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The SR-51 Seahawk is a three-engine Terran Confederation carrier-based Airborne Early Warning/Airborne Warning and Control Ship (AEW/AWACS) which operated in 2681. They are commonly referred to as an "SWACS" (Spaceborne Warning and Control Ship). It is a specialized spacecraft intended to gather data, translate it using its onboard computers and then transmit it back to a carrier. They are also used as command and control centers, extending the range at which orders can be relayed to other fighters and sometimes guiding friendly ships to targets during strike missions. While performing an essential role, Seahawks are not a preferred assignment for Space Force pilots.

The Seahawk's most distinctive feature is its triangular radar dome which can rotate about its X-axis at up to 60° per second. The radar is an active surveillance system which scans space in three bands. The Seahawk also carries an

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Here's a weird one! Check out this brief mention of Wing Commander for the SNES from the October 1992 issue of Nintendo Magazine System (No. 1), a Nintendo-focused (well, duh) UK-based gaming magazine. Now look at the screenshot: it's not from the finished game! You can tell from the cockpit gauges that this is the redrawn SNES Hornet cockpit... but it's not QUITE right. Even more clear, though, is the blue ringed planet. Wing Commander I does have such a planet but it's green in every port... and it only appears in the Gimle and Dakota serieses, which means it'll never show up in a Hornet. This must be a never-before-noticed pre-release image!

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A prototype is an initial, representative model of something. Prototype vehicles like ships and aircraft are carefully constructed to test whether or not their designs will function as their engineers intend. Something might have multiple rounds of prototypes as they are tested, modified and perfected on the road to developing the final production model. But in Privateer 2's Tri-System, the word prototype seems to have a distinctly different meaning.

In 2790, the Tri-System military and the Central Intelligence Service (CIS)'s fleets operate an impressive line of battle: the ML4D Salvia-class destroyer, the MCOS Veldor-class carrier, the MDRE Yackard-class dreadnought and the... MCPH Prototype?! It would be unusual for a prototype in the traditional sense to be in active service… and the MCPH is not rare: we see or learn about at least ten of them in the game. What's more, they aren't exclusively

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Air Force One holds up very well! It's a tight, well directed and particularly well dressed action film. You can absolutely understand why Wolfgang Petersen was chosen; his experience creating Das Boot was surely useful in figuring out how to express the cramped quarters on the jumbo jet and his preference for using fast, quick cuts to SFX shots really sets the mood of the movie. It's so incredibly lean, too, with the run time evaporating in front of you. Despite the name there's no ra-ra patriotism and despite the high concept premise it never devolves into a Predator-style battle between superhumans. And there's almost nothing that feels excessive; it's pure drama with no sex and no stopping for philosophy. And of course, Harrison Ford is always great!

We talked about the music from Air Force One that was used to temp track Wing Commander in the intro but maybe the most interesting connection to Wing

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This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that are referenced by Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is THX 1138 (1971) and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here. The movie will start at 7 PM PST/10 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time!

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The Wing Commander movie club has successfully landed Air Force One! Or maybe we crashed it into the sea. This week's movie will be one everyone knows of but rarely takes the time to watch: THX-1138 (1971). THX 1138 was the first feature film directed by George Lucas who would go on to create Star Wars… so it should already be obvious why it would be of interest to a bunch of Wing Commander fans! You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

While it's obviously going to be interesting to see the connection to something so important to Wing Commander as Star Wars, the reason for choosing the movie is a simple in-game reference: one of the characters in Special Operations 2 is credited as Mandarin #1138. This is in keeping with a long tradition of films, especially Lucas' Star Wars ones, hiding the number in various places.

Who is Mandarin #1138? She is the barely-visible character heard