Or that a lot of the cockpit instruments must have been stickers or painted on because even when flying straight and level the turn & bank indicator always showed otherwise
Then again maybe it wasn't so noticable on tv's of the era.
Space:1999 on Comet TV
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Or that a lot of the cockpit instruments must have been stickers or painted on because even when flying straight and level the turn & bank indicator always showed otherwise
Then again maybe it wasn't so noticable on tv's of the era.
Or that a lot of the cockpit instruments must have been stickers or painted on because even when flying straight and level the turn & bank indicator always showed otherwise
I think I saw a compass course indicator, too. And that brings up a whole other thing from BSG: An artificial horizon instrument in space?
Remember, the show is a British project - by 1999 NASA and the ESA had developed fledgling TARDIS/Dr. Who technology.
Well both the Eagles and Vipers can operating in space and planetary atmosphere so even if not necessary during space flight still need to be in primary flight display.
Also think it would help those onboard to be oriented the right way. I'm sure the craft could fly no problems on it's side, the disorientation of the passengers and crew would be pretty nasty though.
True, but on the Vipers they always show it rolling around in deep space flight.
What would be the right way, or on its side relative to what? Of course it would matter on landing approach, but otherwise I don't see why anyone would be disoriented.
Given it's based on a gyroscope that's to be expected.
Tell that to their inner ears and don't forget the Eagles have artificial gravity which will also affect things.
But the information is useless.
But that doesn't answer the question, relative to what? The inner ear works in relation to gravity, so artificial gravity oriented "down" through the spaceship deck should make the craft's flight attitude irrelevant to the occupants, especially without any visual reference. A plane in a bank/turn in the dark has killed many a pilot, a steady 1g pull through the seat of the pants, the inner ear thinks everything is nice and level, all of the sudden the plane isn't flying anymore.
Mentioning misaligned interiors, for the second season, that access corridor that bridged the pilot module with the detachable passenger module was totally removed. I real life I assume it was for ease of filming (fewer lights to position, fewer stage hands to operate sliding doors, easier camera setups to capture activity at one end or the other, etc.
But even as a kid I caught that. I guess the production reasoned the "average" viewer wouldn't care. Meh, they were probably right. But I kept picturing the pilot module bolted straight upon the passenger pod with this "abbreviated" arrangement.
But even as a kid I caught that. I guess the production reasoned the "average" viewer wouldn't care. Meh, they were probably right. But I kept picturing the pilot module bolted straight upon the passenger pod with this "abbreviated" arrangement.
http://catacombs.space1999.net/cybermuseum/cmshow.html?pic=Making/36.jpg
Here is the layout of the second season sound stage. Maybe the Eagle set lost the access corridor simply due to sound stage space. I do absolutely agree that they should have kept the access corridor and even added the aft engineering room that we only saw a glimpse of in one episode in season one "Testament Of Arkadia".
http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/cguide/umeagleaccess.html
http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/images/spacehd/dd/spdd0420.jpg
http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/merc/blueprint/ivmblueagle3.jpg
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Readouts that are anachronistic, inappropriate, or whatever the word is aside, pretty much all useful standard 3D coordinate systems have a stage at which the spatial coordinates are defined relative to a plane: Cartesian (z perpendicular to xy plane, vice versa, or any other combination of one axis vs two), spherical (zenith perpendicular to polar plane or vice versa), cylindrical (polar plane perpendicular to cylindrical axis or vice versa), etc.
In any case, three noncollinear points define a plane. Further, it's worth noting that gravitational two-body orbits are planar (in an inertial coordinate system).
Some ideas:
Coordinates for a battle plan might be specified in terms of Galactica's intended (and unperturbed) orbital plane as it guards the fleet that's jumping into hyperspace, and the Vipers' horizon plane is set equal to that. Or maybe three noncollinear points of interest define the Vipers' initial horizon plane, centroid of enemy Base Stars at launch (1), Galactica at launch (2), and expected position of Galactica when all civilian ships have jumped (3), with action therefore expected near or in that horizon plane, but with the option to reprogram, as during landing (as mentioned) or perhaps as the Galactica or Base Stars enter new orbits. Maybe the pilot can switch among a variety of preprogrammed coordinate systems.
Given the set layout I can't see any reason why they would have needed to remove the access corridor - it's not like there's anything else in front of the cockpit set that would need space than what was before.
Looking at the set layout, they have the travel tube car, connecting arm, eagle pod together but other than in Breakaway (after SImons lands on Alpha) did we ever see from the travel tube into the Eagle again?
The filming crew needed that space. Here is a picture filming in front of the Eagle cockpit set.
https://media.aintitcool.com/media/legacy/images2009/1999e.jpg
Yes, ten first season episodes and thirteen second season episodes used the travel tube set.
"It was my understanding that there would be no geometry..."
Absolutely, you could come up with any number of reasons to employ some planar system. But even with some mission-defined plane in deep space, most of the time it shouldn't really matter if the spacecraft was "inverted" or even "on its side" relative to it. Whereas with an atmospheric airfoil craft, there are some attitudes that don't work.
Anyway, I get that spaceships flying like airplanes are easier to watch, and I agree. Vipers and X-wings wouldn't need to bank to turn, but it looks good. I just always thought that instrument was funny. I want to say an altimeter was shown in a Viper too, but I'm not sure about that.
Yep.
I know they used the set I'm referring to a scene like the 7mins in to Breakaway where the look directly from the travel tube into the Eagle's pod.
Season one's "Dragon's Domain", "Black Sun" and "Testament Of Arkadia".
http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/images/spacehd/bs/spbs1877.jpg
Season two's "Beta Cloud" etc.
http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/images/spacehd/tbc/sptbc0713.jpg
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Well, duh! Don't you know that those aren't direct viewports? The pilots are obviously seated behind giant periscopes.
What doesn't look good is when a starship does it. Namely the Enterprise banking left and right like skiers through a giant slalom as it attacked the Doomsday Machine in the remastered edition, one of the numerous idiotic decisions made in the CGI effects.
Having now watched several episodes of the second season on CometTV, there are two things that I'll give producer Fred Freiberg credit for.
If there's one thing the first season suffered from is that too many of the planetary locations were hamstrung by being shot on a soundstage.
Even the Anderson's previous series U.F.O., with its budgets, had more outdoor footage.
And yes, I know that U.F.O. was set at the time on a near-future Earth, so more locations and establishing shots could be shown; however, that's no excuse for not taking a camera outside and shooting the sky through a tinted filter
Offhand I can think of a few episodes in the first season where the crew were exploring an alien world that would have benefited from some outdoor footage.
Even with the reduced budgets in the second season, the location footage actually opened up the series and made it look more expensive than it probably was.
Also, the characters display a little more warmth and have loosened up a bit in terms of acting in the second season.
Too often in the first season you're waiting for anyone other than Martin Landau to show some emotion; everyone is so flat.
Yeah, the dialogue and acting is still bad, but at least they're smiling.
Just my two cents.
If there's one thing the first season suffered from is that too many of the planetary locations were hamstrung by being shot on a soundstage.
Even the Anderson's previous series U.F.O., with its budgets, had more outdoor footage.
And yes, I know that U.F.O. was set at the time on a near-future Earth, so more locations and establishing shots could be shown; however, that's no excuse for not taking a camera outside and shooting the sky through a tinted filter
Offhand I can think of a few episodes in the first season where the crew were exploring an alien world that would have benefited from some outdoor footage.
Even with the reduced budgets in the second season, the location footage actually opened up the series and made it look more expensive than it probably was.
Also, the characters display a little more warmth and have loosened up a bit in terms of acting in the second season.
Too often in the first season you're waiting for anyone other than Martin Landau to show some emotion; everyone is so flat.
Yeah, the dialogue and acting is still bad, but at least they're smiling.
Just my two cents.
A description I read once talking the attitudes going from grim survivors in series one to a sense of wonderment and "lets see what's out there" in season 2.
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