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It is. And the Intrepid has swinging nacelles because [Technobabble].

They swing because they only need to be up at higher speeds. While at lower speeds it is not needed and they are lowered to produce a more effecient fuel use.

I suppose that could make sense.

Teaos wrote:They swing because they only need to be up at higher speeds. While at lower speeds it is not needed and they are lowered to produce a more effecient fuel use.

Yeah, I think that about sums it up. We just didn't see the changes while at warp because of the miracle of "Stock Footage"...

God damned lazy SFX teams!

Meh I don't mind to much. They could have spent more time and money on this but that would have hurt something else on the show.

As it is this isn't that big of a deal and it gives us something to talk about .

Good point.

Well, one thing that occurs to me that would make a fundamental difference is that the Z-axis of the warp coils on Voyager are no longer parallel like they would be in other Federation starships. That is, if you drew a line from the center of the top warp coil in a pair of coils, to the center of the bottom coil, you would get a straight vertical line for most starships.

Because you can alter the position of the nacelles on the Intrepid-class -- or rather, perhaps, the orientation -- these lines will cross each other because the nacelles are no longer level. What does that do? Well, as with any other aspect of a warp drive, it's pure speculation. I like the idea that Teaos forwarded that it increases the dispersal of "pollution" (the "slope" of the warp field distortion, perhaps) because the Z-axis of the warp field spreads off on an angle that is oblique in one aspect to the direction of travel. Or maybe you get a warp field bubble with a different shape when the Z-axes of the warp coils aren't aligned in a fixed, vertical fashion.

Of course, the explanation I've always liked for the having the moving nacelles is that they flap like wings during planetary landings.
(Just kidding)

this is what i have heard. the Variable Geometry nacelles were made so that slight alterations could be made to the warp field during flight as to increase speed or fuel efficency. Remember the Intrepid class was made to be one of the fastest ship in the fleet

I truly believe that the Intrepid class uses variable geometry because a modeler used something in the pylons which look like hinges, and then some SFX people just figured thaty they were supposed to do something with it. Early in the series, it was pretty obvious that the left hand didn't know what the right one was doing.

I'm pretty sure it was mentioned on screan thus it cant just be the FX people messing around with it.

Maybe they like watching the fans talking in circles about things like this. Basically the FX effects were too expensive and the easy availability of stock footage prevented the demand for the nacelles in different positions from ever being made.

Looking back, we only see them swing for the first 4 or 5 episodes. Didn't last long!

Yeah - after that, they had all the high-warp stock footage they needed!

Anyhoo, it would have been nice to see a definitive on-screen explanation for the usage of variable geometry - there is no analog in the real world to draw from, because modern variable geometry only applies to aerodynamics. Yeah, yeah, I know the Intrepid is capable of atmospheric operation; but that wouldn't apply as aerodynamics since the nacelle pylons can hardly be used as aerofoils.

I read something the other day (don't ask me where, I just remembered it a minute ago.) that said the designers of Voyager wanted something to move on the ship. Aparantly this was going to be either the nacelles, the saucer section or the deflector dish.
Looking at that it seems making the nacelles move is one of the few smart ideas on the show. (how the hell was the dish supposed to move?!)