Tallahassee class

[frostytheplebe]

These small cruisers are very distinct in thier design. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what the large "light" on the bow of the ship is? Is it some sort of sensor, a smaller version of the PTC, or perhaps a shield generator?

Also I must say I'm rather skeptical of the WC3 designs. The landing bay is so close to the engines, a severely damaged fighter wouldn't be able to land on a cruiser. If they were to land on a carrier, the fighter would have to land on the bow, otherwise wouldn't they risk getting caught in the engine wash?

 

[Jason_Ryock]

These small cruisers are very distinct in thier design. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what the large "light" on the bow of the ship is? Is it some sort of sensor, a smaller version of the PTC, or perhaps a shield generator?

This has been discussed many many many times. The answer is: We don't know. It's similar (somewhat) to the same piece of equipment on the Murphy, though people are going to dispute that point because the Murphy's is rendered as part of the model and the Tallahassee has it printed on the texture.

Also I must say I'm rather skeptical of the WC3 designs. The landing bay is so close to the engines, a severely damaged fighter wouldn't be able to land on a cruiser. If they were to land on a carrier, the fighter would have to land on the bow, otherwise wouldn't they risk getting caught in the engine wash?

You're assuming they do manual landings. In the books there are frequent references to "being caught" by the Tractor beams. A pilot only flies a hands on approach to get "into the grove" which I assume is a slang term for the area of coverage for the landing tractor beams to be able to grab a fighter.

During fast turn arounds or quick recovers (such as right before a jump) it's possible they have the ship glide all the way in, but a tractor beam recovery of a fighter even with damaged or disabled thrusters wouldn't be very hazardous if the tractor beams were keeping the fighter from moving around.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

This has been discussed many many many times. The answer is: We don't know. It's similar (somewhat) to the same piece of equipment on the Murphy, though people are going to dispute that point because the Murphy's is rendered as part of the model and the Tallahassee has it printed on the texture.

The weapon on the Murphy was referred to internally as a "Centerline Hull Mount Mk4 Heavy Plasma Cannon," and I'm sure the lancing point on the Tallahassee was drawn with something similar in mind. Neither weapon shows up 'in continuity,' though, so there's no absolutely correct answer.

Also I must say I'm rather skeptical of the WC3 designs. The landing bay is so close to the engines, a severely damaged fighter wouldn't be able to land on a cruiser. If they were to land on a carrier, the fighter would have to land on the bow, otherwise wouldn't they risk getting caught in the engine wash?

Well, there's a few problems here, beyond Jason_Ryock's alread:

* The Tallahassee-class doesn't carry fighters - it's only a shuttle bay and probably isn't designed for combat recovery operations.

* I've personally hever had a problem with engine wash damaging my ship while flying around in Wing Commander... but if I did then there's an easy solution to recovering crippled shuttles that can't fly straight or be caught in a tractor beam -- shut off the cruiser's engines during recovery.