This is the Haynes Owners’ Workshop Manual for the Star Wars TIE Fighter. It’s part of the wildly popular Haynes series of owners’ workshop manuals for various Star Wars starships, including the Millennium Falcon, Death Star, X-wing, and more.
These books are designed for both adults and kids as a deep-dive reference book. This edition is 144 pages long, and it’s full of detailed information and illustrations that you won’t find anywhere else.
These books are designed for both adults and kids as a deep-dive reference book. This edition is 144 pages long, and it’s full of detailed information and illustrations that you won’t find anywhere else. Image courtesy of Simon + Schuster.
History Speedrun: The TIE Fighter
The TIE Fighter, short for “Twin Ion Engine Fighter,” is easily one of the most recognizable spacecraft in the Star Wars universe – first appearing in A New Hope (1977) – the very first Star Wars movie. Designed by Colin Cantwell and further developed by the two man team of Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie, the TIE Fighter was intended to visually communicate the cold, soulless, utilitarian ethos of the Galactic Empire.
According to Star Wars sourcebooks like The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels and Star Wars: TIE Fighter Owners’ Workshop Manual, the standard TIE Fighter was officially known as the TIE/ln space superiority starfighter.
It was manufactured by Sienar Fleet Systems and became the Empire’s primary short-range starfighter, with an emphasis on mass production and overwhelming numbers over pilot safety or survivability. They were deployed from Star Destroyers, space stations like the Death Star, or ground installations, always relying on external support for long-range travel.
Pilots were often more poorly trained than their rebel counterparts and considered expendable, they were encased in fragile hulls lacking deflector shields or ejection systems.
That said, in combat TIEs could be fearsome, fast, agile, and capable of swarming Rebel ships with sheer numbers. Variants like the TIE Interceptor, TIE Bomber, and Darth Vader’s custom TIE Advanced X1 added some variation to the lineup – each designed for specialized roles in the Star Wars universe.
Interestingly, the TIE fighter’s screaming twin ion engine sound was created by mixing an elephant’s roar with a car driving on wet pavement – a handy little tidbit that might come in useful one day at a pub quiz.
Star Wars TIE Fighter: The Owners’ Workshop Manual
The Star Wars TIE Fighter: The Official Owners’ Workshop Manual is a 144 page book dedicated to the TIE Fighter, one of the most memorable starships from the Star Wars universe. The book was written by Star Wars expert Ryder Windham and illustrated by Chris Reiff.
The Star Wars TIE Fighter: The Official Owners’ Workshop Manual is a 144 page book dedicated to the TIE Fighter, one of the most memorable starships from the Star Wars universe. Image courtesy of Simon + Schuster.
Inside the book, you’ll find a wealth of information about the TIE fighter and the Star Wars universe, as well as countless highly-detailed illustrations ( as well as photographs, schematics, exploded diagrams, and computer-generated artwork) showing their inner workings. These books are great reading, and they also make a good coffee table book and conversation piece.
The book is now available on the official Haynes Amazon store here, pricing will vary a little depending on your region, it generally falls around the $21 USD mark for the hardcover version.
Images courtesy of Simon + Schuster + Haynes
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