The Type A Front Door

Copyright 1998 Steve Jackson Games.

This is the main airlock and entryway on Deck 2 of a Beowulf class Type-A Free Trader, up is forward.

It's served by iris valves on both ends and has iris valves in both the overhead and deck near the inboard end.  Ladder up leads to Deck 1 and the passenger common area and staterooms.  Ladder down leads to Deck 3 and the lower-forward cargo area and purser's "office".  The inboard hatch (iris valve) leads to the crew common area and staterooms.

For more convenience during passenger boarding, a folding set of steep stairs is used instead of the ladder rungs set into the wall.  These stairs also have the advantage of blocking the valves to the crew area and cargo deck.  The 1.2m diameter iris valve and steep stairs serve as a reminder to passengers that Flying Free Trader is not luxury service as can be found on a Subsidized Liner like a Stellar Class.

Aft of the airlock is the bay containing the low berths.  Notice that it's not sealed against vacuum in the airlock!  Luckily, the berths themselves are.

One hex is one yard across flats.

This deckplan is not entirely accurate about the outer door.  The iris valve is actually set back from the hull about 1.5m and is parallel with the inner door.  The angled portion where the valve is shown is just a fairing that opens up like a door and is hinged at the top.  The creates a bit of a porch outside the iris valve.

A set of collapsible stairs extends out from under the porch to allow access to the airlock from the ground.

Similar to this:


The stairs on a Beowulf are a little longer because the hatch is about 4.5m off the ground instead of the 2.74m shown here.

The outer iris valve is equipped with a standard Imperial 1.2m docking ring.