Dieter Volkmann's Flying Boat

Dieter Volkmann Connections [GD] Courage [GD] Education [GR] Exchequer [GD] Stealth [PR] Tinkering [GR] Helmsmanship [GD] The third son of a military family numbered among the lesser Prussian nobility, Dieter Volkmann declined the chance to attend military academy, preferring instead to study archaeology at the University of Berlin. Though this choice of career was a disappointment to his family, it did make his father proud when the youth was asked to join Dr. Sommerfield's prestigious expedition. Dieter is as much a scientist as he is a student of ancient history. If characters ask him about his engineering studies, Dieter is happy to talk about more his work. He will even demonstrate the fruits of his labours to other scientists. Over the year that he has been working on the dig at Tell el-Amarna, Dieter has modified the mast and sails on one of the Arab dhows used for traversing the river so that it is capable of flight. Though the craft is able to climb several thousand feet in the air, it is still dependent on the prevailing winds for lateral movement. Fortunately, Dieter Volkmann learned to sail on his family yacht on the Inland Sea, and has modified the rigging so that the boat can be manoeuvred in flight.

Dieter Volkmann is a young Prussian Inventor and Archaeologist, who has been working at a dig site at Tell el-Amarna in Egypt from 1871 to 1872. Over the year that he has been working on the dig, Dieter has modified the mast and sails on one of the Arab dhows used for traversing the river so that it is capable of flight.
Two large sails made of an ether-trapping fabric, rigged so they are horizontal like wings, provide lift. Though the craft is capable of climbing several thousand feet in the air, it is still dependent on the prevailing winds to move. Fortunately, Dieter Volkmann learned to sail on his family yacht on the Inland Sea, but even so he has still been driven far off course on a number of occasions. Fortunately the winds are fairly predictable across the Sahara; and Dieter has learned that if he gets lost he can fly eastward at sunset until he reaches the Nile, and then just follow the river upstream back to Tell el-Amarna. The lights from the boat floating above the pyramids have raised some apprehensions in Cairo, but Dieter is blissfully unaware of the consternation he has caused.
To ease the work of controlling the ship, and remove the need for a large crew, he has installed a series of pulleys and gears that will trim the sails to catch the wind. The mass of ropes and levers around the craft make it rather cramped, but with no need for a crew there is room for over a dozen people beside Dieter on the boat.
From the air above the dig site, Dieter has been able to recognise impressions that are not visible from ground level, and has been using the boat to map out the city. In fact it was from his vantage point aloft in the light of the setting sun that Dieter noticed the shadowy impressions in the cliff wall that led to the discovery of the tombs there.

In terms of game mechanics, the wooden vessel is large and capable of taking 80 vehicle wounds; though 20 wounds will cause enough damage to the sails to make it incapable of flight, while 40 wounds will render it unable to sail on the water. Because it is powered by the ether, its range is effectively unlimited, but it is dependent on the winds for horizontal movement.