That's not EXACTLY what I was thinking, but I like it. I agree with your comment about continuation of the "keel" as well. The only place I deviated from what you did, in my own thought process, was the idea of having the pylons going generally upwards at angles from that spine. Since that's roughly at the centerline, you'd have to "split" the impulse deck to avoid firing into the pylons. Maybe even split them by a significant distance, more along the lines of what the 1701-D did. But that's just a thought. When I was suggesting extending a "rib" from the back of the neck, yes, that's kind of what I meant... but not exactly. I assumed that it would "fill" and attach to the spin of the secondary hull, and that it would go rought 2/3 of the way back from the neck to the hangar bay. I was thinking that the semi-vertical pylons would come off of that, at angles, and would be slanted (ala the TMP pylons) and would attach to "ribs" inside the ring. Those pylons could then be used, as you mentioned, as heat radiators (remember, a radiator really needs to have its normal direction pointing away from any other part of the ship, or else you're just radiating right back into the ship!) I just spent a few moments sketching this up in CorelDraw. Ignore the lack of detail and any "iffy" proportional issues... this is just to show the concept I was thinking of. Pictures paint a thousand words and all that...
I like Cary's apprach in that it evens out the design and retains the inverted triangular front view of the connie--with that V-for-Victory stance. It's hard to put an elevated saucer in front of a ring and smooth it out, since there is always going to be that voice in the back of one's head saying--why not have a sphere up front and keep everything in a straight line?
Can I get in on this? Mine's not as original as the OP. I tried to recreate one of Jefferies' designs. The impulse engine will be located in the fantail under the shuttle bay. I have worked out a saucer separation geometry which would be a regular feature and not just an emergency thing. This is a WIP. Comments? Album Link
Can't say that I find the different orientations of cylinders equal in diameter to be a particularly pleasing prospect.
That was a fun video. When I look at the aft view, the engineering section appears as a medium circle near the side of the ring. Can you picture the whole system as a planetary gear? There would be two additional drums inside with bussard caps. A sun gear in the middle holds everything together. We don't necessarily have to see gear teeth. You said you wanted spinning mechanisms.
Nah, Cary! I've just been too busy this week to give everyone's posts the responses they deserve and play with the suggestions you've made. So I let Birdog distract you all while I got to other things. I'll be back to this this weekend, I hope.
Didn't mean to steal your thunder. I was inspired by your idea and then found the Jefferies sketch and had to build her.