Gamal Gan/Bonnie Heather

frostytheplebe

frostytheplebe

Seventh Part of the Seal
I was just curious how one-two fighters were able to dock with a transport. and exactly how they docked in a way that the pilots could actually disembark? I think I could see it with the Crossbow as you exit that from undernieth, but the morningstar canopy opens up, so I was just curious if anyone had any ideas on this one??
 
These weren't ordinary transports - they were high tech Special Operations platforms. Fitting fighters into a transport shouldn't be hard... since a transport is nothing more than an empty hull for moving things from place to place.

The Bonnie Heather's 'flight deck' is described near the end of Freedom Flight. A pair of Rapiers are stored in her cargo hold. They launch under their own power after her external cargo door is opened. Presumably Blair's Crossbow was stored/launched from this same area.

The Gamal Gan is probably the same situation, though it doesn't show up to be described in a novel. Special Operations 2 refers to overhauling her internally, which included "fuel, munitions [and] repair capabilities," and then we're told that the Morningstars 'land' after each mission.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
These weren't ordinary transports - they were high tech Special Operations platforms. Fitting fighters into a transport shouldn't be hard... since a transport is nothing more than an empty hull for moving things from place to place.

The Bonnie Heather's 'flight deck' is described near the end of Freedom Flight. A pair of Rapiers are stored in her cargo hold. They launch under their own power after her external cargo door is opened. Presumably Blair's Crossbow was stored/launched from this same area.

The Gamal Gan is probably the same situation, though it doesn't show up to be described in a novel. Special Operations 2 refers to overhauling her internally, which included "fuel, munitions [and] repair capabilities," and then we're told that the Morningstars 'land' after each mission.
Click to expand...

We see similar stuff in academy with them hiding in the transports to ambush the stealth fighter.
 
Funny thing is that in game you hae only two fighters on those freighters but if you or your wingman eject, you can still finish mission and have two ships :D
 
Also, End Run talks about how docked fighters are handled in ordinary transports (the ones that can't have an internal hangar bay because all their interior is used to, you know, transport stuff) - the pilot actually goes for a space walk to get into his ship then. This isn't too hard to imagine - after all, WC pilots do wear space suits all the time (well, except in the movie). Remember the ejection scenes in WC1/2? The pilots' suits are sufficient protection, basically.

(if you think about it, a pilot in WC would actually have things slightly easier in this regard than his WWII equivalent - a fighter launched from a transport in WC could dock with the transport again afterwards, while in reality, the Sea Hurricanes that some convoy ships carried actually had to fly back to an ordinary coastal base afterwards)
 
Quarto said:
Also, End Run talks about how docked fighters are handled in ordinary transports (the ones that can't have an internal hangar bay because all their interior is used to, you know, transport stuff) - the pilot actually goes for a space walk to get into his ship then. This isn't too hard to imagine - after all, WC pilots do wear space suits all the time (well, except in the movie). Remember the ejection scenes in WC1/2? The pilots' suits are sufficient protection, basically.

(if you think about it, a pilot in WC would actually have things slightly easier in this regard than his WWII equivalent - a fighter launched from a transport in WC could dock with the transport again afterwards, while in reality, the Sea Hurricanes that some convoy ships carried actually had to fly back to an ordinary coastal base afterwards)
Click to expand...

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Sea Hurricanes were built rather cheap, and thus considered expendable. Carriers used them early on, however these fighters couldn't actually land on them, so the pilots usually had to ditch at sea and be recovered later... pretty crazy if you ask me.
 
I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Sea Hurricanes were built rather cheap, and thus considered expendable. Carriers used them early on, however these fighters couldn't actually land on them, so the pilots usually had to ditch at sea and be recovered later... pretty crazy if you ask me.
Click to expand...

It wasn't carriers that used the first Sea Hurricanes - it was merchant ships. They were launched from catapults and expected to land elsewhere (or ditch in the ocean if this was impossible). Later models did serve off of carriers, but they had arrestor hooks.

Funny thing is that in game you hae only two fighters on those freighters but if you or your wingman eject, you can still finish mission and have two ships
Click to expand...

Yeah - it makes sense that there's plenty of space to store Morningstars... but Paladin does specifically say there are *two* when he first describes the Gamal Gan's upgrades.
 
frostytheplebe said:
I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Sea Hurricanes were built rather cheap, and thus considered expendable. Carriers used them early on, however these fighters couldn't actually land on them, so the pilots usually had to ditch at sea and be recovered later... pretty crazy if you ask me.
Click to expand...
Bear in mind, the Sea Hurricanes were very, very rarely used (and, as LOAF points out, this is only the merchant-based model we're talking about). The main threat for merchant ships were German submarines and commerce raiders, against which the Sea Hurricanes were useless. Their role was limited to shooting down German recon aircraft, and there were very few of those. So the Sea Hurricanes were there for emergencies, not for "routine" missions.
 
I just tried re-writing it from memory, when I realised that I did have that scene recorded after all. Check the end of one of the missions in Canewdon (you may need to scroll to the end of the mission).
 
No, it's the mission designers that are quick to anger :). If you destroy the Gamal Gan, you couldn't very well use it to go after Ayer's Rock, now could you? So, the campaign had to end in defeat right there :).
 
I surely am :p. Whether it's in Standoff or in the games I work on professionally, cheap tricks like that are a necessity. Even if the game you make calls for a branching storyline, there are limits to how much branching you can accept - otherwise, you get stuck trying to do everything, and failing to do anything.
 
Eh, I was more implying that you, as a mission designer, are quick to anger. ;)

(Though I definately understand and agree with what your said. Hmm, agreeing seems to be the only thing I did in my last posts...)
 
Blaster said:
Ever try destroying the Gamal Gan in the first mission that you see it?
Tolwyn gets very upset.
Click to expand...

You know, i tried to destroy the Bonnie Heather... does that thing have Phase shields? It would not blow up!!! I used all of my ordinance on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top