Dr. Zephram Cochrane's Phoenix v2.0

For ol' times sake, here's the original release of the Phoenix. Note: This will overwrite the Anniversary Edition Phoenix, and vice versa. Remember to back up your files before installing...

Ship Information:

Starship Type: Experimental Warp Prototype
Starship Name: Phoenix
Date of Experiment: 2063/04/03
Shipyard: Montana Missle Complex, Sol III
C.O.: Dr. Zephram Cochrane
Current Status: Archived (Smithstonian Aeronautical Institute - Sol III)

Engine Data:

Maximum Impulse: 299,999K
Maximum Warp: Warp 1.0
Maneuverability Rating: 0.17/0.95

Hull Dimensions:

Length: 30m
Hull Rating: 0.1
Mass: 25
LWO Model Size: 1624 Points

Crew Compliment:

Flight Crew: 3

Mod Info:

My first full mod for Klingon Academy, and my first model done in Lightwave! I owe much thanks to Kaje, Mogel, Sector1001 and Dragon for helping me get the Phoenix to fly ;)

Building the Phoenix as my first mod was important to me. As a kid, I was a space cadet, and when "Apollo 13" was released I wondered why no-one had done anything about mankind's first FTL flight, particularly in Star Trek. So when First Contact came out, I imediately fell in love with the Montana sequences, and especially the Phoenix's flight. The timing of my building her seemed a little too coincidental, of which was around the time of the September 11th destruction of the World Trade Center Towers. It was a time when symbols of rebirth from destruction were definitly needed, and that made me push that little bit harder toward her original Beta release.

She's a point heavy mod, So I didn't really have any room for bona fide ginsuing. However, she still had debris and particle points so that damage isn't completely lost on her.

How To Fly The Phoenix

The Phoenix loads up with her engines still in the engine wells. But before Lilly'll let you start 'er up, you gotta get rid of the sauce. Head out to the Exterior View (Hit M, then the arrow keys to scroll and N & B to zoom), since the ship looks prettier from outside. Once you have a good view, hit 7 then 3 to activate the TES (Tequila Ejection System), then Lilly warms up the engines. Ten seconds later the TES will be primed for use, just hit the spacebar to get rid of Dr. Cochrane's former medicine. The TES can eject the bottles at a rate of 6 per minute.

Zephram Cochrane built the Phoenix before humans had adapted warp technology into proper sub-luminal (Impulse) propulsion. The rocket engines adapted from old Titan II launch vehicles were only capable of 6.667 k/s, and due to the limited space on her she wouldn't have been able to carry enough reactant to give her a practical range. Thus the Phoenix relied on her warp engines for traveling slower than warp one. The "impulsive" nature of this system would later lead to dedicated sub-luminal coil drivers being included in ship designs, aptly named "Impulse Engines".

When attempting to break the warp barrier, choose an in-system destination and lock on to it with sensors. Steer toward it, and activate impulse power. Since this is being generated by the warp engines, the speed will appear to be somewhat overkill. The primitive speedometer won't read anything past 10,000k (it'll just say Warp 1), so you'll have to keep an eye on the slider indicator instead. When she reaches Critical Velocity (at full impulse, 299,999k, or just under lightspeed), activate the WSI (Warp Stage Initiators) by hitting 2, then 3. Remember to go to exterior view since that's where the show's taking place. Then, sit back and enjoy the ride...

Also remember that there's no impulse-assisted manuvering, just old gas powered RCS jets. The Phoenix handles like older 20th century spacecraft, sluggish to come around and hard to get stopped once she is turning. Take care when flipping the Bird! ;)

Historical Notes:

It's interesting to note that the Titan II booster that launched the Phoenix into orbit for her historical flight first went into service in 1962, 101 years before the events of ST: First Contact. The warp core was built out of one of the original missles' warheads, of which uses duterium as it's fusable material. The Phoenix of course only flew once, and there would have been no way for Dr. Cochrane to land the vehicle intact after her flight. The Command Module (cockpit) would have seperated, re-entered the atmosphere like the old Apollo capsules and landed in Montana like the old Russian capsules. Unless a replica of her was later built, The Warp Drive Section was likely retrieved at a later date from her orbit, since Captain Picard mentioned that the Phoenix was in the Smithstonian.

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