posted
I'm working on a Oberth Class Science ship and I'm wondering how to deal with the shuttlebay issue. I have already scaled the ship up to 200 meters as a compromise between the stated size of 120 meters and the bridge scene in The Search For Spock. I'm of the mind to assign the three square openings in the primary hull as shuttlebays.
I know the original series NCC-1701 had small docking ports under the primary hull, and the Miranda/Avenger class cruisers had primary hull mounted shuttlebays, so there is a precedence there. Thoughts, Opinions?
posted
I'd say the opening at the front is a small shuttlebay and the two one the sides are more for workbees and EVA than shuttles (as the nacelles would bock easy access for shuttles).
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: I'd say the opening at the front is a small shuttlebay and the two one the sides are more for workbees and EVA than shuttles (as the nacelles would bock easy access for shuttles).
That would work good! I have workbees I could assign to the ship. I didn't think they would have a full blown shuttlebay like the larger ships. Probably small bays with a couple of shuttles each.
posted
I'm sure back then they had type 25 shuttles or what ever they were - similar to the little ones seen in "Time Squared" and "The Ensigns of Command" etc.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
I doubt it- we're talking about 85 years of advancment to get those little coffins...
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
Yeah, that's what I suggested. It's always kinda bugged me that starships seem incapable of major self-repairs by the TNG era. I mean, they have replicators, workbees, shuttles, tractor beams...
I think a ship (even an Oberth) would beed to be able to repair structural damage via EVA excursions (thus the need for workbee bays on a tiny science ship).
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
I reckon the square at the front would be better suited as a deflector or comm dish/patch of some sort. The round domes UNDER where the bussard collectors would be could work AS bussard collectors. They don't all have to be glowy red.
quote:Originally posted by AndrewR: Also does anyone know what the 'tunnel' is at the back of the secondary hull?
When I first saw the ship in STS- all those years ago - I thought the secondary hull was the warp nacelle. Nobody else seemed to agree (the old "no one or three nacelle" thing again?) so I shut up about it but I still have the feeling that it could be. Especially if the ship's design was based on the old Hermes or Saladin...
-------------------- It's life Jim, but not as we know it...
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posted
One set of fan-drawn plans (the one that called the ship the Glenn Class Fleet Survey Vessel) placed the shuttlebay in the secondary hull. It was beneath the domed section with access through overhead doors. Since the length of the ship is roughly the same as your tentative specs (the plans list a length of 198.4m), that location might work. Of course, even at that size you still have the problem of how to move between the hulls; God, I hate the ILM ship designs!
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posted
I'm still not convinced that every starship needs a shuttle. Or even a workbee. What sort of a component would the ship have that would be too large for a spacesuited person or group of persons to handle, yet not too large to be taken to some sort of a workshop inside the ship, repaired, and taken out again?
There's no real point to carrying a big "forklift" or "crane" that can move entire warp coils if you don't have a trunk where you'd keep a spare warp coil.
The weird "tunnel" at the stern of the ventral pod is somewhat exaggerated in that artwork. It's the mounting point for the motion control rod, and I'm not convinced it is even there in those shots where the rod is not used... DVD 'caps of the introductory shot in ST3 should show it best.
posted
Well, if it helps, this is what I came up with. I assigned the three areas on the primary hull as shuttlebays. The forward one is twenty meters deep to accept 1 or 2 Standard Shuttles at 18.5 meters each.(Surak style, TMP Era.) The port and starboard bays are 10 meters deep to accept a few workbees each.
The reason I have embarked craft on a two-hundred meter ships is for all the times when all the power is down, the tranporters are out, or Spock's other brother comes to dinner! Early Starfleet vessels are fairly tough, tougher than their TNG successors. But to do repairs you are either going to make it back to a spacedock or fix the ship on site. If you are going to fix the ship onsite, your EVA options are small craft or spacesuits.
I did notice the spaces on the back of the primary hull, but those looked tight for even a 2.7 meter workbee! I figured them for cargo areas.
I'm looking at even a 200 meter Orberth as being a real PITA for getting through the pylons into the lower hull. A dedicated single-pad tranporter would probably work better and be more energy efficient.
If I can post an image here, I'll try to get a shot of the Workbee up against the pylon to see if a turbolift shaft could fit a 200 meter Oberth.
quote:Originally posted by AndrewR: Also does anyone know what the 'tunnel' is at the back of the secondary hull? That hull/pod has rather a Vulcan feel to it when viewing it from below: http://shipyard.scifi-art.com/sfa_oberth_bottom.jpg
I have that pegged as a large sensor pallet. The type of area that on some plans show up as "Open to all forms of EMS radiation, etc." On my model that area is blue to match the rest of the hull trim, the forward area of the secondary hull is bare hull.
posted
Back in the day, I thought the lower pod was a nacelle....and it probably serves as the flush vents for the nacelles (that dark grey ventlike area at the pod's ventral aft could easily serve that purpose).
Now I think of it as a sensor only kind of thing: it might also house heavy equipment to be beamed down to a planet and then back up into storage (all done remotely from the primary hull).
That odd "tunnel" at the aft is visible in STIII and TNG, so it's probably a sensor (though a much-needed aft-facing probe launcher would work better).
I'd have to give the ship a shuttlebay: for the reasons Tim pointed out- sooo many planets have atmospheres that prohibit transporter use, and transporters are ofter dangerous to seriously injured crew and delicate specimans.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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