Boeing 1020 Medium Airliner:

Until the coming of the Rifts, airline travel was extremely popular. Travel levels had only increased since the late Twentieth and early Twenty-First Century as was never greater than it was in the time just before the coming of the Rifts. While many predicted that trans-sonic airliners, traveling several times the speed of sound, would take over the industry, they were extremely expensive and only a comparatively small number were operated by the airlines. Instead, most passengers were carried on subsonic airliners. There were three basic size classes of airliners. Light airliners generally had the ability to carry around one hundred to two hundred passengers. Medium airliners were able to carry from two hundred to three hundred and fifty passengers. Finally, there were the large class with the ability to carry passenger loads greater than three hundred and fifty and filled the same roll as the jumbo jets did in the later Twentieth century and early Twenty-First Century. There were also cargo carrying versions and as one might expect, some overlap in classes.

While many aircraft companies went out of business or were bought out by others, Boeing survived until the coming of the Rifts. In fact, the company continued to grow throughout the Twenty-First Century and had bought out several other aircraft manufactures. In addition to being one of the largest manufacturers of commercial aircraft in the world, the company had a large number of military contracts both inside and outside of the United States. Some aircraft the Boeing company is famous for is the B-17 and B-29 bombers of World War II and the 707 airliner. While the 707 is not the first jet airliner in service, it was the first which was a commercial success.

Like its smaller cousin, the 1020 medium airliner is a blended body aircraft with wings blended into the fuselage. It replaced the 787 medium airliner in the later part of the Twenty-First Century. The 1020 has a passenger capacity of 320 with two basic classes of passengers. The aircraft are designed for around sixty-four first class passengers and two-hundred and fifty-six coach or economy passengers. Instead of passengers, a total of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of cargo. The Boeing 1020 was extremely popular and used both for short range and long range air travel. It is impossible to list all of the civilian airlines and cargo lines which operated these airliners. Several militaries also operated the Boeing 1020 including the United States.

Boeing introduced heavy use of composites in the 787 airliner and the 1020 used composites for most of its construction as well. These composites were some of the new materials introduced in the Twenty-First century and were in most cases far stronger than steel. There were a few cases where airliners made of these materials were struck by missiles and survived to land. A second benefit with the composites is that they are not effected by environmental factors. One of the results is that some survived after the coming of the Rifts.

Two powerful engines are blended into the wings of the airliner. The airliner is designed with a normal cruising speed of Mach 0.95 and a maximum speed of Mach 0.98. Due to the aircraft's fusion turbines, the Boeing 1020 has virtually unlimited range. Fusion turbine engines were first introduced for military aircraft but soon found their way into other applications including civilian aircraft. For easier take offs and landings in smaller airports, the 1020 was designed with vectored thrusters. Still, it is not as true VTOL aircraft. The aircraft crew is two, a pilot and co-pilot, with advanced fly-by-wire controls and advanced reconfigurable displays. Military versions as well as airliners operated by nations in less friendly areas will often have additional military electronics.

While coach is fairly cramped, the first class area is fairly spacious and comfortable. Even the coach area is more comfortable than on the smaller Boeing 1010. There are a variety of features for passengers including headphones for music, wireless communication, and even wireless internet service. These features are even available in coach / economy class.

Model Type: Boeing 1020
Class: Medium Passenger Airliner / Cargo Aircraft
Crew: Two (Pilot and Co-Pilot) as well as four flight attendants on most passenger flight

Passengers:	Dual Class	64 First Class Passengers and 256 Coach Passengers
	Cargo	6 Passengers

M.D.C. by Location:

	[1] Wings (2):	300 each
	[2] Elevators (2):	75 each
	[2] Rudders (2):	75 each
	Front Cargo Bay Doors (Heavy Cargo Versions):	100
	Side Doors (2):	40 each
	[2] Engines (2):	240 each
	Reinforced Pilot’s Compartment / Cockpit:	200
	[3] Main Body:	750
	Landing Gear (3):	40 each

Notes:
[1] Destroying a wing will cause the plane to crash.
[2] Destruction of rudders or one elevator will still allow the aircraft to be controlled by the varying of power levels of the engines but aircraft has a penalty of -10 to dodge, and a -30% penalty to all piloting rolls. Destruction of both of the elevators will leave the plane uncontrollable. The destruction of one engine will reduce the aircraft's top speed by half and give the pilot a -2 penalty to dodge as well as giving a 10% penalty to piloting. Destruction of both engines will cause the aircraft to crash.
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut the aircraft down completely, rendering it useless and causing it to crash if in flight.

Speed:
Driving on Ground (Taxiing): Only possible for take offs and landings as well as for parking and storage. Speed is 40 mph (64 kph) when traveling and not on take off or landing.
Flight: The Boeing 1020 has the ability to make short take-offs and landings. It has a maximum speed of Mach 0.98 (646.8 mph /1,040.92 kph) and a cruise speed of Mack 0.95 (627 mph / 1,009.06 kph.) Maximum altitude is 60,000 feet (18,288 meters)
Range: Due to Fusion engine effectively unlimited range, need to cool down after 16 hours of flight at maximum speed. At cruising speed, range is increased to 24 hours of flight.

Statistical Data:
Length: 210.95 feet (64.3 meters)
Wingspan: 166.67 feet (50.8 meters)
Height: 54.13 feet (16.5 meters)
Weight: 200 tons (181.4 metric tons) fully loaded, 125 tons (113.4 metric tons) empty
Power Source: Nuclear, Should have an average life span of 10 years.
Cargo: Passenger Models: 50,000 lbs (22,680 kg) not including passengers. Cargo Models: 150,000 lbs (68,040 kg)
Market Cost: 65 million for Civilian versions and 68 million for military versions

Weapon Systems (None Standard):

Anti-Missile Chaff Dispenser (Military Version): Located at the very tail of the aircraft are two chaff dispensers. When tailed by a missile, a cloud of chaff and other obtrusive particles can be released to confuse or detonate the enemy's attack. Rifts Earth decoys systems are assumed to not operate against Phase World missiles due to technological difference. Reduce effects by 20% against smart missiles (Add +20% to rolls for smart missiles.)
Effect:
Also note that the chaff cloud will also blind flying monsters that fly through cloud. They will suffer the following penalties: reduce melee attacks/actions, combat bonuses, and speed by half. Duration: 1D4 melee rounds.
Payload: Eight (8)

Special Equipment:
Military Versions:
The aircraft has all the standard features of a standard fighter (same as standard robot including loudspeaker and microphone on this aircraft) plus these special features listed.

Internal Active Jamming Gear: Causes -25% to detection but when it is active, other vehicles/ bases can detect that it is jamming, and some missiles will home in on jamming signals. Jamming also causes a -4 penalty to all radar guided weapons.
E.S.M.: Radar Detector, Passively detects other radars being operated.
FLIR: Forward Looking Infrared. Allows pilot and weapons officer to get visuals on targets at night.
Laser Navigational System: Allow flight at low altitude without use of Radar. Gives a map of the Terrain.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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