A bit about the history of this design. Back in the 80s several discussions with a friend* in law enforcement led to me sketching up a design for a patrol craft capable of chasing down miscreants like Harry Mudd and the Space Hippies. The design I came up with used the idea of the warp sled and extended it to a patrol craft with a small crew and limited duration.
Of that design, only the engines and rollbar remain, along with the warp sled idea. A great deal of the removed parts were heavily influenced by design cues gleaned from the F16 Fighting Falcon.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bkallabeth/WIPProtoRunabout?authkey=fYfsDlnM5Bw#
*(He contended that the Enterprise chasing down Harry Mudd was akin to an nuclear aircraft carrier doing drug interdiction duties and that it was plain silly that the federation didn't have dedicated craft for such events. )
Of that design, only the engines and rollbar remain, along with the warp sled idea. A great deal of the removed parts were heavily influenced by design cues gleaned from the F16 Fighting Falcon.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bkallabeth/WIPProtoRunabout?authkey=fYfsDlnM5Bw#
*(He contended that the Enterprise chasing down Harry Mudd was akin to an nuclear aircraft carrier doing drug interdiction duties and that it was plain silly that the federation didn't have dedicated craft for such events. )