OnToMars
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Member # 621
posted
quote: I guess Raptor pilots are qualified to fly Vipers, but someone has still to man those Raptors.
Given that Apollo is also qualified in a Raptor, it seems to imply that all pilots are qualified in all craft, or at least these two which seem to be the predominant ships. So this, at least, is one element which is different from our real world militaries.
-------------------- If God didn't want us to fly, he wouldn't have given us Bernoulli's Principle.
Registered: Jun 2001
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Well, that isn't much of a sample. And I suspect that the differences between a Raptor and a Viper are less than those between, say, an F-16 and an E-3 Sentry, which Raptors seem to have some operational similarities with, though the design is based more on an Apache or something.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by B.J.: Several years ago, I was watching Sci-Fi's rerun of BG1980 (I know, but it was the only thing on). It was a Halloween episode, and a Cylon had just been picked up by some partygoers as a hitchhiker. I nearly fell over laughing when I realized that the driver was the voice of KITT, and he had this red Cylon eye going back and forth behind him.
William Daniel was in that ep? Damn. I was never able to force myself to sit through a single episode of that series, except for "The Return of Starbuck". It's like Vogon poetry. But I'll make the effort for that one.
Got to meet and talk to KITT about fifteen years ago at Universal Studios. It was pretty neat.
--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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As for the flight qual thing, on the OS, pilots trained as shuttle pilots first, before advanced training. Same thing may hold true here, just insert the Raptor in there, too. i.e., shuttle pilots may not be qualified to pilot vipers, but Raptor pilots would be qualified to pilot shuttles. The next question is -- which do the Colonial fleet feel the more difficult craft to master in combat, the Raptor or the Viper?
--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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WizArtist II
"How can you have a yellow alert in Spacedock? "
Member # 1425
posted
Then of course there's the opening of every A-team where a Cylon walks by and Dirk makes the gun sign.
-------------------- There are 10 types of people in the world...those that understand Binary and those that don't.
Registered: Nov 2004
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I always saw that as a "wait, do I know him" kind of double-ake. Like coming face-to-face (hah!) with something out of a dream... or another life (double hah!).
--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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A bit late but I should probably point out that Boomer was in a Raptor during the flyby in the mini-series. The bit of dialog which has been reffered to was her hailing Apollo after the demonstration, when he split to escourt CH-798 back to Caprica (I think). Boomer was in her raptor, flying with a squadron of Mk-7s the whole time, the same squadron that gets wiped out by the cylon virus. That's not to say Raptor pilots can't fly Vipers, more likely the Raptor is a difficult beast to fly, so those who are qualified are considered specialists, like say helicopter pilots and so aren't about to be put on the fighter rotation.
OnToMars
Now on to the making of films!
Member # 621
posted
As much as the Vipers/Raptors are supposed to have a Fighter/Helicopter analogy to them, they are still spacecraft, and as such, would be flown much more similarly than a fighter and a helicopter would be. It seems pretty reasonable that either all pilots are qualified in both and choose or are assigned a specialty track, or (my preference) all pilots learn to fly shuttles, the good ones then progress onto Raptors, and the exceptional ones out of those graduate to Vipers.
-------------------- If God didn't want us to fly, he wouldn't have given us Bernoulli's Principle.
Registered: Jun 2001
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Or the Raptor crews are specially trained in navigation, communications and sensor systems (DRADIS) which I have to belive involves a little more than pushing the right buttons and a little long division. These things are, after all analogous to AWACs and seam to be responsible for supporting a large number of fighters (see mini-series.)
OnToMars
Now on to the making of films!
Member # 621
posted
Well, the backseat position maybe. But the actual pilot's chair would be separate, I would think. Yeah, we've seen pilots working the sensor equipment, but that's more likely a product of any pilot knowing the ins and outs of their craft.
-------------------- If God didn't want us to fly, he wouldn't have given us Bernoulli's Principle.
Registered: Jun 2001
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