Dunames Lopez
Megalomaniac CEO of Star Tours
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Image Source: Adam Ostridge
- Canon Link: N/A
- Primary Source: Gyaban 787
- Name: Gyaban 788
- Affiliation: First Order
- Production: Unique.
- Manufacturer: Ringovinda StarYards
- Material: Standard podracer components
- Size: Engines: 1.7 meter diameter, 6.3m long (but with the cooling/directional lateral fins, the width of each engine is more like 2.4m wide), cockpit: medium-small (2.7m long), tether length: average (5m)
- Brakes: Reverse thrust on the engines
- Boosters: Two TibannaX tanks, situated above each turbine: if needed it can be used for afterburner but control ability is severely hampered the faster the pod goes
- Engines: UH-2014A jet turbines (75 kN apiece, dry, 127 kN with booster)
- Paint Scheme: White with blue stripes
- Sponsor: Star Tours
- Secret Weapons: 2x 7.62x54mm slugthrower machine guns
- Special Features and Components: Cap drains, inertial dampeners, ejectable shock couch, locator beacon
As a gift of the First Order when the most famous driver using the Gyaban 788, Dunames, won the inaugural edition of the Lanteeb Grand Prix, Dunames was awarded the right to use both cap drains, which would allow the podracer to defend itself against ion weapons fired in an attempt to disable it. In addition, the cap drains are connected to the batteries of the podracer, allowing ion weapon shots/EMPs fired at the podracers to recharge the batteries and, from there, the electrical systems of the podracer. On Mindabaal, finding that the F-Web heavy repeating blasters given by the First Order to equip her Gyaban 787 were too heavy and too power-hungry, she had them replaced with two retractable slugthrower machineguns firing 7.62x54mm armor-piercing rounds, now weighing 1/4 as much as the old weapons, even when the full belt of 100 armor-piercing rounds is loaded, and takes up no power from the engines. The slugthrower machineguns themselves have an effective rate of fire of 300 rounds per minute, with a muzzle velocity of about 1 km/s.
Of course, to ensure the safety of the pilot, the Gyaban 788 is equipped with inertial dampeners, allowing the pilot to sustain high G-forces without risk, and the shock couch is equipped with a six-point gravitic safety harness, allowing the pilot to remain safely in place so that the pilot can be kept alive in a crash and limit the damage the pilot would incur from inertia. Finally, if the pod crashes in hard-to-reach areas, the locator beacon, located on the safety harness, would make the locator beacon useful to locate the downed pilot in such emergencies.
Strengths:
- Good at maintaining boosts for extended periods
- Superior maneuverability
- Easy to repair
Weaknesses:
- Does not absorb ramming very well
- Requires a full suit to pilot it due to its lack of shields
- Supbar braking
- Can only fire weapons when the line of fire isn't obstructed by an engine
DESCRIPTION
As a podracer model, the Gyaban 787 made its professional debut by a Colicoid pilot, Prax, on the Cademimu Classic after his podracer was destroyed in his last race on Ord Ibanna. The second unit of the Gyaban 787, which became the Gyaban 788, was bought by Dunames Lopez and, as a gift of the First Order, in recognition of her transportation expertise, she was allowed to retain the flying suit she used to pilot a TIE Reaver over Thakwaa for the purposes of podracing. But it was found on Mindabaal that the F-Webs it was previously equipped were weapons that were too heavy and power-hungry, so she had those replaced after the Mindabaal Grand Prix in the favor of lighter slugthrower-based machineguns, which are retractable and mounted on the sides of a cockpit. However, this comes at a cost: Based on it having previously used to win the Lanteeb Grand Prix, and also in races on Commenor and Mindabaal, it was found that a duraplast hull, while allowing it to save weight, and hence enhance maneuverability, made it sacrifice its ability to absorb ramming or weapons fire. So, in essence, the Gyaban 788 is a glass cannon, capable of damaging enemy podracers but with very limited ability to take hits from other podracers. As with podracers with retractable, front-mounted weapons that are axis-mounted, it cannot fire at opposing podracers when the weapons' lines of fire aren't obstructed by the pod's own engines.
The Gyaban 788's cockpit is notorious for resembling a squid due to the disposition of the fairings, which are designed for improving aerodynamics. The lateral fins on the engines are actually used not only for thrust vectoring and hence turning, but also for cooling, allowing it to house cooling pumps so that it can be made to maintain boost for as many as twenty seconds which, in a podrace, is an eternity. However, for each second under boost, at least an extra second of cooldown is required. Thus the Gyaban 788, like the Gyaban 787 on which it was based, tends to rely more on its boosting ability on long straightaways or gentle curves than actually having a high top speed, especially since the UH-2014A turbines, providing 75 kN (kilonewtons) of thrust each, were found to be capable of propelling the resulting pod to a speed or acceleration that was described, at most, as not being top-tier even with the change in armament. With the TibannX fuel in use for the afterburners, the thrust achieved can reach as high as 127 kN for each unit. The top fin on the turbines house the afterburner fuel, while the bottom fin houses the fuel tanks for regular operation of the engines. Its air brakes, however, are not so great because the reverse thrust on the UH-2014A turbines is a little sluggish, seemingly more efficient at the early stages of braking than when coming to a full stop because it operates by changing the direction of the fan airflow, as is the case on a "flower" type of reverse thrust.
Given that thrust vectoring allows the exhaust gases of the turbine to be redirected to suit the needs of handling, this proves to be a boon for its maneuverability, while the cooling fins, as well as the fins at the rear of the pod, also act as control surfaces for the pod, especially at lower speeds, allowing it to remain mostly consistent in maneuverability performance over the whole range of speeds the pod can achieve.
