Ryland Park Firebird

An extreme cruiser made by the Maveggan Flight Vehicle Company. The ship is based on the stylings of the earlier Ryland Park Thunderbird, but reengineered from the ground up. All three main engines are now vapour piles, requiring the addition of a high-intensity particle accelerator immediately behind the main pilot's seat, which acts as a gyroscope to stabilise the craft against the massive thrust this generates. The Firebird is available in Regular (3-man), Turbo (1-man) and Stretch (3 crew plus 3.6m³ cargo compartment) versions.

Although the Firebird has higher raw acceleration than the Thunderbird, it never achieved the same popularity, mostly due to unexpectedly poor handling and the lack of craftsman-tuning on the jets. Most members of the general public never even heard of it, assuming any they see are Thunderbirds due to the similar appearance, while the extreme racing fraternities generally regard it as the canonical example of black hat cruiser design.