Why do spaceships in movies always have landing skids/pads instead of wheels? It would make them a right pain in the neck to move around on the ground or in a hangar.
Why do spaceships in movies always have landing skids/pads instead of wheels? It would make them a right pain in the neck to move around on the ground or in a hangar.Most of the movie spaceships I remember seeing could levitate and maneuver around like that.
True, but you have to power them up to do that. Helicopters can levitate but most of them have wheels because powering them up every time you want to move them is a bit inconvenient. Now, I grant you that anti-gravity usually doesn't have the downwash and fast-moving parts problems, but it would still be inconvenient, especially if you were doing maintenance on the drive. Battlestar Galactica often had rolling landings in combat but still had skids. So is it just that skids are cheaper and easier to model or is there some other reason?
Helicopters with wheels? Well, I can't say I am an expert.
Spaceships come in two flavours, realistically. Big ones, built in space and never landing, and landing ships. Those would be like the Star Wars shuttlecraft, and could possibly have wheels.
|
Helicopters with wheels? Well, I can't say I am an expert.
Spaceships come in two flavours, realistically. Big ones, built in space and never landing, and landing ships. Those would be like the Star Wars shuttlecraft, and could possibly have wheels.
Dropships and Jumpships... Not all Dropships land vertical.
Another factor you could consider is that stuff is usually put into hangars to protect it from the elements. Pretty much by definition, a spaceship has no need of such protection. Outer space is a pretty hostile environment, after all. A functioning spaceship can take anything mother nature usually throws at us. Such as rains, storms, hail, lightning or even being underwater.