Forum: scifi.stackexchange.com
Tags: <star-wars><millennium-falcon>
Title: Isn't the Millennium Falcon's cockpit placed extremely inconveniently?
Question: I'm surprised there's no question about this.  With the cockpit being located far to the right of the ship, there is a gigantic pile of metal blocking  a lot  of view for the pilot.  The Falcon seems to be (at least partially) maneuvered by vision (windows), so what's the point in placing that capsule in such an extremely strange place?

Answers:
sents: text: It's not nearly as bad as you'd think.
text: Looking at it from the correct angle, you can see that the cockpit windows are above the mandibles.
text: I went to Disney's Launch Bay, where they have an official replica of the Falcon, took photos, and highlighted the cockpit windows versus the top of the Falcon.
text: As you can see, the cockpit could be better situated, but they have a largely unobstructed view out of the left side.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/5184/phantom42
score: 32
sents: text: You're not wrong.
text: As this rather nice wireframe shows, by looking out from the cockpit we can determine that the view from the left side of the ship is almost totally non-existent (blocked by the mandibles) whereas the starboard and front views are completely unimpeded.
text: Based on the concept art below (and a quote from the fully canonical 'Force Awakens: Incredible Cross-Sections' factbook)
text: we learn that the cockpit position was a function of the ship's intended function as a freight-pusher.
text: With the mandibles holding a cargo pod in place, the cockpit is sufficiently far away that the pod doesn't block the view ahead and to the right, at the cost of a view of the other side of the ship.
text: The Falcon’s side-mounted cockpit and the front-facing mandibles recall her origins as an intermodal tug pushing containers in orbital freight yards.
text: But as with many YT-1300s, an enterprising captain saw that her powerful engines and modular construction made her ideal for carrying cargoes of dubious legality.
text: - Force Awakens: Incredible Cross-Sections
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/20774/Valorum
score: 25
sents: text: "What's the point in placing that capsule in such an extremely strange place?
text: "
text: This very question is (sort of) answered in Disney canon.
text: In an inner monologue, Chewbacca is listing the reasons Luke thinks the Falcon is a piece of junk; one of them is: Her cockpit, for reasons no one but the designers back at Corell Industries could understand, was posted to the starboard side, and jutted at an odd angle instead of being mounted on the center line.
text: - Star Wars:
text: Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo and Chewbacca Adventure
text: So if the question is "Why is the cockpit where it is?", the Disney canon answer is "No one but the designers back at Corell Industries knows, but it seems weird in-universe as well as out-of-universe".
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/44025/Wad Cheber stands with Monica
score: 7
sents: text: As many pointed out in this question , the Falcon wasn't exactly designed for dog fights.
text: The ship has the body of a freighter and an engine that's likely the most overhauled in the galaxy.
text: As such, the cockpit placement was likely considered "good enough" for its intended function.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/54617/Josh
score: 5
sents: text: Also, starships are largely flown using a sensor array.
text: Pilots depend on their copilot and gunner as well as these sensors for input regarding situational awareness.
text: It's not an automobile.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/60777/Corey Covington
score: 3
sents: text: Well I for one just think they didn't think of it...
text: I took this from Starwars.com - five things you didn't know about the Millennium Falcon :
text: The original design wasn’t a hamburger
text: The initial look for the Millennium Falcon was much different.
text: What was planned actually became the prototype for the Tantive IV.
text: After the crew realized that the design looked too similar to the ship from Space: 1999, they had to go back to the drawing board and come up with something else in a hurry.
text: Joe Johnston worked on the redesign, and that’s where the hamburger came in.
text: Johnston told Starlog Magazine, “It was the quickest ship we’ve ever done.
text: The Falcon was designed in one day.
text: We took some components from the blockade runner, like the cockpit, and stuck it on the side of a big dish with some mandibles out in front.”
text: and yes while it does start with "not a hamburger" it does go on to say -
text: “It was the quickest ship we’ve ever done.
text: The Falcon was designed in one day.
text: We took some components from the blockade runner, like the cockpit, and stuck it on the side of a big dish with some mandibles out in front.”
text: Not a lot of thinking about angles and the ability to see the other side of the ship...
text: But who cares!
text: It still looks great and is, I think we can all agree, the best ship in the Star Wars universe.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/65829/Rincewind
score: 3
sents: text: The falcon has an excellent roll rate (note the nifty immilmen maneuver at cloud city) and "alluvial" (inertial) dampers.
text: A bogey detected by sensors could easily be brought into the pilots field of vision with a flick of the wrist.
text: Course could remain constant there is no up or down in space.
text: Not bad for a souped up bulk freighter.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/72068/Mark
score: 0
sents: text: Short answer:
text: Right of Way.
text: On ocean vessels, the ship to the right has the right of way.
text: This ties into the natural human instinct to be more attentive to objects on their right (dominant) side.
text: When you consider maneuvering through a crowded terminal where there are numerous other ships also maneuvering, you would need to have the clearest field of view of the ships to which you must yield right of way.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/72953/Wesley1066
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
There is no clear agreement as to whether the cockpit is indeed positioned poorly. Some believe that there is a clear view of the left side of the ship whilst others believe that there is no line of sight at all. In any case, it's generally agreed that the Millennium Falcon was not designed to be a fighter and therefore the positioning of its cockpit might well be considered good enough for its intended function and indeed for ceding right of way from the right, as done on ocean vessels. Furthermore, the ship likely had a sensor array for navigation.
There are different views on whether the cockpit position really is a weakness, but the main reason for it according to the film's makers is that the Falcon was designed in a hurry and with the main aim of looking cool.