What's up with the snaky ship names?
- Thread starter Forzeti
- Start date
It's Elite
Could you have Star Wars without TIE Fighters?
Could you have Doom without a BFG?
It's just part of the universe
That's what DB came up with for the original Elite. You'll have to ask him why.
Why not? Some games name their ships after birds, some after sea creatures, and others after land based predators. It's always been a thing.
I'm not arguing against it. I'm just thinking there might be something behind it. So that's why I'm asking.
I did'nt know that Sidewinder was a Snake!
The Only Sidewinder for me was the AIM 9 missile
The Only Sidewinder for me was the AIM 9 missile
Snakes are a very logical choice, they can stroke, slither, defend and are very strong for their size. Several of the snakes known for how deadly they are. Applying that to a design name follows a kind of logical path...
Why are all the planets named after Roman gods, or large craters on Mars named after famous scientists and science fiction authors. We tend to name same-like items after something that was a influence. Snakes move fast, strike hard and have a history for hiding great power in a small package.. sound a decent reason.
I did'nt know that Sidewinder was a Snake!
The Only Sidewinder for me was the AIM 9 missile
See, Lucas, now you are more educated
See, Lucas, now you are more educated
And all thanks to a simple post, look at this, the Sidewinder missile was named like that because:
1. Its a heat seeker like all rattlesnakes and
2. because of the rotating mirror guidance system it strikes in a spiral pattern somewhat like the sidewinder snake.
You can clearly see the spiral path from the firing aircraft.
It was actually named by an engineer in Indianapolis at Naval Avionics.
We developed most of the early guidance optics and sensors in Indy.
Later, Naval Avionics developed the nitrogen cooled IR sensors.
It's a brilliant simple weapon.
Now I'm educating others
When a Sidewinder is fired pilots says FOX 2, so you all know what to say when undocking yours in E|D
Can't wait for the Fer de Lance
Yep, exactly that, it's very cool.
Also some of the ships have a system that you only really hear when things are quiet enough, but which sounds like a rattlesnake.
I should reword that.
One of the systems in your ship sounds like a rattlesnake but can only be heard when things are quiet enough.
Well, there was a giant Cobra loose in the English countryside back in the 70's.... they say he was 500 pounds of ground dwelling fury... don't ya know. No one knows how old he is, but if you ask me,... and most people do, he is a hundred years if he is a day....
Legend says nobody ever caught him.... well, one fella came close.
Went by the name of BRABEN... 7 feet tall he was, with arms like tree trunks.
His eyes were like steel, cold, hard. Had a shock of hair.... Red, like the fires of hell...
Since those times, snakes is all he thinks about....
Just send an email to Whatt and Pritney's offices for specific reasons, I'm sure they will tell you*.
*You will have to wait until the 28th century before doing so however.
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Actually it was because it originally used the bang-bang control model (control surfaces either fully deflected, or not, no inbetween). It was very quickly replaced with proportional navigation (calculated deflection based on achieving a desired goal, in this case zeroing out the line of sight rate - proportional navigation, you can use it in your game, you can use it in real vehicles ), and as of that time there's no spiraling. The nutating seeker does something different for the missile - it paints a picture.
), and as of that time there's no spiraling. The nutating seeker does something different for the missile - it paints a picture.
I did'nt know that Sidewinder was a Snake!
The Only Sidewinder for me was the AIM 9 missile
Sidewinder is a nick name the Americans use for the rattle sake due to the way it can move fast going sideways