Design
Mechanical designer Shoji Kawamori says he initially planned the main vehicle of Macross Zero to be closer in lineage to conventional fighters such as the F-14 Tomcat. He later opted for the finalized VF-0 design which was closer to later variable fighters in the Macross setting (aside from the relatively conventional engines).
A variant of the F-14 Tomcat, the F-14Kai (a reference to the F-4EJ Kai Phantom II, the Japanese upgrade of the second most-produced Western jet fighter) also appears in the beginning of Macross Zero, in order to give viewers a chance to compare designs, and to understand the design limitations of 'simple' combat jets in comparison with far more advanced variable jet-fighter mecha. The F-14KAI variant has been retrofitted with overtechnology avionics and new radar systems, as well as GE F110-GE-400 afterburning turbofans (although it does retain the cockpit scheme of the original F-14A/B).
Read more about this topic: VF-0 Phoenix
Famous quotes containing the word design:
“What but design of darkness to appall?—
If design govern in a thing so small.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Delay always breeds danger; and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.”
—Miguel De Cervantes (1547–1616)
“Westerners inherit
A design for living
Deeper into matter—
Not without due patter
Of a great misgiving.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)