Tycho Celchu--B-wing pilot?

now, we normally think of Tycho as a Rogue pilot in his X-wing...

yet, for whatever reason, we knew he flew an A-wing at Endor, or so we've always been told...

the Wikia article on him, at the top, shows him ala Endor, in a green A-wing pilot uniform (my congrats to the artist)

now, with all due respect to their contributions to EU lore, I must point out Decipher CCG seems to have messed up

check out the ROTJ background character they ID as Tycho

it looks like a redsuit, ie, a B-wing pilot.

possible (if weak retcon)....Tycho was flying a B-wing PRIOR to the briefing...for some reason

he loves playing musical chairs with his ABCs

 

He had just gotten back from a B-Wing test flight and before the battle, he was like "Kark those things. I'm flying my A-Wing!"?

 

When his new action figure comes out he can fly what ever ship you'd like. Have we heard from him lately in the EU? Is he dead or am I just forgetting something?

 

I sure don't see red when I look at that suit; I see green. Granted, I am probably projecting an expected greenness onto the suit knowing it's an alleged A-wing pilot in the picture, but really, it's too dark to get much of any color out of it. However, the helmet he holds does match the A-wing helmet he's wearing in the art, and not a B-wing helmet.

 

He was in Betrayal and Exile

 

From some of the discussions between Nrin and Ibstisam (I believe) in the Rogue Squadron comics, I get the impression that the B-Wing was thought of as the future of snub fighters as it had a broader line of sight, the firepower of Y-Wings with the speed of an X-Wing. For whatever reason, pilots didn't completely take to it and the X-Wing continued to be the staple craft. Perhaps Tycho was someone they were trying to get to pilot what they believed were superior craft.....and someone that told them he didn't believe it actual was a Superior Craft.

Tycho flying A-Wing's makes a lot of sense. He was a Tie Interceptor pilot in the Imperial Navy if I recall correctly and would be more accustomed to the faster, more agile, less shielded, less firepower A-Wing type combat rather than the X or B Wings.

 

Maybe the B-wing never caught on as Wedge and Luke almost fanatically believed in X-wings? I remember during one of the Rogue Squadron novels (Bacta War, I think), at one point it sounded like the official New Republic Rogue Squadron (not the rogue pirate Rogue Squadron) was changed to specially built/modified A-wings made by Incom. Of course, once Wedge was back, it was X-wings as normal.

I think it basically came down to X-wings were more maneuverable and still could carry torpedoes. B-wings had decent maneverability, and lots of firepower (ion cannon, missiles/torpedoes), but maybe the New Republic didn't want such a ordinance focused fighter? Replacing blaster bolts was easier than replacing missiles/torpedoes. Or maybe the B-wing just was too expensive and never quite got into mass, mass production, unlike X-wings, and the X-wing was upgraded enough to easily rival the B-wing. I mean, look at the TIE Defender. Its probably the best starfighter in the galaxy, but was so good, it was too hard to mass-produce.

I still see Rogues (former or not) flying, if not X-wings, usually something fast. Unless its like the extremely early Rebellion and the only things they had were Y-wings and other older fighters (like Headhunters, or the new retconned V-wings, Etas, etc.).

And Tycho has shown up in the Allston books, and hopefully he'll show up in Fury when it comes out.

 

The B-wing was a maintenance nightmare. It was expensive to upkeep, and it was expensive to repair.

Furthermore, it was rather fragile. Sure, the shielding was decent, but the hull wasn't particularly well reinforced, and it was especially easy to jam the rotating cockpit or knock the primary laser out of alighment. The former made the ship handle like a drunken rycrit, while the latter not only made the primary weapon less effective, but the B-wing's primary laser also served as a targeting laser for all of its other weapon systems.

When working in peak condition, it was a formidable machine. But when in sub-peak condition, it was almost more trouble than it was worth.

 

B-Wings are Bombers, let's effectively view them in that light. They're not planetary surface bombers but bombers for blowing up Capital Ships. Furthermore, they're essentially the Rebellion's version of the Skipray Blast Boat or TIE Fighter's Missile Boat. B-wings exist to blow the crap out of Capital Ships because the Rebellion doesn't have much in the way of Capital Ships. When you need to blow up capital ships and you're a Rebel, the B-Wing is what you want.

Of course, the irony is the fact that the B-wings can't blow anything up that's larger than a Nebulon-B frigate (Rookie One single handidly destroying a Super Star Destroyer and an Imperial Star Destroyer in single starfighter combat aside). The shields are just too strong but they can damn well make the lives of those smaller ships to be uncomfortable. Plus, they blow TIE Bombers out of the sky (pun intended).

The problem with A-wings is they're really sorta crap too. The problem with A-wings is that they're like Podracers in space. Can human beings really fly A-wings without Jedi abilities? They're like TIE fighters except they're much worse and don't have all the fun course correction programming that TIE pilots get plus their ridiculous amount of training (that they're promptly used for cannon fodder for). Yes, they're ****ing impossible to hit in TIE fighter (I *HATE* those things) but they're pretty crappily armed.

Why is the X-wing design so endurable? In addition to propaganda, the ships are just damn versatile.

So, when the Rebellion gets actual capital ships, then there's no real need for B-wings anymore. Of course, this is an in-universe justification for the fact that almost no one cares about B-wings and A-wings.

 

B-Wings are easy once you get the Defender or Missile Boat...the EU seriously needs to do more with the Missile Boat...by far the deadliest frigate buster in the game...

 

Hey Quest, why are those B-Wings flying horizontally with their S-foils open? I thought they tended to fly vertically with S-foils open or horizontally with them closed.

 

Space is big. Really big. Space combat happens over large areas. Also, A-wings aren't in a race and perpetually trying to go as fast as they possibly can through narrow canyons. So, yes, there's nothing unreasonable about humans being able to fly fast fighter craft.

 

[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/7/71/BWingsKillISD2-ST.jpg]

Unless Rookie One was flying that, that was probably blown up by other cruisers.

But my point is, yes, A-wings can be flown fast but the Dogfighting nevertheless can't be something a human takes advantage of fully. They'd have to be ridiculously difficult to master even if an idiot can fly up and shoot without difficulty.

 

In space, there is no such thing as "verticle" or "horizontal."

 

In relation to the cockpit, there is.

And really, I think they just rotate as they feel like rotating. They generally fly into combat vertically, but while they maneuver, they just fly however it ends up pointing.

"It's more of a . . . guideline, really."

 

I don't know, I wouldn't put it past a flight of B-Wings taking down an ISD, especially considering said ISD could have been taking fire from other quarters due to the general melee that was the Battle of Endor. After all an A-Wing kinda took down a SSD.

B-Wings from Nova Squadron are used as capital ship bombers in the hunt for Zisnj (or however you spell that crazy warlord's name) i believe, and they were effective against his larger Cap ships.

I like them myself, quite an original design, I like to think they are less common for the technical difficulties they could cause and due to the price of upgrading/maintaining/building the damn things!

 

Well if you go by that argument, then shouldn't the E-wing, with its 15 torpedoes against the B-wing's 12, put the latter ship completely out of service?

 

It was never in the movie in the first place, right?

 

Amen to that!

In fact, I wish that ROTJ had the B-wing scence and that scence from the novelization where a Mon Cal cruiser, severely damaged from aprevious engagement with a ISD, limps into contact with another ISD, destroying both ships.

--Adm. Nick

 

I kinda wish that they'd spent more time sprucing up Endor in the SE rather than the dance number.

 

Wait, Jello just praised the destruction of one of His Imperial Majesty's warships? Scandal!

 

He's just scheming to get better funding for the Imperial Anti-Starfight weaponry, knowing that those Rebel Scum have little more going for them than a few hotshot pilots who get lucky with their proton torpedos from time to time.

If His Imperial Majesty had 1 TIE Defender-caliber fighter in place of every Imperial TIE Fighter Squadron, and 1 Assault Gunboat in place of every TIE Bomber Squadron, and competent pilots for each, the Rebels would've been finished...before tea time no less.

 

From now on, I don't care what I read to the contrary, in my mind that is exactly what happened.