Silver: Our total is 88 tons. So after the 23 tons of the compound we should have 64 tons left over when factoring in the forklifts as well.
We should consider keeping 23 tons free so we can scoop unrefined fuel and then refine it. Or we can buy fuel at starports. Depends on which is most important to us at this point, time or money. And I don't think the Mad Scientist is going anywhere.
We don't need cargo space to process fuel, unless we we want to install inflatable fuel-bladders to allow a second consecutive Jump. Bladders take 1% of their volume deflated and we probably need a B-Class Starport to fit them. Ordinary processing just refills the tanks. I takes time (To manoeuvre to and from the Gas Giant or ocean/lake, scoop and process) and, in the case of Giants, skill. Sometimes, if the Gasball is a long way out and there are passengers to be had, it's cheaper to buy fuel. A cargo ship like ours doesn't have the same time pressure, but if we Skim from a Gas Giant and visit the Mainworld in every system we might use a week out of every month. We'd save 33000Cr, but a full hold and full states might exeed that.
The journey to Whanga is three jumps: Forboldn, Knorbes, Whanga. Forboldn is D-Class 'Port, TL5, 2 Gas Giants. Knorbes is E-Class, TL2, 4 giants, Whanga E-Class, TL7, 4 Giants. So "A-scooping we shall go".
Our passengers - what is their destination? They pay different rates depending on distance travelled. Also, if we don't have to visit the mainworld, we could Jump to a Giant, refuel, Jump on. Just stock up on food and water before we set out.
Oh so it's simultaneous? I thought they were two seperate actions. Well that solves that problem then.
Yeah I was thinking of just scoop and jump as well. Get this mission over with and then deal with cuts and ship maintenance and upgrades at closes A class star port.
Edited: Maiokus on 18th Feb, 2016 - 10:54am
Just remembered; If we take freight rather than speculative cargo we need to know the destination for that too. Cr. 1000 per dTon, +200 per parsec beyond first (So we really should only take 1 jump freight, but our route doesn't hold much hope of decent quantities of cargo to replace deliveries, so it won't matter too much this time).
Well. I also have a loan from the bank, but I hope to pay it with my pension. Faster travel time means more money into our pockets. Are the goods we will transport random selected by the captain? Have we checked sell prices in our destinations, so to get the most profitable from Ruie?