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Is that a pair of aft missile tubes I see, too? Unlike Kobi, I see no problem with the unidirectional nature of the missile tubes. After all, in the Museum timeline, the primary ordinance is warp-guided missiles with a range of 1 to 10 AU. When you're talking ranges like that, initial directions don't matter very much at all.
Or should we criticize the US Navy's frigates for not having 45�-angled Tomahawk missile launchers in addition to the normal vertical ones?
quote:Too bad it failed...
See, I'm not 100% sure that it would've "failed" completely. I could see them making a very limited run of these, say 5 or 8 (at most) as a deterrent to deploy along the Romulan border. Of course they'd realize after they started building them that they were completely unnecessary and then cut back the production run, down to just two or three at most. And those few that made it into service didn't perform so swell.
After all, at least ONE ship had to have been built for it to be featured in the Starfleet Museum...
EDIT: Although I definitely see the better aesthetic of nacelle #1 (used in the latest update), I'm starting to believe more strongly that the original design with nacelle #3 is the way to go. Why? Because they're honkin' big and ugly, for such a honkin' big and ugly ship. Everything about it looks slightly too big and over-proportioned; I think the nacelles should, too. (Which is why it's such a cool design.)
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Shik
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The ships did NOT fail. They acheived a differently assessed objective level.
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I like this design more than I expected, so maybe it will turn out to have a better career than I've planned so far. But it definitely has a old-fashioned feel to it, so probably wouldn't have a long career, even if initially successful. Still, the ships might be useful as boarder guards (or artificial reefs).
I haven't decided what are behind doors 1, 2, and 3. I might use the outer doors (and the matching door behind) for a bi-directional beam weapon.
I like these nacelles. The big cigars were just too big and visually uninteresting. These are the same length, so still suggest massive size. Also, Shik suggested nacelles with enlarged fronts!
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Or perhaps add Moskva-esque laser cannons? I think it would make sense to have six missile launchers, considering how the Conqueror had nine...
Another idea... would there be room to have a secondary impulse engine on the primary hull? Thinking back to the Wasp article and the problems with Daedalus, I'd imagine some form of separation might be possible.
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Like the route your taking with this ship. Maybe shouldn't be a failure. Maybe it was so awesome they didn't need to produce so many.
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Shik
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quote:Originally posted by Masao: I like these nacelles. The big cigars were just too big and visually uninteresting. These are the same length, so still suggest massive size. Also, Shik suggested nacelles with enlarged fronts!
It really works well. it's got that "muscled Popeye forearm" look to it.
...I wonder if this might not be Starfleet's first failed attempt at an "all-in-one" ship: heavy weapons & shielding for fleet actions, maybe a troop carrying ability as well to land them, & science labs. Like...Constitution a century before the fleet could really manage it.
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quote:Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: Or perhaps add Moskva-esque laser cannons? I think it would make sense to have six missile launchers, considering how the Conqueror had nine...
The number of doors isn't so important unless you're thinking about how many missilies can be launched in a single volley. On the other hand, you can have a rapid reload mechanism (like a machine gun) or mutliple missiles stacked in single tube.
quote:Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: Another idea... would there be room to have a secondary impulse engine on the primary hull? Thinking back to the Wasp article and the problems with Daedalus, I'd imagine some form of separation might be possible.
The "abdomen,* which contains the M/AM reactor, can break off. The fusion reactor, which we assume is safe, is a tokamak at the rear of the thorax. The impulse thrusters are nearby.
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The impulse thrusters are giving me trouble because of the lack of clearance past the abdomen. So, I've made some adjustments. Which is better?
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
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I like the top one better.
I assume the missiles are launched in a similar manner to photon torpedoes, with a warp field imposed on them? I only ask because if they were chemically launched (or with impulse engines) then you really couldn't stack more than one in a tube, could you?
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Shik
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The quad arrangement looks better, as they seem less "pop-up" than the triad, which made me wonder how the thrust product was generated & channeled.
Perhaps if you rotated the quad 45 degrees, then it would look as if there were only 2 impulse systems, ont dorsal & one ventral, each exhausting to 2 ports., like this:
Then you'd also have a little more internal room to play with by not needing 4 impulse systems, & you might be able to use the associated "bulges" to fair into other things (sensor packages, beam weapons, whatever).
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If a chemical rocket's motor does not ignite until after leaving the tube, it should be ok. It could be ejected with a magnetic field, compressed air or something similar.
I have to go back and read my previous articles, because I've forgotten what I've written about missiles and photon torpedoes previously.
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quote:Originally posted by Shik: Perhaps if you rotated the quad 45 degrees, then it would look as if there were only 2 impulse systems, ont dorsal & one ventral, each exhausting to 2 ports., like this:
If the thrusters are rotated 45 degrees, the top pair will likely burn off the rear set of nacelles supports. That should be avoided!
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Shik
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Not necessarily. There could be tweaking..and...it could...might...
SHUT UP!
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quote:Unlike Kobi, I see no problem with the unidirectional nature of the missile tubes. After all, in the Museum timeline, the primary ordinance is warp-guided missiles with a range of 1 to 10 AU. When you're talking ranges like that, initial directions don't matter very much at all.
I really served in the wrong branch of artillery to know about the details, a quick and dirty math (I shockingly can't think of the correct formula) gave firing arcs of 50�, 250�, 500� and 750� for a wf1 missile with a capability of 0.1�/s turn at 1, 5, 10 and 15 au range (along the arc). Currently I suck at getting the effective range out of my functional.
I think (while we're creating launch types) an Andromeda-style launch would be best: just throw those missiles out of their tube, have them face the target, then ignite the warp thrusters and hope some hour later you sense a target destroyed.
Speaking of thrusters: while a three thruster arrangement gives the optimal movement for all directions, I think I as an admiral would favour four. a) I have redundancy b) I want my ship overpowered Now about placement from engineering point of view: don't have them align with the centre. Having them point outward an equal balanced set of impulse engines will annihilate the offet vertical thrust and will only result in a reduced horizontal thrust.
quote:Originally posted by Masao: The impulse thrusters are giving me trouble because of the lack of clearance past the abdomen. So, I've made some adjustments. Which is better?
The simplest way to solve the clearance problem is to move the engines back away from that rounded edge and stick them on the outer hull proper. So they don't look too sticky outy (very technical term!) I'd also elongate them back a bit so they merge with the hull a little better. The whole flower petal thing doesn't really scream warship to me! and As for the shift in mission profile, what if it performed just fine, but a political shift in the post-war Admiralty led to the program being cut short in favour of smaller, more efficient and much more numerous designs that could cover the Federation's rapidly expanding frontier. These behemoths, while fast can only be in one place at a time, while the same amount of resources could produce three smaller starships that are (9 times out of 10) just as capable at dealing with whatever is out there and if not, reinforcements are that much closer and more numerous. I see something like this eventually being relegated to transport or escort duty, perhaps even serving as an academy trainer ship...or have you already done the Republic?
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