John Redman asks:
> ...in an atmosphere unless it is powered by something we cannot see.
>
> The APC appears to sit on the ramp when aboard the dropship and does not
go
> anywhere while inside it. The ramp is therefore the dropship's centre of
> gravity, which the APC has to sit on otherwise it will disturb the
> dropship's trim.
>
> If the ramp is the C of G then the rest of the design doesn't work. The
only
> lifting surface is the whale tail, which is right at the back. There is no
> lifting surface forward of there - but there is a pair of engines.
>
> If the thing actually dropped out of orbit and into an atmosphere, and
then
> tried to fly, all that would happen is that the tail would rise, the nose
> would fall, and the engines would send it end-over-end until it crashed.
Sandman actually has a decent reply for the above, so I'll leave
all that alone . . .
> Clearly it's intended to look good rather than plausible - isn't it
> essentially a rotorless Huey helicopter, to make it reminiscent of Viet
Nam?
Very likely. "Vietnam in space" was James Cameron's pet project
way before he was given Aliens. When the offer came to do
the sequel, he jumped at the chance to use that theme for Aliens.
For better or worse (I think better), Aliens was built around that
simple concept -- war in space.
Have a great day!
ADWatts
"Given the nature of our indigenous population, I would suggest clothes.
None of the men here have seen a woman in years."
-- Clemens, Alien³
>> Stay informed about: The dropship would not be able to fly 
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