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The Pinook fighter was a starfighter manufactured by Joraan Drive Systems.
Characteristics
A flight of Pinooks on patrol near a barren moonlet.
Compared to other starfighters in service during the time of the Galactic Civil War, the Pinook was underpowered, undergunned, poorly shielded, and inadequately armored. A worse than average craft all around, its only favorable quality was its better-than-average maneuverability, although it was still outperformed by a Z-95 Headhunter in this respect. In a one-on-one dogfight with a TIE/LN starfighter, only a lucky hit by the Pinook would prevent its quick annihilation.[1]
Only marginally faster than the Y-wing, it had none of that craft's rugged durability. With a hull that was weaker than a TIE/IN interceptor's, and shields only half as powerful as an T-65 X-wing starfighter's,[1] the Pinook was not a good match for modern starfighters.[2]
History
The design of the Pinook fighter was hampered by Imperial regulations on its armament and powerplant. The board of directors of Joraan Drive Systems were not significant supporters of the New Order, and they were unable to convince Imperial inspectors to let them sell the Pinook to allies of the Empire. Because of this, they were required to adhere to the combat restrictions of purely civilian craft. The Pinook was therefore one of the few starfighters that fresh out of the factory was outperformed by the uglies that were commonly found in the hands of smugglers, bandits and pirates. The performance of the Pinook was so poor that it was regularly ridiculed by the public.[2]
The Pinook saw limited success as a training vessel due to its low cost, but no organization that used them expected a Pinook fighter to do anything more than send an alarm about enemy forces before being destroyed. The ship was so unpopular with the galaxy at large that Joraan Drive Systems was forced to construct fighters for criminal organizations like Black Sun to survive.[2]
Behind the scenes
"Planetary Fighter" concept art.
The model file for the Pinook fighter is named PIGGYBACK.OPT,[1] which corresponds to the original design concept created by Totally Games artists. The Pinook was originally the Planetary Fighter, and was mated to a booster engine. The Pinook was separated from the booster due to game engine constraints, and the Planetary Fighter name was reassigned to a totally different design.[4]
Appearances
- Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance (First appearance)
Sources
- Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
- Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts
- Rebellion Era Campaign Guide