Shipboard Federation Fighter

[Captain Robert April]

Wingsley said:
^^ One wonders what the TOS version of the "bee" looked like...

Probably the same as the TMP one. For one thing, it's a pretty utilitarian shape, so the only real changes would be in the cockpit controls, and TMP is only about three years or so after the end of the Enterprise's five-year mission.

Besides, has forklift design changed radically over the past fifty years? So why should workbee design change all that much?

 

[Buck Rogers]

Would the Cadet training ships from TNG work as fighters,of what I've seen of the cockpit design it looks they could be ex-fightercraft?

What does anybody think of that idea.

Signed
Buck Rogers

 

[Wingsley]

Are you speaking of the interplanetary ships seen in TNG's 5th season outing, "The First Duty"?

http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=118&pos=224

I would say great, if their wings could fold in for storage, and if nacelles could be attached to the wingtips.

 

[Vanyel]

Why would it need wings with wing tip nacelles? Why not a compact design. Some thing like a wedge body design with under body nacelles, a set of long landing gear would keep them off the floor.

Or:

Like the Defiant Class, the nacelles could be integrated into the main hull. A compact design makes a smaller target. It could even have the pulse phasers like the Defiant and/or phaser strips that follow the outline of the ship on both the ventral and dorsal surfaces. Forward and rear firing launchers with a small complement of torpedoes or a larger compliment of micro torpedoes.

The launchers could be one launcher that runs the length of the ship and allow for firing in either direction.

Damn I wish I could draw. Maybe I'll try that program from Google, because I can see the ship in my head already. Oh well.

Night all.

Going to see the doctor in the morning.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Wish my scanner worked. I've got a nifty idea that I could sketch up pretty quickly, but oh well...

 

[B.J.]

Wingsley said:
^^ One wonders what the TOS version of the "bee" looked like...

There was a pretty good rendition of one in one of the past "Ships of the Line" calendars. It was a spacedock scene with the TOS Enterprise. Unfortunately, I can't find a pic of it right now, since the only site I knew that had it (Guardian of Forever) has gone offline.

 

[Mysterion]

Captain Robert April said:

Wingsley said:
^^ One wonders what the TOS version of the "bee" looked like...

Probably the same as the TMP one. For one thing, it's a pretty utilitarian shape, so the only real changes would be in the cockpit controls, and TMP is only about three years or so after the end of the Enterprise's five-year mission.

Besides, has forklift design changed radically over the past fifty years? So why should workbee design change all that much?

Indeed, IIRC, we see workbees in Deep space nine and they seem to be (externally at least) unchanged from their appearance in TMP.

 

[Timo]

There's a subtle trick played with the bees in VOY "Relativity": instead of the original, cylindrar-tubular manipulator arms, they are given the manipulator system that Andrew Probert originally sketched for TMP, with angular, boxy fairings and two down-drooping clamps. The actual bee cabin remains unchanged, though.

It's too bad they felt the need to only show the new model in ST:NEM. And worse that they chose to show it in silly extravaganza (see, we now include this window behind Picard and B-4 in the awkward framing of this shot so that you can see the workbees fly by) yet still failed to zoom in sufficiently to give us a good look.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Captain Robert April]

Howzabout this?

 

[Wingsley]

Howzabout taking the shape of the nacelles off Spock's warpsled from TMP and scaling it down to use here?

 

[westwords2020]

Warp sled would be ideal and allow large torpedoes to be carried under the wing connecting port/starboard pylons/nacelles while allowing a large cabin with impulse and weapons/defense such as phasers/minitorpedoes/deflector screen generators.
Anyone care to draw a concept?

 

[Bernard Guignard]

Captain Robert April said:
Howzabout this?

I like it looking forward to some more views. :thumbsup:

 

[David Schmidt]

For my upcoming Miranda-class Heavy Frigate, I placed KillerBees in the Hangars (Wasps and Hornets). They are fairly boxy - and have underslung shuttlecraft-like nacelles.

For the Akira, I have utilized the immense Hangar space to hold Peregrine fightercraft. The wings fold up for storage and launch (damn small aft doors).

 

[ThomastheCat]

Do the federation fighter squadrons we see flying around in the Dominion War apply to this conversation?

Here's a YouTube clip of what I'm talking about. Fighters show up about a minute in.
Video clip of Fed fighters

 

[David Schmidt]

These are the ones I'm referring to:
http://www.geocities.com/stg63541/akira_class.html
I'm postulating warp capability (nacelles).

 

[Wingsley]

ThomastheCat said:
Do the federation fighter squadrons we see flying around in the Dominion War apply to this conversation?

Here's a YouTube clip of what I'm talking about. Fighters show up about a minute in.
Video clip of Fed fighters

I guess it depends on the ship and the era.

For TNG/DS9, maybe there are starships that can carry at least a few of those fighters.

That kind of ship would be an awfully tight fit in a Constitution-class launch bay, though. I doubt it could be lowered on the rotating elevator platform.

 

[Vance]

Why not combine the wings with the nacelles, allowing them to swing down for deployment? That would allow for an ordinance mount on them as well, without taking up floor space.

 

[Captain Robert April]

You'd have to seriously beef up the internal structure of the wings to handle warp nacelles being hung off the ends, which might cut into the feasibility of the thing.

 

[Vance]

Compared to the 2' that starships use? You can get a pretty good strut going there without too much difficulty. And, really, the only need for the wing assembly is just hard-points for weapons.

 

[Captain Robert April]

And I have a bit of a problem with my weapons and plasma conduits being so close to each other.

Granted, the whole design concept is only slightly above strapping on a thruster suit, grabbing a phaser rifle and jumping out the airlock to do battle, but still...