Star Trek VI's Prototype Bird of Prey 'Steering' Wheel

[Jeyl]

In Star Trek V, it was a symbol of the early days of exploration. In Star Trek Generations, it was a holographic representation of said early days of exploration.

But in Star Trek VI, and I am literally discovering this right now 32 years later, it's the literal steering device for the Prototype Klingon Bird-of-Prey. A wheel. LOOK!

Suddenly that weird gesture the navigator makes before we cut to the torpedo button being pressed now makes sense. He's not making a gesture. He's literally steering the ship with a wheel.

Did anyone catch this initially? As mentioned earlier. I've only just caught this now. Judging by how much of the bridge set we see, it looks like they went through a lot of effort to hide it. You don't see the navigator and the wheel clearly at the same time. The one shot with the navigator charting a course to intercept the Enterprise doesn't have the wheel anywhere in sight, but his movements certainly reflect that he's using it. I always saw it as some weird button/stick layout he was motioning through.

I know everyone likes to bash Nicholas Meyer for making his Trek movies seem too militiristic and sea boat like, but this might be the most literal example of that.

Sorry if this has been discussed before but I'm just... can you imagine if Meyer put this on the Enterprise bridge? I think this is worse than the Ent-E's manual steering column. At least that moves the ship in three dimensions.

 

[NCC-73515]

Maybe in honor of the Barge of the Dead

 

[Tosk]

I always interpreted that arm movement as wheel turning, but I honestly never consciously thought about it. I personally don't see an issue with a wheel or a joystick.

Now that I think about it, it's kind of cool. It fits with the periscope seen in 5 and 7. Most species basically using the same control system is a tad boring.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Holy shit

 

[Jeyl]

It fits with the periscope seen in 5 and 7. Most species basically using the same control system is a tad boring.

The periscope complimented the Klingon Captain in V since he wanted to be the one to deliver the killing blow rather than his officers. The wheel is... just there.

The Joystick works better (Darn you Insurrection!) since that allows for movement in three dimensions. Up, down, left and right and all the in-betweens. I even interpreted the holding of the trigger and moving the joystick to make the Enterprise roll when he moved the stick. What can you do with just a wheel?

 

[Tosk]

The periscope complimented the Klingon Captain in V since he wanted to be the one to deliver the killing blow rather than his officers. The wheel is... just there.

He could deliver a killing blow with a button on a console too. But it's less interesting. You don't have to sacrifice style for function.

What can you do with just a wheel?

All the same things you can do with a joystick. Even if it didn't have a forward/backward motion to it (like a plane's yoke), those can be controlled separately.

 

[J.T.B.]

I never noticed this.

It looks like he's actually giving the wheel close to a complete 360 turn. This makes sense when the wheel is mechanically linked to the actual means of steering (rudder, wheels), and especially if those means were hard to move and the mechanism gave mechanical advantage. The size of a steering wheel, also, gives an indication of the input force needed (bigger diameter steering wheel, greater leverage). What is that thing turning? If a steering wheel-type input is desired, I have a hard time imagining why it couldn't be small enough to turn with the fingers of one hand.

I like Nick Meyer, but he made some choices that are just silly.

 

[Tosk]

Klingons like to be theatrical.

If a steering wheel-type input is desired, I have a hard time imagining why it couldn't be small enough to turn with the fingers of one hand.

Why don't modern cars have a tiny one-hand steering wheel? Let us redefine progress to mean that just because we can do a thing it does not necessarily follow that we must do that thing.

 

[J.T.B.]

Why don't modern cars have a tiny one-hand steering wheel?

Because in most vehicles a human is actually moving the steering assembly through a mechanical linkage, and the assembly is heavy and hard to move, even with hydraulic assistance. In steer-by-wire vehicles, wheels or yokes are still preferred because that's what drivers are accustomed to, but joysticks have been tested and can do the job. More importantly, steer-by-wire that uses a wheel or yoke input no longer requires full rotations and hand-over-hand movements.

I don't see what would be comparable in the space vessel.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

It's not a steering wheel, it's to spin around the captians chair while he recites Shakespere, as it's well known that Klingon legs are so short that they do not reach the floor when they sit.

 

[Tosk]

Because in most vehicles a human is actually moving the steering assembly through a mechanical linkage

But we can make vehicles with powered steering that don't require a traditional steering apparatus. So why don't we?

Edit: Just to be clear, I'm not actually looking for a technical explanation. My point is that sometimes you just design something a certain way because you want to, not because it has to be pure function.

It's not a steering wheel, it's to spin around the captians chair while he recites Shakespere, as it's well known that Klingon legs are so short that they do not reach the floor when they sit.

I felt a very odd mix of emotions the first time I noticed that Chang was spinning the chair himself with those little leg movements we've all done.

 

[drt]

I've always wondered how TWoK would have looked if Meyer wasn't forced to use the TMP sets, models and stock footage. I bet the whole thing would have been considerably different if he had carte blanche.

 

[publiusr]

Might be good to ask him.

I might have read the old naval magazine PROCEEDINGS and looked at the ads.

Wanting a naval look…he might have went for this:
https://www.jhuapl.edu/Content/techdigest/pdf/V35-N02/35-02-Reggia.pdf

Think the polar opposite of Okudagrams
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/4433299626213312/

This at helm:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rudyperry/27725979246

Japan actually went Trek with its CIC

The old AN-225 didn’t just have a flight engineer…it had six seats and an extended cockpit.

So you would have a co-pilots station for Chekhov, then the CIC radar, an Aegis fire control console for Sulu…NAPS for engineering…

 

[trekshark]

The old AN-225 didn’t just have a flight engineer…it had six seats and an extended cockpit.

RIP