Saikuba wrote:1.) Are there any propeller driven Federation planes other than the dragonfly? It doesn't even seem to be a common technology within the Federation, probably because jets largely obsolete propellers.
Nothing on screen but I don't think the technology is completely abandoned, especially in a Minovsky-dominant setting. Even in Z Gundam there are examples of propeller driven aircraft flying around, namely Beltochika's Beechcraft plane, and I think the plane Amuro used to fly from the Cheyenne Base to his little mansion-turned-dungeon. And really, it doesn't have to be common technology to be producable; as long as there's a working understanding of it, it can be made no matter how much past its time it is.
2.) Even Zeon were to get a turncoat who piloted a dragonfly, there's no guarantee that they would know the physics behind it. Even if they had a complete dragonfly, they'd have to reverse engineer it to figure out how it works. And this probably wasn't exactly a top priority, so Zeon would be limited to its captured Dragonflies in any case. And how useful is a captured Dragonfly?
Are you kidding? The Zeon, who know physics like the Japanese know electronics and the Jewish know business and economics, would have to completely
reverse engineer a working propeller driven aircraft just to know how the physics work? That'd be like engineers at the Ford motor company being completely baffled by the concept of a "horse-drawn carriage".
I don't see this as an issue at all. Technology isn't just some spectrum, with mastery of higher technologies implying mastery of lower technologies. I don't need to have any skill with an abacus or a slide ruler, for instance, to use or build a computer, even though those are even in the same area of technology. And why would I use those things if I always have access to a calculator?
By that logic then you better not lose that calculator, otherwise you're going to be in a very tight spot. Basic technology and knowledge may not be important at the time, but make no mistake, if and when something happens you're going to want to know how to use a ruler or abacus to get through your problem, which is exactly how the Dragonfly came to be. The Federation needed an efficient short-range aircraft that could fly through minovsky dense environments to relay messages and subsequently people from one area to another, and so they turned to the basics in order to get one.
Zeon is in the same situation, what benefit is there for them in a colony to make a propeller craft, especially since "flying" in a colony is more or less a matter of getting off of the ground and then avoiding the walls.
Necessity is one thing, but that article makes it seem like the Zeeks are too "primitive" (note the irony) to understand that technology, as well as seemingly lacking in having the tools and parts to produce a working model. Are you telling me that the same people that invented and patented the mobile suit and Minovsky reactor can't build a basic piston engine?
I suppose you could argue that if you can make a plane at all (which Zeon can) you can make a propeller plane, but I don't see that as true. You'll probably understand the principle, but making one that handles well is another matter entirely that requires experience with that sort of technology.
Again, there's a clear difference between not needing to build it and not being able to build it. The Zeeks have made far more advanced pieces of technology in their time in the sun AND they have perhaps the best understanding of physics that humans can possess; that said, not only should they be able to make a propeller aircraft, but they should be able to make one that would literally fly circles around the Dragonfly.
EDIT: I noticed looking over the Fat Uncle pictures that its wings have rotors on them for VTOL capability, so it looks like that the Zeeks know how propeller physics work after all.
