Ship of the week: X-wing starfighter

[Monroe]

Their ability to plug in is nice but I think its lame in that they're even needed. Shouldn't that stuff be covered by the ship's computer? Yeah all that stuff is nice and all but a ship should be able to do that by itself.

Ok, so if you didn't need an astromech you could save... what, a quarter cubic meter? Maybe a half, maybe? 30 or so kilos? The benefits of having a mobile astromech make the minor sacrifices needed for it seem trivial. I mean what's the actual problem with having an astromech?

Having to scramble the fighters and wait for a tiny wheeled droid that can't even speak in a language anyone can understand to wheel its way towards the hangerbay. If you're going to have them they should be intergrated.

[Tyyr]

The only time we've seen X-Wings scrambling on screen the astromechs didn't seem to hold up the proceedings. Hell even in the writing I don't recall the astromechs ever being a hold up.

[Monroe]

The only time we've seen X-Wings scrambling on screen the astromechs didn't seem to hold up the proceedings. Hell even in the writing I don't recall the astromechs ever being a hold up.

Yeah but how realistic is that really? Besides super R2D2 all the droids have moved at a walking pace. I guess maybe fighter squadrons on standby keep their droids at the ships but I know often those droids follow pilots everywhere they go and a pilot can out run a droid.

I guess from my point of view its an added possible lag time for life off. Why have an R2 if the computer can handle it? R2's plug-in feature is nice over the R7 but other ships work fine without R2s. I'd rather have my ship work without one.

[Deepcrush]

A, people seemed to understand R2 just fine.
B, nothing in the the films ever stated that you HAVE to have a astrodroid.
C, Droids not only helped in the fighter but outside the fighter as well.
D, R2 loaded and unloaded himself from Lukes fighter just as quickly as Luke got in and out.

Again, nothing negative there that I see.

[Tsukiyumi]

...If you're going to have them they should be intergrated.

And if R2 had been integrated, Luke and co. would've become a fine paste in the garbage compactor during ANH.

[Captain Seafort]

If R2 had been integrated, Luke and Leia would never have been born.

[Tsukiyumi]

If R2 had been integrated, Luke and Leia would never have been born.

There you go.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Astromechs seem to fill the role of copilots, repair-droids and... someone to talk to on the long flights in hyperspace. They're not necessary... but I'd rather fly with one than without one.

[Mark]

I love the X-Wing.......but it's S-foils concern me. If the mechanisim fails, then what? Can an X-Wing go to hyperspeed with them open? Or can they fight with them closed? What benefit is really gained by having S-foils?

[Deepcrush]

To my knowledge the S-foils are there to expand the field of fire, disperse heat and spread out the shield bubble.

[Nickswitz]

I believe it has something to do with speed vs maneuverability. Not sure how that works to tell the truth, but I heard it somewhere.

[Deepcrush]

I believe it has something to do with speed vs maneuverability. Not sure how that works to tell the truth, but I heard it somewhere.

That only applied in atmosphere and it was brought out in Star Wars Starfighter.

[Nickswitz]

I believe it has something to do with speed vs maneuverability. Not sure how that works to tell the truth, but I heard it somewhere.

That only applied in atmosphere and it was brought out in Star Wars Starfighter.

Ok, that makes sense, I knew I heard it somewhere, just wasn't sure where, or what it was about exactly.

[Sionnach Glic]

IIRC, Saxton theorised that they may be to help with cooling the guns during use in some way. Presumably the ship doesn't need to have them open or closed for anything, it just helps.

[SuperSaiyaMan12]

Check out the X-Wing's sucessor. It looks like a cross between a P-38 Lightning and an X-Wing

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/X-83_Twi ... tarfighter