Name: Anakin Skywalker's Podracer
Manufacturer: Radon-Ulzer
Length: 3.15 meters (cockpit), 7 meters (engine)
Engine unit(s): Radon-Ulzer 620C racing engines (2)
Crew: Pilot (1)
Passengers: None
Scale: Speeder
Skill: Repulsorlift operation: Podracers
Crew: 1
Crew Skill: See Anakin Skywalker (as of The Phantom Menace)
Cargo Capacity: 5 kilograms
Cover: 3/4
Altitude Range: Ground - 105 meters
Manoeuvrability: 3D+2
Move: 316; 947 km/h
Body: 2D
Description: Anakin Skywalker's Podracer was a custom-built Podracer built by a nine-year old Anakin Skywalker as a slave on Tatooine, and used to secure his freedom and the replacement hyperdrive components for Queen Amidala's ship during the Boonta Eve Classic.
Characteristics
Anakin Skywalker's Podracer was constructed from a pair of Radon-Ulzer 620c turbines. One engine was put together from spare parts in Watto's junkyard. These parts included the burned-out turbines from Watto's own podracer, which Skywalker had eventually crashed. The other engine was acquired when Anakin bartered with Jawas. He modified the engines heavily, notably by improving the fuel injection system in order to increase thrust. Skywalker attached triple yellow air scoops to these engines to give the vehicle optimal maneuverability, especially while turning. The cockpit was attached to the massive motors by Steelton control cables. The racer could reach breakneck speeds in the area of 947 kilometers an hour (588 mph), earning its title of the fastest podracer in the galaxy. It could only fit one person; the pilot. Similar to the other podracers, Anakin's podracer possessed energy binders for keeping the podracer together during the race. The energy binders, if crossed by a biological being, also have a side-effect of causing the affected body part to go numb for several hours.
History
In the Boonta Eve Classic race in 32 BBY, Skywalker used his podracer to defeat his archrival, Sebulba the Dug and win his freedom from slavery. The Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn helped repair the podracer by acquiring parts in Mos Espa. Just before the race started, a thief stole the plasma ignition capacitor. Jinn chased the thief and discovered that the part was held by a scavenger. Jinn defeated the alien and returned the part to Skywalker.
After the race, Qui-Gon Jinn sold the pod to Sebulba, who repainted the vehicle orange and used it himself to qualify for the Vinta Harvest Classic, lifting the suspension he received following the Boonta. Eventually, the Dug passed it on to his son, Hekula. Hekula crashed the racer in an illegal Caves race on the planet Euceron during the Galactic Games of 26 BBY, nearly destroying it (but participating also was Anakin Skywalker, who once again defeated a Dug and won the race). The podracer was duly abandoned. Skywalker later reacquired the vehicle and again pitted it against Sebulba in one last rematch.
During 1 ABY, when the Galactic Civil War was intensifying, a spacer acquired a podracer that looked very similar to Skywalker's. This podracer was believed to be a mere replica, and not the same vehicle piloted by Skywalker.
|