Wings on space capital ships

[Shinova]

Are wings even necessary on space warships? Or are they there just to look good? Or are they there to help with atmospheric flight just in case?

[Stormbringer]

Are wings even necessary on space warships? Or are they there just to look good? Or are they there to help with atmospheric flight just in case?

Depends on the fighter and the universe. A lot of universes ships have wings and an areodynamic design so they can serve as ground to space fighters. Some however do it because it's expected by uneducated fans.

[Shinova]

Are wings even necessary on space warships? Or are they there just to look good? Or are they there to help with atmospheric flight just in case?

Depends on the fighter and the universe. A lot of universes ships have wings and an areodynamic design so they can serve as ground to space fighters. Some however do it because it's expected by uneducated fans.

I was actually talking about capital ships, just to let you know.

[Stormbringer]

Are wings even necessary on space warships? Or are they there just to look good? Or are they there to help with atmospheric flight just in case?

Depends on the fighter and the universe. A lot of universes ships have wings and an areodynamic design so they can serve as ground to space fighters. Some however do it because it's expected by uneducated fans.

I was actually talking about capital ships, just to let you know.

Then in that case they are, with a few notable exceptions, useless and there to appeal to asthestics. In general, capital warships are not meant to go in atmosphere.

[tharkûn]

That depends on what you want a fighter to do. Some good reasons to have wings on space fighters:
1. You want them to double as atmospheric fighters (and hence have the aerodynamics down).

2. You want to mount large external missiles. If you go with the classic dagger shape you have a limited number of places you can mount heavy missiles. If you add on wings you can toss on multiple missiles, which can be sufficient to turn a rather paltry hit into a ship killing strike.

3. Your guns/engines/whatever are harmful to the pilot/computer/whatever. Wings provide spacing with minimal increase in target profile. So say you are spewing out high velocity ions to maneuver, you likely don't want those striking your electronics. If the body is 1 metre wide and a wing is 2 metres wide then many effects decrease 9 fold. Wings also help in some cases with pilot survival in spacecraft failure ... they can be purposefully blown off to move hazards away from the pilot (like radiactive fuel, live ordinance in danger of cooking off, etc.).

4. More torque for less thrust. If your exhaust exits on the wing tips you get more torque (due to the distance) than if you tried using the exhaust closer to the centre of mass (note this assumes that adding the wings will not substantially increase your moment of inertia). So you can turn faster (say to aquire a target) with less stress on the engine.

[tharkûn]

doh sorry, cap ships:
1. Nix unless your cap ships go into the amosphere.
2. Depends. Cap ships REALLY like to have massive volley abilities. Your surface area can limit the amount of weapons you can bring to bear. Wings will allow you to increase your surface area with low increases in volume.
3. Still stands if you are using something very nasty you can't sheild internally. Less of a point here.
4. Should be the same, I think.

[Warspite]

They're just for aesthetics, unless it's got a maneuvering purpose, which most of the time, they don't, and for that, why the shape of a wing?

You don't see wings on sea-going ships... (And it's the same thing!)

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

I was thinking they were used for purposes like engine space, and heat dissipation. But, I belive the engines would be safer in a less vulnerable part of the ship.

[Exonerate]

Well... Wings just add to surface area in space... I guess you could load a bunch of missiles underneath the wings, but I don't see what the point of that would be.

[Wicked Pilot]

I would say that wings on cap ships are in most cases there for artistic purposes. Races like the Calamari and Mimbari tend to incorporate wings and other non functional design features into their ships because they are considered works of art. You don't see groups like The Empire or EA doing the same, their designs tend to be practical based.

[neoolong]

I would say that wings on cap ships are in most cases there for artistic purposes. Races like the Calamari and Mimbari tend to incorporate wings and other non functional design features into their ships because they are considered works of art. You don't see groups like The Empire or EA doing the same, their designs tend to be practical based.

I thought that the fins on the Minbari ships actually served a purpose. In propulsion or something? It is not purely decorative.

[Coalition]

I'd tend to agree with the heat dissipation theory, or external mounts. Assuming current material technology, and a nuclear power source, you want to keep the crew from cooking. To get rid of the heat quickly, you need lots of surface area.

If course, if you are trying to get rid of heat, don't bank away from a star. <G>

If there is too much cooling, it is easy enough to reduce the pump flow.

That takes care of heat, but what if you have a large FTL ship carrying several smaller STL vessels? Assuming the larger ship only requires X amount of power to get itself to go FTL, and carrying the extra vessels doesn't put any strain on the FTL system, carrying along a few riders would make sense.

Kinda like B5: Thirdspace, with the Raiders and their Battlewagon. With the Battlewagon, they could jump to anywhere. Without it, they were SOL against the reinforcements.

[fgalkin]

I would say that wings on cap ships are in most cases there for artistic purposes. Races like the Calamari and Mimbari tend to incorporate wings and other non functional design features into their ships because they are considered works of art. You don't see groups like The Empire or EA doing the same, their designs tend to be practical based.

Actually, IIRC, the wings on Minbari and Centauri ships were used for propulsion.

HAve a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

I would say that wings on cap ships are in most cases there for artistic purposes. Races like the Calamari and Mimbari tend to incorporate wings and other non functional design features into their ships because they are considered works of art. You don't see groups like The Empire or EA doing the same, their designs tend to be practical based.

Actually, IIRC, the wings on Minbari and Centauri ships were used for propulsion.

HAve a very nice day.
-fgalkin

A gravity drive of sorts... I think the Minbari ones were called Stalashas.

[Sienthal]

They can provide choice positions for turrets and other weaponry setups, having a larger field of view and being out of the way from the main hull, so as not to hit it. Additionally, enemy fighters will probably focus on those instead of the main hull, saving it from crew losses and/or system damage. Agreed on heat dissapation as well.

As for flight, they are classic human aesthetics, . They look cool, we being used to looking at wings on atmospheric aircraft, so we'll keep em.

[Evil Sadistic Bastard]

Wings give you more surface area which is a good and bad thing.

GOOD: More space to put stuff.

BAD: More of you to hit.

So if you needed solar collectors wings would be good. If you needed weapon mounts wings would be good. But since capships are big enough to store them internally (and harmful components can be ejected in containers) wings wouldn't be as useful as they would be on smaller ships, like X-wings, which need wings because they have less fuselage space to store stuff.

Also, Wings make shield generation trickier because you have to cover a wider area and wings necessitate lots of shield geometry alterations.

[Warspite]

Weapon mounts need a lot of bracing, due to the recoil, no matter what type of advanced recoil devices... You can't put a turret on a wing and expect it to perform flawlessly, what happens of it get's damaged? What if it needs to be repaired, or replaced, and there aren't docking facilities around?
Besides, wings create blind spots...

Mounting ordenance? Missiles tend to be very delicate weapons, you don't want them exposed to uncertain dangers... What if a micrometeorite hits on one of the missiles? Ooops, just lost our port wing...
And they need to be serviced, from time to time... No, those babies need to be inside the hull, where they are safe.

As for heat-dissipating... Yeah, could do... Of course, there are a lot better ways to dissipate heat, without resorting to wings...

[Admiral Valdemar]

Some ships may just have stub wings or pods such as the weapons points on the Dreadnaught class corvette pictured or the huge Battlestar Galactica.



Usually, as stated it will be for weapons mounts or manoeuvrability. Mon Cal ships do this too I believe.[/img]

[NecronLord]

Arthur C Clarke insited for some time that Discorvery I (2001) should have wings to radiate it's excess heat production. In the end they were just taken off though. The novel has them in it. When it accelerated they glowed red. Just an Idea.

[Evil Sadistic Bastard]

Arthur C Clarke insited for some time that Discorvery I (2001) should have wings to radiate it's excess heat production. In the end they were just taken off though. The novel has them in it. When it accelerated they glowed red. Just an Idea.

Now why would that be? They are in space, there shouldn't be any air resistance,and wings create more resistance in the atmosphere.

[NecronLord]

Arthur C Clarke insited for some time that Discorvery I (2001) should have wings to radiate it's excess heat production. In the end they were just taken off though. The novel has them in it. When it accelerated they glowed red. Just an Idea.

Now why would that be? They are in space, there shouldn't be any air resistance,and wings create more resistance in the atmosphere.

Acceleration. When it's coasting they don't glow as there is no excess eneregy the reactor is simply ticking over...

one moment I keep a bookcase by the computer

Now the reactor was merely ticking over as it generated electrical power for the ship's services, and the great radiating fins, that would glow cherry red when Discovery was accelerating under maximim thrust, were dark and cool

[Evil Sadistic Bastard]

Ah. I writhe corrected. Oops, I mean I STAND corrected.

Writhe is only for Shuma, Asuka doesn't writhe until I'm "playing" with her.

[NecronLord]

You dare try to find problems with 2001? heretic!

ok it does have the stars seen from orbit thing. and the moon is a little too jagged. and we still can't build hal. but the rest of the ship could be built now (ok it would break the economy, but we could build it.)

[Evil Sadistic Bastard]

You dare try to find problems with 2001? heretic!

ok it does have the stars seen from orbit thing. and the moon is a little too jagged. and we still can't build hal. but the rest of the ship could be built now (ok it would break the economy, but we could build it.)

Whaaat? I wasn't attacking 2k1... I was just questioning certain questionable things...

[NecronLord]

You dare try to find problems with 2001? heretic!

ok it does have the stars seen from orbit thing. and the moon is a little too jagged. and we still can't build hal. but the rest of the ship could be built now (ok it would break the economy, but we could build it.)

Whaaat? I wasn't attacking 2k1... I was just questioning certain questionable things...

It was a Joke....

In any case getting back on topic. Fins could act as heatsinks. but only when the ship is doing something. And they'd be a horrible vunrability on a warship.