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21-622: Colin Cantwell , who also designed the saga's TIE fighters , initially designed the Y-wing with a large bubble turret for a gunner. However, the dome did not appear properly when filmed against bluescreen and subsequent designs omitted the turret. In the original Star Wars movie (1977), a group of Y-wings designated "Gold Squadron" took part in the attack on the Death Star . Led by squadron leader Jon Vander ( Angus MacInnes ), Y-wings made

42-441: A dedicated socket behind them. The module contains the starfighter's armaments: two forward-firing laser cannons, twin ion cannons in the turret, and a pair of torpedo launchers with six-round magazines capable of launching bombs, cluster missiles and other ordnance. The module connects to two powerful ion engines via reinforced central spar and cross wing, all encased in heavy armor plating. Heavily modified and skeletal versions of

63-576: A demo package to show off its capabilities. He then used HP 9845C desktop computers to design and create the computer graphics for the large displays in the NORAD set on the 1983 WarGames film. In 2014, a number of items were auctioned from Cantwell's collection for a total of $ 118,732.50. Cantwell wrote a science fiction novel, CoreFires , and a sequel, CoreFires2 ; they were published in 2016 and 2018, respectively. Colin James Cantwell

84-746: A number of vehicles including the X-wing fighter , the Y-wing , the TIE fighter , the Star Destroyer , the Death Star , the Tantive IV (which was originally intended to be the Millennium Falcon ), the landspeeder and the sandcrawler . Cantwell's original designs were further developed by concept artists like Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston . One of Cantwell's concept models was used in

105-599: A squadron of Y-wings on one of their first missions to take out a Separatist cruiser, where they are noted for their powerful shields and secondary gunner. In the Star Wars Rebels 2014 animated series, the crew of the Ghost are shown stealing decommissioned Old Republic Y-wings, in the process of being dismantled by the Galactic Empire , for use by the nascent Rebel Alliance . These former Republic Y-wings

126-809: The Autodesk Flow Design virtual wind tunnel program. Of those tested, the Y-wing had a drag coefficient of .68, which, while worse than the real-life example of the F-4E Phantom with a rating of .02, was better than that of most TIE Fighters tested. These poor results were rationalized with the in-universe explanations that drag coefficient plays no role in space travel and that Star Wars fighters can use repulsorlifts and deflector shields to give themselves better flight profiles. Colin Cantwell Colin James Cantwell (April 3, 1932 – May 21, 2022)

147-660: The BTL-B Y-wing during the early part of the Clone Wars. Prized for its durability and long-range striking capability, the success of the Y-wing prompted further production of the original model and a number of variants. However, when the war concluded and the Galactic Empire came to power, Y-wings were decommissioned and relegated to military surplus sellers or scrapyards . The Rebel Alliance sought to buy or commandeer as many Y-wings as possible and they became

168-644: The Original Y-Wing (BTL-B) include the BTL-S3, which replaces the bubble turret with a remote-controlled turret and seats the gunner behind the pilot in the cockpit , and the BTL-A4, which removes the gunner altogether and gives the pilot control of the ion cannons. Once acquired, Rebel technicians modified the fighter-bombers to make them more suitable to the Rebellion's hit-and-run tactics . Armor plating

189-807: The Rebel fleet, and feature alongside other Rebel starfighters during the climatic space battle of Return of the Jedi (1983). Y-wings were later seen in The Clone Wars 2008 television series as their stock & early version. Here they are depicted as fighter-bombers used by the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars against the Separatists. General Anakin Skywalker is shown leading

210-533: The Rebellion had captured and reclaimed from scrap had become skeletal by having their armor paneling & hull stripped-down and they were heavily modified to fit rebel specifications to transform the former Republic Y-wings into Rebellion Y-wings. Rebel BTL-A4 Y-wings are stripped down and heavily modified BTL-B Y-wings that were leftover from the Clone Wars. Y-wings made their theatrical reappearance in Rogue One (2016), an anthology film set immediately prior to

231-624: The events of the original Star Wars film. Here the Y-wings of Gold Squadron are shown playing a pivotal role during the Battle of Scarif in disabling an Imperial Star Destroyer with ion torpedoes. Y-wings would appear again as newer & upgraded models during the climax of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Based on Star Wars supplemental retail material, the Galactic Republic commissioned Koensayr Manufacturing to produce

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252-415: The film, with Luke playing with it as he talks to C-3PO . One of Cantwell's original Star Destroyer designs was further developed for the 2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story but ultimately unused although Hot Wheels did release a toy version. Cantwell consulted with Hewlett-Packard on the development of their Hewlett-Packard 9845C desktop computers which were designed for graphical tasks, also creating

273-462: The final years of his life. In 1984, Cantwell was nominated at the 37th British Academy Film Awards for Best Special Visual Effects for his work on WarGames . Return of the Jedi won the award. Remote controlled weapon station A remote controlled weapon station ( RCWS ), remotely operated weapon system ( ROWS ), or remote weapon system ( RWS ), is a remotely operated light or medium- caliber weapon system, often equipped with

294-466: The first unsuccessful "trench run" on the Death Star's exhaust port, and only one Y-wing would survive the battle itself. (The pilot of the surviving Y-Wing differs between Canon and Legends). Luke Skywalker pilots a Y-wing in the animated segment of the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special . Y-wings made a brief appearance at the end of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) when the heroes are reunited with

315-471: The most readily available starfighters to the Rebellion during the Galactic Civil War . Rebel Y-wings were used to perform a variety of missions including courier, escort and reconnaissance . The original Y-wing (The BTL-B) features a forward module seating a pilot in the cockpit and a gunner in a bubble turret . An astromech droid (which served as the fighter's navigation system) fits into

336-412: The movie with a 20-minute conference table discussion.' It was Cantwell who created the dramatic space opening that followed the dawn of man and bone thrown into the air", and who suggested the use of Also sprach Zarathustra for the opening theme music. In 1974 Cantwell was hired to work on the original Star Wars film. Based on Lucas' directions he created the original designs and concept models for

357-708: The old BTL-B become the new BTL-A4 Y-wing. After the defeat of the Empire, Koensayr introduced a new version of the Y-wing to capitalize on the fighter's popularity. This BTA-NR2 model emulates the look of the Rebel-modified Y-wings both because the public is more familiar with this version and because it allows for greater customization. While outwardly mimicking the "classic" Y-wing design, the new version features various upgrades including stronger shields and more sophisticated sensors. In 2018, Star Wars starfighters had their aerodynamic abilities tested using

378-418: Was an American concept artist and director known for his work on films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and WarGames , but primarily for doing initial concept designs and models for a number of Star Wars vehicles, most notably the X-wing fighter , the TIE fighter , and the Death Star , that were then further developed by people like Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston . While employed by NASA , Cantwell

399-597: Was born on April 3, 1932, in San Francisco. He earned a bachelor's degree in applied arts from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1957. One of his uncles, Robert Cantwell , was a critic and author. Cantwell died at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 21, 2022, aged 90. His partner, Sierra Dall, had reported that Cantwell had been afflicted with Alzheimer's disease in

420-826: Was in the CBS News studio for the Apollo 11 Moon landing , assisting Walter Cronkite as he narrated the landing. In the early seventies, Cantwell was employed by the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center to produce effects for, and direct, an early multimedia presentation titled Voyage to the Outer Planets (1973) that would show a spacecraft touring the outer planets of the Solar System. While working on visual effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey with Douglas Trumbull , Cantwell persuaded Stanley Kubrick "'not to start

441-452: Was removed to save on weight and make it easier to perform maintenance , compensated for by increasing deflector shield power. Various other components were removed or rearranged - such as replacing the six-round torpedo magazines with four-round versions - to lighten weight and increase performance while maintaining overall integrity. The resulting modification makes these Rebel Y-wings faster and more lethal than its original version making

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