[jayru]

Originally Posted by Taranis

I think it kinda large for the size of the ship...

My thoughts exactly - after sleeping on it.

Originally Posted by farshot

Here's what I have for the shuttle bay, hope it's clear enough:

Cheer's farshot - that's pretty much how the shuttlebay was configured on the 1997 version of the design :thumbup: - and your take on the internal layout is pretty close as well... somewhere I have an MSD (completed no less) for the "original" version. Will dig it out...

Originally Posted by evil_genius_180

There's a couple different schools of thought on the shuttlebay door size. On one hand, you don't want the internal bay to take up too much room. On the other hand, I'd rather try to land a shuttle in a huge opening than a small one. I always wondered what they would do on the Enterprise-D if the tractor beams were out and they were trying to land a Type-6 shuttle in bays 2 & 3. That thing barely fit through the doors! On the other hand, it wasn't a problem on the original E where the hanger bay was friggin' huge and you had lots of room for landing shuttles. So, long winded explanations aside, my thought it maybe cut the size down a little because it is a bit cavernous but don't make it so small that it seems unrealistic that they'd be able to land a shuttle there (maybe 3/4 its current height.)

My partner pretty much made the same comments last night, when I asked. The question is why would you need such a large hanger bay? On the NCC-1701 the hanger bay entrance doubled as a loading port for cargo as well - so a larger opening made sense. TNG ships - even those the size of the Wolf, have multiple hatches/access points for cargo bays, so the shuttle-bay becomes just that - a shuttle bay.

I never actually designed any cargo hatches on the original version... I kinda forgot... When I did the shuttlebay on the revised version I made it big because in my mind that became not just the shuttle-bay, but the primary loading port for cargo (yeah, yeah, yeah, they have transporters - but that just takes all the fun out of it :laugh. There are going to be a couple of secondary cargo hatches in other locations (as I've rememebred this time)...

All that aside, the door needs to be made smaller, but like you say - not too much smaller. I like the idea of a larger landing bay - especially on an exploration ship. You just never know what they are going to take onboard, and a larger hanger bay allows for better shuttle access, and the oportunity to carry larger craft if need be.

From what I've been able to work out, the shuttle facilities will allow for a few different types of shuttles be carried. The arse end of this ship is fairly big, and the hanger bay will follow suit I have no doubts, lol.

Originally Posted by Tenement

The big hanger bay does make sense. Could you imagine a carrier with a flight deck that was just a bit wider than the aircraft?

Frigates - modern day ones anyway, manage with just a small pad for 'copters, so a smaller bay in the TNG sense with there much more modern craft would be doable. Look at the Defiant and it's hanger bay (the one we saw anyways).

But yeah, I do agree that a big hanger makes more sense - especially with the role this class is going to have :thumbup:



Cheers guys for the comments... will have a play around with the hatch... more laters