Air Force Viper
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The Air Force Viper[1] is a Caprican Air Force aircraft used for atmospheric flight on Caprica in the years prior to the Cylon War. It follows an earlier model and predates those Vipers used by the Colonial Fleet in the first and second Cylon engagements.
A Viper flight simulator featuring these single-pilot fighter jets is available through the virtual world interface for holoband users. Fifty-eight years before the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, Zoe Graystone and her date Philomon fly atmospheric Vipers over a simulated sea and oil rigs. Unfamiliar with the controls, Zoe accidentally collides with Philomon's fighter, sending both jets crashing into the water (CAP: "The Imperfections of Memory".
An even older model of Viper also appears in the virtual world's New Cap City. Based on a propeller plane and launched from a massive dirigible, these vintage Vipers strafe the streets of New Cap City, derezzing users (CAP: "There Is Another Sky").
Notes
- Like the Marine Blackhawk VTOL aircraft seen in "End of Line" and "Apotheosis", the Air Force Viper seen in "The Imperfections of Memory" is marked with the pentagonal shape seen on the Cylon Raider of The Original Series and the similar Cylon War-era Raider in the Re-imagined Series and Blood and Chrome.
- Interior shots of the Viper in "The Imperfections of Memory" feature several cuts to existing footage from episodes of Battlestar Galactica, including one from "Razor" that features the cockpit and DRADIS console of the Viper Mark II. [2]
- The Air Force Viper appears to be a marriage of components from existing military aircraft like the F-18 and F-14.
- On his personal website, VFX modeler Pierre Drolet describes this Viper as a "Caprica[n] Air Force fighter jet (not a star fighter)."[3]