Off grid before I get my hopes up..

Have been doing the event, quite a struggle grinding with just prospector and refined goods getting lost to stuck cargo grids but I’ve almost completed two 6M missions..

I’ve got my thoughts on trying a caterpillar parked off grid and taking another ship as my daily driver, so the cat would serve as a mini base.

1) I’m aware elevators should work in 4.1 2) anyone tried this and had any trouble with the ship bugging/despawning? 3) do I NEED to log out on cat to maintain its presence? 4) parking a med bed ship nearby or on a module .. that can work? 5) any concerns outside the obvious (running out of quantum fuel) 6) considering the starlancer as well, but cat down the road has a lot to offer it feels