The USS Eagle, NCC 2185,

A Star Trek Sim / Star Trek RPG

Presents....

OUR STAR TREK SIM GUIDE SERIES - IN PROGRESS
STAR TREK SIM HELM AND PILOT GUIDE

ADVANCED HELM

If you have not visited our Basic Helm page you may wish to do so before continuing.

One of the most unusual and seldom used roles in Star Trek is that of the fighter pilot. It is also one of the most fun. Whether you play that rare fighter pilot for the United Federation of Planets or from a different alien race or HELM you can have fun with the following terms and incorporate them into your RPG / Sim:

Persons who plan Helm or Navigator or pilots need to be familiar with these terms and concepts:

Combat Geometry

Term	Definition
Angle Off	The difference between your heading and the ship you wish to attack in degrees
Angle off Tail (AoT)	The angle between your flight path and the flight path of the ship you wish to attack
Aspect Angle	The number of degrees between the tail of the other ship and your ship
Range	The distance between your ship and the target ship

*Attack Terms

Term	Defintion
Closure Rate	The speed of your ship relative to the speed of the target ship.
Cone of vulnerability	The area of space that puts you into range of your enemy's weapons. The only cone worse than the "Cone of Silence" ;o) .
Corner speed	The speed a fighter/vessel can achieve its best turn radius
Turn rate/ Turn radius	The number of degrees a fighter/vessel can pivot per second.
Weapons Envelope	The area in which a weapon is effective. It is specific to the weapon and includes maximum and minimum range.

* Types of Pursuit ( This small section is a repeat from our Basic Helm section. It is posted twice to make sure aspiring Helm Officers and Pilots who wish to advance their understanding and techbabbly in role play games have an opportunity to become familiar with it. )

Term	Definition
Lag pursuit	The opposite of lead pursuit. You make a wider turn instead of a sharper one to a point just behind the tail of the target. pursuit .
Lead pursuit	Taking the path based on your prediction of the flight path of your target. You anticpate where it will be and alter your course to cross the target's flight path.Smaller or more manueverable craft can get an advantage by taking sharper turns.
Pure pursuit	Following closely the path of the target.This is the position you want to be in for for torpedo and missile firing. Good also for closer range with phasers.

*Pilot Chatter

Term	Definition
Bandit	Enemy vessel
Bent	Sensors inoperative
Bogey	Unknown vessel
Buddy spike	Being tracked/targeted by friendly forces. Look out for friendly fire
Bug out	Disengage
Clean	No contacts
Clear	No enemy threat to you
Contact	Located target
Mud spike	Being targetted by ground radar
No Joy	No contact of target. Opposite of "tally"
Target	That thing you are looking for or want to get rid of
Tally	Opposite of "no joy". Target, bandit or bogey has been sighted

*Formation Flying

Term	Definition
Echelon Formation	Arrow head formation. Flight leader is the point of the arrow.
Diamond Formation	Similar to above but there is a fighter directly behind the leader at the end to make a diamond shape.
Line Astern Formation	Flight leader is in the front with the others behind at equal spacing intervals. Think of it as a column.
Line Abreast Formation	Similar to "line astern" but fighters are arranged like a row. The flight leader is to the extreme left followed by the rest to his/her/its right.