Raymond Lai was a Viper pilot who was known as "Raygun" during the first Cylon War.
A duplicate or original Viper with his name and callsign awaited visitors of the planned Galactica Museum once the battlestar was decommissioned and placed under the control of the Colonial Government's educational branch, under the auspices of then-Secretary of Education Laura Roslin.
Lai's Viper was part of two squadrons of old Viper Mark IIs in the museum's exhibit area in the newly refitted pressurized starboard flight pod.
Raygun's Viper was never to remain a museum piece. When a new Cylon menace destroys Galactica's last Mark VII squadron en route to Caprica after the battlestar's decommissioning ceremonies, and with the battlestar itself without munitions, Commander William Adama orders these old fighters returned to flight status to protect the battlestar.
Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace inherits Lai's Mark II Viper and scores many kills during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
Notes[edit]
Ray Lai was a concept artist for the 2003 Mini-Series, where this Viper made its debut. Some of his work can be seen on Galactica.TV.
The naming of fictional spacecraft after real-life cast, crew, or historic figures is a tradition done in other SF shows such as "Babylon 5" and the various "Star Trek" series, starting with the "Galileo 7", named after the Italian astronomer.