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First Planet Miner (Vanilla)

This is a small and easy first ship for planetary mining on realistic survival settings (1:1:1) using no mods. Meant to bridge the gap between hand mining and a more capable mining vehicle.

Pros:

1. Can carry about 7000 kg of ore (about 7 backpacks full on realistic settings) and still be able to hover and make it back.
2. Can bore (right-click drilling) a hole wide enough that it can fully turn around in.
3. Lights up areas all around the vehicle so you will have full visibility in tunnels.
4. When empty, it "almost" has enough thrust to hover with the nose down - allowing vertical trenches to be dug while gravity slowly pulls the vehicle down while boring.
5. 1 hour battery life when empty. 30min when full.
6. Can quickly fly over rocky terrain to get to mining site and back.
7. Can dump unwanted stone (or other items) by dragging them into the connector.

Cons:

1. No oxygen supply! Wear your helmet and bring a tank with you. You can also construct an air vent on one of the connector side ports (left off due to weight), or simply dock with your base (with oxygen supply) to fill the cockpit with enough air to last a while.
2. Not enough thrust in the non-upright directions to hover. Careful level flight is recommended. This is especially true when fully loaded. The tilt angle that you can still hover goes down as weight increases.
3. Vertical boring with this vehicle is extremely difficult due to the lack of upward thrust. Level boring is the recommended method.
4. Fairly difficult to drill and keep level when craft is shaking around from the drill. Always keep an eye on the level indicator when drilling.

Note: For any more pros and cons, leave a comment and I will add them to the list.

Recommended Drilling Procedure:

1. Locate ore on sloped surface so that you can bore straight in (level flight) from the side.
2. Bore (right-click drilling) straight in toward the ore deposit.
3. When ore is discovered, mine into the tunnel side keeping the craft as level as possible.
4. Drag unwanted stone or other materials into the connector, which will eject them onto the ground.

Alternate Drilling Procedure:

Don't even use it for drilling, but as a light ore-hauling vehicle that can get you to and from the ore deposits. Hand drill the ore and stick it in vehicle. Less chance of tipping over that way.