"She's a beautiful lady and we love her!" - James T. Kirk...
USS ENTERPRISE HAYNES OWNERS MANUAL (Part 3)
- Thread starter Starlock
- Start date
"She's a beautiful lady and we love her!" - James T. Kirk...
I was poking around on Amazon and it looks like there was a "Haynes" manual to the Apollo 11 spacecraft (including the Saturn V, the LM and related vehicles) and based on the customer reviews on the website it seems like THAT BOOK suffers from some of the same problems. The "promise" people are lead into with the Haynes name isn't met by the actual content of the book. The Apollo book, again based on reader reviews, has the same problems discussed here where it's not enough detailed technical information based on a "complete tear-down and rebuild" as expected in these types of books and their car counterparts but the book is more of a condensed and distilled version of better material that is already out there.
So it seems like this may be more a problem on Haynes' execution of the project(s) than it is with any action on Paramount's (or I guess NASA's) participation in the project.
Now, honestly, if Haynes has just bit the bullet and gave the project to Okuda and Sternbach (among others) and had them run with this idea we could've really had something. But it seems Haynes is... suffering from not many people working on their own cars so they're releasing these fluffy books centered around other vehicles (real and fictional) to stay afloat?
But that still leaves me with why they're doing these fluffy books instead of sticking with what their brand is known for.
(And, upon checking, it turns out that Haynes is the brand that boasts being "based on a complete tear-down and rebuild" and is the book I had for all my previous cars, the book for my current car, however, is a Chilton)
So it seems like this may be more a problem on Haynes' execution of the project(s) than it is with any action on Paramount's (or I guess NASA's) participation in the project.
Now, honestly, if Haynes has just bit the bullet and gave the project to Okuda and Sternbach (among others) and had them run with this idea we could've really had something. But it seems Haynes is... suffering from not many people working on their own cars so they're releasing these fluffy books centered around other vehicles (real and fictional) to stay afloat?
But that still leaves me with why they're doing these fluffy books instead of sticking with what their brand is known for.
(And, upon checking, it turns out that Haynes is the brand that boasts being "based on a complete tear-down and rebuild" and is the book I had for all my previous cars, the book for my current car, however, is a Chilton)
I agree with the expectation of what constitutes a Haynes manual -- that is what I wanted too.
I loved "The Space Shuttle Operator's Manual" as a kid...
http://www.amazon.com/Space-Shuttle-Operators-Manual-Revised/dp/0345341813
... and that is much more what I expected this new Haynes manual to be.
I loved "The Space Shuttle Operator's Manual" as a kid...
http://www.amazon.com/Space-Shuttle-Operators-Manual-Revised/dp/0345341813
... and that is much more what I expected this new Haynes manual to be.
Slightly off-topic, but I have both a TNG Tech Manual AND a set of 1701-D Blueprints still brand-new and wrapped in unbroken shrink-wrapping... both the book and the prints.
I bought them both way back when to have as backups, in case my usuals got ruined.
^I have two sets of the blueprints and three TNG tech manuals.. had one for a long time, but I was in a comic book store and they had 'em for $5 each, so I got two, plus another copy of Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, also at $5.
That's pretty sweet. I also have a set of the Ed Whitefire 1701-D blueprints... the actual paper ones.
I borrowed that from the library once. Awesome book. I need to buy a copy of it. That's definitely more what this book should've been.
The Haynes book was something I would like to have liked, but everything I've seen and read about regarding it just leaves me unimpressed. The best Trecknical reference books have (so far) been done years ago. And while they might well have been off in some to many respects they really fed the enthusiasm of the show.
The Making Of Star Trek - This really is the grandaddy of them all. I think I must have owned perhaps three copies of this book including the one I have presently on my bookshelf. It gave us the first descriptions of the Enterprise's layout, it's facilities and capabilities, its equipment. It gave us character bios (albeit some of them limited). It gave us some background of the main alien races. And it gave us the first ship schematics for the Enterprise, the Klingon Battle Cruiser, the shuttlecraft, the shuttlecraft flight deck and the bridge. For some of us back in the day this book was gold...and in some respects it still is (if you have a copy) because it gives one a glimpse into what fans could see of the behind-the-scenes of Star Trek when it was still fresh and the only and best game in town. It wouldn't surprise me if TMoST got a lot us started drawing starship schematics. (-:
Star Trek Booklet Of General Plans - It didn't really matter that you likely soon realized that this Constitution-class that Franz Joseph had rendered wasn't really consistent with the familiar starship we saw onscreen. What mattered (at the time) was that it fleshed out details of the ship so many of us were so fascinated with. It helped make the Enterprise seem even more real by extrapolating from what was known and endeavoring to fill in the blanks. And FJ's work set the pattern for endless fan generated work that would follow from crude drawings to slickly finished publications. I patterned the style my Set Of General Plans for my drawings of the TOS Class F Shuttlecraft after FJ's work.
It must be said that in recent years I've seen some devoted fans render absolutely fantastic cross-section drawings of the starship Enterprise that indeed surpass what FJ had done in so many respects. Yet each of those fans credit FJ for their inspiration. It is work such as theirs that make books like the Haynes manual so disappointing.
Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual - FJ's second great work. Again it didn't matter that it wasn't always consistent (and sometimes was way off) with what had been established onscreen. FJ was fleshing out the known TOS universe and it was exciting stuff. It was good enough that some things that FJ put in the book actually got referenced in some of the later Trek feature films, notably TMP and TWOK. This book is still available as a reissue in soft cover form from Ballantine Books.
Star Trek Concordance - Bjo Trimble gave us the first encyclopedia like reference book to TOS, TAS and then later editions included the films.
U.S.S. Enterprise Bridge Blueprints, Klingon D-7 Battle Cruiser Blueprints, Romulan Bird of Prey Blueprints - Regrettably I never even knew these existed back when they were made and as such I never saw them until copies were posted online decades later. Researched and drawn by Mike McMaster apparently these really set a standard for attention to detail and consistency for what was seen and had been established onscreen. I regret I never owned these notable works.
Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual - This is one of the very best of the early reference books that details the background and physiology of so many (if not all) of the alien lifeforms mentioned in TOS and TAS. I don't think any subsequent reference book has ever equaled or come close to it in scope of the subject matter.
Star Trek - The Motion Picture Blueprints - David Kimble gave us beautiful schematics of the refit Enterprise, the K'tinga-class Battle Cruiser, the Vulcan shuttle and more from TMP. Granted he didn't go as far as FJ in fleshing them out, but these were very detailed and faithful drawings.
Star Trek Compendium - The final edition of Alan Asherman's work is most noteworthy because it covers all six TOS derived films as well as TOS and TAS. There are story synopsis as well as background tidbits for all the episodes and films as well as series development. The meat of this book beats Star Trek 365 to the punch by easily a couple of decades even if it doesn't have the slickly reproduced pictures of the 365 book.
Mr. Scott's Guide To The U.S.S. Enterprise - Shane Johnson follows in FJ's footsteps with this detailed look at the refit Enterprise, sets, ships and uniforms. That said it doesn't have the scope of FJ's Technical Manual.
Star Trek Sketchbook - A wonderful look at how many of TOS' ideas in terms of ships, sets, aliens and costumes came to life.
Star Trek - The Next Generation Technical Manual - Although I'm primarily a TOS fan this is a good book that explains much of the technobabble science and technology of the 1701D.
The Star Trek Chronology - I have the first edition and didn't bother with the later revisions because I wasn't interested in the later series and films. This book went where so many fans had gone before over the years in trying to put everything seen up to that point in a consistent and logical sequence of events. Whether they succeeded really is entirely up to the individual fan's judgement.
The Star Trek Encyclopedia - This slickly produced work follows in the footsteps of Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance only it encompasses all the Trek series and films. It's a handy reference guide if you're interested in the entire Trek franchise.
The Art Of Star Trek - From TOS through to the film Generations this book is similar to the Star Trek Sketchbook only it covers more than TOS.
Inside Star Trek - While not a technical reference book this is a superb book looking at behind the scenes of TOS' development and production.
There are, of course, a number of other Trek reference books that have been done over the years. Some of them were fan generated publications as well as "official" publications licensed by Paramount. The "official" books are slickly produced, but for myself I've noted that as the books got more polished in presentation they also became less substantial in subject matter and content. They're nice books, but many of them cover ground that's already been done before and often enough better.
The age of the PC, the internet, the near instant access and sharing of resources as well as the sophisticated software available is allowing dedicated fans to beat the "professional" publications in terms of content and execution. The real advantage the fans have is:
- lack of deadline (-:
- adequate time to devote to what is a labour of love
- a near zealous attention to detail and authenticity
Essentially they've got the time to devote to work they really care to get right.
The Making Of Star Trek - This really is the grandaddy of them all. I think I must have owned perhaps three copies of this book including the one I have presently on my bookshelf. It gave us the first descriptions of the Enterprise's layout, it's facilities and capabilities, its equipment. It gave us character bios (albeit some of them limited). It gave us some background of the main alien races. And it gave us the first ship schematics for the Enterprise, the Klingon Battle Cruiser, the shuttlecraft, the shuttlecraft flight deck and the bridge. For some of us back in the day this book was gold...and in some respects it still is (if you have a copy) because it gives one a glimpse into what fans could see of the behind-the-scenes of Star Trek when it was still fresh and the only and best game in town. It wouldn't surprise me if TMoST got a lot us started drawing starship schematics. (-:
Star Trek Booklet Of General Plans - It didn't really matter that you likely soon realized that this Constitution-class that Franz Joseph had rendered wasn't really consistent with the familiar starship we saw onscreen. What mattered (at the time) was that it fleshed out details of the ship so many of us were so fascinated with. It helped make the Enterprise seem even more real by extrapolating from what was known and endeavoring to fill in the blanks. And FJ's work set the pattern for endless fan generated work that would follow from crude drawings to slickly finished publications. I patterned the style my Set Of General Plans for my drawings of the TOS Class F Shuttlecraft after FJ's work.
It must be said that in recent years I've seen some devoted fans render absolutely fantastic cross-section drawings of the starship Enterprise that indeed surpass what FJ had done in so many respects. Yet each of those fans credit FJ for their inspiration. It is work such as theirs that make books like the Haynes manual so disappointing.
Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual - FJ's second great work. Again it didn't matter that it wasn't always consistent (and sometimes was way off) with what had been established onscreen. FJ was fleshing out the known TOS universe and it was exciting stuff. It was good enough that some things that FJ put in the book actually got referenced in some of the later Trek feature films, notably TMP and TWOK. This book is still available as a reissue in soft cover form from Ballantine Books.
Star Trek Concordance - Bjo Trimble gave us the first encyclopedia like reference book to TOS, TAS and then later editions included the films.
U.S.S. Enterprise Bridge Blueprints, Klingon D-7 Battle Cruiser Blueprints, Romulan Bird of Prey Blueprints - Regrettably I never even knew these existed back when they were made and as such I never saw them until copies were posted online decades later. Researched and drawn by Mike McMaster apparently these really set a standard for attention to detail and consistency for what was seen and had been established onscreen. I regret I never owned these notable works.
Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual - This is one of the very best of the early reference books that details the background and physiology of so many (if not all) of the alien lifeforms mentioned in TOS and TAS. I don't think any subsequent reference book has ever equaled or come close to it in scope of the subject matter.
Star Trek - The Motion Picture Blueprints - David Kimble gave us beautiful schematics of the refit Enterprise, the K'tinga-class Battle Cruiser, the Vulcan shuttle and more from TMP. Granted he didn't go as far as FJ in fleshing them out, but these were very detailed and faithful drawings.
Star Trek Compendium - The final edition of Alan Asherman's work is most noteworthy because it covers all six TOS derived films as well as TOS and TAS. There are story synopsis as well as background tidbits for all the episodes and films as well as series development. The meat of this book beats Star Trek 365 to the punch by easily a couple of decades even if it doesn't have the slickly reproduced pictures of the 365 book.
Mr. Scott's Guide To The U.S.S. Enterprise - Shane Johnson follows in FJ's footsteps with this detailed look at the refit Enterprise, sets, ships and uniforms. That said it doesn't have the scope of FJ's Technical Manual.
Star Trek Sketchbook - A wonderful look at how many of TOS' ideas in terms of ships, sets, aliens and costumes came to life.
Star Trek - The Next Generation Technical Manual - Although I'm primarily a TOS fan this is a good book that explains much of the technobabble science and technology of the 1701D.
The Star Trek Chronology - I have the first edition and didn't bother with the later revisions because I wasn't interested in the later series and films. This book went where so many fans had gone before over the years in trying to put everything seen up to that point in a consistent and logical sequence of events. Whether they succeeded really is entirely up to the individual fan's judgement.
The Star Trek Encyclopedia - This slickly produced work follows in the footsteps of Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance only it encompasses all the Trek series and films. It's a handy reference guide if you're interested in the entire Trek franchise.
The Art Of Star Trek - From TOS through to the film Generations this book is similar to the Star Trek Sketchbook only it covers more than TOS.
Inside Star Trek - While not a technical reference book this is a superb book looking at behind the scenes of TOS' development and production.
There are, of course, a number of other Trek reference books that have been done over the years. Some of them were fan generated publications as well as "official" publications licensed by Paramount. The "official" books are slickly produced, but for myself I've noted that as the books got more polished in presentation they also became less substantial in subject matter and content. They're nice books, but many of them cover ground that's already been done before and often enough better.
The age of the PC, the internet, the near instant access and sharing of resources as well as the sophisticated software available is allowing dedicated fans to beat the "professional" publications in terms of content and execution. The real advantage the fans have is:
- lack of deadline (-:
- adequate time to devote to what is a labour of love
- a near zealous attention to detail and authenticity
Essentially they've got the time to devote to work they really care to get right.
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Asherman is still in the proverbial doghouse for lifting large chunks from the Concordance, errors and all, for his Compendium.
If you intend to get this manual, then I very-very-very-strongly suggest you get The Mars One Crew Manual - written by the same author.
http://www.amazon.ca/BT-MARS-CREW-K...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293817599&sr=1-2
This is the book that the raised my expectations of what the ST:TNG Technical Manual should have been like - as well as any and every Star Trek "Tech" written since.
Just a reminder: Pages from the SFMR made an appearance as classroom displays in Deep Space Nine.
Yeah, I have both books and I highly recommend them! There's also a Moonbase book out there, (http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Moonbase-Ben-Bova/dp/0345328590)
which I used to have, and although cool, not nearly as much so as the above two (which is why, I guess, I was willing to part with it when I was in one of my rare purging moods?)
It was about the 2009 Calendar and what we wanted to see in the 2010.
And I lolcatted: I CAN HAS VERTICAL WARBIRD?
He heard. Hooray for SoTL 2011!
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<snip>
Yeah, I have both books and I highly recommend them! There's also a Moonbase book out there, (http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Moonbase-Ben-Bova/dp/0345328590]Welcome to Moonbase[/url])
which I used to have, and although cool, not nearly as much so as the above two (which is why, I guess, I was willing to part with it when I was in one of my rare purging moods?)
Pity that. Still have my copy though.
A must read is How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surving and Thriving on the Red Planet
A kind of what-the-Star-Fleet-Technical-Manual-would-have-been-like-if-written-by-the-characters-from-Firefly work. Part hard science with a satirical narration that lays out the legal and not-so-legal ways an average individual can make the most out of living on Mars.
And thanks to that, they're eligible for inclusion in the next edition of the Concordance (particularly since, IIRC, the episode in question has a TOS connection somewhere in the plot
).
Yeah, I have both books and I highly recommend them! There's also a Moonbase book out there, (http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Moonbase-Ben-Bova/dp/0345328590)
which I used to have, and although cool, not nearly as much so as the above two (which is why, I guess, I was willing to part with it when I was in one of my rare purging moods?)
I have all of these books and have to say the Mars One manual is my fave!
Saquist
Commodore
I just looked at the Manual....
To my dismay they diescribe the impulse engines as a Rocket...
I as shocked.
One of the biggest problems in space travel is fuel and NONE of Federation ships have no where near the propper capacity of fuel to justify them as "rockets" neither do they effect the proper manuvers for retro fire...ever.
There have been statements that Federation ships could be using mass reducers but that would make the collision events impossible and others have suggested that force fields are being used as retro fire however Star Trek Enterprise has shown that they do not have forcefields and they still reverse engines in the same way.
The books explanations just don't fit with the on screen.
To my dismay they diescribe the impulse engines as a Rocket...
I as shocked.
One of the biggest problems in space travel is fuel and NONE of Federation ships have no where near the propper capacity of fuel to justify them as "rockets" neither do they effect the proper manuvers for retro fire...ever.
There have been statements that Federation ships could be using mass reducers but that would make the collision events impossible and others have suggested that force fields are being used as retro fire however Star Trek Enterprise has shown that they do not have forcefields and they still reverse engines in the same way.
The books explanations just don't fit with the on screen.
