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While watching season 2, episode 8 of The Mandalorian some action in the plot reminded me of a holiday trip I have planned. I have a generous offer from a friend — more like a friend of a friend — I haven’t heard from in a while.

This friend is an excellent pilot, but I’m not too sure how comfortable the accommodations in a T-65B X-Wing fighter will be.

If my friend is piloting that model of X-Wing, where exactly would I — a passenger — be? Other than the pilot, can anyone else really hitch a ride on an X-Wing?

PS: I am not an Astromech droid so no, I cannot fit in that hole in the back.

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    @Giacomo1968 - I had a newt. He wasn't very big. In fact he was my newt.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 0:54
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    I've heard that some newts "got better".
    – Organic Marble
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 13:34
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    @Giacomo1968 It would mean reading the books again, which I haven’t done for years. Hence I didn’t post it as an answer. But maybe someone more familiar with the books can confirm or deny this and make an answer if appropriate.
    – Darren
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 15:44
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    @Darren - I believe you're referring to Visions of the Future, also by Timothy Zahn. Luke says that it's possible to fit two people in ("He pointed out that your Defender doesn’t have a hyperdrive,” Luke said, hearing the defensiveness in his voice. “Two people in an X-wing cockpit gets pretty cozy.”), but I don't think we actually see him and her in the same ship at the same time.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 18:03
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    @Darren - Maybe as an excerpt in one of the other Zahn books? If you can find an EU instance of someone putting two people in an X-wing, that would make a good answer in itself.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 18:05

2 Answers 2

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In a word, no (although see below).

Referring to the classic T-65B X-wing starfighter, unless you're sitting on the pilot's lap throughout the journey (or you happen to be the same shape and size as an astromech droid), you're going to struggle to Wedge a second person into a single-seater fighter craft.

You might want to invest a few extra credits into the larger two-seater 'Tandem X-Wing'

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In an absolute pinch, I'd say that you could possibly fit a child-sized guest into the cockpit for a short hop, in the same way that you can fly an Earthican jet fighter with another person, however ill-advised that would be.

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That all being said, the pilot in an X-Wing doesn't actually need to control the ship since the astromech can take off, navigate, go into hyperspace and land without any human intervention, so if you remove the pilot's seat and control column, you could easily fit two regular-sized people into the cockpit in discomfort.

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    I've certainly heard of pilots being disciplined for taking a guest (usually a young lady) up in their single seat airplanes.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 18, 2020 at 23:55
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    These diagrams are starting to look like a copy of the Illustrated Kama-Sutra: X-Wing Edition
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 0:00
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    That diagram should include a small cargo bay (where Luke pulls all the survival gear out of on Dagobah). How big is that space?
    – Clockwork-Muse
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 8:04
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    @Clockwork-muse - if your friend is the size of a large briefcase, then you're in luck.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 8:25
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    or you happen to be the same shape and size as an astromech droid - while wearing a pressure suit? I thought the astromech bay was open to space.
    – Peter Cordes
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 15:39
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In Legends, it is implied that there is no passenger space to speak of on an X-Wing. In particular, in Solo Command, Rogue and Wraith Squadrons - flying a mixture of X-Wings and TIE Interceptors - stage a commando raid where they unexpectedly take a prisoner. They are then faced with the problem of extracting with said prisoner when all they have are single-pilot fighters. The solution they hit on is to pick the smallest, most hand-to-hand capable pilot, cram the prisoner beside them on the seat, and hope for the best.

As I recall the luckless craft carrying two happens to be an Interceptor, which might be coincidence or it might indicate that the X-Wing has even less room available. (Recall that TIEs have roughly spherical cockpits, whereas X-Wings' are more boxy.) In any case, none of the fighters has any provision for carrying passengers, not even anything that could be pressed into service at short notice.

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  • In this instance, they appear to be talking about a TIE-Fighter, not an X-Wing. The TIE, as you've said, has a considerably larger cockpit.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 23:51
  • @Valorum True, but that indicates that the X-Wing has no better alternative, or they would've taken it.
    – Cadence
    Commented Dec 20, 2020 at 0:04
  • Well, we can deduce that none of the X-wing pilots immediately volunteered to have a prisoner in their cockpits, but then it would also appear that all of the X-wing pilots are larger than she is.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 20, 2020 at 0:08

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