Delta Flyer

Delta Flyer
Class:	custom-built shuttlecraft
Affiliation:	Federation Starfleet
Launched:	2375
Assignment:	USS Voyager
Status:	destroyed (2376)

The Delta Flyer was a specially-designed Federation shuttlecraft which was constructed by the crew of the USS Voyager in 2375, during that starship's long voyage in the Delta Quadrant.

History and specifications

The Delta Flyer in USS Voyager's shuttlebay.

Unlike any other Federation shuttlecraft before it, the Delta Flyer was a blend of Starfleet and Borg technology, and was designed to perform in situations that were deemed too hazardous for standard shuttlecraft. Among the many features included on the Delta Flyer were an ultra-aerodynamic tetraburnium alloy hull, retractable warp nacelles, parametallic hull plating, unimatrix shielding, and a Borg-inspired weapons systems, including pulse phasers and photonic missiles.

For several years Tom Paris had been working on plans to design and build a new shuttlecraft, but the plans were finally given the go-ahead by Captain Kathryn Janeway, when Voyager had to recover its multi-spatial probe from a gas giant, before the Malon could obtain it. Following a brainstorming session with Paris, Tuvok, Seven of Nine, Harry Kim, and B'Elanna Torres, the design of the Delta Flyer was finalized, and construction of the ship rushed. The Delta Flyer's mission was successful, despite a hull breach, and the probe was safely returned to Voyager. (VOY episode: "Extreme Risk")

Cutaway view.

A few months later the Flyer was equipped with a transwarp coil, when Captain Janeway led a team to rescue Seven of Nine from the Borg Queen at the heart of the Collective. Once Seven was rescued, the Flyer returned to Voyager at transwarp speed with the Queen close behind. Fortunately, the Flyer's defenses were able to hold until they reached Voyager. (VOY episode: "Dark Frontier")

When Voyager was trapped in the Vohrsoth Forge, the Delta Flyer was used to transport members of the hazard team onto the Scavengers' base of operations in order to acquire stolen samples of isodesium. This transport was done by shuttlecraft because the Scavengers had a transporter inhibitor present which prevented a direct beam-in into the station. (VOY video game: Elite Force)

In late 2376, Captain Janeway, Tuvok, and Torres, took the Flyer into the path of a Borg tactical cube, with the ultimate goal of infiltrating the Collective and be able to assist the inhabitants of Unimatrix Zero. When the Flyer approached the Cube, the Queen had the shuttlecraft destroyed, and the away team beamed onto the cube just as the Flyer was destroyed. (VOY episode: "Unimatrix Zero, Part I")

Following the team's return to Voyager in early 2377, a replacement, the Delta Flyer II, was constructed. (VOY episode: "Drive")

By 2381 the Delta Flyer and Delta Flyer II design had inspired Starfleet's new heavy shuttlecraft design, the Flyer-class. (TTN novel: Over a Torrent Sea)

Appendices

External link

• Delta Flyer article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.