What even is a "Millennium Falcon"? Is that a specific species or something? 

2 minutes in and..........that ad read took some time and was very creative! Magic Spoon should be very pleased! will have to order some.

The good thing about being kidnapped to test cereals is that you can stay as long as you need to, cause what are they gonna do? Compress their own ship into a cube?

I always thought it should have been classed as a courier ship instead of a freighter; specializing in hauling small, high value cargo that needed to get places fast... It DID have that sick holo-chess table though ;)

As far as overgunning goes, I kinda view the single laser as something like a 37 mm autocannon bolted to a PT boat (or crammed into a P-39), whereas Han had to split the power, coolant, and energizing gas feeds so instead of one moderately honking gun that will toast a fighter or even rattle a corvette IF you hit it once, he slapped in a quad .50 cal mount top and bottom to vomit smaller dakkas.

I think the YT-1300 suffers from being mislabeled. If they called the model a "courier ship" and basically treated it as space UPS/FedEx et al, some of these hangups would actually make sense. A freelance courier would only take high-priority, commissioned deliveries which in turn would likely be fairly small to minimize what is doubtless exorbitant shipment cost. This in turn would explain why it would make for a popular pirate ship, since space pirates would most likely be dealing in human trafficking (which is technically what Han did with Luke, Leia and Obi-Wan) or drugs, or other illicit materials such as weapons or contraband. Regarding the engine(s)... yeah, I can't explain that. It fairly obviously falls into the category of "stage magic" scifi tech.

When I was a little kid in the early 1980s, I asked my Mom what "Millennium Falcon" meant. She said it meant it broke down so much it only flew once every thousand years.

The 'pusher' barge with the containers stacked in front of it would kind of make sense for the engines to be mounted radially for turning the 'assemblage' left and right on the horizontal axis though up and down might be a bit tricky (and left turns might require a white cane) - as for 'Millennium Falcon', I'd describe it as a 'word soup' if the hull was an actual saucer but since it's more of a plate then I suppose 'word salad' would be more appropriate.

I feel like the YT1300 would fit well into an entirely different role from how its depicted. It's a sub-corvette sized nimble craft that you can add a few guns (turn the dorsal and ventral turrets into cupolas), and re-add the missing middle bit as a torpedo launcher. Boom, motor torpedo boat in space, go defend a spaceport or set up an ambush in an asteroid field.

The sound design was on point though (ignoring the whole sound in vacuum thing).

I’ve always thought of it like a Greyhound bus in space. It moves passengers, luggage, mail, and small packages. If you compare it to single purpose vehicles, it fares poorly.

The Falcon was a cool looking ship. Law wise I think it's a light frieghtor in same way "urban SUVs" can off road or Chihuahua could hunt in packs to take down deers. I can image a group of people buying the YT-1300 as more of a life style decision. Till it went out of fashion. Then a space pirate got hold and added a mini bar and times two quad barrel guns. And 'fixes' the ship so it functions more like a pirate needs. Typo edits

This actually makes me way more confident in my freighter design for my sci-fi world. It's basically a big intermodal ship that petty much has the crew section up front, an engineering section and shuttle bay in the back, and a bunch of cargo containers along the spine. The ship is meant to ferry cargo down to the surface of a planet and is basically just a space semi. There's definitely much more massive ships for bulk freight that can't land, but this is just the hero ship that the main character buys used and already way past end of life because she's on the run and its what she could afford plus use to make money without too many questions.

Now I'm wanting to hear your thoughts on Star Trek's version of this. The Earth Cargo Service freighters from Enterprise.

You hit on the bi thing I discovered when playing a star wars roleplaying game on the tabletop where our party finally managed to get a hold of a YT-1300 and tried to haul cargo in it and spent half a session staring at the plans trying to work out how you were supposed to actually get the cargo in and out. Frankly we would have downgraded to our previous smaller cheaper ship if it hadn't already exploded.

On the topic offset cockpits. Most super heavy machines have it, even aircraft carriers have it.

I have a copy of that Haynes book. For the past 60 years my "willing suspension of disbelief" has been derailed by the disconnect between the exterior scenes of fantasy ships, planes, tanks, submarines, and buildings and their interiors. I've been on real ships--and their cargo holds are sometimes a nightmare. An afterthought penciled in by draftsmen suffering from hangovers? Breaking down the pallets and cases to load them into the refers aboard LPH-10/USS Tripoli still gives me nightmares because there had to be a better way! I have been around real-world military equipment since I was born in an naval hospital... I recognized the fire control on the Millenium Falcon as inspired by the B-29--I don't think that the LucasFilm group managed to get aboard the more-advanced B-36.

It's been a while since I read any of the star war books or comics, but I remember reading in one that the YT-1300 was a failed product that got orphaned real fast. So considering how us Humies on Earth absolutely love otherwise stupid things just because they are rare ( a lot of classic cars come to mind.). My own personal Retcon is that Lando and Han love the YT-1300 and fight over it despite it being a piece of junk because they are hipster "classic" ship collectors.

I LOVED the stop-motion ad, I will not lie, and not JUST because I was a big fan of the brickfilm scene back in the day. Honestly, I'd always wondered WHERE the cargo in the YT-1300 WENT, good to know the answer is "slowly and awkwardly, mostly"

Maybe Han's YT1300 is a personel varant and the spaces for extra crew space and supplies are converted to cargo holds by a very "reasonable" dude at some point.

"What the hell is an Aluminum Falcon???" -- Emperor Palpatine

the Barloz is definitely sensible, although i will admit that the 1300 is definitely more stylish. That being said, however, i would probably tend to pick the Barloz, on the proviso that it gets a stylistic 'wash' or other sort of aesthetics overhaul, and becomes some sort of wedge-shaped mini-micro-star-destroyer-looking thing, and maybe afew structural mods. The Barloz also being a CEC ship, would mean that it should be also be above-average in ease of modifying, tinkering and perhaps even take well to abit of general reconstruction and major structural splicing (?), and other sorts of hot-rodding measures. This would perhaps ironically turn it into abit of a hero-ship the long U-turn way around (or 'villain-ship', since it would be styled Et Imperialis), even as it retains functionality (or atleast, more direct functionality than the 1300).

Re frighter....see Tea Clippers... In their time..the fastest..very fastest ships

16:47 I think they should stick with, the "because blaster bolts are fucking slow, but, stupidly powerful" fan explanation. It makes about as much sense as the "ECM's are basically magic" explanation basically every Sci-fi series goes with

I was all excited that someone was going to explain to me how a pair of humans would mount facing turrets while transitioning from vertical standing position to on their backs or belly in an articulated swivel chair. That’s a really weird artificial gravity change to bridge.

In my mind there is only one possible freight that explains the way this ship is built: luxury goods in low quantities that require extremely specific environmental conditions to stay intact, thus the many small cargo holds that each could be in theory maybe set to a different internal atmosphere, with the front ones due to the tiny airlock even being able to be kept at vacuum

"...would you be nearly as upset with me?" Yes because I've come to expect that Star Wars tries waaay too hard to make sense of their stylistic decisions and instead invite "Wait, but this absolutely *doesn't* make sense." So zero upset at bitchering a hero ship is equal to zero upset about a background ship.

The docking clamps thing isn't really a retcon, Han even mentions jettisonning the cargo when talking to Jabba in the first movie. You just don't think of it because Lucas never used it that way in any of the films despite how "popular" the YT-1300 was they are rarely even seen & never with anything in the mandibles. (The only other YT I recall was in Ep3 when Anakin & Padme are in the spaceport on Coruscant waiting to flee undercover & some people seem to think that that is the Falcon)

living freight? a passenger ship ship? this is a coach. basically a glorified school bus.

I think its a good example of how scifi universes can and should have spacecraft that are trash in-universe and out of universe. A company might put out a "bad design" based on factors that we really dont know enough bout (skirting local laws, cultural behaviour, deceptive marketing for alternative use, etc).

Don't the "blockade runner" ships kind of slot into the Corvette class? Small, fast, maneuverable with light armor and armaments?

So, the 1300 was made to be a "freighter with something added", but to the point where the "something added" drastically reduced the "freighter" part. The result: Jack of all sorts of trades, master of none. Least of all cargo hauler. I can actually see a bunch of OTHER uses for it, tho…

I've always liked Star Wars since it first came out (although I have never been an extreme fan of the movies). Calling it a freighter is a joke (but I can see someone in the empire giving the designation a tax write-off, just as in the US, a truck with "commercial" plates can get the plates for less money because of the designation). If you have to give it a real world ship designation, it's probably a clipper, because it can transport a smaller cargo much faster. And here is the weird thing; you shouldn't compare these things to naval vessels. You need to compare these things to trucks. As a result, the Falcon can best be compared to a cargo van. (And when Mel Brooks made his spoof, making it a space Winnebago was sheer perfection.)

If i way offer a counter point about the gun turrets: whenever the tie fighters weren't visible, and they had to shoot at them using the sensors: they never hit them. Only when the ships were visible in front of the view port were they shot down. The ew retcon works because it also explains they're inaccuracy in that scene. On top of that: Luke, the fledgling space wizard, shot down most of the ties. Perhaps his powers had something to do with it as well.

The YT-1300 makes me think of a corporation trying to force a generalist ship into every possible conceivable specialization in an attempt to roll out hundreds of "just good enough" options that people will buy on brand recognition alone. "Want a space taxi? This is just barely a space taxi. Want a gunship? Sure just swap out all the hardpoints and change the engines into something someone shopping for a gunship will actually tolerate. Want a cargo hauler? Uhhhhh well I guess you could attach a cargo boom to the front, but wait then the cockpit would be obstructed, but holy shit what if we offset the cockpit we could make like fifty different subtypes and sure they'll all be shit at whatever we're advertising them to do but more options is more sales." I can imagine people deriding the things as asinine wastes of parts, or the badge of an unsavvy consumer who was swindled into their first specialized craft. Dockmasters might just deny them entry on principle. CEC took a moderately spacious and customizable civilian vessel and made it perform ten thousand other roles very poorly, but perform it did nonetheless. If this ship model were sapient, it would beg for the sweet release of death.

Jokes on you, the best freighter in star wars is clearly the Class 720 freighter, aka the turtle freighter. Which gets bonus points for me because when I played one of the star wars TTRPGs, I went noble background and was playing up being the bankroller for the group, and our hero ship was actually a turtle I bought with the absurd wealth that comes from being a noble if you go hard money. Look at the size of the turtle's cargo elevators! You can get half a load up per trip with those things. The escape pods are huge, and you can actually turn a cargo bay into a hanger if you want (as Luke did in EU). Ship is big, comfy, with lots of space. (It also has issues with the angles of the engines, where it should have had the escape pods up top and the engines in the rear pointing down, but whatever. Iz adorable and that is all I care about.)

Let's be honest, that ship was made for smuggling and the Empire is almost certainly aware of it.

Holy cow! Why did they go with the current design for the Falcon over some of those concepts?! Those are sweet! The cockpit to the side on the canon Falcon always bugged me. Its just a massive exposed target with all the people sitting in it. I like the one with the cockpit in the center between the "fork" things.

We need a futher of sail powered cargoships.

Actual rocket scientist here. There could be a simple reason the engines would work optimally in a fanned out config. They all point at the center of gravity. The Space Shuttle Orbiter has its engines point at the center of gravity in a fanned out configuration so if they lose an engine it does not have any component of thrust off aspect causing a rotation moment. Its really just that simple, its for failure modes. But no one explained this in the story. I don't have a problem with the suspension of disbelief of the engine config its the cockpit hanging off the side that would make it massively unstable in the yaw axis. It would never fly in an atmosphere as fast as we see it in the movies. Then there is the mandibles, thats a pitch stability problem. The thing would never fly but not because of the engine config.

The YT-1300 freighter is probably designed to transport high value cargo that doesn't require the need of a bulk freighter. A glorified fast courier that happens to be heavily favored by smugglers. I guess it falls under as a very light freighter.

Honestly, classifying these things as "freighters" or "transports" sounds a lot like the soviets calling their Kiev and Kuznetsov class carriers "aviation cruisers" or whatever... they're being deliberately misleading with a name, and creative with their design, in order to sell/operate something that they PROBABLY shouldn't be selling or operating in a place where they probably shouldn't be selling or operating it. Towboats DO in fact, operate in open waters. There are several active on the Great Lakes between the US and Canada. And while it might not be the North Atlantic, Lake Superior should not be trifled with... especially in November.

The Millennium Falcon is not a freighter but a Q ship or large armed hotrod.

If the Falcon's final design was inspired by anything, it would have been the Intruder from the Valerian and Lauralie comic series dating back to the Sixties. Which is a much cooler ship, IMHO. Too bad that the movie was a stinker. But yeah, it's another example from the Star Wars universe of a ship that is designed for visual distinctiveness rather than having any practical purpose. The offset cockpit stands out more as something unique rather than having it dead center. The lack of practical cargo space...well...maybe it was just intended to carry small but very valuable items. Like the space cocaine that he dumped when the fuzz were chasing him. That stuff is really popular on the core worlds. And for the lack of cargo bays, the thing that always really bothered me was where the power plant was kept.

My understanding was that the ship was a cross between an 18wheeler moving a single "albeit giant" shipping container. The engine design is such that when the ship is stationary is has an extremely close turn radius, much like a forklift would. Also all the cargo areas are supposedly accessible via a palletized system that drops a pallet down and picks them up with a crane system, which let's the ship just open its cargo hatches and blow things directly into space.

One point, the YT-1300 wasn't a great seller simply because it wasn't a good design.

I’d be much *more* upset with you pointing out all the flaws if it were a background ship. I *expect* the background ships to have flaws. This is largely interesting *because* it’s a known, recognizable hero ship.

Maybe the YT-1300 is supposed to be the equivalent of a space truck?

The one with the central cockpit exists in-universe as the YT-2000. As well as definitely being the source of the "Ghost"

There is a different aspect to the engine array, it allows the ship to slee to the side somewhat without changing yaw. This may confuse pursuit pilots in close range defensive maneuvers.

I for one is not upset at all. :) I have always wondered WHY with that ship.

The "special" cargo hauler.

I would have the entire floor of the cargo compartments drop down. you pile all your cargo in and lift it back into place. Thats what I did when I designed my own version of a YT.

I wonder when the info in the Hayes book was set up. I *very* vaguely remember much of the back of the Falcon (before the engines, of course) being cargo/passenger area, or configurable for it. I have no idea where I think I remember this description from, but at least that would make somewhat more sense (and the ramp - small as it is - would at least lead somewhat directly back to it.) I do think the "space tug mandible" thing is really (relatively) recent. (Then again, I also want to say I vaguely remember not a lot of these being around. Again, no real source, so...)

I like the retcon that the cockpit used to be between the mandibles, but someone in the Falcon’s history moved it to the side and no one remembers who or why.

Now i can see a YT freighter beeing flown like a B-wing, thats something i never gave any thought before and i personally never cared for the falcon as it always reminded me of a flying spork.

I go by an old canon, but here is my take on the sensors of the Falcon. In the original mostly forgotten story Solo and Chewie risked their lives two times just to get in tough with a technician that could provide them with a new sensor system as he was just ambushed by a security ship in the Corporate Sector. The Dish he received was one of the most modern sensor suites and electronic warfare systems if not the most modern on the market. TIE-Fighters however were build on a budget. Their systems were probably bought on the cheap, especially as they were supposed to operate from a nearby base, station or carrier ship which probably all had more advanced systems than the TIE-Fighters themselves. And as they wanted the Falcon to escape from the Death Star it can safely be assumed that the battle station's electronic warfare systems were not activated. As for the freight space and access. A galaxy is a huge place and in Star Wars there are thousands of settlements, outposts and stations. some rarely see a spaceship all year. When they need something it's usually not a large shipment. Sometimes they might just need one spare part to repair their failing power generator. Some of them are so far out of the way that the time for unloading such a small freighters full cargo barely measures in comparison. They also fly back empty many times. The same goes for delivering small numbers of sentients somewhere. And just to give the full picture. Han once delivered a printer to a university where it turned out the printer could easily replicate the local money with no chance of anyone noticing it. The communications suite of the Falcon could also reach the entire planet from a low orbit with no one on the planet being able to stop him in any way. Their only ship of that planet's navy was grounded because they didn't even have the money to order parts. And even if it was functional, there was a chance that the Falcon was a match to the outdated larger ship. We have something like that even in our world. The Republic of Nauru. Last I heard was they get visited by a freighter twice a year delivering the necessities for the entire island. As no one invested in a proper harbour when the island was rich the freighter has to empty the containers on board and has to transfer the cargo to smaller ships to get it on land. While the island has an airport, it's mostly there for emergencies. Wikipedia: "Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, making it the smallest republic as well as the smallest island nation. Its population of about 10,000 is the world's second-smallest (not including colonies or overseas territories), after Vatican City."

So the job of ew at these ranges generally is to break perceptions of distance and velocity, not position. It's like a hurt indicator in a game: it gives bearing, not range, not fix and never lock i would assume? Offhand I think the mobility and coverage benefits justify this as a deterrant system or as sk-aps??? Not super big into starwars myself. The milfol is a damn mess but the gunnery arrangement makes sense in a space where boom/zoom and sun-hiding don't really happen??

hero ships should have more thought put into them, so it is more appropriate to be critical of it, not less.

The front mandibles are supposed to latch into bulk containers. Saying that the Millennium Falcon isn't a freighter is like saying a Mack truck without a trailer isn't a cargo hauler.

Would like to see your take on the YT-2400 (Dash Rendar's Outrider).

Have you had a look at other cargo ships like the Gallofree GR-75 or my favorite the BFF-1 Bulk Freighters ?

Somewhere out there, there is a species of alien that utilizes Earth's aquatic vessels in inspiration for fantasy fodder. They also have a fascination with Glocks, AR-15's, AK's and shotguns, even though their society has progressed far beyond the point of their feasibility in actual combat. Something about that curved blade, I mean curved magazine.

To me, virtually any significant externally visible asymmetry on virtually any vehicle is the pinnacle of stupidity and any designs with such "qualities" should be killed with fire... Yes this is an aesthetics choice but it has practical implications as well (such as operator's perspective and centers of mass, drag, lift, thrust, etc). Edit: Because we're on the internet, I will point out I'm referring to symmetry across one specific plane. This is the plane that is "vertically" oriented down the centerline from front to back (seperating left/port half from right/starboard half). Top to bottom symmetry is certainly nice on a space vehicle or potentially an airplane...

Great commercial. :) Too bad most commercials aren't anywhere nearly as entertaining or well done. :\ At least Solo's ship wasn't named 'Sexy Mynock'. Lovely, lovely Ranting. :) The Millennium Falcon was not designed to be an efficient cargo mover, it was designed to be a Cool Space Ship. The Rule of Cool applied, not the rule of Boring But Practical like the freighter you actually approved of. (TvTropes terms). The gun well seats should have used a holoprojector to show where the targets were when it wasn't physically visible. Would' have made it bit more like the Gunstar's gunner's station. In practice, that could have been beyond the movie effects of the time.

Han Solo flew a completely different _CARGO_ ship in _The Force Awakens._ I always thought that was a better ship. Though, unfortunately, he abandoned it very quickly.

I literally by Magic spoon just for midnight snacking.

I don't know, if it had a front-mounted cockpit could it have made the Kessel run in only 12 parsecs?

solo used the dart as a projectile against a big beasty in the solo movie during his kestle run

Which was/is worse, the Soviet Buran, or the USA's Boeing Starliner? Both were flawed copies of better executed designs (STS, Apollo) whose budget overruns and low quality cancelled the program before the spacecraft actually accomplished anything.

There is a reason why real tow boats have the cockpit ABOVE the hull and not next to it.

To be fair, the electronic targeting on the Falcon might have just been several cameras wired (not wirelessly connected for obvious reasons) into the computer which builds the target in relation to the ship. At that point, there's nothing to jam, and that solves the problem of the turret gunners being unable to see anything.

I've actually always hated the Falcon, and it's stupid off-set cockpit. You're just saying everything I've said to my friends, who defend it, before.

I would surmise that Han sold the dart to pay, or partially pay for the turrets?

Science Fantasy is often a confusing combination.

What is it meant to carry? Well lets see. Cargo has to be human sized. Cargo holds all open to a central foot path ring. Cargo is most efficiently unloaded room by room and frog-marched out a foot ramp. Cockpit is an isolated pod for obscure reasons, but does mean its isolated from the cargo if the cargo gets unruly and the rest of the ship vented to space, say by cracking those elevators open remotely. Ship is reasonably armed with turrets, very fast, and common with smugglers and blockade runners. Whelp. Its definitely a prison ship and not for moving, ah, meat-based droid units.

I'll always like the Outrider more. Yeah. I'm one of *_those_* guys.

21:31 freighter and transport are synonymous in most lexicons

I do believe this has been retconned already, but the yt-1300 was not a freighter, but a basic cargo tug. It could haul large cargo containers around shipyards and cargo ports, and that's about all it could do. it had NO hyperdrive WHATSOEVER, and lando calrissian gave the falcon an aftermarket hyperdrive

I mean, I would change the definition of "Freighter" even further to: "A vessel specifically dedicated for, and often designed specifically to facilitate, the efficient mass movement of cargo. Distinct from a passenger vessel, warship, or pleasure craft." And no, it doesn't need to do it "fast" - look at modern container ships: They are not very fast, by ship standards, but they make up for it with VOLUME and being relatively cheap to move huge amounts of stuff overseas. Speed isn't everything: Sure, I could over-night my 100-dollar product to Europe from the United States on a supersonic military jet, but the cost of doing that would be hugely more than my product would sell for. Or, I can put it on a container ship for a few dollars, and have it take a week or two to get where it's going. Also, that opportunity cost picture about the hour partying v.s. an hour working - that really gave me a giggle, because back in the early 2000's when I was in college, I actually paid my rent and tuition throwing massive keg parties. I'd pull in around 1.5k a night sometimes (5 bucks a cup x 300 people), and I generally did it 4 times a month. That's 5.5k per month, back then, when my tuition was only 5k a semester and my rent was only $300 a month. Oh, the good ol' days...

While it looks silly, the radial engine makes more sense as the center of mass would be far forward when pushing containers to provide finer yaw maneuverability.

There’s no reason for the linear cargo rack that attaches to the mandibles of the 1300 to just be one long train. It could be. Extended laterally in much the same way the river barges are configured. There’s also the possibility of stacking the cargo horizontally, but that would require a second cockpit on the port side, possibly. These configurations might be more stable during turning maneuvers.

13:55 trigonometry - sine & cosine 30° (degrees of arc).

the engine placement makes sense. ALSO the engines on the highst thrust to waight ratio on literally one of the heaviest fighter jets in the world. dont face directly back they face sideways. with the sole purpose of stabilty control.

Just accurs to me, that the minimal amount of inter actually cargo space, coupled with the preposterously powerful maneuvering capabilities and speed, could, without telling anyone, is extremely high priority/price items, the profits from..would easily offset the cost of transport. Especially considering the smallest of the 3. Perfectly legal, but also small, like.. ridiculously advanced droids or computer components, equal to deadly toxins vital medical equipment and supplies..and so on. Also a marginally good excuse for the hidden auxiliary cargo space in the floor..that gets turned into strictly smuggling holds.

The YT1300 is a Tug that can push cargo through Hyperspace.

Well... the Millennium Falcon was a smuggling ship....not a freighter....so.....yeah. There's that massive distinction.

I still think that the FireFly class freighter is probably the best designed freighter space ship.

Great video! When it comes to a freighter, comparing the MF to an ocean freighter is incorrect. The MF is more like a cigarette boat (MIAMI VICE) or 18-wheeler (SMOKEY & THE BANDIT)....a vehicle that takes small, valuable cargos directly to the point of demand while avoiding or defending against interception. It's the Amazon truck....if your Amazon order is illegal drugs transported through pirate territory and DEA checkpoints. Personally, I like the YT-2000 better.... What's your opinion of the Ghost from SW: REBELS?....

While I enjoy your videos, I think the problem here is your thinking here is through the lens of all the example you give, understandably, rather than how this ship would operate. My order here will be somewhat random, but here goes. The small cargo hold would not be for the cargo they would be transporting, mostly they would be used for crew supplies, spare parts, etc. Interstellar cargo would probably be much like real ocean-going cargo in that it would be long spans between ports. The log "stalk" means you would save having lots of hull mass you didn't have to push around, thus making the ship more profitable. As for the situation with the cannon, when transporting the cargo pods, that would fall to the auxiliary craft at the front. In emergencies, the YT could undock from the cargo and use its cannon if need be. The hatch that isn't human sized wouldn't be a door to walk through, but one to be crawled through like ones found on real ships. As for the "stalk" breaking if you turned to hard, true, but you're pushing cargo around, not out running fighters with quick acrobatics. And maneuvers would involve both the front and back ships as well as most likely small thrusters along the length to help with this. The thruster array would allow for turning by as you pointed out, by varying the amount from the different engines. Now let's talk about quick loading and unloading. Every single container could be unloaded ad guided away at the same time. That sounds way faster to me. That is way more thinking about a fictious ship than I ever thought I would do.

Merch suggestion, Sacred Cow Shipyard dice, 6 sided of course. Would make for some neat souvenir! MF: Transport yes, freighter no. YT... T=Transport. Looks cool, headache trying to make sense of it, so I will opt to not think about it. Caterpillar ship from SC takes the concept(s) and dispenses with the looks in order to be functional. Looks closer to the original pirate ship/prototype corvette as a result so, full circle? Must say I love this video, about time this Sacred Cow got... er cubed?

What the hell is an Aluminum Falcon?

The funny thing about the Millenium Falcon, to me, was that it positively reeked of late 1970's custom van energy. I actually saw it as a serious plus to the designers that it didn't have any shag carpet on the inside. Otherwise, it was a heavily modified cargo van whose owner was also its mechanic, and he wasn't very good at either.

I always figured that the “freighter” aspect of the Falcon had to do with the legal technicalities and transponder (ship ID) that allowed it to take shipping routs and not be subject to typical passenger screening the Empire would demand.

“Procured a sample population” is the funniest euphemism for “kidnapped a bunch of randos” I think I’ve ever heard.

I've always seen the stock YT-1300 as the space equivalent of a pick-up truck, with the highly modified Millennium Falcon as an armed technical. =^x^=

The Firefly-class from the show of the same name is about the best practical cargo ship I can recall in a scifi show or movie.

I will at least commend the fact it is pretty much a space semi. And it could fill a niche in trade that conventional haulers can't do. So YT-1300 space tug> X Wing S Foil heat sink retcon. The YT tugs being "short" distance or special cargo haulers in networks with larger bulk haulers makes it fit in. Odd that we never see variants with two cockpits is something a kit basher would love. Also for an interesting courier freighter look at the Ebon Hawk from Star Wars Kotor.

I have always wondered about the whole freighter without a cargo bay thing. Back in the eighties when I was a kid, the talk in the playground was that the Millenium Falcon was actually built as a very fast 'one off' luxury yacht. It was old and due to its bespoke nature, spares where a nightmare to get hold of, hence its jury rigged wiring and bodged maintenence. When we first see the ship, Han is not hauling cargo with it, he is taking passengers and smuggling on the side, using smuggling compartments that shouldn't be there, because it a VIP tranport ship and not freighter. Nobody ever refers to the Falcon as a YT1300. In Empire strikes back, even the Impirial navy dont recognise the ship type. Now of course the back story of the Falcon has been added and expanded over the years, but does anyone else remember this Luxury yacht backstory version, or is it only me?

I know this is thoroughly into apocrypha at this point, but I think the name came from something along the lines of them getting a fluke of luck and as a result they thought it'd fly fast like a falcon and last for a millenium.

These freighters are designed to ship Star Wars toys. That's why you have to take the cargo 3 times further to put it into the cargo bays, it gives you longer to play with the toys before you have to put them down for shipping.