Talk:Beluga Liner/@comment-6187938-20180410172106
I read and studied the different ships, and I even read the posts down below (May 17, 2017 and Oct 3, 2017) stating it's a useless ship. I thought I could make it into a long range sightseeing ship for multiple(3+) groups. I had it engineered to make 45 ly jumps, and combined with that huge fuel tank it didn't need to do much in the way of refueling, I could get by with a quick scoop with a 3A fuel scoop while waiting for the FSD to recharge.
The trouble is that the odds of being interdicted go up rapidly the more customers you load onto it. Even if they are all "low value" targets, that means there's still a chance for each one, and with three or more "low value" targets it's almost sure somoene is going to get targetted. It's difficult to evade interdictions with 6D thrusters, and surviving interdictions with those sluggish thrusters and the light weight 6D sheild generator is a matter of hoping you can get your FSD up and low wake out fast enough. Even if you drop chaff the Beluga is so huge that the NPCs can still hit you. Most low value targets also freak and jump ship at hull damage, erasing any profit you could have had.
I put 7A thrusters and a 6A sheild generator on it along with some sheild boosters and of course at that point I could no longer get by with a 3A power plant and ended up jumping to the 6A, which is even more weight. So to make this ship survive interdictions, I had to drop the jump range even further, it's just under 35Ly now, which isn't horrible but not what I was hoping for. I've also added mines and a 6A power distributor so I can put 4 pips to sheilds and still boost fairly often. I'll see if I can keep from taking hull damage long enough to low wake out with that loadout. Still, where is the return on investment after the millions dropped into all that? If I have to limit myself to one or two sightseeing passengers, the Asp Explorer can do that job and it can also evade and out run most interdictions at a fraction of the cost.
I was also hoping I would be able to easily carry large numbers of passengers. Unfortunately you can't slap a class 3 or 4 shield on it because the hull mass is too high for those. You also can't put class 5 shield on it because both class 5 slots on the ship are reserved. So if you want to run sheilds, you have to sacrifice one of your class 6 compartments. That makes the Beluga little better than a Python for bulk transport, but the python can actually defend itself.
I really wanted to love this ship, and I'm really trying but as others noted and I didn't listen, it's just not worth it. Luxury customers are about 1 in 20 in the passenger lounge and if they pay more( I can't tell that they do ), then it isn't enough more to make any of the 3 luxury class ships worth the expense. If you have money to burn then go for it, but if you are looking for a way to get credits then this is just a money pit. Bottom line as far as making a profit, the python is as good or better for bulk transport, and the Asp Explorer is as good or better for sight seeing.
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