Elite Dangerous System Col 285 Sector WL-L c8-40 - Building the Cobra Mark 5 Tourist Tripper

Cobra Mark V – Custom build for In-System Tourist Tripper, the Goddess Mnemosyne.
Introduction To The Grand Tour, PART III

When I finished colonizing Col 285 Sector WL-L c8-40, there were 138 total facilities that had been built over the course of 6 months and a week. I play… slowly. And colonize solo. It takes a long time.

For personal reasons expressed elsewhere, I now want to create a video library. One visit at a time, a reminder of all the fun colonization was.

Not all facilities can dock my Panther. Nor even the Corsair. There are a number of facilities with only small landing pads. No need to consider the ones without landing pads, but it’s common sense to select a small ship for the Grand Tour. Whatever size the landing pad, a small ship can always fit.

Having been a fan of the game since the C-64 and Amiga days in the mid-1980s, it had to be a Cobra.
The Mk3 would have been iconic. The Mk4 would have been exclusive. (It was only released to a specific group of players.) I liked the Mk4 back then; it was less maneuverable, but had more shielding and an additional weapon slot. Haven’t flown it in years.
But now there’s the Mk5. All I’m hearing is that it’s by far the best small all-rounder. Before the Kestrel, it might have been the best small ship period, but it sounds like the Kestrel has the best small combat role.

To date, this is the ultimate Cobra. It’s like they took all the best of the Mk3 and Mk4, then ramped it up with Caffeine and jet fuel.
There’s a lot of reasons to like it, and I hadn’t built one yet.

It had to be excellent at in-system hops, so SCO was a no-brainer.
It had to be a durable shield/hull tank, because I struggle at keeping my focus, and am error prone. Always build something that can survive my mistakes.
Needs speed and agility, because if I’m flying a tiny little ship, then escaping is important.
Something with enough firepower to fight back, because I don’t like running away.

The Cobra Mk5 checks all the boxes. It’s the spiritual successor to the ship that started it all. It’s a fast, agile, tough fighter when it needs to be. Even loaded to the gills, it gets 39 LY jump range. (And really, it doesn’t need jump range anyway, since it’s an in-system mudskipper.)
Just for those times when it does need to travel (like engineering)… it’s got a pocket-sized Class 2 Fuel Scoop. Glacially slow to fill the tank, but it beats running out of fuel somewhere.

It’s a beauty of a ship. Great aesthetics. Easy to fly. Lots of punch when you hit the gas.

(I’m no expert, but if you want to see the build, here’s the link: https://tinyurl.com/Cobra-MkV-Mnemosyne

It doesn’t have to be the best there ever was. Just has to meet my needs.

After building and engineering, wanted to fly it. And it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve truly played, because writing all this and planning the trip kept my free time occupied. Time enough to get rusty.
Figured a quick jaunt to the Nav Beacon was called for. A chance to get some flight practice, and a light combat refresher. If it turned out to be too much, she was relatively cheap to build, a rebuy won’t kill me…
Did not expect the result. Got mostly light and mediums, but there was one Elite Anaconda that I expected to end me. Only it was like playing on easy mode. I’m over-spinning, losing my targets, getting confused and forgetting what buttons to push… and never took any damage. Never even took significant percent off the shield.
Maybe the Nav Beacons tend to give inexperienced opponents, but it was a fantastic ship to get back up to speed in. Extremely forgiving.

After these videos are done, I’ll test it in a HazRez and see if she still feels tough...

Next, a cool name. I considered several. Nothing clicked until Grok suggested Mnemosyne.

The Goddess Mnemosyne presided over Memory, and Remembrance. With my cognitive problems, that’s not only apropos, it’s kind of poignant. The whole purpose of this project is to give me tangible memories for when my actual memories fade. Naming her Mnemosyne feels like a good omen.

Even better, Grok suggested MUSE9 for the call sign. Mnemosyne was the mother of the NINE muses, the spirits of inspiration for humanity. The entire theme ties in beautifully to this project.

Great ship, great name, and the engineering is done.

Time for the next step.