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==History== |
==History== |
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| − | It is known that flying machines predate the [[First War]] {{Cite|LG|78}}. By the time of the [[Second War]], they were commonplace enough that most gnomish inventors |
+ | It is known that flying machines predate the [[First War]] {{Cite|LG|78}}. By the time of the [[Second War]], they were commonplace enough that most gnomish inventors were capable of constructing them on demand {{Cite|W2|}}. Similarly, it was in this conflict that the horde encountered the goblin race and began to make use of their zeppelins {{Cite|W2|}}. Although flying machines were initially employed as observers, by the time of the [[Third War]] they were frequently employed as combatants and transports {{Cite|W3|}}. |
==Types of Flying Machines== |
==Types of Flying Machines== |
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Revision as of 17:49, 26 November 2008
Flying machines, also known as aircraft, are a product of gnomish, goblin, and dwarven ingenuity. They are mechanical marvels that serve alongside the famed Wildhammer Gryphon Riders of Aerie Peak to form the backbone of Alliance air power.
Overview
Flying machines are by definition mechanical devices capable of flight. Gnomes, dwarves, and goblins have all been known to create flying machines, and they have been put to extensive use as weapons of war by the Alliance.
There are several general families of flying machines each corresponding to a specific mechanism being exploited in order to provide lift (the force which allows flight). Lighter-than-air flying machines, typified by goblin zeppelins, are machines which employ bags filled with gas to make them buoyant in the air. Heavier-than-air flying machines employ wing surfaces and movement to produce lift, either using a fixed wing, or a spinning rotor.
Since their invention, flying machines have been employed for all the same tasks for which flying creatures have been used, including personal transportation, combat, and observation.
History
It is known that flying machines predate the First War Template:Cite. By the time of the Second War, they were commonplace enough that most gnomish inventors were capable of constructing them on demand Template:Cite. Similarly, it was in this conflict that the horde encountered the goblin race and began to make use of their zeppelins Template:Cite. Although flying machines were initially employed as observers, by the time of the Third War they were frequently employed as combatants and transports Template:Cite.
Types of Flying Machines
Gnomish
Gnomes are particularly smitten with flying machines, and there are few designs out there that can claim to have been created without gnomes being involved. The first gnomish flying machines to serve with the Alliance were unarmed gyrocopters, but today, gnomish bombers and biplanes can be found serving in a variety of theaters for the Alliance. They were also partly responsible for the creation of the Skybreaker, although the influence of dwarven aesthetics is quite evident. Most rotorcraft have been of gnomish design.
Dwarven
During the Third War, when Gnomeregan was besieged by the trogs, it fell to the dwarves of Ironforge to provide aircraft to the Alliance. Before the war they had been working on armed gyrocopters large enough to seat a dwarven pilot. By the war's conclusion they had arrived at a practical and sturdy twin-engine fixed-wing flying machine with a grappling hook and a variety of weapons. While the gnomes have emerged from their isolation and are now living amongst the dwarves as neighbors, the dwarves continue to use their homegrown design extensively.
Goblin
If one has need of an illustration of the differences between goblin and gnomish engineering, there can be little better example then their flying machines. Easily recognized, the goblin zeppelin consists of a gondola of varying size suspended beneath one or more bags of lightweight gas that serves to keep the craft aloft. In keeping with the goblin fixation upon profit, these large craft tend to packed with cargoes or paying passengers. On occasion the goblins have been persuaded (ie: paid) to construct zeppelins for the purpose of making war, such as the Orgrim's Hammer.
Engineer Flying Machine
In Patch 2.3, engineer-only Flying Machines were released. They come in both epic and non-epic versions. It has the tiltable wing turbine/propeller rotors of the Dwarven Flying Machine, and a retractable lift rotor for higher altitudes. In action, it looks like this.
Wintergrasp Flying Machines
In Wrath of the Lich King, flying machines were included as siege vehicles. Two variants exist at the moment. Fighters are single seat flying machines that look identical to the dwarven flying machines seen in Ironforge and occasionally in quests or protecting cities in Outland. Bombers are tandem seat flying machines that are based on a stripped down version of the gnomish biplane. The second seat replaces the boiler, and the upper wing has been removed.
In addition, Alliance players flying by gryphon from Fizzcrank Airstrip will instead fly biplanes. The Alliance and Horde have also constructed flying Gunship bases for their assault on Icecrown.