Landing bay (RDM)

Mark VII Vipers landing in Pegasus' port flight pod

A battlestar landing bay is where smaller craft, primarily Vipers and Raptors, come in. Each is situated above a hangar deck. They are open to space only when the flight pods are extended; this principally excludes FTL jumps.

Landing and docking procedures for ships larger than Vipers and Raptors have not been observed.

For Vipers, normal landing procedure aboard Galactica is a complete hands-on approach from the stern; this culminates in a soft landing, using only manuevering thrusters for minimal relative speed, on a platform with magnetic clamps. The platform then descends into the hangar deck. Before the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, other ships almost exclusively used computer assistance for normal landings (Miniseries). Pegasus can receive Vipers from fore.

In time-critical situations like preparation for a jump in the presence of the enemy, pilots perform combat landings. With no time to touch down slowly and precisely, craft enter at significant relative speed and skid across the bay on their landing gear until halted by friction. This is very structurally dangerous, as repeated combat landings will lead to divets in the floor of the landing bay which need to be pounded out; this, as well as added wear to the Vipers themselves, particularly their landing gear, makes combat landings expensive in terms of maintenance time (33).

So far, only the port landing bay can be used as the starboard landing bay was converted into a gift shop in anticipation of Galactica's transformation into a museum. The starboard landing bay was violently depressurized when a Cylon Heavy Raider with a boarding party of Centurions crashed there (Scattered).