Constitutoin class ?

[James Wright]

Does anyone know the dimensions of the connecting dorsal between the primary and engineering hull of TOS Enterprise?
Do you suppose the connecting dorsal of the Constitution Class Starships was also used on Hermes and Saladin Class Starships?

JDW

 

[regemet]

I do not know the size but i think the hermes and saladin class would be the same as the constitution class.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Two answers...

1) The Hermes and Saladin classes were designed by Franz Joseph, who basically reused graphical elements from the Constitution. So, from that basis, they are the same general size.

2) However, the actual FUNCTION of that element is dramatically different, so it's not the same, either in terms of structural arrangement or internal equipment.

In other words... "yes and no." How's that for being helpful?

 

[James Wright]

How do you think each ship would look if the connecting dorsal was designed different for each class?(I've got an idea but I can't design it to be posted here!)

JDW

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Oh, geeze... as an engineer, I can't really answer that question with a VISUAL.

Rather, I have to answer it technically. The structure would be designed to best carry the load it's expected to carry.

Things I'd EXPECT (but cannot PREDICT) include the following:

1) Scout and Destroyer necks would be similar (since both carry a single nacelle) but the scout neck would be somewhat more delicate (since a scout is not expected to perform harsh maneuvering as often, but IS required to move faster... ie, less total mass would be a goal).

2) The tug neck would be much different, as its purpose is to simply PULL cargo pods along.

3) None would really look like the Constitution neck.

4) The dreadnought neck would be more of a "composite," much heavier than the connie neck and BLENDED into the upper nacelle support.

That's my "best guess" right now.

 

[Wingsley]

One thing I wondered about FJ designs (and fanon extrapolations of them) was where the fuel was supposed to be stored. In the saucer? In the neck? FJ and those who extrapolated from him in the 1970's (those that I've seen) never seemed to account for where the dueterium and antimatter would be stored, especially in large quantities for long durations in deep space.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Wingsley said:
One thing I wondered about FJ designs (and fanon extrapolations of them) was where the fuel was supposed to be stored. In the saucer? In the neck? FJ and those who extrapolated from him in the 1970's (those that I've seen) never seemed to account for where the dueterium and antimatter would be stored, especially in large quantities for long durations in deep space.

Prior to TMP, it was always pretty much assumed that the nacelles were self-contained units. That is, the matter acquisition (at the front), the matter storage, the antimatter generation, the antimatter storage, the reactor element, and the space-warp generation element, all inside the nacelle.

Since then, well... your guess is as good as anyone elses.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Wingsley said:
One thing I wondered about FJ designs (and fanon extrapolations of them) was where the fuel was supposed to be stored. In the saucer? In the neck? FJ and those who extrapolated from him in the 1970's (those that I've seen) never seemed to account for where the dueterium and antimatter would be stored, especially in large quantities for long durations in deep space.

This, in a nutshell, is a key problem many of us have with the FJ designs and those who adhere to them.

 

[Forbin]

^It's okay, It's not real.

 

[James Wright]

What do you all think if some lower part of the connecting dorsal were shaped like the sail of a submarine, say like the Alfa or Typhoon classes of the Soviet/Russian Navy?
The nacelle is several meters wider than the connecting dorsal so some sort of design change "may" be possible!

JDW

 

[Wingsley]

I'm not sure if I understand what you're suggesting, but about 15 or so years ago, I wondered what was the evolutionary path which led to the Constitution-class starship. My reasoning was that since the DY series of spacecraft were used for both sublight travel and 23rd century interstellar travel (the freighter Woden in "The Ultimate Computer") maybe the "submarine" shape evolved into the secondary hull and the DYellow upper fin became a dorsal neck to connect to the saucer. I even made (amateur) drawings of this 15 years ago.

When I saw the Phoenix in "First Contact", that just cemented the whole thing.

 

[James Wright]

I'm suggesting that the connecting dorsal be wider at it's base and narrow until it reaches a cetain height, then take on the usual appearance of a connecting dorsal.

JDW