Re: Controls

Scott 2G Kellogg ([email removed]) writes:
>
> SOLOMANI (start off simple right?)
>      Solomani and most Imperial flight controls generally consist
> of stick, throttle, and rudder pedals.  The stick is usually
> mounted in the center of the console, but is sometimes on the left
> side, while the right hand generally controls the throttle.

Are the Solomani left-handed in the far future, then?  Because, being
right-handed, I'd want the stick in my right hand as that is the control
which needs the most control, so to speak.  Someone will correct me if I
am wrong, but I believe the F-16's cockpit is laid out like this - the
stick is on the right.

> ... the co-pilot or navigator (generally seated on the right) ...

Is this correct?  Someone who knows the insides of a wide-bodied passenger
jet, please comment.

> VILANI
>...Engineers opted for a
> single design to ease training of pilots and to avoid their
> having to study their ship to understand what is going on.  Thus
> the same control panel exists on a Vilani fat trader as exists
> on their air/rafts and their most sophisticated fighters.

Has anyone seen the computer flight simulator game "Birds of Prey"?
Evidently, the author is Vilani - the same cockpit display is used
for all the aircraft in the game, from a Harrier to a B-52.

>      Lack of yaw control is compensated for by the presence of
> crosswind landing gear.  Crosswind gear allow the craft to land
> while the ship's nose is not pointing along the direction of
> travel.  The gear is mounted on casters akin to the wheels on a
> shopping cart.

In a word, *@!%.  I have enough problems controlling a shopping trolley
at low speeds in 2D.  (This comment is not on whether or not the Vilani
would actually make such a system; I imagine that trained people would
get used to it, just as frequent shoppers eventually get the hang of
trolleys.  I just want to see a video of the face of the first Solomani
pilot who tried to land a Vilani fighter. :-)

> ZHODANI
> ...Special safe guards are in
> place to prevent outside psionic interference in the piloting of
> the ship.  Up to and including a psi-shield surrounding the
> pilot's station.  This is demonstrated in the Shivva class patrol
> frigate and her fighters.  The fighter pilots are open to
> telepathic contact from their flight controller, but the flight
> controller can not affect flight controls of the fighter.

That's a neat trick, building a shield round the controls only so as
to leave the pilot unshielded, but also leaving the controls open to
the pilot.  Is there just a small hole in the shield, pointed at the
pilot?  What happens when the hole is also pointed at the Shivva?

> HIVERS
> ...  Hiver controls are very difficult for anyone but a hiver
> to operate, thus, many of their ships employ dual control panels,
> to allow for a member race to use them.

They're not the only ones!  What does a human do in a Droyne ship, given
that the average human is even more lacking in the wing department than
the average Droyne?

> VEGANS (Not the nuts with vegetables :-)
>      Vegan flight controls are geared toward their own set of
> unique physiology.  They rely heavily on inertial compensators as
> their somewhat weak limbs have difficulty overcoming high
> acceleration.  Ships which do not have inertial compensators in the
> entire ship will nevertheless have a region where they are
> installed:  around the pilot.

What did they do before they invented/were given inertial compensators?
Are there any low-tech Vegan aircraft?

- --
 "Keyboard?  How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt     |JANET:  [email removed]
 UUCP: ..!uknet!cee.hw.ac.uk!adrian  |  ARPA:  [email removed]