Death glider
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| Death Glider | |
|---|---|
 A Death Glider in flight. |
|
| First appearance | Stargate |
| Affiliation | Goa'uld Jaffa |
| General Characteristics | |
| Armaments | Twin Staff cannons |
| Propulsion | Unknown, presumably inertial |
The Death Glider is a fictional spacecraft in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. The Goa'uld death glider is a fast attack craft capable of great speed as well as flying in both atmosphere and space. Its shape resembles that of an insect, particularly the traditional Ancient Egyptian portrayal of the mythical winged scarab beetle. These craft can be used to strafe ground targets, as well as in air-to-air or space combat. However, their effectiveness against small targets is debatable, as they appear to have no targeting systems.
Generally piloted by Jaffa, their weaponry consists of two heavy staff cannons. Compact in size, gliders can be carried aboard Goa'uld Ha'tak vessels. With their wings folded the Goa'uld are able to house many of them in a small area. Death gliders can also be launched from the surface of a planet (such as Chulak). Unlike Earth's F-302's, they are not equipped with any method of hyperspace travel, and thus rely on a Ha'tak mothership or Goa'uld base as a staging area.
[edit] Variants
There seems to be several different variants of the death glider; some of these craft can accommodate two persons (one pilot and the other operating the weapons and other instruments), while a smaller number of these craft can hold only one person. One variation of the death glider could carry passengers and a Ring Transporter, as seen in part 2 of SG-1's pilot episode, Children of the Gods, although since it was destroyed in that episode by Major Charles Kawalsky, its like has not been seen in the show again. This vessel was slightly smaller than a Goa'uld Tel'tak ship, and may instead be a hybrid of the two.
[edit] Needle Threader
Also known as a "Gate Glider", this variant was not given a name in the show. It is designed to fit through a Stargate. Like the more conventional death gliders, it is built to be used by two people - a pilot and a gunner. While conventional Death Gliders are built with two wings, this craft has one wing curved in a partial cylinder around the central body housing the cockpit and weapons. It is armed with two staff weapons.
Only one example of this ship type has been seen, in the season three premiere episode "Into the Fire". During this episode General Hammond goes to Chulak to meet up with Teal'c and Bra'tac. They develop a plan to rescue SG-1, which was captured by Hathor and for this plan Bra'tac shows them the hidden ship, which is then piloted by Hammond and Teal'c. Afterwards they use the ship to fly through the active Stargate to the world where Hathor has captured several SG-teams and attack the Jaffa belonging to Hathor from the air. The craft's fate after this episode isn't revealed.
Bra'tac hid the ship in the forest "some hundred years" ago, where it remained undiscovered until the end of the 20th century. Bra'tac says that few pilots could master it, indicating that "threading the needle" is a skill for the young. Teal'c says of the craft that "they do not build them as they once did."
This ship is the first seen to fly through an active Stargate. This was later seen more often in Stargate Atlantis in form of the Puddle Jumpers and Wraith darts. Also, the Tau'ri have launched UAVs and Maverick missiles through their Stargate on occasion.
