articulated main wings. They powered the craft with the UMBRA dark energy reactor, giving it virtually unlimited range. They also used a variation on the CONSTELLATION integrated power system, which includes two AURORA high performance / low observability boost engines along with a GRAVITON VTOL motor. These can be used either alone or with the plane's main FIREBALL drive engine.

The MARTLET was distinctly -not- a warplane. This craft, which was designated an "Aerial Yacht," carried minimal armament--the Chancellery discovered that they were constitutionally unable to build an aircraft that was totally unarmed. It had a suite of anti-radar and infrared countermeasures and a pair of simple machine-guns concealed in the mid-wing pontoon pylons.

As a luxury vessel, the MARTLET had amenities not normally found on other planes, and was in many ways much more closely akin to an actual private yacht than an aircraft. The MARTLET featured a main cabin divided into fore and aft sections. The aft compartment contained a comfortable parlor and dining suite with three large windows on each side. the forward compartment housed a large master bedroom with an office alcove and a private head. The space between the two cabins held a small galley, four recessed individual sleeping berths, and an additional head. Above this was a long slender bridge deck containing the cockpit and various avionics systems. Externally, the MARTLET is provided with numerous running lights, landing lights, and illuminated identification flashes.

Activation Groups:
1 - Engages the aircraft's main FIREBALL DRIVE thrust vectoring engine (throttle up).
2 - Activates the the CONSTELLATION unified drive system, engaging either the AURORA high performance / low observability boost engines (VTOL bar up) or the GRAVITON anti-gravity VTOL motor (VTOL bar down).
3 - Activates the aircraft's two forward facing machine guns.
4 - Engages the variable geometry wings. VTOL bar up adds dihedral to the main wings increasing lift and maneuverability, while VTOL bar down introduces anhedral to the wings, lowering the pontoons for water landings and hydroplane movement.
5 - - - reserved for future use - - -
6 - - - reserved for future use - - -
7 - Activates the plane's running lights.
8 - Disconnects the main UMBRA integrated power reactor, deactivating all interior lights and cutting off the plane's back-up stabilization gyro.