Why Is Earthforce Still Using Star Furies?

[raw_bean]

Using centrifugal force to simulate gravity is nothing that wouldn't have occurred to people long before making it into space. It's something that you realise when you reach the level of technology to build roundabouts and carousels, not interstellar spaceships!

Whereas the artificial gravity the Minbari (and others) have is a wholly different beast, presumably derived from some unknown future branch of physics.

 

[RMcD]

Were the Minbari Sharlins seen greeting B4 not instantly recognisable?

There are some pretty good storytelling reasons for the designs of the ships not to vary too much in those scenes..

If that establishing shot of 1,000 years ago had featured completely unrecognisable Minbari ships, the casual viewer might have ended up confused, especially as the glimpse we get of them is very brief. Ditto the Starfuries 30 years in the future. The Warlocks never really put in much of an appearance during the original run or Crusade, so it's the Starfuries in that scene that clue us in instantly to whom is fighting whom.

I'm going to qualify that by saying that in spite of that, IMO, the average B5 fan would have been intelligent enough not to get confused if the designs of the ships had varied more than they did..

 

[Triple F]

To the point that some people griped that the design hadn't changed in 1000 years! Lurker's Guide seems to be down, but I recall JMS having to point out to some people that there were some differences.

There’s lots of differences, while keeping to the same design principles.

http://www.themadgoner.com/TMG/Sci_Fi/SciPages/Babylon5/Front_Page/Mark4_Build.htm
Check them out (under the Minbari section)

 

[Dayton3]

Star Fury pilots I know fly the ships in the standing position.

Can you really take more G forces from that position?

I've always heard in aircraft that the best position was semi-reclined such as in the F-16.

Or in a micro gravity environment, is standing the same as being reclined?

 

[Jan]

JMS explained the thinking in this post:

From: STRACZYNSKI [Joe]
Subject: The EA fighters get generally what...
To: GENIE
Date: 9/22/1993 5:49:00 PM

The EA fighters get generally what any ship gets: serial numbers, the
colors or signature of its "flag," and so on. And yes, the pilot is in a more
or less standing position, though inside a chair that supports comfortably.
If you're going to be flying forward at that kind of speed, it seemed to us
that a standing mode was better for blood circulation and response than
sitting.

jms

Jan

 

[KoshFan]

"Standing upright" is a meaningless concept in microgravity... under forward acceleration, the pilot would feel as if she or he were lying down.