Terran Trade Authority Avery AAF 212 Hornet Star Fighter

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This space fighter originates from Stewart Cowley's book Spacecraft 2000 to 2100AD. I'm not taking credit for its design; instead, I created it in my free time as a model for 3D printing. This is an early version and will be improved over time. A poor animation is also attached. By the time the TDA 107 Partisan became outdated by new enemy interceptors such as the Shark, Avery Astronautics was already working on a replacement prototype. Although they weren't asked to build one, they saw the need coming and started developing it in 2055. Terran Defence Authority representatives were invited to see it a year later, and within a week, their first order was placed. The Avery Hornet went into full production. The first squadron went into action in mid-2057 against a strong Proxima seek-and-destroy patrol and had instant success, destroying four enemy ships at the loss of one Hornet. The Hornet was fast and highly maneuverable and carried a hard-hitting weapon pack, unlike the Partisan. Its armor was not only better quality but also borrowed from the enemy's K4 Interceptor. The idea behind articulated platelets to give flexibility to the hull was taken from the enemy's ship. Extremely popular with front-line flight crews, the Hornets greatly boosted morale at a time when the enemy seemed to be gaining in technological superiority. The introduction of the new Shark interceptor had dramatically increased their defensive and offensive capability. The appearance of the Hornet came as an unpleasant surprise to the enemy. Although the enemy ship was certainly faster, the Hornet's superior armament earned it among the enemy crews the nickname "Sklathill," which roughly translates as dangerous fish or water creature. Rather ironically, a minor design aspect of the Hornet gave the ship an important advantage due to the high degree of technological sophistication on both sides. The two upper laserlances were mounted at a pronounced angle to the directional line of the hull. This permitted the ship making the attack to begin its escape turn fractionally before firing. To appreciate the significance of this maneuver, it's necessary to remember that attacks of this kind were executed in fractions of a second. The Hornet was able to attack in any of three ways: by making a conventional direct line approach; starting a direct line approach but changing course almost immediately to bring the upper armament to bear; and attacking along an oblique line. The result was that the target's plotting computers had to calculate three sets of possibilities instead of only one, and the milliseconds of delay thus incurred were often enough for a Hornet to make a successful attack unscathed. As a deep space interceptor, the Hornet was equaled but never surpassed by any equivalent enemy ship. It remained a Status One warship throughout the War and is still in limited production today. It's standard equipment for all second-line defense units and can often be seen on patrol. I do not take credit for Mr. Cowley's work; I am only sharing this model I made. If you are using a maker bot, you can scale the model down to the size you desire.