M'Aangan Fighter Docking Claw
 

I've finally begun to work on the docking claw for this bad boy.
http://www.primscrwpro.com/myu253.jpg
http://www.primscrwpro.com/myu254.jpg

step one: undeploy the antennae...
it's fine so far allthough docking should be mayorly difficult. can the pilot be so precise? or the autopilot? afterall both vessels are moving....hmm

I thought about removing the antennae while docking but that would just add an unwanted process and slow things down to much. The antennae have no practicle use I just like the way the ship looks with them.:)

Since the pilots of these fighters are connected to the ship itself they have complete control and know the ship just as well as they know there body making docking a little easier if needed to do it manually but the ship that it's landing in will take control of the fighter to insure a good landing.

i like these antennae very much myself, but inside the mothership they will take up a hell of a lot of space, won't they?

Yeah they do take up a lot of space. But sometimes you have to make sacrifices.:)Since I haven't made carriers for this race yet I'll make them really big so they can carry many ships.

curing the symptoms rather than the problem, eh? ;)

i say, go for it :)

One question - the arms appear to be magnetic, so what happens in a powercut?

then the reserve fusion-reactor will kick in *g*

Well, the way they're shaped, you could easilly fit another fighre in close behind this one. It'd be like a shopping trolley. :)

Some people have some questions about how the pilot gets into this ship so I did a very quick simulation of how it's done.
The black line is where the invisible seam is about. It's not exactly the way it is but it's enough to give you an idea.
http://www.primscrwpro.com/myu255.jpg
The forward section slides out almost like pulling out a drawer. The rails are not shown because I didn't have time.In the space between the two open sections would be the chair also not shown. I won't build any of this until I need to show it.
http://www.primscrwpro.com/myu256.jpg

So there is.:

that's not a bad idea graham, but i should think that the engine thrust could burn the nose of the ship behind you - unless the arm pops them out far enough.

UPDATE...
Finished. Now I'll do some textures for this thing.
http://www.primscrwpro.com/myu291.jpghttp://www.primscrwpro.com/myu292.jpg
Just an example of what it should look like while ships are being launched.
http://www.primscrwpro.com/myu293.jpghttp://www.primscrwpro.com/myu294.jpg