quote:
i know they appear in all sorts of clasic sci-fi work, but i have to ask.. turbines in space? sure, sure, for that matter, why conning towers and wings. but turbines? must be to propel the ship thru the 'ether.'
They could easily be multi-armed centrifuges for an extremely high artifical G-Force. Virtual G's used in a tractor/repulsor beam, or maybe a WMG? Those kind of things you'd need to keep on the outside anyways.
The wings are so you can bank left, then turn right, catching the enemy by surprise
The tower could be for the sensitive equipment/supplies/etc that need to be kept isolated from the main hull for security or safety reasons.
[ 20 December 2001: Message edited by: suicide_junkie ]