How the hell was Luke Skywalker qualified to fly an X-wing into combat. In the beginning of New Hope he was like a douchebag farm boy living in a desert hut. He had no military training or experience with advanced fighter aircraft. So what if he used to "bulls eye womp fucks" in his T-16 whatever its called, thats like saying someone who has 30 hours in a cessna is qualified to pilot an F-18 into combat. I mean the dude was like a teenage farmer, he had no military or advanced flight training, and like 5 minutes of force training, but the rebellion is like "hey, here's an advanced fighter plane that you have never flown or trained on a sim with, go blow up the death star". I mean, was the rebellions brilliant military strategy to throw untrained teen pilots into combat against a highly trained professional military force. And were they not like a rag tag group, with limited supplies and resources...why the hell would they risk wasting an advanced fighter on some kid who most likely would crash it on take off. I mean in a real life military scenario, the Empire kicks the rebellions ass every time. I can suspend disbelief on talking muppets and magical powers, but the military stupidity of star wars is too much.

And yes this intended as tongue in cheek humor.

10/16/2010 6:42:22 PM

tl; dr

10/16/2010 6:43:05 PM

Haha I found lolsy.

10/16/2010 6:45:37 PM

Meh, they practically fly themselves. Unless you try to land in fog, then you're fucked.

10/16/2010 6:46:39 PM

The real hero is R2-D2. They just needed a fresh young face to be the center-piece of their anti-Empire ad campaign.

10/16/2010 6:47:37 PM

Quote :

"I mean in a real life military scenario"

I stopped reading after this.

[Edited on October 16, 2010 at 6:58 PM. Reason : f]

10/16/2010 6:56:27 PM

yeah this is pretty much my only gripe in all 7 movies

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

10/16/2010 7:01:20 PM

Quote :

"The real hero is R2-D2."

Funny that you should mention that....

http://www.cracked.com/article/18367_6-insane-fan-theories-that-actually-make-great-movies-better_p2 (skip to the bottom of the page)

10/16/2010 7:15:48 PM

Well, he got the okay from Captain Picard AND Doc Brown.

10/16/2010 7:21:02 PM

Quote :

"tl; dr"

10/16/2010 7:22:00 PM

Quote :

"I mean the dude was like a teenage farmer, he had no military or advanced flight training, and like 5 minutes of force training, but the rebellion is like "hey, here's an advanced fighter plane that you have never flown or trained on a sim with, go blow up the death star". I mean, was the rebellions brilliant military strategy to throw untrained teen pilots into combat against a highly trained professional military force. And were they not like a rag tag group, with limited supplies and resources...why the hell would they risk wasting an advanced fighter on some kid who most likely would crash it on take off. "

Shit like this has happened IRL, only the payoff didn't work too well for the Japanese during WWII. Kamikazi pilots FTL... Perhaps Star Wars was a "spinoff" of Japan's shortcomings?

[Edited on October 16, 2010 at 7:24 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2010 7:22:15 PM

Thank you for finding it lol worthy, it was intended as humor.

10/16/2010 7:29:32 PM

what about in independence day, when they rallied everyone to fly jets against the alien shit?

10/16/2010 7:31:12 PM

Quote :

"in a real life military scenario, the Empire kicks the rebellions ass every time"

This is why it is an interesting STORY. Who the hell would want to watch a militia with accomplished pilots like Jek Porkins just get stomped on? Plus, Luke had all the midichlorians he needed to what ever the hell he wanted to. He didn't even need a goddamn targeting computer to fire his proton torpedos.

10/16/2010 8:13:01 PM

Quote :

"I mean in a real life military scenario, the Empire kicks the rebellions ass every time."

Most of the continental army were made up of farmers who just used to shoot game for food on their land back home. Most had no military training and like 0 minutes of force training. George Washington is all like "hey, here's some bullets and gunpowder and shit, go beat the British army. It worked and they beat the [British] empire.

10/16/2010 9:18:33 PM

^ Dude. George Washington lost almost all his battles. He would lead a group of guys to "ambush" British camps at night while they were sleeping. Also, George Washington led skirmishes against the Brits during the winter. Both actions were seen as very dishonorable and "ungentleman-like." I don't disagree with Washington's tactics, but he did lose all but 1 skirmish IIRC. The reason why the Brits "lost" was because it was costing them too much resources to be stationed in America at the time. Aside from that, there was drama back on the home-island and King George III was more or less forced to recall his force. George Washington won because he survived long enough, not because he forcefully pushed the Brits back. The war was about attrition and Britain could afford it.

[/rant]


[Edited on October 16, 2010 at 9:26 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2010 9:22:03 PM

They have good video games in Star Wars.

10/16/2010 9:24:10 PM

^^ wanker

it was a combination of the empire failing to adequately take serious the threat the 'rebels' presented with a unwillingness to actually pay pretty much for the same reason.

the british were outmaneuvered and forced into a corner, not so much by a dominant military force but by combinations of bad luck, bad planning, so-so leadership, under supplied, 'foreign' overseas local, underestimation of the tenancy of the rebels, and slow attrition.

they got forced into a bad position in yorktown through a string of skirmish harassments that taken separately were not that significant and were technically just about all british victories but resulted in the force and leadership being worn down enough to get pinned at just the wrong time with no means to escape equated to a strategic failure cascade resulting in surrender and a relinquishment of the colonies to the rebels.

/dissertation

10/16/2010 10:20:29 PM

Quote :

"Washington won because he survived long enough"

Isn't that how you win a war when you are outnumbered and out-resourced?

10/16/2010 11:10:31 PM

The Incom T-65 X-Wing Starfighter features controls and flight characteristics that are very similar to their model T-16 Skyhopper. Therefore, a gifted pilot with experience in a T-16 should have no problem properly controlling a T-65.

Instead of a Cessna pilot jumping in an F-18, a more proper comparison would be a T-45 pilot jumping into an F-18...which is exactly what Naval aviators do.

10/16/2010 11:27:01 PM

ya well i trained on a t-44 so i wouldnt know quit taking my joke rant seriously

10/17/2010 12:47:06 AM

I trained on a TI-83

10/17/2010 1:04:18 AM

Even a joke rant needs a semi-plausible premise.

10/17/2010 1:04:20 AM

I read a few days ago that the rebels had limited ammo. For their lasers.


I've been checked out ever since.

10/17/2010 1:26:00 AM

^^^^^ LOL I was sittin' here thinking, "Damn, did he just make all that bullshit up? That's awesome if he did..." So I had to wikipedia it. Or rather, Wookieepedia... lolz

Quote :

"Even so, these [T-16] were often used as training vehicles by the Rebel Alliance, due to the fact that their flight controls were similar to those of X-wings. "

- http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/T-16_skyhopper

[Edited on October 17, 2010 at 4:40 AM. Reason : .]

10/17/2010 4:40:04 AM

^^WTF?? I'm a hardcore SW fan, having read a shitload of the books and played most of the games (especially X-Wing/TIE Fighter/etc.) and I have never had limited laser ammo, although you did have to allow the laser cells to recharge if you fired too fast, or didn't have enough power directed to them. So yea, it sorta had limited ammo, but it was more a matter of limited energy to divert between the shields, lasers, and engines.

10/17/2010 8:53:19 AM

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070325024720AAXtyyG

12/26/2010 5:06:54 PM

I thoroughly enjoyed this thread.

btw was Mak Case a qualified X-wing pilot?

12/26/2010 5:17:17 PM

^^ hahaha WORDS.

12/26/2010 5:22:43 PM

the answer is obvious...the Force was strong in young Skywalker

12/26/2010 5:26:45 PM

the answer is obvious... every military campaign needs fodder.

12/26/2010 6:13:06 PM

Some times you need bantha fodder.

12/26/2010 6:15:49 PM

Based on the translated huttese in Star Wars, banthas obviously eat their own shit

"bantha poodoo" is translated as "bantha fodder" but people constantly say "poodoo" when they clearly mean "shit"

[Edited on December 26, 2010 at 6:27 PM. Reason : ]

12/26/2010 6:25:48 PM

I thought part of why having flown a T16 was relevant because the controls were so similar to the T65 X-wings. I mean, they're both made by Incom.

Plus he had Biggs to speak for him.

[Edited on December 26, 2010 at 6:27 PM. Reason : VinylBandit beat me on the nerd quick draw.]

12/26/2010 6:26:37 PM

Dude, it's Luke fucking Skywalker

12/26/2010 6:31:46 PM

The force is a helluva drug.

12/26/2010 6:56:25 PM

PORKINS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

12/26/2010 6:58:22 PM

Nothing says sci-fi like a fat sweaty texan flying a space craft.

12/26/2010 7:00:51 PM

dammit, I came in here to pwn some history noobs but apparently arab13 has everything under control

12/26/2010 7:04:29 PM

Quote :

"Instead of a Cessna pilot jumping in an F-18, a more proper comparison would be a T-45 pilot jumping into an F-18...which is exactly what Naval aviators do."

Indeed...The Force is strong out at KRDU

12/26/2010 7:14:39 PM

12/26/2010 7:46:31 PM

STOP THE PRESSES!!!! A POTENTIAL FLAW IN STAR WARS HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!

12/26/2010 8:41:39 PM

Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!



From my point of view the Jedi are evil!

12/26/2010 9:01:35 PM

The xwing and tie fighter games for dos were so good back when I was growing up

12/26/2010 9:26:37 PM

i played the tie fighter cd-rom for months

12/26/2010 9:42:02 PM

If Star Wars were a book, would you find it in the fiction or non-fiction section of the library?

Maybe that is where you should start your philosophical journey

12/26/2010 9:42:18 PM

the real question is why did everyone wear those biblical-looking clothes when they had that advanced technology and shit

12/26/2010 9:43:42 PM

because it was a long, long time ago

12/26/2010 9:47:44 PM

In a galaxy far far away.

12/26/2010 9:53:42 PM

There's a myth that WWII pilots were being sent into battle with less than 20 hours flight time. American pilots in 1943 had about 350 hours from a 48 week program. Even in the darkest days, RAF pilots had at least six weeks training and around 35 hours flight time, not too far off I guess.

12/26/2010 10:03:22 PM