Well, if the engines are turned off... they can always be turned back to vertical while they are powering back up again anyway.

I think the reason Serenity's engines return to level & fold inward are twofold...

1 - In atmo, in the presence of a gravity well when on the ground... I think they do that to relieve stress on the wings. You'll note that when folded, they actually rest on the ground. Probably wouldn't be too good to have those big thrust engines just hanging there without support for long periods.

2 - When docking in space... I'm thinking they do that to make her more compact. (think carrier aircraft) That could also be another reason why they do it on the ground. In a crowded landing field such as the Eavesdown docks for example... space is at a premium.

Maybe putting them horizontal and folded in allows them to do some post flight maintenance or just check for damage that a uhhh "object" flying in to the engine might do.

Maybe the engines don't stay vertical because dirt and stuff will gather in it and any auto cleaning system wouldn't work very well if they were vertical because more dust would go down the engine then out both ends.

Yes I've noticed that but what makes it odd is that they dont always do it. Seems that they only retract when Serenity berths in an actual port. I suppose it could be for any number of reasons however. Maybe its automatic and done fore space efficiency (the wing stubs also fold down around the cargo bay when landed and the nacelles are in the horizontal a la; the last shot in "Out of Gas"), maybe its Alliance regs that all ships land in a position such that they cant take off without consulting space-port control. Maybe its part of the land-lock system. It all depends on what you want to think. Hell, maybe its because Zoic got lazy on some days.


-Dracos