h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Star Wars: Starfighters of the Rebel Alliance - A1150589
Author: Nylarthotep - U200240

I always liked the starfighter sequences the best.

The reference to WWII dogfights is particularly apt. When Lucas was putting the rushes of IV together - and before they'd created the starfighter sequences - he spliced in old fighter footage from WWII films to get the gist across to his friends and colleagues.

One or two little tidying up comments:

Reavolutionary = Revolutionary

"the Star Wars series also made the struggle between the rival spacecraft vital to the plot of the films as well"

At say that 'as well' is superfluous, I'd just leave it as

"the Star Wars series also made the struggle between the rival spacecraft vital to the plot of the films."

fatest= fastest

"the B-wing was as more a mobile weapon platform than a starfighter"


Should that be either

"the B-wing was as much a mobile weapon platform as a starfighter"

or

"the B-wing was more a mobile weapon platform than a starfighter"

"defected from the Empire after the company had been nationalised"

Is 'nationalised' really the right word in the context or a galactic empire? How about "placed under the control of the Government"?

engauged= engaged

driod= droid

Other than that, good show Hope about linking to the h2g2 EG entries on Star Wars?

do we need references to the other fighter types that dont appear in the films? i will refrain from listing them. i dont want to tseem too much like a geek...

Perish the thought!

I don't know whether this should be added to this entry, or put in another one, but I would also like to see some detail on the Imperial craft.

After all, Guide entries are supposed to be balanced.


Geggs

I'd say there's plenty of scope for a companion piece entitled 'Star Wars: Starfighters of the Imperial Empire'...

Ah, finally time to respond to my critics.

Firstly, I'll correct the spelling and grammatical errors as soon as.

As for the more asthetic points, here goes:

The term nationalised is used on the official Star Wars website and perfectly describes what happened to corperations such as Incom under the sweeping changes to law which Emperor Palpatine introduced to ensure that all resources were channeled towards the efforts of the Empire. In the time of the old republic there were many such companies in existance and the economy around which the system centred was pretty much capitalistic. Though this is more in evidence when watching the movies of the new triology (such as with the Trade Federation in Episode I), the films of the original series focus more on the ideological struggle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire along with the spiritual rebirth of the Jedi order. In this environment there is not much scope to explore the economic workings of the universe in which the films are set. Further reading into the expanded Star Wars universe can provide an insight into these issues.

There is already an edited article on the Imperial TIE Fighter in the guide. This article was envisioned as a companion to it.

As for details of Rebel fighters not included in the films, there was little information available in this area. Only the E-Wing fighter was mentioned and here the details were scant and not worthy of mention. But if there is enough demand, or anyone can point me in the direction of other examples of Rebel fighters then I'm willing to include them.

The snowspeeder, as an addendum to the A-Wing entry.

I'll include the Snowspeeder, but as to why you'd want it as an addendum to the A-wing entry I don't know. The Snowspeeder features the same cockpit design as the Y-wing, so it might make more sense if it were included there instead.

Because it's basically an upgraded 2 seater A-Wing.

Actually, it's an upgraded civillian T-47 Speeder which uses a Y-wing cockpit capsule. The A-wing was developed after the battle of Yavin (Episode I) and first saw combat at the battle of Endor (Episode VI). The Snowspeeder was used to defend the Rebel base on Hoth in Episode V and thus predates the A-wing by one whole episode.

in the later books, other fighters are posited: k-wing and v-wing (i think). also, the t-wing appears in various computer games, us does the e-wing.

Could you recommend any fansites that might have info on these fighters? The only Star Wars novel I could stand to read was "Shadows of the Empire"!

Hi Nylarthotep (are you one of them Phaoroh thingummies?, )

interesting entry and i'm sure it'll end up being edited.

a typo for you: ' triology' in the first line, .

and a general point about consistency with tenses; in almost every individual vehicle section, you swap between past and present tenses.

I realise that you sometimes refer to events that are in the 'past' in terms of where the films end, but without wishing to get into a whole philosophical debate about it, i'm not sure where we stand in time in relation to that. Even if it *did* all take place 'a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away'!

so, perhaps next time you read it through you could take a look at those tenses and think about where you really want past/present, bearing in mind that key word in technical writing; consistency.

well, good luck on your way to the front page
spiff

I'm one of the Great Old Ones of the Cthulu Mythos.

Ok, that's the entry changed to the past tense. I think I fell into referring to the "history" of the fighter in the past and the specs of the fighter in the present tense.

All sorted.

What about the Z95 headhunter?

Weeeeellll...Was that fighter actually included as one of the Rebel craft available in any video game or described as still in use in any novel? If the answer is yes to either of these then it's in.

In "Tie Fighter" in several missions the rebels fight using Z95 Headhunters. In fact (not meaning to seem a bit geeky about this) but in the mission where you have to protect one of those Interdictor gravity star destroyers from a wing of Z-95 carrying heavy bombs.