# Q about TIE fighters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789 "2016-10-26T16:52:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/41 "2016-10-27T19:00:13Z")
I never really thought about the parallels between TIE fighters and A Wings being so much like Zeros vs Hellcats. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/42 "2016-10-27T19:05:10Z")
And repulsorlift tech is apparently not very bulky, expensive, or energy-hungry, or it wouldn’t be used as widely as it is. So it might still make sense for even a stripped-down craft like a TIE to incorporate it. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/43 "2016-10-27T22:12:05Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > I have to admit I enjoy these ‘fanwank’ threads, though its usually obvious more thought has been put into the explanations than the creators of the original movies ever did. 🙂 IMHO, about 60% of the fun of being an F&SF fan is coming up with explanations for things that the creators left open. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/44 "2016-10-28T00:10:00Z")
OK, how about Why did Darth Vader have two wingmen with him? He was coming up on his targets from behind in a narrow trench with no room to maneuver. If their job was to cover Vader so he could concentrate on taking out the Rebel fighter in front of him, then why did they _ **utterly fail to see the Millenium Falcon approaching?** _ ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/45 "2016-10-28T00:50:30Z")
A better question is if not Jakku, where exacly did Finn and Poe plan to take their stolen TIE fighter? AFAIK, even the New Order ones don’t have hyperdrives. > [@swampspruce](#): > > I never really thought about the parallels between TIE fighters and A Wings being so much like Zeros vs Hellcats. Really? Because the Lucas Doctrine for space battles is basically the Battle of Midway in space. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/46 "2016-10-28T09:37:38Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > If they’re going to call them “tie fighters” they need to make them look like a bow tie. It is all very dapper. You know, when I was a kid, this was actually the first explanation that occurred to me. X-wings look like an X, Y-wings look like a Y, and TIE fighters look like a tie. 'Course, now I’ve been corrupted by information. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/47 "2016-10-28T09:57:11Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Which is the only explanation for BB-8. Even if you _could_ build a droid like that, what would be the point? You actually **can** make a droid like that. BB-8 is largely a practical effect. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/A_K10fX9DSY/maxresdefault.jpg "BB-8 droid from The Force Awakens rolls out on stage at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_K10fX9DSY&t=32s) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/48 "2016-10-28T10:54:00Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > It might have made some sense if the big panels were some sort of grav repulsor that made TIE fighters extremely maneuverable; but > > Which is the only explanation for BB-8. Even if you _could_ build a droid like that, what would be the point? Why wouldn’t you? It’s a ball that can roll anywhere. That’s a lot more practical than R2-D2’s design where the only way he can move on anything that isn’t a prepared flat surface is by having the audience suspend their disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/49 "2016-10-28T14:44:52Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Why wouldn’t you? It’s a ball that can roll anywhere. That’s a lot more practical than R2-D2’s design where the only way he can move on anything that isn’t a prepared flat surface is by having the audience suspend their disbelief. No kidding. Where did R2 think he was going [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geD8HxtQ_lY)? Even in 1977 I knew it was the end of the line for poor little R2. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/50 "2016-10-28T15:20:31Z")
Interestingly, in The Antilles Extraction (Season 3, Episode 4 of Star Wars Rebels); The Imperial Academy rigs the training TIEs so that the wings blow off and the craft loses power/engines to catch the cadets who try to defect to the rebellion. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/51 "2016-10-28T15:45:46Z")
While I have to agree that solar panels is an unlikely explanation, with the same basic functionality they’d work as beamed power receptors for remote refueling. Photons don’t have to come from a sun, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/52 "2016-10-28T16:08:19Z")
Thanks for the repulsorlift info, **kenobi 65**. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > No kidding. Where did R2 think he was going [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geD8HxtQ_lY)? Even in 1977 I knew it was the end of the line for poor little R2. Fun fact: That was filmed in the same Tunisian canyon where Indiana Jones points the RPG at the Nazi soldiers carrying the Ark of the Covenant. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/53 "2016-10-28T19:24:11Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Really? Because the Lucas Doctrine for space battles is basically the Battle of Midway in space. Again, The Pacific Theatre wasn’t something I really have given a lot of thought to wrt Star Wars. I’ve seen the parallels with some other movies but your example makes a lot of sense. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/54 "2016-10-28T19:42:52Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Really? Because the Lucas Doctrine for space battles is basically the Battle of Midway in space. I thought it was [633 Squadron](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OZq-tlJTrU)? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/55 "2016-10-28T20:14:55Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Fun fact: That was filmed in the same Tunisian canyon where Indiana Jones points the RPG at the Nazi soldiers carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Funner fact: the planet Tatooine is named after an area in Tunisia called Tataouine. Which is also the fall location of an interesting green diogenite (a type likely excavated from deep in the crust of the asteroid Vesta) meteorite named after the region. > **[Google](https://www.google.com/#q=tatahouine+meteorite)** > > Search the world's information, including webpages, images, videos and more. Google has many special features to help you find exactly what you're looking for. As for BB-8, remember, astromech droids are supposed to be big Swiss Army knives for repairing spacecraft. So it makes sense to be able to quickly rotate so that you can bring the panel containing the corkscrew, the panel containing the spoon, or the panel with the tiny tweezers in line of any surface that needs it. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/56 "2016-10-28T21:05:50Z")
> [@](#): > > I figured they were analogous to stormtrooper helmets - just a way to block the user’s peripheral vision for no good reason. I always assumed stormtrooper helmets were like Iron Man’s. I guess not? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/57 "2016-10-28T22:35:54Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Which is the only explanation for BB-8. Even if you _could_ build a droid like that, what would be the point? Dude, they have functional BB-8s at Toys’R’Us for about a hundred bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/58 "2016-10-29T17:06:52Z")
Aside: When I was a kid, I somehow had the impression that TIE stood for “Thermal Induction Engine”. I’m almost certain I didn’t come up with that myself (I’ve always been lousy at technobabble, and I didn’t know enough real tech at the time). My best guess is that I got it off of a toy package. Does anyone else have the same memory? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/59 "2016-10-30T00:18:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My best guess is that I got it off of a toy package. Does anyone else have the same memory? The nerds I hung around with back then speculated they were called TIEs because they “kind of looked like bow ties.” My older brother thought the spelling was TAI for “Trans-Atmospheric Interceptor.” I forget exactly when and from whom I learned the truth, but it was several months after I saw the first movie. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789/60 "2016-10-30T23:53:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > AFAIK, they’re considered to be solar panels in SW canon. Really? I always thought they were for radiating heat from reading the manuals for the game. But then that expanded universe is all out the window with the demotion of Admiral Thrawn from existence itself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-tie-fighters/769789.md?page=4)