sith_happened: (Anakin: making an entrance)
Anakin Skywalker ([personal profile] sith_happened) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2007-07-11 11:23 pm
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Flight and Flying [Thursday, July 12, 3rd period]

Anakin stood in front of the door of the flight shed and waited for the workshop students to arrive, his hands tucked into the sleeves of his dark robes.

"Welcome," he said, giving them a nod. "I'm Master Skywalker, and I'll be your instructor for flight this session. I'm from a space-based culture, so my expertise is primarily in those sorts of aircraft, but we'll also be working with the way people fly on this planet. We'll begin with simulators and if you convince me of your attention to detail and your ability not to die in stupid ways, you'll eventually be allowed to fly the real things." He pointed at Rory with a soft smile. "This is Rory Gilmore, and she'll be the TA for this workshop. Rory's from this planet and time period, and she took this workshop last year and is now familiar with most of the aircraft we'll be using." His smile took a turn for the teasing. "She's mostly here to make sure I don't make you all cry with my ridiculous expectations."

That was probably more true than he'd like to admit.

He waved a hand lazily at the doors and they slid open to reveal two podracing simulators sitting side-by-side.

"All right," he said, pointing at the controls, "everything you need to fly a podracer is located on the handlebars. You push them forward to go faster, pull back to slow down, and pull one or the other towards you to turn." He pointed at the buttons in the center of the console. "That controls the engines," he said. "You push the big button to light them up, and on these two models, you can push it again for an extra burst of speed." He looked at the class. "Which burns your fuel very, very quickly, so save that until you need it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Normally, these are attached to enormous engines--6 or 7 meter long engines--but these aren't real, and the simulator won't really give you the noise that's normally associated with the podracer. But the simulator has been programmed to go very, very quickly." He pointed to the simulator on the left-hand side. "This one, properly piloted, can get up to 950 kilometers an hour. The other can get up to 900. To fly a podracer at those kinds of speed requires iron nerves and split-second reflexes."

He clasped his hands in front of him. "Today you can take a turn learning how the simulators work, then pair up to fly against each other." He gave them a slightly predatory smile. "If you choose, you can fly against me. I built the real version of this podracer," he patted the left-hand simulator, "and used it to win a race when I was nine years old. And I won't give you a head start."

Re: Individual flights

[identity profile] death-of-hope.livejournal.com 2007-07-12 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
"The engines were why I needed a better angle. I'm not used to having such a wide load in the rear, even when flying a shuttle." Anemone tugged on the cables experimentally, checking their flexibility.

Grinning at his go-ahead, Anemone vaulted back into the pilot's seat. Running through her own impromptu pre-flight checklist twice, she narrowed her eyes at the course. "Right."

This time she reduced her speed to about 800, and the first two turns were clean. As the corkscrew loomed, she slid the podracer up on the right wall, using it as her new race track. As she navigated the along the wall, she put on a burst of speed as she pulled straight off, carefully manipulating the control to level out and zoom ahead.

She managed to complete a much greater section of the track than she had on her previous run before one of the cables caught on a rock outcropping, spinning her into a wall with a resounding BOOM.

Anemone's shark-like grin was still in effect as she again checked the engines for damage. Just because she *knew* it was a sim was no excuse for laziness. "Better. Such a good girl, putting up with me like this. I promise, I'll quit crashing you soon. I hope."

Re: Individual flights

[identity profile] death-of-hope.livejournal.com 2007-07-12 06:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"Neither is the military." Anemone said dryly, still inspecting the machine. "That hasn't stopped me yet."