Battle of Hoth: why snowspeeders and not X-Wings?

" Yes, but the X-Wings are space fighters and in space it is a lot colder there than on Hoth. So I can't see why Hoth's tempature would be a problem. "

Ice.

Ice don't form in space, water just sublimes into gas.

Any airline pilot will tell you ice on the wings = bad.

 

This is like asking why didn't they use snowspeeders in the battle at the DSII? The reason X-Wings were not used on Hoth is because they are not designed for atmospheric combat. Yes they can but the ship does not operate at it's peak efficency. The X-Wing has no "flaps" on the wings to increase or decrease lift or direction. Nor does it have a tail to act as a rudder for steering. Also, with the S-foils locked in attack postion, the drag and windshear on the craft would be incredible, not to mention the lift problem. It would have to rely manely on it's repulsor lifts for combat manuvers, which they are not designed for.

The X-Wing uses it's repulsor lifts to exit the planets atmosphere. It does use the ion drive for some propulsion but that part really doesn't kick in until the craft has reached orbit.

So in conclusion, the X-Wing "can" fight in the atmosphere but it's not designed for that. IIRC it's called a Space Superiority(sp) Fighter. An Earthly example of this would be a battleship for landbased artillery. You "can" plant it on shore and use it as a shore defenseive artillery but why would you when there are guns designed for that?

 

Ice don't form in space, water just sublimes into gas.

So you're saying that if I were to go up into space with a gallon of water and release it there, the ice would not freeze?

What I'm saying is that any fighter is insulated against the tempature and ice because any fighter is capable of going groundside. During the night it might rain and moisture would be all over that fighter and when it goes back into space it is going to freeze. Dagobah is a good example of that, I'm sure there was plenty of moisture on that ship as Luke was flying away and into space.

Oh, and let's try not to discuss Boba and Jango here.

 

"So you're saying that if I were to go up into space with a gallon of water and release it there, the ice would not freeze?"

Due to effects of the vacume the water turns to gas. you need moist air for ice to form. Dry air leaches moisture. A vacume is extremely dry. Something like that anyway. The water does freeze but it can't maintane the ice form.

 

X-wings probably would work on Hoth with a little tender loving care and some mechanical adjustments to modify them for the conditions of hoth... Still X-wings are expensive, and the rebels didn't have that many at echo base... they could only afford two fighter per entire transport of crucial rebel gear and personel, the snow speeders couldn't gaurd the transports at all, and the x-wings would suffer significant casualties during the ground battle.

The X-wings could not have turned the tide anyway... The Rebels were simply overwhelmed, wave after wave of Imperial Forces were going to Come, and had the rebels thrown the X-wings at the Empire instead of making their escape, The Loss at Echo Base could have been crippling to the entire movement.

 

I don't think the cold is an issue. I'm guessing it has more to do with the shield generator. This would be the same reason that the Empire didn't use TIE fighters/bombers in their attack.

 

X-wings would not be as effective becasue of their speed. The pilots would only have a tiny window to fire on the walkers as they zipped by...also, they needed them to escort the transports!

 

X-wings would not be as effective becasue of their speed. The pilots would only have a tiny window to fire on the walkers as they zipped by...

I would think that they'd be able to slow down to a more manageable speed.

 

The cold is an issue, I believe. The snowspeeders had to be modified to withstand the cold. The Star Wars Incredible Cross-Sections said that they had to be modified because their engines were cooled to fast be the cold. This makes sense. A good real example is your air condition unit or a refigerator. So you know how the AC works? The water is cooled, and then sent througout the house. The cool water gets warmed up by the air, and the air is cooled by the water. The cold water pulls in the heat. . .and cools the room. So, this was the problem. . .in addition to the natural radition of heat into the Hoth atmosphere, the was also a convetion of the engine's heat because of the icyness of the Hoth atmosphere. In space, there wouldn't be such a problem, because there isn't any matter (dust, gas, etc.) for the heat to be absorbed, so it can only radate into space, which is a slower progress. The X-Wings weren't modified for the cold of Hoth. I think they could run for a little while, but then the engines would freeze up and then be unusable.

Sorry for the science leture, but I wanted to make a little more plan what I ment on my earlier post.

 

Bluntly, I don't think it has anything to do with speed, temperature, or any of that. The in-universe answer to me would be the fact that the shielf above their heads would impede their maneuverability, and the out of universe answer would be that X-wings are old, snowspeeders are new, tipping over walkers is funny and draws crowds, there's a new toy available, and all in all, new beats old.

 

All right, I'll concede on the shield and marketing theories.

 

Were there any Y-wings at Echo Base? Or were they all just waiting at the Rendezvous Point? Cause I woulda taken some of them and bomb the snot out of the AT-AT's cockpit.
BTW, a T-47's cannons aren't THAT weak.

 

No, the T-47's lasers can't be weak, or the rebellion wouldn't have used 'em, but that just goes to show the strength of the AT-AT's sstrenth.