In a msg on , Christopher Tarana of 1:3619/45
writes to Zorch Frezberg:
 ZF>> Capt Robert April     Launch to +2 - Shakedown/'Sea Trials'
 ZF>> Capt Chris Pike           +2 to +7 - First Five Year
 ZF>> Mission 
 ZF>> and add 2 years to each of the dates, and you'd about have 
 ZF>> it right.
 CT>         Actually my first draft had Capt April doing a 5 year 
 CT> mission and a refit just to give a possible worst-case 
 CT> scenario. I dropped it in favor of the approach I took so 
 CT> that even the hardline B's & C's of Trek Canon couldn't argue 
 CT> too much.  Your approach is a good compromise.
ooooo!  The "C" word!  There are those who would declare you a 'canonhead' 
for defying the "One True Trek"...
 ZF>> The likely reality would be that since the "E" was the most 
 ZF>> 'reliably tested' of the spaceframes, it was routinely sent 
 CT>         It's reasonable to assume that the Constitution itself 
 CT> may have been held in Quadrant zero not only as a control to 
 CT> the experiments that Enterprise was conducting, but as a 
 CT> rescue vessel in case something short of a total warp breach 
 CT> occured.  Especially with the advanced Duotronic computers 
 CT> aboard, it's not something you abandon and leave for the 
 CT> Romulans or Klingons.
Good, good...
 CT>         (The way I solve the class conflict is to call the 
 CT> Enterprise (NCC-1701) after the refit a Constitution Class - 
 CT> Flight 2 vessel (or just Constitution Class for the lay 
 CT> person.) and call NEW builds using the refit blueprints the
 CT> Enterprise Class cruisers.  The Navy did the same thing with
 CT>  their Los Angeles (688) SSNs (Attack Subs).  All the boats 
 CT> from 688-718 were Flight 1 boats, and after a redesign that 
 CT> updated the reactor systems, and added Vertical Launch 
 CT> Tomahawk missile tubes, Los Angeles class boats from 719-750 
 CT> were called Flight 2 boats.)
Another compromise that was reached was a slightly different approach...
The Constitution Class is the 'basic' model of that style of starship.
The so-called "Enterprise Class" is not an actual class, but a 
_mission-specific_ designation.
The "Enterprise platform" was the Constitution Class, fitted with 'deep 
space' exploration sensor packages and defense systems, the name 'honoring' 
the history of the original NCC-1701.
Other ships of the line may have similar 'E platforms' or other names as each 
ship distinguished itself.  The USS Intrepid may have been more 
science-oriented (given the Vulcan crew), and so any Constitution Class 
spaceframe with a heavier orientation of science/research equipment may be an 
"Intrepid platform".
So.....the NCC-1701-A was a Constitution Class ship with an "Enterprise" 
mission platform.  
 ZF>> "E" went through, as an engineer, I'd *really* like to see 
 ZF>> the effects on the ship of being in "null space" ("The 
 ZF>> Immunity Syndrome"), going through interstitial space ("The 
 ZF>> Tholian Web"), time travel (you name it), and being hit with 
 ZF>> temporal waves ("City on the Edge of Forever").
 CT>         I'm positive Scotty must have made a fortune on the 
 CT> Lecture circuit, especially after Piccard picked him off that 
 CT> Dyson Sphere!  I can't see him retiring.  Teaching, yes - 
 CT> Retiring, no.
If you ever get the chance to see James Doohan lecture somewhere, be sure to 
ask him about "Scotty as a lad".
He has created the most marvelous history for Scotty that fits right in here.
 ZF>> No wonder Kirk was at a desk for over two years...it took 
 ZF>> that long to de-brief the entire crew on the missions!
 CT>         Actually he would have debriefed the crew and Fleet the 
 CT> first year of the "refit".  The second eighteen months he was 
 CT> working undercover with Admiral Ciana. :-)
Sure, he would have.  Then Fleet would have taken the crew aside and 
debriefed them again.
After all, you've got a captain whose had his brain swapped with a 
psychopath, and a First Officer who literally lost his mind...a Chief Medical 
Officer who not only had a "bad trip" on a heavy psychotropic drug, but ended 
up 250 years in the past as a result, plus a Chief Engineer who is an 
alcoholic!
If you look at it from _that_ perspective, it's a bleeding miracle Kirk 
didn't order them into the Sun at Warp 14! 
-zf-  Pleen!
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