Transformable machine, why is it faster?

[Lans]

Transformable machine like the Zeta, Gaplant, etc always depicted having faster speed when they transformed into wave-rider / ship-like-shape. In atmospheric world there is air drag so it’s logical, but how about on space? There’s no air drag in vacuum, so why they still shown transformed MS into ship-mode as faster than their own humanoid form? With the MS still got the same weight and thrusters power even in ship-mode, how could they reach faster speed when the only change is the shape?

If speed is not the issue then why Cammile and other always bother transform their MS into ship-mode when they need to hurry to some place. Surely it's not about protection, agility or fire power since they got no addition on those aspects either.

[blind_dead_mcjones]

difference in weight distribution?

[Geoxile]

I seem to recall several of them having access to more thrusters in their MA modes. I'd also imagine that the MA mode is a lot more structurally stable and safer due to a more linear shape that distributes the thrust per area more evenly than having limbs flailing.

[Black Knight]

As Geoexile mentioned, most things with an MA or Fighter mode have higher thrust in that mode than in mobile suit mode because they have thrusters which are hidden or obscured in humanoid form, but revealed when in fighter/MA mode, meaning that they then have more raw thrust available, and so are able to accelerate faster in space. This would mean that those thrusters are dead weight in MS form, however, and probably making maintenance types miserable.

[Gadget]

I went back to recount the number of thrusters in Zeta. In MS mode, the thruster are pointing at an angle so that the MS could move forward. In waverider mode, 13 thruster are pointing back. 8 in the legs, 4 under the skirt, and 1 in between the skirt.

[crashlegacy14]

as gadget points out with his locations, the Zeta and surely other transformable MS use their transformation mode because it puts more thrusters pointed directly behind them and thus they'd have more forward thrust.. and well it's pretty obvious from that point on.

[Dendrobium Stamen]

The flip side of the "all thrusters aft" style, which gives incredible speed, should be a loss in mobility, since all the main thrust is aimed in one direction. That's where the MS form comes in, providing superior agility in the combat zone after the MA form has got the machine into battle post-haste.

And, of course, with that style of MA mode, it can double up as a sub-flight unit, as the ReZEL in Unicorn apparently does for Jegan units, saving on the need to devote hangar space (and maintainance time) to Base Jabber sub-flight systems.

[Dark Duel]

And, of course, with that style of MA mode, it can double up as a sub-flight unit, as the ReZEL in Unicorn apparently does for Jegan units

Or as the Raider did for the Calamity in Seed.

[Geoxile]

I have to wonder though, would internal movable frames help the MAs maneuver in space?

[stormturmoil]

I have to wonder though, would internal movable frames help the MAs maneuver in space?

Differential thruster throttle control, thrust vectoring, internal Gyroscopes and apogee motors already have that pretty well covered.

Some machines also have Movable Binders, so even in MA mode they can also benefit from some degree of AMBAC asistance

In Sentinel several of the designs add to that by using pumps to shunt pressurised liquids between tanks as ballast as well, to alter the mass distribution.

[Gelmax]

While MS have thrusters and verniers pointing in many directions to allow reasonable in-combat mobility in combination with AMBAC, in MA mode they usually point all their thrusters in one direction to sacrifice mobility for speed, as others have said. There's a few other smaller but significant aspects to it as well. For instance, in MA mode, the machine's profile is usually smaller when viewed from the front, which not only makes it a smaller target (and thus it's safer to fly around at high speed without worrying as much about dodging), but concentrates the thrust power in a smaller area - this gives it stability and means any course alterations caused by thruster problems or debris impacts will be a lot smaller (on the flip side, it's also harder to change course on purpose), and I want to say that it might also increase the speed further, but that doesn't seem right, at least in space. Additionally, many transformable machines are shaped so that the head is the front and the legs are the back, so the lower torso of the machine is behind the cockpit when in MA mode - and that allows a bit more room to put in hardware to compensate for G-forces, which increases the amount of acceleration the pilot's able to withstand (which can be a major limiting factor with high-speed machines, especially MS-sized ones).