Captain Needa's little ship?

[Beast]

Originally posted by Jayspawn
Anyway, Emperor Jargo is right of course. We definatly need a Shuttle NOW! It could come with some sort of EU Shuttle Pilot figure. I'd welcome one of those. Bring it on Hasbro!

Why do we need the shuttle pilot to be EU? We saw them in Return of the Jedi piloting Vader's shuttle at the beginning of the movie. Besides, no worries. There is a pretty good sounding rumor that we will get one for Christmas this year, possibly thru FAO Schwartz.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[LTBasker]

Originally posted by JarJarBinks

Why do we need the shuttle pilot to be EU? We saw them in Return of the Jedi piloting Vader's shuttle at the beginning of the movie.

Technically we already have the pilots, they were regular black uniformed Imperial Officers, like the ones in the FX-7 wave.

[Dryanta]

Please don't tease us Jar Jar.This Christmas!!!How about an Imperial dignitary pack in?
I thought Tie's had no life support systems?Would they really be a good platform to use as a shuttle.In a pinch I guess.Why waste the mileage on a Lambda class for someone is probably wont be coming back?

[Rollo Tomassi]

Originally posted by Dryanta
Why waste the mileage on a Lambda class for someone is probably wont be coming back?

Exactly. The second in command on Needa's ship was thinking "Geez. if I send him over in a Lamda, I'll never get it back. Then I'll have to requisition a replacement Lamda. And there'll be tons of paperwork. And it'll take forever to get here..."

"Sir? Capt. Needa? Why don't you take this stripped down TIE bomber instead..."

[Beast]

Originally posted by Dryanta
Please don't tease us Jar Jar.This Christmas!!!How about an Imperial dignitary pack in? I thought Tie's had no life support systems?Would they really be a good platform to use as a shuttle.In a pinch I guess.Why waste the mileage on a Lambda class for someone is probably wont be coming back?

Meesa not be teasing, there is strong rumors it's coming this Christmas. A well known forum member over at Rebelscum posted some information about it, and Artoo's news had some rumored info about it as well. I hope it does come with dignitaries, we can always use Imperial Officer's for pilots. A new soft goods Emporer would be a nice addition as well. I hope more information surfaces soon.

You are correct, TIE ships do not have a life support system. That's why the pilot's have to wear their own. I wish I knew what book they designs for that little shuttle Needa uses appears in, I may just have to dig thru some of the ship books and find it. I know it wasn't all that intresting looking, just a small shuttle pod.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[Jargo]

Okey dokey, i got this picture from the illustrated script of ESB and it looks very much like a tie vessel to me. it's a little fuzzy because it's a screen cap they used to illustrate the book not a direct print from film cells. but see for yourselves...

[Amanamike]

ya it does look like a Tie ship of somekind. But I was always under the assumption that ties had no liife support in them?? Maybe it has been fitted with some for short distances and no fancy flying. Oh well I guess only George Lucas really knows, maybe we should ask him what he used for that shot or what he intended to use.

[Dryanta]

Thanks Jar Jar and Jargo.
It looks alot like a Tie Bomber to me.Angled wings and broad in the body.Throw a couple oxygen tanks on the bomb bay,a space heater and send someone over to vader for a quick lesson on failing.
I really hope the Shuttle rumors are true.

[Beast]

I found the information about Needa's shuttle that I was looking for, it is a modified TIE Bomber. The ordanance pod has been converted into a passanger area. Here is the info from the Star Wars Technical Commentaries website as well as a picture from the book it appeared in.

TIE Shuttle
ENGINES: 2
ACCELERATION: 8 WEG
HULL: 2 heavy modules
LENGTH: 6.33m
RADIATOR AREA: 53.2m²
WEAPONS: 1 laser cannon

This design was brought out of obscurity in The Empire Strikes Back, when Captain Needa used one of these TIEs as a courier and shuttle craft to report to Lord Vader. Whether the shuttle and the boarding craft are the same is unclear; they have similar shape and size. The boarding craft certainly must have superior armour and speed, since it is principally used during hostilities. The interior of the TIE Shuttle is less cramped, giving the courier passengers more space than the more numerous stormtroopers who are carried in each TIE Boarding Craft. Considering the similarity of hulls, the engines are probably arrayed in the same way as those of a TIE Bomber.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

TIE Shuttle schematics according to STAR WARS Adventure Journal #10:

[JEDIpartner]

It looks a bit like those old styrene boxes McDonald's used to pack their sandwiches in before they went back to the paper wrappings. TIE Shuttle... Hmmm... interesting!!! Would actually like to see a picture of that thing.