Firefly Mechanics 101

POSTED BY: Zoot
UPDATED: Sunday, June 19, 2005 16:46
VIEWED: 8802
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FREAKYSINS

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 3:51 PM

I believe that's the "Plot Device Activation Switch(tm)".

Peace

FS

They say there is strangeness, too dangerous
In our theatres and bookstore shelves
Those who would know what's best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves

ZOOT

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 4:28 PM

Aha! to quote Mr Hitchcock - A Maguffin, a vertiable maguffin - I knew I'd see one one day!!

***************************************

Okay, I'm lost, I'm angry, and I'm
armed.

SICKDUDE

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 5:02 PM

Thought about a pneumatic starting device, but that doesn't really work.

How about this? A magnetic clutch linking the powerplant to the drive (i.e. transmission). Kaylee didn't engage it because they were on the ground.

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

YT

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 8:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zoot:
Every time the crew start up Serenity’s engine (even from a flying start) they have to pull what looks like a big starter handle at the end of the engine’s turbine to get it started again e.g. Jayne in Serenity when they go for full burn in atmo; Mal at the end of Out of Gas after he’s plugged in the catalyser.

They didn't look the same to me @all. What Jayne is hawlin' on in the pilot is hinged to the floor & ceiling, and is not there in any other shot in the series. I presume it's something Kaylee kludged together to defeat the safety interlocks that would prevent a full burn in atmo.

The starter handle in Outa Gas looks like the starter handle on a WWII sub diesel engine. No coincidence, I'm sure, since Joss & Tim thought of that as the "sub" ep.

Keep the Shiny Side Up . . . (wutzon) Grateful Dead, "Weather Report Suite", from "Dick's Picks vol 1"

ZOOT

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 8:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sickdude:
Thought about a pneumatic starting device, but that doesn't really work.

How about this? A magnetic clutch linking the powerplant to the drive (i.e. transmission). Kaylee didn't engage it because they were on the ground.

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

Ohh I'm liking the reasoning - if only I knew what a "transmission" was *shakes confused very blonde and very female head*....

***************************************

Okay, I'm lost, I'm angry, and I'm
armed.

STATIC

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 9:10 PM

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaactually. . .

Just for the sake of Clarification. . .

The two engines on the wings (one of which became Crow's final resting place) seem to be what is used primarily for atmospheric flight.. .and to take off OUT of the atmosphere. . .and it doesn't appear to be much more than a big ol' engine like you'd find on the wing of a jumbo jet.

Where as the big glowy-butt engine that is connected in some mysterious way to this big switch is the primary engine that pushes them through space. . .and according to the dialogue in "Serenity" is not generally meant to be USED in the atmosphere. . .much less at 'full burn'.

Of course. . .it could ALSO be as it's been said. . .the "Plot Device Activation Switch"

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 1:20 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zoot:
Yeah, but my problem with that is the - scare them enough and they think they've got nothing to loose thing ....

Or don’t scare them at all and they think they’ve got something to gain. Either way, you’re going to need a defense.

Quote:
Originally posted by Zoot:
if only I knew what a "transmission" was *shakes confused very blonde and very female head.

It’s the thing that transmits.

While we are posing questions about Firefly propulsion:

What exactly is the purpose of an air intake turbine on an engine designed to operate in exoatmospheric flight?

Also there are no jet plumes in space.

-------------
Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

VETERAN

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 2:30 AM

Quote:
What exactly is the purpose of an air intake turbine on an engine designed to operate in exoatmospheric flight?

Also there are no jet plumes in space.

Maybe the side-mounted engines are a some sort of combination futuristic jet/rocket, which can operate like a jet in atmo and a rocket in space. Hey, that could be a plot device right there,

Mal: "Wash, break atmo and slip in behind that moon before the Alliance cruiser breaks the horizon."
Wash [sarcastically]: "I'd love to Cap'n, except we gave away half our liquid oxygen and we can't manuever much in the vacuum.
Mal: "So."
Wash: "So!(Chinese Curse words), if I don't exit at the exact right angle we won't make the moon before the Feds see us."
Mal: "Just do it."
Wash: "Oh! What, is this all 'part of the plan?' Do, you think that just because you give an outrageous order everything will fall neatly into place? ... Let me tell you, something Mal!...."
Mal [intensely with a hint of malovolence], "Just do it."
Zoe: "I know MY man can do it, Sir."
Wash [suprised and inspired]: "Right, just find something to hang onto."

Serenity breaks atmo heading straight for a nearby moon, with a very short burst she does a neat little turn and slips on the darkside of a small moon. On the bridge of an Alliance Cruiser an Ensign reports to the Bridge Officer.

Ensign: "There's nothing here Sir."
Lt. Cmdr: "Scan for combustion products of monomethyl hydrazine and nitrogen
tetroxide."
Ensign: "Just trace Sir."
Lt. Cmdr: "They must have left hours ago, bear away and set course for Persephone."

On board Serenity, running silent. Zoe snuggles up to Wash.
Zoe [whispers]: "I just love a real fly boy."

DRONGO

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 6:03 AM

To anyone on this thread:

A friend of mine had a complaint about the basic propulsive "mechanics" of the ship. What kind of drive enables Firefly to travel between planets in time to get the cattle to market? Basically the planets in the stories would have to be strung out in one convenient line in order for the ship to travel these impossibly vast distances before the characters die of old age.

Has there been any mention anywhere of the actual method of propulsion, or do these engines run on narrativium?

Regards,

Drongo

HOTPOINT

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 7:28 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Drongo:
To anyone on this thread:

A friend of mine had a complaint about the basic propulsive "mechanics" of the ship. What kind of drive enables Firefly to travel between planets in time to get the cattle to market? Basically the planets in the stories would have to be strung out in one convenient line in order for the ship to travel these impossibly vast distances before the characters die of old age.

Has there been any mention anywhere of the actual method of propulsion, or do these engines run on narrativium?

Well if the ships need "Core containment" because of radiation they are likely nuclear.

Hotpoints Theory

If we rule out something really esoteric like FTL then why not Pulsed Nuclear Propulsion? You don't need huge atomic bombs like Orion you could just use lasers to detonate small charges of Deuterium and Tritium to create "tiny" microexplosions hundreds of times a second.

You can get up to a decent percentage of the speed of light with this method (even minute Thermonuclear explosions will still give you a nice push) and you can throttle the engines up and down easily by just increasing or decreasing the explosions per second which gives you decent control.

If you want to "burn hard" just feed in fuel as fast as the Lasers can make it fuse.

Engines like this could push you around the Solar System with travel times measured in days or weeks

...................................
Hurrah, hurrah, when things are at their worst
With cries of “Death or Glory” comes the mighty Twenty-First

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