...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Space Plane
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In essence, a spaceship that can take off and land like an aircraft, as well as also looking like an aircraft. Many ships have Vertical Take Off Or Landing (VTOL) capabilities; these babies, though, can use a regular runway too. Saves you the cost of a space launcher that you only use once. The obvious technical issue is that you need a store of liquid oxygen on board for the actual space bit of the journey — as you need something to burn the hydrogen with once the air gets too thin. Another issue is the ability to get to Mach 25, but that's not too hard. Both of these are obviated by the Sci Fi favourite propulsions of fusion torches, antimatter annihilators, reactionless drives and what have you. Please note that this list only include SSTO (Single Stage to Orbit) or to sub-orbit to qualify.note Mid-air refueling or drop tanks may or may not count. Nobody's built one, as of 2023. The most promising design so far is the Skylon, a British-designed European project, which recently cleared a key hurdle in engine development. Therefore, the following are not space planes by the definition used here: The Space Shuttle, which required two boosters, a launch pad and a huge fuel tank to get into orbit. It was also incapable of any real powered flight, having to glide back to Earth. It pretty much defined the term "Flying Brick." Buran, the Soviet equivalent, which used a single powerful rocket to get into orbit, rather than relying on its own power, and had the same aerodynamic issues as the Space Shuttle. note The OK-GLI test vehicle (similar to NASA's Enterprise, but with four turbojets mounted on the rear and a fuel tank taking up the aft quarter of the cargo bay) could take off from a runway on its own (as seen in this video starting about 7 minutes in) but had no ability to make it to space. Craft such as X-15 and SpaceShipOne that require another aircraft to get them to a launching height, and which only reach sub-orbital trajectory. The X-37, which is launched by a rocket (originally Atlas V, now Falcon 9). It doesn't carry nearly enough fuel — fully loaded, it masses just under 5 metric tons. Compare with the Space Shuttle, which masses 2,000. The Orbital Sciences Pegasus, thus far the only Air-Launch-To-Orbit (ALTO) launch system to reach commercial operation, is an expendable launch-vehicle with wings launched from the underbelly of a modified B-52 bomber. MiG-105 (Spiral Project): A Soviet project that was only built in prototype form and never flew in space. Even if it had, it still wouldn't have qualified, since it was to be launched from the back of a never-built hypersonic jet. Starship, a spacecraft designed by SpaceX, is also designed to be launched by a separate "Super Heavy" booster. Though it's closer, as the Booster is being developed to land and be reused like the Falcon 9 rocket. In some settings, the definition "must be able to take off, fly into orbit, and land again" may not entirely apply; the ship in question may be used in both atmosphere and space, but it might be unclear whether they can fly from ground to orbit. This definition wouldn't work at all in settings with multiple habitable worlds, as that distance changes. Space Planes may be launched by The Battlestar, descend into the upper atmosphere and come back up (or not), but may not be able to land on a terrestrial runway at all; many space fighters do lack wheels as a part of their landing gear. However, as previously stated, they may be able to use their thrusters in VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) style. Usually an example of the Cool Plane. See also: Space Fighter. |
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Space Plane / int_15c6ea11 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_15c6ea11 | comment |
Wonder Woman: Diana's invisible "robot plane" (called the invisible plane or invisible jet by later writers) was originally a space worthy craft which she used to visit other planets in the solar system. | |
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Wonder Woman (1942) (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_1861f45b | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_1861f45b | comment |
Starcraft: Every faction's air unit can be used in atmosphere or in space. The sequel has a remarkable case in the Banshee, since it uses rotors to move. Apparently it "generates its atmosphere" while in space. |
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Space Plane / int_192f731e | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_192f731e | comment |
In Moonlight Mile, there is a single-stage to orbit spaceplane secretly developed by the US military called the X-68 Nightmare, which is used for transport to their clandestine space station from Area 51. | |
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Space Plane / int_1bdeba5a | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_1bdeba5a | comment |
X-Men: The Blackbird is a space plane. While it outwardly resembles a Lockheed SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, it has VTOL capabilities, stealth systems, laser cannons, a large crew compartment that can carry an entire team of X-Men, and the ability to leave atmosphere and travel through space. The reason it's capable of doing all this is because the X-Men built it using alien technology that they'd acquired. | |
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Space Plane / int_2e3e7ac2 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_2e3e7ac2 | comment |
Justice League: The Javelin spacecraft used by the League are fully-functional VTOL aircraft, and can operate underwater as well. | |
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Justice League | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_31a48eed | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_31a48eed | comment |
The Outer Limits (1995): In "Joyride", the space plane Daedalus XL-141 is launched in 2001. The first commercial spaceflight, it is funded by the billionaire Carlton Powers, the owner of Powers Industries. There are six passengers: Powers himself, the former NASA astronaut Colonel Theodore Harris, the cosmetics giant Lil Vaughn, the National Scope journalist Martin Reese and newlyweds Barbara and Ty Chafey, who won a contest. Commander Sullivan is the only crew member. | |
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The Outer Limits (1995) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_375e8f14 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_375e8f14 | comment |
The Kite from The Last Hero may or may not count. It uses an external booster to initially achieve orbital velocity (though not to "take off" ... this being the Discworld, it accomplishes that by just falling off the edge), but after discarding the booster, subsequently lands on Discworld's moon and then takes off again before landing back on the Disc. The Kite is at least the second vessel to fall off the edge and then return to the Disc, but while the first definitely passed the "no booster" requirement, as a sailing ship it rather failed the "plane" part, and calling its return "landing" is an overgenerous use of the term. | |
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The Last Hero | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_45854dfc | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_45854dfc | comment |
In Starship Troopers, dropships pick up the title characters. It's not clear how they get from surface to space, but they do look and act like a Space Plane. There is also the plane that Carmen and her friends use to get up to their ship. It is launched through some kind of tunnel that may act as a catapult (suggesting the plane is a ramjet). For some strange reason the plane unfolds its wings after they have left the atmosphere. |
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Starship Troopers | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_4edff9aa | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_4edff9aa | comment |
The Arwings of the Star Fox series have been shown to operate both within the atmosphere of a planet as well as the vacuum of space. In Star Fox Adventures Fox's Arwing had VTOL capabilities. | |
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Star Fox (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_56fa0ea4 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_56fa0ea4 | comment |
Civilization: Call to Power has several units that can launch themselves into space. (Including an actual Space Plane unit, and a unit called a Space Fighter). The Civilization 2: Test of Time sci-fi game also has several units that can travel into space. (The Shuttle is probably the most obvious example.) | |
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Civilization (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_5c0e4258 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_5c0e4258 | comment |
An inversion is the SWAT Kats' Turbokat, which is a jet that can go into space if necessary. | |
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SWAT Kats | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_5cdddc09 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_5cdddc09 | comment |
The Duumvirate's fusion-powered jet can take them to Mars without a booster. | |
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Duumvirate | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_5d354f8 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_5d354f8 | comment |
Red Dwarf had several Starbugs and Blue Midgets. Starbug is explicitly stated to be a ship-to-surface craft, implying that it ferried ore from the surface of the planet or asteroid it was mining to the ship itself. Neither of those fly like planes, however. | |
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Red Dwarf | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_605dd875 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_605dd875 | comment |
Stargate's Goa'uld gliders, Human X-302s, and Wraith darts can fly in space and in atmosphere. The Puddle Jumper operates just fine in atmosphere, in space, or even underwater. |
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Stargate-verse (Franchise) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_61de95d6 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_61de95d6 | comment |
Freelancer's space ships seem fully capable of launching and landing, though gameplay always uses docking rings, presumably for traffic control. | |
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Freelancer (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_69085a0 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_69085a0 | comment |
The Macross franchise is the king of this trope, featuring space planes that are also Transforming Mecha — but, perhaps surprisingly, they end up spending more time in plane form than mecha form. The earlier models of variable fighters generally required a lift from another craft to reach space but by the time of Project Supernova they're capable of reaching orbit from planetary surfaces with relative ease, even loaded down with an optional extra fold booster. | |
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Macross | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_6f2d1072 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_6f2d1072 | comment |
Present in MechWarrior Living Legends, a total conversion mod for Crysis Wars,. Aerospace fighters use fusion rockets rather than conventional jets, and as such they work perfectly fine in the depths of space or above a hellish volcanic battlefield. And because a fusion engine doesn't need air intakes and moving air to work properly, the engine is impossible to stall. Aerospace fighters can spiral into absurd turns or go into wild rolls at a dozen rotations per second and come out fine so long as the pilot jams down on the throttle to regain lift from the wings. If It Swims, It Flies also applies due to a bug, allowing the fighters to move about underwater with no real loss in performance bar suicidally poor visibility. | |
Space Plane / int_6f2d1072 | featureApplicability |
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MechWarrior (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_75149ccd | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_75149ccd | comment |
X-Wings and Y-Wings in X-Wing Series don't typically count; they have repulsorlift coils and use them. But Starfighters of Adumar has a pilot recount the case of another pilot whose craft had been shot up so the repulsorlifts had stopped working, and who had instead approached the cleared landing zone on the local moonbase, dropping his skids as he got close. Wes can tell the story. | |
Space Plane / int_75149ccd | featureApplicability |
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X-Wing Series | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_77e80704 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_77e80704 | comment |
The Delta-glider Mk.4 (and many other cool spaceplanes) from Orbiter. It can do an Earth to Moon and Earth to Mars journey easily. The XR series. (XR1 is a just a more sophisticated Delta-glider) The XR2 Ravenstar is probably one of the more awesome examples from Orbiter, as its basically a Space capable reimagining of the SR-71 Blackbird, and has the gloriously powerful engines to match. The XR5 Vanguard is a spaceplane with a massive cargo bay that can carry a few dozen TEUs like a container ship, or several space station modules. It is capable of constructing a small space station in one launch. |
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Space Plane / int_77e80704 | featureApplicability |
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Orbiter (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_7988cb68 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_7988cb68 | comment |
Several ships in the Mass Effect universe — the Normandy SR1 and SR2 can fly in atmosphere, the Kodiak Drop Shuttle and the Mantis Gunship can both transit too, as can starfighters. Though the mass effect fields they generate make this substantially easier than in real life by reducing their objective mass to almost nothing, allowing them to remain aloft on just a minimum of thrust and achieve orbit without expending enormous amounts of reaction mass. | |
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Mass Effect (Franchise) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_7a7a1a86 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_7a7a1a86 | comment |
The Colonial Marines' dropships in Aliens. | |
Space Plane / int_7a7a1a86 | featureApplicability |
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Aliens | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_7b039953 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_7b039953 | comment |
The Valkyrie shuttles from Avatar. | |
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Avatar | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_7ddbc888 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_7ddbc888 | comment |
The Gekko-Go of Eureka Seven is a large aircraft that is capable of entering low orbit for quick trans-globe travel. | |
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Eureka SeveN | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_7de8951a | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_7de8951a | comment |
Many small craft and even Starships in Traveller are capable of this. Not all, particularly the biggest which is why the largest starports tend to have orbital facilities. | |
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Traveller (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_81692f99 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_81692f99 | comment |
In the Star Trek universe, shuttlecrafts are able to go from the Cool Ship in orbit and land on the Planet of Hats, and make the trip back, with no outside help when it comes to propulsion. We don't see it often, but they are even warp-capable. The starships themselves tend to spend their entire operational lives in space, but at least the USS Voyager can land and take off again without any outside help, though it takes a lot of preparation to do that — the city-in-space starships really aren't meant for that. (Voyager is sleeker and smaller by that standard; trying it with any version of the Enterprise never comes up.) The original shuttle met the single-stage to orbit, rocketnote well, maybe; its claimed motive power — ion engines — in reality cannot be used as launch engines due to low specific impulse and not working except in vacuum rather than antigravity power, and aerodynamic shape requirements. (The original concept was even more aerodynamic, but the curved hull would have been too expensive to fabricate on the show's budget, resulting in the blockier, more "van-like" shape actually used in the series). | |
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Star Trek (Franchise) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_83d81bd4 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_83d81bd4 | comment |
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War had the Arkbird, though this is debatable. There is only one Arkbird, and its method of takeoff is unknown, it remains in orbit rather than ever returning to the ground. However, what it does do on a regular basis is dive into the atmosphere for a mid-air resupply, then pull back up to orbit, all under its own power. If any boosters were ever used, they were only to get it off the ground in the first place, everything else is done by its own engines. | |
Space Plane / int_83d81bd4 | featureApplicability |
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Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_8dd8ec81 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_8dd8ec81 | comment |
The Sailor Moon manga features one in its version of the "Lover of Princess Kaguya" story. Said plane seems identical to the Space Shuttle (through the size is unclear) but is far more capable, being able to take off with five people, the supplies to reach the Moon and back, the tools necessary for their specific mission, and a large nuclear weapon (though this one was expected to be used shortly after reaching orbit) with no external booster, only a ramp to better reach vertical position. | |
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Sailor Moon (Manga) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_905cf99c | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_905cf99c | comment |
Commercial airliners are capable of interstellar flight in The Fifth Element. | |
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The Fifth Element | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_90c73dda | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_90c73dda | comment |
Animorphs: The Yeerks' Bug Fighters bring to mind a cockroach the size of a school bus, but can operate in both space and atmosphere (and even underwater). Visser Three's Blade Ship is even bigger but still manages atmospheric flight. | |
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Animorphs | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_97160d12 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_97160d12 | comment |
A prevalent part of the setting in Planetes: single-stage orbit-capable shuttles appear to run between Earth and the ISPV-space colonies, similar to modern airliners, of which one of the secondary characters is a pilot. The destruction of one of these in the back-story is the main reason the main cast is out collecting debris. | |
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Planetes (Manga) | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_996edf24 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_996edf24 | comment |
Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman: Diana's invisible "robot plane" (called the invisible plane or invisible jet by later writers) was originally a space worthy craft which she used to visit other planets in the solar system. In the later Golden Age comics the Amazons of Paradise Island had a small space worthy fleet which took off like airplanes and looked like airplanes which somewhat resembled swans. |
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Wonder Woman (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_996edf24 | |
Space Plane / int_9ceb220f | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_9ceb220f | comment |
In The Man of Steel #1, Superman made his first public debut by saving an "experimental space-plane". | |
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The Man of Steel / Comicbook | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_9d7264f | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_9d7264f | comment |
One turns up, in of all places, CSI: Miami. | |
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CSI: Miami | hasFeature |
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Space Plane / int_a20b3b4c | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_a20b3b4c | comment |
Possibly the most extreme example of all: In Judgment Rites, Trelane's spaceship is a Fokker DR-1 triplane like the Red Baron's. It fights the Enterprise during one mission, and may very easily defeat it. | |
Space Plane / int_a20b3b4c | featureApplicability |
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Judgment Rites (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_a20b3b4c | |
Space Plane / int_a52def46 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_a52def46 | comment |
Kerbal Space Program lets you build and fly space planes — or lets you attempt it, at least. It is a fairly realistic use of the trope — the challenges of designing a space plane in the game will give you a good idea of why no-one's managed to build one in Real Life. You have to find the right balance of air-breathing and rocket engines (each of which will be massive dead weight while the other is operating), pack enough fuel for both, make sure the whole thing is aerodynamic and controllable, and then you might find it's too heavy to leave the runway, or too under-powered to reach the extreme speeds required to achieve orbit, or can't survive the heat of re-entry... It can be done, however, and can be very rewarding — both because of the challenge and for the same reasons as in real life: in the game's career mode, having a re-usable single-stage-to-orbit launcher can save you a lot of resources. Since the game's 0.23 update this was made a bit easier with the RAPIER hybrid jet/rocket engine (a direct reference to Skylon's SABRE engine); however, subsequent updates made the game's aerodynamic model more detailed and re-entry heating more realistic, raising the difficulty again... |
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Space Plane / int_a52def46 | featureApplicability |
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Kerbal Space Program (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_a52def46 | |
Space Plane / int_aedc983a | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_aedc983a | comment |
Starting with Wing Commander III, some fighters are explicitly said to be capable of flying and fighting in an atmosphere, while others aren't. | |
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Space Plane / int_aedc983a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Wing Commander (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_aedc983a | |
Space Plane / int_af566418 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_af566418 | comment |
The first episode of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien introduces the Rustbucket, a space plane that can travel across the galaxy with ease. It literally is a plane the Plumbers modified to be a spacecraft and is used by Ben's team to react to crises all over the globe and beyond. In an amusing scene Gwen notes that she has to wait until graduation to get her own car, yet she can pilot the Rustbucket hundreds of light-years just to meet an alien contact. | |
Space Plane / int_af566418 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_af566418 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_af566418 | |
Space Plane / int_bcadd7cb | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_bcadd7cb | comment |
Warhammer 40,000: The Imperial Navy's aircraft—as in, fighters and bombers designed primarily to operate in an atmosphere—are technically spaceplanes, as they can be launched off an Imperial Navy starship in orbit and can reach that starship from ground airbases once the fighting's over. In something of a subversion, the Imperial Navy's starfighters, like the Fury, are altogether much larger than standard aircraft and have a crew of around three, and while they can operate in an atmosphere it's not recommended because they're not designed for it. Played straight for the more technologically advanced factions, as Eldar Vampires and Tau Mantas serve both as heavy ground attack aircraft in atmosphere and bombers in space. The Hell Blade fighters and Hell Talon fighter-bombers used by the Eyrine Cults of the forces of Chaos are diabolical, and sometimes daemonically possessed, aircraft that are equally capable of fulfilling their respective roles within a planet's atmosphere and in space. |
|
Space Plane / int_bcadd7cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_bcadd7cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Warhammer 40,000 (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_bcadd7cb | |
Space Plane / int_c007e9c8 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_c007e9c8 | comment |
Space: Above and Beyond's Hammerhead fighters. | |
Space Plane / int_c007e9c8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_c007e9c8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Space: Above and Beyond | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_c007e9c8 | |
Space Plane / int_c00c0023 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_c00c0023 | comment |
Empire Earth has two in the Space Age: One launched from a land-based airport, the other from a space-based carrier, with slightly different stats. As Space Is an Ocean is in full effect here, they are the only units to be able to freely attack both land and air units (although regular planes are able of spaceflight... if ordered to land on an airport on a different planet). | |
Space Plane / int_c00c0023 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_c00c0023 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Empire Earth (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_c00c0023 | |
Space Plane / int_c43df4d8 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
The Doctor Who episode "Victory of the Daleks" has Dalek technology co-opted by Britain during World War II to produce Space Spitfires. The later episode "When a Good Man Goes to War" has the exact same Spitfires returning to help the Doctor take control of a space station called Demons Run. | |
Space Plane / int_c43df4d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_c43df4d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Doctor Who | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_c43df4d8 | |
Space Plane / int_c6482e0b | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_c6482e0b | comment |
Journey into Space: In The Return from Mars, Jet, Lemmy, Doc and Mitch are brought back to Earth on a stratoplane, which is described as a cross between an airplane and a spaceship. | |
Space Plane / int_c6482e0b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_c6482e0b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Journey into Space (Radio) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_c6482e0b | |
Space Plane / int_c9caedf5 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_c9caedf5 | comment |
Conquest of Space (1955). The Mars expedition lander is a giant winged spacecraft. For take-off however the wings are jettisoned and the rocket section tilted vertically for take-off. Problems arise on both landing (thanks to a crewman suffering from Space Madness grabbing the controls) and take-off (thanks to a quake knocking them off a vertical axis). | |
Space Plane / int_c9caedf5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_c9caedf5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Conquest of Space | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_c9caedf5 | |
Space Plane / int_cc503e93 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_cc503e93 | comment |
In BattleTech, there are Aerospace fighters which can act as normal fighter aircraft or as a Space Fighter at the discretion of the mothership, at least some of which are capable of surface-to-space flight, winged shuttlecraft, and Aerodyne Dropships, which land via runway (Unlike the Spheroid Dropships, which land vertically). All surface-to-orbit craft use a hydrogen fusion reactor for power and nuclear fusion rockets for propulsion, which makes them immune to stalling. In the Aerotech game, rules exist for Old-School Dogfighting, or for more realistic acceleration-based, frictionless combat. | |
Space Plane / int_cc503e93 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_cc503e93 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
BattleTech (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_cc503e93 | |
Space Plane / int_cdedd56a | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_cdedd56a | comment |
All E-frames from Exo Squad seem to have direct-atmosphere-to-space-and-back capability, but most of them fall under Humongous Mecha, so only Kaz Takagi's CR-001 Exofighter qualifies for the "plane" part. | |
Space Plane / int_cdedd56a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_cdedd56a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Exo Squad | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_cdedd56a | |
Space Plane / int_d25037f5 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_d25037f5 | comment |
Greg Mandel Trilogy: Event Horizon is investing heavily in the space industry as part of the post-Warming economic resurgence. This gives Event Horizon a monopoly on the disposal of radioactive waste for a time, and at the rollout of the first Clarke-model spaceplane their CEO dodges the question of how the factories for making the spaceplane have been built in marginal political constituencies in exchange for the government contract. | |
Space Plane / int_d25037f5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_d25037f5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Greg Mandel Trilogy | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_d25037f5 | |
Space Plane / int_d461f757 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_d461f757 | comment |
Battlestar Galactica (2003)'s Colonial Vipers and Cylon Raiders could fly and fight both in an atmosphere and in a vacuum. Both might fail on technicalities. If a "spaceplane" has to "take off and land like an airplane," well, how Vipers would land at a ground-based facility—or take off again, on those skids—is never established. And do Raiders even have landing gear? (This doesn't mean that appropriate facilities don't exist or couldn't be built; it's just that, if they were, we never saw 'em. Both types of craft always launched from and and returned to a starship, which is not "like an airplane.") Mk VII Vipers are shown being towed around an airbase in a flashback set just after the death of Zack Adama. That sequence, plus some close-ups in Galactica's hangar deck seem to indicate that the skids have some retractable(?) wheels which could be used for a conventional runway take-off and landing. The Raptor, however, would probably count as a single-stage VTOL spaceplane. |
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Space Plane / int_d461f757 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_d461f757 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Battlestar Galactica (2003) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_d461f757 | |
Space Plane / int_df890a88 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_df890a88 | comment |
Your spaceship in Rodina is a 100-metre long gunship that can fly in atmosphere as well as in space. | |
Space Plane / int_df890a88 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_df890a88 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Rodina (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_df890a88 | |
Space Plane / int_e89f120b | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_e89f120b | comment |
In Mobile Suit Gundam, the FF-3/FF-S3 Sword Fish is a multi-use interceptor that functions in high altitude and low orbit. It's successor, the Transformable Humongous Mecha MSZ-006C4 Zeta plus C4 is a Humongous Mecha version of it, and its Super Prototype, the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam is basically the real Space Plane version for both full range aerial and space combat, instead of only specializing in around the atmosphere. The Principality of Zeon's Zanzibar-class space cruisers are basically enormous spaceplanes. It's debatable whether they count, though, as there is some source conflict on whether they require an external booster to reach orbit. |
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Space Plane / int_e89f120b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_e89f120b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mobile Suit Gundam | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_e89f120b | |
Space Plane / int_eb6719f6 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_eb6719f6 | comment |
In Final Fantasy VIII, you get one of those in place of a Global Airship, called Ragnarok. | |
Space Plane / int_eb6719f6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_eb6719f6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_eb6719f6 | |
Space Plane / int_f377e53d | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_f377e53d | comment |
Captain Skyhawk's jet is capable of space flight, and will dock with a space station between missions to refuel and reload its weapons. The final battle also takes place entirely in space. | |
Space Plane / int_f377e53d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_f377e53d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Captain Skyhawk (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_f377e53d | |
Space Plane / int_f79abfa3 | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_f79abfa3 | comment |
Anything flown by Buster Crabb in Flash Gordon. | |
Space Plane / int_f79abfa3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_f79abfa3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Flash Gordon (serial) | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_f79abfa3 | |
Space Plane / int_f90f1b9f | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_f90f1b9f | comment |
The Disney show Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers had an episode, imaginatively called "Space Plane" which revolved around Chip and Dale getting trapped in a space plane, forcing Gadget to cook up a scheme involving a homemade spaceship with fire extinguisher thrusters, dynamite-powered rockets, all powered by pulling cables with nuts and washers attached to them. | |
Space Plane / int_f90f1b9f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_f90f1b9f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_f90f1b9f | |
Space Plane / int_fb1f271c | type |
Space Plane | |
Space Plane / int_fb1f271c | comment |
Justified in Lilo & Stitch where Jumba's spaceship is actually based on the very passenger jet he, Pleakley, Nani, and Stitch were going to steal and use it to rescue Lilo from Gantu, which was changed due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. | |
Space Plane / int_fb1f271c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Space Plane / int_fb1f271c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Lilo & Stitch | hasFeature |
Space Plane / int_fb1f271c |
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