Vesta-class slipstream drive?

[SicOne]

Well, this probably applies to slipstream drive in general; not only the Vestas but also the slipstream-equipped fleet led by Voyager back to the Delta Quadrant...how fast IS slipstream?

I know some of you wags will say, "As fast as the plot calls for" or other similar helpful callouts, but I am wondering how fast in relation to, say, Warp 9 = 1516c.

A similar recent query posted to Trek Tech did not reveal any good answers...hence here, since the writers would probably know.

 

[captcalhoun]

stupidly fast.

 

[Christopher]

Well, according to p. 5 of Unworthy, if I'm reading it correctly, a slipstream drive can make a journey of 45,000 light years in about two hours. Which works out to about 200 million c. That seems ridiculous, but it was even faster in "Timeless," in which Voyager covered 10,000 ly in around a minute. It was much slower in "Hope and Fear," though, about 20,000 ly per month.

So basically the answer seems to be that it's inconsistent; slipstream is capable of a wide range of different speeds depending on the type and context.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I know some of you wags will say, "As fast as the plot calls for" or other similar helpful callouts, but I am wondering how fast in relation to, say, Warp 9 = 1516c.
.

Not to sound like a wag, but warp 9 has never been 1516c. Those old warp speed formulas have never ever held up, not since the very start of TOS. "Speed of Plot but faster than warp" is the only real answer, I'm afraid.

 

[Christopher]

^True -- the published warp formulae have always been way, way too slow to correspond to what's been shown onscreen. They're basically meaningless.

 

[captcalhoun]

in which case, i refer you to my above post.

 

[MNM]

So basically the answer seems to be that it's inconsistent; slipstream is capable of a wide range of different speeds depending on the type and context.

Rather than just say it is inconsistent, I prefer to rationalise it that the speed you travel in slipstream depends entirely on your drive. So two ships can both go to slistream and unless they have identical slipstream drives installed, their speed wont be the same. A better made, more refined drive will be faster than a more crude (in comparison) one. I also like the idea of one drive=one speed, (ie no slipstream factor 1,2,3 etc..), though that hasnt always been agreed with when I mention it.

 

[Christopher]

^Which is a premise that can be described with the word "inconsistent," because the different drives (or types of drive) do not give performances that are consistent with one another. That's all I meant to suggest.

 

[MNM]

Ah, I thought you meant inconsistent in that the writers never set down a hard and fast rule, and just randomly chose the speed at which it travelled everytime it was used.

 

[Christopher]

That applies too.

 

[SicOne]

Thank you, gentlemen.

 

[MNM]

That applies too.

I know. but like I said, rather than sit there and just say that, I like to rationalise it away in universe with my slipstream drive stuff I was on about.