Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: What kind of fighter plane did Darth Vader fly?
In addition to the standard TIE/ln fighter (also available as the TIE Light Duty training craft, as seen in the "Jump to Lightspeed" expansion pack to "Star Wars Galaxies"), a variety of other TIE craft appear throughout the films. Darth Vader flies a TIE Advanced x1; its prototype precursor, the TIE Advanced v1, was retroactively featured in "Star Wars Rebels" (the v1's variable-geometry wings, like Darth Maul's shuttle "Scimitar"'s, were inspired by Ralph McQuarrie's original sketches for the x1). "The Empire Strikes Back" introduces a TIE shuttle and TIE/sa bombers, which ferry Captain Needa (Michael Culver) to Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer and bomb asteroids in the hunt for the "Millennium Falcon", respectively. Both TIE craft have a design that stems from an unused "TIE boarding craft" concept developed for "A New Hope". The TIE bomber's double-hull design led ILM's modelmakers to dub the ship a "double chili dog" fighter. The TIE/sa was also the inspiration for the triple-hulled TIE lander, featured in "Star Wars" #60 and in "Star Wars: Complete Locations". TIE/IN interceptors — faster TIE fighters with dagger-shaped wings and four laser cannons — appear at various points in "Return of the Jedi". Two scales of TIE interceptor models were used during filming. In the "Legends" continuity, red modified TIE interceptors are also used by the Emperor's Royal Guards, as featured in "Rage of the Wookiees", another expansion of "Star Wars Galaxies". "The Force Awakens" features First Order TIE/fo "space superiority fighters" (this definition was later adapted to the TIE/sf and TIE/ln, too) that have deflector shields and Special Forces TIE/sf fighters with heavier weapons, a hyperdrive, and shields. "Flatter, fang-like" TIE striker atmospheric fighters appear in "Rogue One" (2016). "" also features the TIE silencer, the Advanced-like personal starfighter of Kylo Ren.
The Death Star is a type of fictional mobile space station and galactic superweapon featured in the "Star Wars" space opera franchise. The first Death Star is stated to be more than 100 km to 160 km in diameter, depending on source. It is crewed by an estimated 1.7 million military personnel and 400,000 droids. The second Death Star is significantly larger, between 160 km to 900 km in diameter depending on source, and technologically more powerful than its predecessor. Both versions of these moon-sized fortresses are designed for massive power-projection capabilities, capable of destroying multiple naval fleets or entire planets with one blast from their superlasers.
In the "Legends" novels "Death Star", "Dark Empire II", "Jedi Search" and "Champions of the Force", an experimental "Death Star" prototype, DS-X (a durasteel frame surrounding a reactor core, superlaser, engines and a control room) was conceived by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin as a test bed for the first Death Star. It was constructed by Bevel Lemelisk and his engineers at the Empire's secret Maw Installation. The prototype measured 120 kilometers in diameter. Its superlaser was only powerful enough to destroy a planet's core, rendering it an uninhabitable "dead planet". The targeting system on the prototype was never calibrated and the superlaser was inefficient, leaving the weapon's batteries drained. The prototype had no interior except a slave-linked control room, hyperdrive engines and other components; the station operated with skeleton-crew of 75 personnel.
The first book presents some of the earliest concept sketches of a number of now-familiar characters of the "Star Wars" universe, including early impressions of the helmet of Darth Vader, the droids C-3PO and R2-D2, Imperial stormtroopers, and the alien clientele of the Mos Eisley Cantina on the planet Tatooine. The concept sketches and matte paintings of Ralph McQuarrie feature heavily, alongside sketches by Joe Johnston, set design drawings by John Barry, costume design sketches by John Mollo, storyboards by Alex Tavoularis and photographs by Bob Seidemann and John Jay. McQuarrie's work was considered highly influential in the production of the first three Star Wars movies; Journalist Jonathan Jones wrote of McQuarrie: ""Looking at his "[McQuarrie's]" paintings, you can recognise that the appeal of this art is similar to that of 19th century Orientalist paintings of harems and sandy vistas."" The illustrations are accompanied by the text of the Revised Fourth Draft of George Lucas's script, "Star Wars Episode IV — A New Hope, from the Journal of the Whills", dated January 15 1976. Later chapters feature the artwork of film posters by Tom Jung, Dan Goozee, Drew Struzan, John Berkey, Tom Chantrell, the Hildebrandt Brothers, Howard Chaykin, Wojtek Siudmak and Ralph McQuarrie; and the art of spin-off products such as the Marvel Comics series, "Star Wars"-themed cartoons such as "Berry's World" and "Stan Mack's Real Life Funnies"; and fan art.
Fighter-bombers became increasingly important in the 1950s and 1960s, as new jet engines dramatically improved the power of even the smallest fighter designs. Many aircraft initially designed as fighters or interceptors found themselves in the fighter-bomber role at some point in their career. Notable among these is the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, first designed as a high-performance day fighter and then adapted to the nuclear strike role for European use. Another such aircraft was the Indian HAL HF-24 Marut. It was used during the Indo-Pak war of 1971, and only three aircraft were lost to ground fire. One aerial kill recorded by Marut flown by Squadron Leader K.K. Bakshi of 220 Squadron shot down a PAF F-86 Sabre on 7 Dec 71 (Flag Officer Hamid Khwaja of 15 Squadron PAF). Other U.S. examples include the North American F-100 Super Sabre and (perhaps most famously) the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, each of which were widely used during the Vietnam War.
R2-D2 (), or Artoo-Detoo, is a fictional robot character in the "Star Wars" franchise created by George Lucas. A small astromech droid, R2-D2 is a major character and appears in nine out of the ten "Star Wars" films to date. Throughout the course of the films, R2 is a friend to C-3PO, Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in various points in the saga.
Star Wars Rebels is an American 3D CGI animated television series produced by Lucasfilm Animation. With its story beginning fourteen years after "" and five years before "A New Hope", "Rebels" takes place during an era when the Galactic Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy. Imperial forces are hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights while a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking form. The visual style of "Rebels" is inspired by the original "Star Wars" trilogy concept art by Ralph McQuarrie.
Although details, such as the superlaser's location, shifted between different concept models during production of "Star Wars", the notion of the Death Star being a large, spherical space station over 100 kilometers in diameter was consistent in all of them. George Lucas gave the original task of designing a "Death Star" to concept artist and spaceship modeler Colin Cantwell, who had collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the 1968 film "". In a 2016 interview, Cantwell related that "I didn't originally plan for the Death Star to have a trench, but when I was working with the mold, I noticed the two halves had shrunk at the point where they met across the middle." As it "would have taken a week of work just to fill and sand and refill this depression," Cantwell suggested a trench to Lucas to save the labor. Lucas liked the idea, and the Death Star model was created by John Stears. The buzzing sound counting down to the Death Star firing its superlaser comes from the "Flash Gordon" serials. Portraying an incomplete yet powerful space station posed a problem for Industrial Light & Magic's modelmakers for "Return of the Jedi". Only the front side of the 137-centimeter model was completed, and the image was flipped horizontally for the final film. Both Death Stars were depicted by a combination of complete and sectional models and matte paintings.
The first "Death Star"'s construction is the subject of Michael Reaves and Steve Perry's novel "Death Star". In LucasArts's "", the player participates in a mission to secure crystals used in the Death Star's superlaser. The first Death Star under construction acts as the final stage in the video game, "". Kevin J. Anderson's "Jedi Academy" trilogy introduces the Maw Cluster of black holes that protect a laboratory where the "Death Star" prototype was built (consisting of the super structure, power core, and superlaser).
Air superiority depended on having the fastest, most maneuverable fighters, in sufficient quantity, based on well-supplied airfields, within range. The RAF demonstrated the importance of speed and maneuverability in the Battle of Britain (1940), when its fast Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane fighters easily riddled the clumsy Stukas as they were pulling out of dives. The race to build the fastest fighter became one of the central themes of World War II.
The first Death Star is depicted in various sources of having a crew of 265,675, as well as 52,276 gunners, 607,360 troops, 30,984 stormtroopers, 42,782 ship support staff, and 180,216 pilots and support crew. Its hangars contain assault shuttles, blastboats, Strike cruisers, land vehicles, support ships, and 7,293 TIE fighters. It is also protected by 10,000 turbolaser batteries, 2,600 ion cannons, and at least 768 tractor beam projectors. Various sources state the first Death Star has a diameter of between 140 and 160 kilometers. There is a broader range of figures for the second Death Star's diameter, ranging from 160 to 900 kilometers.
Ground Attack Aviation or Fighter-Bomber Aviation (Lovačko-Bombarderska Aviacija) was in the second plan of JRV. All attack aircraft were home-made. The new aircraft like J-22 Orao attack aircraft and G-4 Super Galeb light-attack trainer were replacing older J-21 Jastreb light-attack and G-2 Galeb light-attack trainer aircraft. The First Corps of AF and AD had two fighter-bomber squadrons and one reconnaissance squadron equipped with ground attack reconnaissance aircraft. 252nd from Batajnica Airbase was under direct command of its Corps of AF and AD (unlike other squadrons which were under the command of their Regiments/Brigades). It was equipped with older J-21 Jastreb light attack aircraft and G-2 Galeb trainer/attack aircraft, Utva-66 utility aircraft and new G-4 Super Galebs. Under command of the 97th Aviation Brigade (which was in 1st Corps of AF and AD) there was one fighter-bomber squadron, 240th, equipped with Jastrebs and one reconnaissance squadron, 353.IAE, equipped with IJ-22 Orao reconnaissance-attack aircraft. The Third Corps of AF and AD had two major fighter-bomber aviation units, 98th Aviation Brigade and 127th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment. 98th Aviation Brigade from Skopski Petrovac in Macedonia had three squadrons, two fighter-bomber squadron and one reconnaissance squadron. Fighter-bomber squadrons were 241st equipped with J-22 Orao attack aircraft, 247th with Jastrebs and 354th IAE was equipped with IJ-21 Jastreb reconnaissance aircraft. 127th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment at Golubovci Airbase comprised two fighter-bomber squadrons, 239th equipped with G-4 Super Galebs and 242nd equipped with Jastrebs and J-22 Orao aircraft. The Fifth Corps of AF and AD had most fighter-bomber aviation units, one Aviation Brigade and two Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiments. 82nd Aviation Brigade, at Cerklje Airbase, Slovenia, had two fighter-bomber squadrons and one reconnaissance squadron. Two fighter-bomber squadrons were 237.LBAE equipped with J-21 and NJ-21 Jastrebs, and 238th equipped with J-22 and NJ-22 Orao aircraft. Reconnaissance squadron was 351st equipped with IJ-21 Jastreb and IJ-22 Orao reconnaissance-attack aircraft. 105th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment at Zemunik-Zadar Airbase comprised two fighter-bomber aviation squadrons, 249th equipped with Super Galebs, 251st with Galebs and one aviation squadron, 333rd equipped with Utva 75 training aircraft, An-2 transport aircraft, Gazelle helicopters and Super Galebs. 185th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment at Pula Airport has compos of one fighter-bomber squadron, 229th equipped with G-4 Super Galebs and one fighter squadron, 129th equipped with MiG-21 aircraft in versions MiG-21PFM, MiG-21US and MiG-21UM.
The VFW-Fokker H3 Sprinter was a single-engined experimental rotorcraft designed and built in West Germany. Two aircraft were produced by VFW-Fokker in the early 1970s, registered "D-9543" and "D-9544". Intended as the first of a family of tip-jet driven helicopters the two H3 prototypes flew briefly but the method of rotor propulsion was found to be unsuccessful for this size of aircraft. Due to a high rotor overspeed, they could perform jump take-offs to at a rate of per minute. An improved H4 variant was designed but not built.
There are several differences between the fighting machines as described in Wells' novel and those in Steven Spielberg's 2005 film, which come from an undisclosed alien world. In this version the tripods were long ago brought to Earth, having been buried underground sometime in its distant past. The aliens instead travel in capsules to their buried machines by some kind of "beaming" process resembling lightning (from where or what is never revealed), which transports them underground. The lightning containing the capsules travel faster than the human eye can see, and the unearthing of the first fighting machine suggests they may have each been kept in something similar to a cylinder (which might have been part of a rocket or other transportation that brought them to Earth long ago). In a published interview screenwriter David Koepp stated his belief that they were planted by these extraterrestrials as a part of some kind of alien "contingency plan" (said plan never being revealed to the audience).
After 20 years and 5000 hours in fighter jets, Shul retired from the Air Force in 1990 and went on to pursue his writing and photographic interests. In addition to running his own photo studio in northern California, he has authored seven books on flying and flight photography. His first two books ("Sled Driver: Flying The World's Fastest Jet" and "The Untouchables") are about flying the SR-71 Blackbird and give the reader a first-hand account of being in the cockpit of the world's fastest jet. Shul's third and fourth books are about America's air demonstration teams, the Navy Blue Angels, in "Blue Angels: A Portrait of Gold", and the Air Force Thunderbirds, in "Summer Thunder" and contain aerial images which take the reader into the dynamic formations of these world-famous teams. In 1997, Shul released his fifth book, "Eagle Eyes : Action Photography from the Cutting Edge", which is a collection of his in-flight photos. He has also released special, revised editions of both "Sled Driver" and "The Untouchables".
One of his largest roles was in the Kurosawa epic, Hidden Fortress. It was in this role that he played a comic grotesque, opposite Mifune. His annoying peasant character Matashichi gave inspiration to George Lucas for R2D2. The taller fellow lead character, Tahei, played by Minoru Chiaki served as the inspiration for C-3PO. Additionally, the characters and general plotline involving a princess fleeing an evil empire formed the basis for Lucas's movie, Star Wars.
In 2014, Disney XD began airing "Star Wars Rebels", the first CGI-animated series produced following the Disney acquisition. Set between "Revenge of the Sith" and "A New Hope", it follows a band of rebels as they fight the Galactic Empire and helped close some of the arcs in "The Clone Wars". Due to the film "Rogue One" being produced at the same time, the film and the series acknowledged each other. The series also included a canonical version of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the character from the "Legends " Thrawn trilogy.
Death Star is a 2007 science fiction novel by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry that is set in the "Star Wars" galaxy. It deals with the construction of the Death Star, a massive weaponized space station which first appeared in "".
The book was originally published in New York by LucasBooks/Del Rey/Ballantine Books, in 2007, with the title "Star Wars: Death Star". It is held in 860 WorldCat libraries. It was reprinted in London by Century in 2008 as "Death Star".
Despite the influence, Fujiwara received no money from Lucas, and Lucas never personally thanked Fujiwara. Fujiwara may or may not have seen the Star Wars films, but he did not comment on what he thought of R2D2 or any other of the characters, though the subject of "Star Wars" was brought up in a televised discussion between himself, Akira Kurosawa, and his costars Misa Uehara and Minoru Chiaki. George Lucas acknowledged heavy influence of "The Hidden Fortress" on "Star Wars", particularly the technique of telling the story from the perspective of the film's lowliest characters, C-3PO and R2-D2.
The Death Star began as a Geonosian design, but became operational after nearly two decades of work by a team of brilliant scientists sequestered on the rainswept world of Eadu. Led by a reluctant Galen Erso, the Death Star scientists seek to fuse kyber-crystal shards into larger structures and use those crystals to amplify energy into a stable beam powerful enough to destroy an entire planet.
The first Death Star's schematics are visible in the scenes on Geonosis in "" showcasing the early development of the Death Star prototype, the Death Star plans were designed by Geonosians led by Archduke Poggle the Lesser, a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and is shown early in construction at the end of "". The Death Star plans are a central plot-point in the 2016 film "Rogue One" and the original 1977 film "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope".
In 1966, Dengler served aboard the USS Ranger (CV-61) with VA-145 (Attack Squadron 145). At the time, the squadron was equipped with the Douglas AD-6/A-1H Skyraider, a single-engine, propeller-driven attack plane. On the morning of 1 February, Lt. Dengler launched from the Ranger with three other aircraft on an interdiction mission near the Laotian border. Visibility was poor due to weather, and upon rolling in on the target, Lt. Dengler and the remainder of his flight lost sight of one another. Dengler was the last man in and was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He was forced to crash-land his Skyraider in Laos.
Luceno devotes much of "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader" to the internal conflict that Darth Vader undergoes as he tries to shed his former identity of Anakin Skywalker and relearn to master the Force. Palpatine intends for these early missions that he sends Vader on to be as much about learning what it means to be a Sith as they are about consolidating the rule of the nascent Empire.
Capt. Eric Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, RN, Chief Naval Test Pilot and C.O. Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight, remembered how they were impressed when they tested the Veltro. “One of the finest aircraft I ever flew was the Macchi MC. 205. Oh, beautiful. And here you had the perfect combination of Italian styling and German engineering. I believe it was powered by a Daimler Benz DB 605. It was really a delight to fly, and up to anything on the Allied programme. But again, it came just before the Italians capitulated so it was never used extensively. And we did tests on it and were most impressed. The cockpit was smallish but not as bad as the Bf 109.”
Ward was born in Canada in 1943. Educated at Reading School, where he was School Captain, he joined Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1962 as an officer cadet. After basic flying training he completed his training with the Fleet Air Arm on the Hawker Hunter and Sea Vixen. He then joined 892 Naval Air Squadron and flew the F-4K Phantom from , where he qualified as an Air Warfare Instructor. He then worked as a nuclear planning officer at NATO Allied Forces Northern Europe. In 1979, he took command of the Sea Harrier FRS.1 Intensive Flying Trials Unit at 700 Naval Air Squadron. Ward featured in an episode of "Pebble Mill at One" that year when he landed a Sea Harrier in a sports field next to the Pebble Mill Studios.