posted
The DS9 BoPs had their wings up when they warped solo (footage dating back to "Blood Oath" - and did that come from ST4 originally?) Relatively consistently, the wings went down whenever the BoPs fought. Basically, I think the wing movement was exploited rather logically and enjoyably...
"Way of the Warrior" had a BoP that kept the wings down during a warp chase alongside that Vor'Cha, didn't it? Otherwise, wings-down was a sublight phenomenon. Relative size of BoP wasn't a significant factor in determining wing angle.
posted
There were three positions -- up for landing, level for cruising, and down for attack. As the K'Vorts we saw in "Yesterday's Enterprise" kept their wings level when they attacked, I happily adopt FASA's description of the larger variants. Basically, it runs that because of their size, any articulation systems in the wings would have to be prohibitively large and impractical, so their wings are fixed level. The K'Vorts are also not able to land.
All the BoPs in CTA having their wings in the landing position (except for the Rotarran) really makes my teeth itch...
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
I'm cool with banning the largest BoPs from flapping their wings. But on screen, that only applies to the "YE" K'Vorts, and to regular-universe B'Rels, as seen in "Rascals".
The midsize ships that probably are called K'Vort in the regular universe (including the Rotarran) definitely have the wing-tilt mechanism for "down" and "level" positions, even if they haven't demonstrated the "fully up" position and the landing capability. The nameless tiniest variant from ST3 (and arguably from "Way of the Warrior") has shown all three positions.
I could live with several ideas: One, that there are three sizes and each has a different range of wing positions. Two, that there are just two sizes and the difference between Rotarran and Bounty (or between the "YE" ships and the "Defector" ships, for that matter) is just an illusion, so there is no difference in wing movement range between them, either. And three, there are three (or more) sizes of BoPs, but only the very largest have any limitations on wing movement.
posted
Oops, you said the "CtA" BoPs had their wings fully up? In landing configuration?
Looking at the pictures of the Bounty sitting on Vulcan soil, I don't agree. The wings could have more than three positions, but the "CtA" one isn't the fully up one. Perhaps a bit above the usual level position, but not fully up. No sir, I won't buy that.
posted
One wonders if the CGI BoP is capable of moving its wings? Offhand, I don't recall any episodes that we've seen a CG BoP with its wings point any way but down. I was under the imprsession that the wings somehow needed to be up for atmospheric flight, but we know that they can fly with 'em down as shown in that episode where a bunch of 'em attack a ground-based Dominion base.
posted
According to Mike Okuda's text commentary on the new STIII DVD mentions that the reason why in later appearances the BoP had its wings fixed in one position is because the motors that made the model wings move deteriorated with age and stopped working properly.
-MMoM
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
It's simple, after using the same ships for so long, every single BoP in the Klingon fleet was incapable of moving its wings due to rust. This is also why phasers were seen being fired from unusual positions on some D-7 cruisers, the torpedo launchers hadn't been oiled, so the inexperienced engineers just shoved a phaser coil in there.
quote:Originally posted by aneurysm: hahahahhahahhahahaha i think he is starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel now!
What what now?
Uh, you guys may want to re-read what I posted:
"According to Mike Okuda's text commentary on the new STIII DVD mentions that the reason why in later appearances the BoP had its wings fixed in one position is because the motors that made the model wings move deteriorated with age and stopped working properly."
Note that I was talking about the STUDIO MODEL's mechanized wings. I in no way meant that this was Trek-universe explanation for the BoP's confusion about where to hang its wings, I was just noting that this is the real-life reason for why the movement stopped being seen.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
The arc of fire between completely up and completely down is almost the exact same anyway. It's likely that the wing position has more to do with the target's range than anything else: wings down for close range combat to get more coverage and up for long distance combat mabye (?). Kind of like the reasoning for the X-Wing in Star Wars.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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quote: It's likely that the wing position has more to do with the target's range than anything else: wings down for close range combat to get more coverage and up for long distance combat mabye
Seems a bit complicated to change the entire wing angle mearly to increase the range. The simple thing would be to have to give the guns themselves the ability to traverse through a limited cone.
Registered: May 2001
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The only wing position that makes immediate sense functionally is the fully up one. It's the ideal one for landing, and seems identical to the fully down one as far as gun placement goes. The mid-position might be good for aerodynamic flight, but it's not essential - we've seen BoPs down and dirty in an atmosphere with their wings fully down (ST5, "Once More Unto the Breach").
Perhaps the most logical idea would be to say that the positions affect the shape of the warp field. Mid-position erects a "cruising" field, while other positions create a more maneuverable "dogfight" field shape.
And once you have that functionality, you can then add things that also partially benefit from the already available wing movement. One would be the landing and aerodynamic flight capability (which is why the warp wings look like aerodynamic wings). Another could be the wingtip cannon - moving them off the ship centerplane might protect parts of the ship from the firing effect, or something.
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