David Bell discovered in 2005 that the 3-engine Cordership can be used to turn a lightweight spaceship 90 degrees as shown below.[1] It could be constructed with 15 gliders, and Tooke created a gun for this spaceship only a week after its original construction (see 3-engine Cordership gun). In March 2017 Luka Okanishi discovered a three-glider synthesis for a switch engine, which reduced the recipe to only 11 gliders.[2]
The 3-engine Cordership can easily be destroyed by three eater 1s and four blocks, as shown below. This cleanup reaction was found by Jason Summers.
On September 15, 2020, wwei23 discovered several variant 3-engine Corderships, including one that cleans up its trailing blocks with sideways gliders, similar to a 5-, 6-, or 7-in-a-row Cordership.[3]
Dave Greene discovered a glider synthesis for upgrading a switch engine to a wing, which can be repeated to form the complete Cordership. Adam P. Goucher then built a Herschel conduit to convert a glider into a 3-engine Cordership.[4]
