Why Catapults?...

Preacher

Preacher

Swabbie
Banned
Hey, anyone wanna answer for me why a space fighter would need to be catapulted outta a space carrier?... In Naval operations, the idea is to get the bird up to speed fast so that it can clear the (short) runway w/ enough thrust and lift to not end up in the drink:

In space, there ain't that problem.... Only rationale I can figure is so that fighters can clear the deck *quicker*, thus to enable more birds to be launched quicker in a crisis situation (carrier under attack, etc.)

Thoughts?...
 
i think it is just a way to accelerate quickly to get ships off faster and so that they don't have to waste fuel to get to that speed and overcome inertia and scoop fields
 
It's also a hell of a lot safer to have yourself sent down a preset route out of an enclosed area, rather than trying to fly out.
 
While there is no catapult in some of the games, I think the reason a catapult would be neccesary is to get the fighter in battle quickly.I do not think that it is safe to engage engines on a deck except in emergencies.

The ships probably would have to use thrusters to exit the deck without a catapult. (Star Wars, when the X-wings prepare to leave Yavin, is a good example.) The fighters probably cannot engage their *true* engines untill they clear the ship. Lets ust say that I do not think that blasting off would be safe.
 
Originally posted by Napoleon
WHY??? fusion is an extremely safe form of power
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And I'm sure you're the expert on that, seeing as how you're the expert on everything else. Isn't that right, assboy?

As far as I know, nobody has actually built a working fusion reactor, so that'd make it difficult to gauge the safety, eh?

And I think LOAF was referring to the adverse affects of an exhaust stream from such a reactor on a closed environment. Shit would tend to break and people might get hurt.
 
Especially since that exhaust stream is pure radiation. Everyone should have some idea of what radiation does to living tissue...
 
... Perhaps because it's funnier !? :D
Well, there is a long list of strange things in WC... and it's so long that I don't want to write it... just imagine that there isn't sound in space, so canons, guns, everything is silent... contrary to what WC shows...

[I'M BACK !!! :D ]
 
Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
For the techs stuck in the drive wake...?
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This reminds me of something, which is I agree off the thread topic but still:
Does anyone agree with me that the guy with the signs in the landing movies of WC3 always looks like "whew, I'm glad he didn't run me over."?
 
Well, there is a long list of strange things in WC... and it's so long that I don't want to write it... just imagine that there isn't sound in space, so canons, guns, everything is silent... contrary to what WC shows...
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Well, hey! Look at the WC movie. Sonar in space...
:D

And Catapults of some kind (probably magnetic accelerator) are needed for WCP era tube-launch ships. I don't think it's exactly safe to be flying down that incredibly narrow tube under your own power.
 
Originally posted by Frosty

And I'm sure you're the expert on that, seeing as how you're the expert on everything else. Isn't that right, assboy?

As far as I know, nobody has actually built a working fusion reactor, so that'd make it difficult to gauge the safety, eh?

And I think LOAF was referring to the adverse affects of an exhaust stream from such a reactor on a closed environment. Shit would tend to break and people might get hurt.
Click to expand...

well exhaust makes sence, but frosty you are dead wrong about us not having a working fusion reactor, we have many operational right now, they just are not yet economically viable, check out www.pppl.org or maybe it is .gov the Priceton Plasma Physics Lab
 
well exhaust makes sence, but frosty you are dead wrong about us not having a working fusion reactor, we have many operational right now, they just are not yet economically viable, check out www.pppl.org or maybe it is .gov the Priceton Plasma Physics Lab
Click to expand...
Methinks he's talking about Cold Fusion, which is the safe kind supposedly, not the stuff we've been able to accomplish so far with super-heating lasers and all kinds of other interesting stuff.
 
as far as I can recall there were no catapults in wc 1 thru 4. Course the flight decks were large enough for ships to take of under their own power. and since their is no gravity in space ships don't have to worry about taking a dive at the end of the deck.

I do agree with stilleto about the Midway carriers though. also when you get launched from the Midway (or Cerberus in WC secret ops) your speed is at about 2200 kps when you leave the launch tube. :cool:
 
In Wing Commander 1 you're always shot out of a launch tube ("TUBES 6-9" on the wall as you run to your fighter, and then the sequence of your fighter shooting out of a tube...).

In Wing Commander 2 there are catapults -- they're what keeps getting damaged and preventing the Concordia from launching fighters early on.

The catapults on the Ranger and Concordia class ships in WC3 and 4 are spoken of in the novels.
 
Sorry LOAF its been years since I've played WC 1,2, or 3 so I wasn't sure. :confused:

And I haven't read any of the novels so I wouldn't about the Rangers and Concordia class ships.
 
Hehe, no problem, it's not the sort of thing you'd normally think about noticing.

(The Victory was Ranger class & the Lexington was Concordia class)
 
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