Line #4 Headscratchers/Airwolf


1	* It's always bugged me that the solution to so many varied problems was a supersonic helicopter.
2	** [[RuleOfCool Why?]]
3	* A supersonic helicopter. ''Really?!?'' Suspension of disbelief can only go so far.
4	** Frankly, if you can't swallow ''at least'' that much, this show isn't for you.
5	*** A jetcopter with rotors that could be locked in place for supersonic flight was one of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotorcraft#Stopped_rotors "future tech" ideas]] floating about in TheEighties. The scriptwriters probably got the idea from the [[https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/sikorsky-x-wing-projects.117/ Sikorsky X-Wing project]]. Just think of it like those Big Wheel {{space station}}s from early sci-fi films that never got built.
6	** Frankly, I can't believe that if they could BUILD a supersonic helicopter, that they would stop at only ONE.
7	*** The only man who knew how to build it turned his coat immediately after the first one was introduced. Perhaps not an insurmountable hurdle, but a substantial one when coupled with the fact that they also couldn't reverse-engineer it until/unless Hawke gave it back.
8	*** It's been a while, but weren't the only plans for Airwolf actually stored ''in'' Airwolf's computer?
9	*** Those files were wiped due to their solution for Moffett's logic bomb in the episode Moffett's Ghost. Any existing copies were wiped by Moffett before he fled. The duplicates created in the episode Mind of the Machine were destroyed along with the villians, at the end of that episode.
10	*** And whatever materials weren't stored in Airwolf's computers was in the computers and heads of the other people who worked on the project... all of which were present at the base in the pilot (talk about all eggs in one basket...) and were either destroyed or killed when Moffet stole Airwolf. If memory serves the only survivor of the attack was Archangel, who didn't get out unscathed - hence the cane and eyepatch.
11	*** As a final note, in the pilot Gabriella did mention that it would take over ''five years'' to rebuild it and during the test run when Moffat stole it that the Firm wasn't even ''supposed'' to be developing it at the time.
12	* The helmet visors- why aren't they worn in all combat situations?
13	** Because then you wouldn't be able to see their faces. The helmets were specifically designed to be unlike normal fighter pilot helmets precisely so the actors could, well, act in them. If the visors were down all the time, it would defeat most of the point of hiring good actors, and they could have just gone with planks like Hasslehoff and the guy in Street Hawk.
14	*** Or the Power Rangers, who do not emote so much as bob their heads in kinda-sorta synch with the voice track.
15	** I'm aware of the OOC reason, but IC it's just stupid.
16	*** Of course it's stupid IC. Pretty much any point raised in the "It Just Bugs Me" section isn't going to have a good IC reason. Yes, clearly Hawke should have dropped his visor everytime The Lady went to combat mode, otherise he's launching missiles based on guesswork. Although, I suppose it's possible that there's a secondary targeting display on the pilot's control panel that we never saw.
17	*** Or a HUD, which is how stuff like that was launched pre-helmet mounted sight.
18	* If I remember correctly, isn't this helicopter stolen from the government and hidden in a mountain so Hawk can use it for his own purposes? Why is it that the government can't find this helicopter, which would presumably show up on radar all the time? And if they really want it back, do they just keep supplying him with spare parts? Maintaining a high-tech helicopter can't be easy or cheap, either.
19	** You don't remember correctly. Airwolf's inventor stole it from the government. Hawke stole it back, and ransomed it for his POW brother, whom the government denies having any knowledge about. It's acknowledged in dialog that Hawke is simply desperate and his plan has a much larger chance of getting him thrown in federal prison with the key thrown away than actually working. Archangel sets up their working arrangement, where any information ever found on his brother will go straight to Hawke, while Hawke uses Airwolf to get things done for the FIRM. Archangel specifically says this is the only way the FIRM can actually use Airwolf because taking it back means having to turn it over to the Department of Defense, since the FIRM isn't allowed to develop explicit military assets (Arhcangel's original plan was to give Airwolf over to the military in exchange for the development cost and the first five produced, but this didn't work out since the prototype was stolen.) He uses this fact as leverage to keep the FIRM away from Hawke, and he keeps Hawke supplied with ordinance and whatever parts needed for Airwolf's upkeep. In point of fact, other parts of the government that Hawke has no such deal with are often a problem for all of them. Also, Airwolf is hard to spot on radar, (although in reality, it's impossible to really design a stealth helicopter on account of the rotors) has an entire suite of electronics for e-warfare, and even if picked up, is just one little blip in the entire sky.
20	*** Yeah, it seemed obvious to this troper that Archangel knew exactly where Airwolf was, and could have had any number of hotshot pilots steal it, if that had been his goal. Letting Hawke "blackmail" him into providing him with a plausibly denial way of using Airwolf for his own purposes was a case of getting himself thrown into the briar patch. In return for fuel, spare parts, and the occasional nugget of info on Hawke's brother, he gets situations handled for him by a guy he can eventually throw to the wolves if necessary.
21	*** There's also room for AlternateCharacterInterpretation here, it's just as easy to see Archangel as more or less on the level. From the way they interact in the premier, it's obvious he and Hawke go way back. The distrust Hawke has for him could have more to do with not knowing how much their friendship protects him from the demands of Archangel's job rather than being caused by specific incidents. Since it's obvious that Archangel ''could'' double-cross Hawke and find Airwolf if he really wanted (if nothing else, he could just use the satellite from the season one finale without warning Hawke like he did when someone else used it) the difference between the views is basically how far that protection goes. Hmmm, might be worth putting this on the main page...
22	*** There were several episodes where radar ''did'' pick up Airwolf. They just couldn't figure out how something smaller than a jet could move so fast.
23	*** And if I remember correct Hawke was the backup pilot in the development program. Thats why Archangel sent Hawke to steal Airwolf back in the first place.
24	* The ''entire show'' is built on the facts that A) Airwolf is the most advanced helicopter on the planet, B) all of the vehicle plans are stored exclusively in the on-board computers of Airwolf itself, and C) the man who designed the thing stole it. So, when they finally succeeded in building Airwolf II (a.k.a. Red Wolf), ''why did they store the plans for Red Wolf exclusively in Red Wolf's own onboard computer''?
25	** Only Moffet and Winchester knew about this ability of the original. In Airwolf II, it's marketed as an additional security feature.
26	*** As noted by Hawke, the Red Wolf's "creator" (Harlan Jenkins) apparently didn't design the weapons system, given that he kept missing.
27	--> '''Stringfellow Hawke:''' "Good shootin' there, hotshot - [[DeadpanSnarker You just killed the mountain.]]"
28	--> '''Stringfellow Hawke:''' "You know Harlan, anybody that shoots as ''lame'' as you, sure didn't design an Airwolf weapons system'''
29	* Several episodes introduced other helicopters that were claimed to be as good, or even better, than Airwolf. We don't get to see them any further, because Hawke keeps blowing them out of the sky. Of course, the helicopters may be better, but it's still up to the pilot to actually fly the thing.
30	* So... if a bullet hits a tiny protuberance at the front of the helicopter, it blows up. There are plenty of times Airwolf was shot at with machineguns. Not one has ever hit that spot? Seems unlikely.
31	** It was downright impossible to shoot the exact spot, since you had to get a bullet directly down the fuel intake duct; not just hit the air-to-air refuelling probe, but actually get the bullet to go straight down it and enter the fuel tank. The only person to come close to doing this was Airwolf's creator, Dr. Moffat (who was completely crazy), and that was because he slid the barrel of his gun down the duct whilst play Russian roulette on the ground (in the Pilot Episode). Otherwise, it was like trying to shoot a gun and get the round to go straight down the barrel of your opponent's weapon whist flying at Mach 1+. In theory, all aircraft equipped for in-flight refuelling have this weakness, but in practice, it doesn't matter, since there are far more vulnerable areas on real aircraft. This may have been an attempt to establish just how invulnerable to gunfire Airwolf was. It does then beg the question; what material is light enough to be completely bullet proof, yet allow a helicopter to break the speed of sound? Might be FridgeBrilliance, in that it explains why The Firm couldn't knock together a whole fleet of Airwolves; it was made of {{Unobtainium}}.
32	*** A version of the protective alloy fitted to KITT in Knight Rider, maybe?

Context Headscratchers / Airwolf