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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 24, 2012 14:33:03 GMT
I've just had to watch two different copies of the same Star Fleet video tape to work out the differences between them. I've also watched another episode I didn't like much.
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Post by legios on Sept 24, 2012 19:56:16 GMT
I shall take up a vigil on the outer edges of the solar system, monitoring the Thallian Zone for any sign of movement. This is also likely to motivate me to yet another watch through of Star Fleet myself. Not that there is anything unwelcome about that. Karl |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 25, 2012 6:54:30 GMT
Actually we need the Kaptain's assistance: Put episode 23 (in fact the start of 24 will do cos it's in the recap) on and comment on the curved launch tunnels....
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 25, 2012 7:11:37 GMT
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Post by legios on Sept 25, 2012 19:08:45 GMT
Actually we need the Kaptain's assistance: Put episode 23 (in fact the start of 24 will do cos it's in the recap) on and comment on the curved launch tunnels.... Right, I shall do so in the next day or so! Karl |
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Post by legios on Sept 27, 2012 19:08:49 GMT
Actually we need the Kaptain's assistance: Put episode 23 (in fact the start of 24 will do cos it's in the recap) on and comment on the curved launch tunnels.... Yes. I see what you mean.... Would you like my comments here or should I save them for the blog in due course? Karl |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 27, 2012 19:18:31 GMT
No, let us know now....
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Post by legios on Sept 28, 2012 21:47:02 GMT
Right then... *takes a deep breath* These tunnels never made any sense to me when I first saw Star Fleet, and they haven't started making any more sense to me over the years. They are by far the silliest design decision in Star Fleet - I can defend the semi-external grapples for the X-Fighters, I can defend the fact that Imperial Fighter pilots apparently have to stay in their cockpits the entire time they are on watch due to the fact that they are stuck in their until the fighter is detached from it's Carrier's grapples (they are Termitroids, essentially pilots for disposable ordnance it isn't as if the Imperial Alliance really cares about their comfort). Those launch tunnels however make my head ache....
Obviously the first thing that springs to mind is that the tunnels seem to be built with turns in alternate directions - which presumably brings them back to pointing in the same direction as they started out. I can't see much of a sensible reason for that - if they had to deviate around something else already built into the mountain then they'd probably have been better off putting the Astrofighter Hangar and launch-ramp somewhere else in the first place....
It isn't entirely clear if they are just supposed to be launch-tubes with the fighters flying free down them, or whether they are catapult launch systems like in Battlestar Galactica or later Macross shows. Either seem to throw up some significant problems...
If they are launch tubes for free-flying Astrofighters this means that you are asking pilots to guide their fighters through some very precise manuevers, with absolutely no margin for error, straight after getting airborne. The tunnels are so small that one mistake by the pilot and you have an impact between Astrofighter and tunnel wall - almost certainly resulting in a totalled Astrofighter and a dead or injured pilot. To make matters worse you then have a launch tunnel blocked by Astrofighter debris until you can get people in their to clear it from the twisty-turney tunnel. (This is before we get into the unnecessary stress and fatigue on your pilots every time they launch and the resulting impact on readiness /pilot availability levels....). The twists and turns in the tunnel would also force the pilots to keep their throttles back, so it isn't as if the launch tunnel would allow them to build up some airspeed in situations where they had to launch under fire....
If the tunnels are catapults then... well someone appears to have missed the point of a catapult in launching fighters really. By building turns into the tunnels the catapult would be forced to use energy pulling the Astrofighter around the turns - instead of using said energy to increase the forward velocity of the Astrofighter. In fact, if the launch-tunnels are actually catapults the only part of them that is useable in terms of actually accelerating the Astrofighter is the last straight section. Assuming that it is a magnetic type catapult (given the lack of large quantities of steam), if they made them straight they could have built them at half the length that we see and got more than twice the actual gain in velocity-over-the-ramp.
Also, if the catapult malfunctions you've got an Astrofighter stuck in the tube which is going to be absolute murder to remove and get back to the hangar, as you have to tow it around the bends in the tunnel......
(Now it is possible that the whole tunnel thing is just a method to bring the Astrofighters up from very deep storage to protect them from orbital bombardment. To which I would observe that anything destructive enough to threaten them so deeply underground is going to bring down mountain, tunnel and launch-ramp anyway...)
The whole thing is just made slightly absurder by the fact that pretty much everything we see in Star Fleet that can fly appears to be capable of vertical or rolling short-takeoffs - so the Astrofighters probably don't even need that much of a take-off run anyway...
I understand what they were going for - like so much else it was built around the basis of "it'll look cool". Unfortunately my brain has never been able to switch off the "that is deeply impractical" response to that. I can accept a whole legion of daft ideas that Star Fleet throws at us - the Death Ball, the Space Net... - but these tunnels just make me want to put my head in my hands.....
Karl
(Sorry, but I was asked......)
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Post by blueshift on Sept 28, 2012 22:04:43 GMT
Karl, it's a puppet show.
They're all on strings.
Little strings.
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Post by legios on Sept 28, 2012 22:22:32 GMT
Karl, it's a puppet show. They're all on strings. Little strings. Yeah, I know. :-) Doesn't stop both sets of thoughts coexisting in my mind at the same time. Just like with the daft driving position on the SPV driving facing backwards is absurd, but SPV's are cool - just like EDF's launch arrangements are absurd but spamming large numbers of Astrofighters is still highly entertaining. Karl |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 29, 2012 7:39:23 GMT
Don't get me started on the electromagnetic space net......
I had real problems with episode 23..... some of which I think were related to episode 22. I think a little movement of material between episodes would have created a far better final product for both episodes and the series......
Karl: apparently the Termoids are meant to be robots in the original Japanese versio.....
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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 20, 2012 17:20:19 GMT
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Oct 20, 2012 17:33:29 GMT
Bookmarked.
Andy
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Post by legios on Oct 20, 2012 19:08:54 GMT
Coordinates locked in. Preparing for Quantum Speed.
Karl
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Oct 23, 2012 17:09:19 GMT
Phil's first StarFleet post is up.
Andy
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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 24, 2012 15:05:43 GMT
As is the second now. A little teething trouble involving the Blog's clock being set to Pacific Standard Time, and then because it converted the PST times to their BST equivilent. But we're good now.
Hope you're enjoying
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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 26, 2012 6:40:52 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 29, 2012 16:51:13 GMT
Hope you're all enjoying these: we've reached part 7 today!
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Post by Benn on Oct 29, 2012 16:56:13 GMT
I was enjoying them until you mentioned the Sky Garry lookalikes. Now I'll have to get him!
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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 29, 2012 18:29:58 GMT
Everyone needs Sky Garry. Or failing that Death Garrygun.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Oct 29, 2012 18:30:32 GMT
Indeed.
Andy
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Post by Benn on Oct 29, 2012 19:24:15 GMT
Quick ebay check, and... ow. Sky Garry is pricey. Much like all Star Fleet merchandise!
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Post by legios on Oct 29, 2012 20:33:41 GMT
I've just spent some time catching up with the Blog seeing as I have not had the opportunity to do so over the weekend. Good work Phil, and makes for some enjoyable reading.
Karl
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Post by Kingoji on Oct 29, 2012 22:01:16 GMT
The blog is now a part of my daily routine. I intended to watch along with you, but, dammit if this show isn't like Pringles. I'm about five episodes from the end now!
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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 30, 2012 17:47:55 GMT
Thanks Karl.
A few years back the Korean Death Garrygun could be had cheap ish ie about £20 from BBTS and others. Not now.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 15, 2012 8:32:11 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 25, 2013 6:56:38 GMT
What appears to be the Star Fleet pilot program:
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 28, 2016 23:20:36 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 28, 2016 23:28:53 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 28, 2016 23:29:17 GMT
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