Drake Corsair: Cabins, Crew and Life Aboard

CIG’s December 2017 poll offered three very different ideas: a small salvage ship, a multicrew explorer and a carrier. The Corsair proposal explicitly named the Constellation as its rival. Its rough construction, vehicle space and third turret were part of the pitch from the beginning. Although it lost that vote, it received a full concept reveal in March 2019 and became flyable in November 2022, with Alpha 3.17.4.

The weapons were part of the exploration brief from the outset. Drake proposed a ship that could carry its crew and a vehicle into unfamiliar territory with substantial firepower available along the way.

In the 2019 designer Q&A, CIG described Drake’s approach as lighter armour than comparable Aegis and Anvil designs, offset by heavier armament. The Corsair’s exposed structure belongs to that utilitarian design; it does not indicate unusually heavy protection.

Drake kept the facilities needed for extended travel: beds, a kitchen, a washroom and equipment storage. The crew shares the communal rooms, with separate cabins arranged around them.

The descending co-pilot seat

The Corsair places its co-pilot below the pilot rather than beside them. The seat descends into the lower position; a hatch closes over the opening so the pilot retains a route out.

CIG’s Alpha 4.1 rebalance tied the forward guns to occupancy of this lower seat. With it empty, the pilot controls all six. When a co-pilot sits down, the lower two Size 4 nose guns transfer to them, leaving the pilot with the upper nose pair and both Size 5 wing guns.

Working away from the bridge

The engineering area lies towards the rear. Someone attending machinery there is physically separate from the cockpit and turret positions. That distance matters when one player tries to combine piloting with work elsewhere aboard.

The two manned turrets also require crew at their own stations. With four people aboard, assigning two gunners and a co-pilot leaves nobody free to work aft without leaving a seat.

Room for the wings

The 2022 technical sheet gives a flight width of 56 metres and a landed width of 27 metres. Folding the wings narrows the ship while increasing its height, so clearance above the hull matters as well as space beside it.

That sheet lists a 55-metre length, while RSI’s current Ship Matrix gives 53 metres. Published measurements disagree. The folding arrangement is the more significant detail for landing: the wings need clearance above as well as beside the hull.

The current published armament

RSI’s current equipment listing shows four Size 4 M6A cannons and two Size 5 M7A cannons facing forward. Three defensive turrets each carry a pair of Size 2 weapons; two turrets are manned and the rear turret is remote. Four missile racks carry eight Size 3 missiles in the listed loadout.

The Alpha 4.1 rebalance reduced the four nose mounts to Size 4 and increased the wing pair to Size 5. Earlier specifications listing four Size 5 and two Size 4 weapons describe the previous arrangement.

A regular crew of friends

The Corsair is well suited to a group that wants to travel together and vary what it does between ports. There are cabins for four, seats at separate stations and room to bring a rover. The same hold can instead carry a freight load when the group wants a hauling run.

A four-person crew still has to divide the work. Putting people in the manned turrets leaves fewer hands for repairs or loading, and carrying a rover reduces the freight space. Groups that need an onboard medical bay or a shuttle hangar will need a different ship.

A pilot who usually flies alone

One person can fly the ship, and its hold and accommodation remain useful without a full crew. The difficulty comes when another job needs attention while the pilot is still flying. Manned turrets cannot be occupied from the cockpit, and repairs elsewhere require leaving it.

Solo use suits journeys where flying and work inside the ship can happen in turn. Combat puts those demands together: a pilot leaving the controls to deal with damage is no longer steering or firing.