fandomhigh | Flight and Flying; Thursday 5/22

Murdock had the Danger Shop all set up, and was standing just under the fuselage of the only aircraft around. Though it was fairly large in size, it had a rather old-style appearance.

“Afternoon class,” Murdock greeted cheerily. “Today’s session is going to be just a bit different. We’ll be working as a crew instead of with individual aircraft. Flying one of the most famous bombers in history. Well, Earth history, at least.”

“The Boeing B-17, nicknamed the Flying Fortress.” He reached up and thumped the undercarriage of the plane. “This plane is considered to be the first true mass-production aircraft. First built in 1934, it didn’t see large scale service until 1941, when the United States Air Force ordered more for use in bombing runs during World War II.”

“The B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft type during that war. It even saw service with the British Royal Air Force. It was sturdy, well-built and could fly long-range missions at high altitudes.”

“There’s a few things you should know about this aircraft, and the reasons why I chose it for today’s class. Unlike many modern aircraft, the B-17 did not come with climate controls. When cruising at high elevations, crew members connected to oxygen storage tanks housed at various locations throughout the plane. Bomber jackets were not a fashion statement, boys and girls. They were a necessity. As were wool or fur-lined gloves and boots. It gets pretty darn cold at 20,000 ft(6km) and frostbite becomes a real possibility.”

“The point of today’s exercise is in three parts.” He ticked off numbers on his fingers as he spoke. “One, to learn how to operate an aircraft in a crew setting. Two, how to manage and maneuver a craft that is both large and slow in responsiveness.” He glanced up at the plane briefly and smirked at his students. “Believe me, this baby has about as much grace in the air as a lead brick. And third, maintaining control, calm and wits in less than comfortable conditions.”

“During the course of our run, everyone will take a turn at the controls. While the B-17 doesn’t have autopilot, it does have dual controls, one for the lead pilot and one for the co-pilot. So we’ll switch off in mid-flight by rotating people through. As someone will have to man the controls at all times.” He smiled brightly. “Or else we all go down. Ready?”

(ocd is up! ~~a'comin. plz wait.~~ same routine as last time; up for awhile, sp tomorrow, blah,blah. and *no* I did not plan it this way, it just happened. Fandom landing outside of Normandy just has good timing. weird)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Who will love to babble your ear off about the history of the B-17. ~~because his mun has spent waayy too much time looking at this stuff~~

As promised, Rikku bounced up to Murdock after class, holding out an assortment of tiny vials she had pulled from her leg pouch.

"Potions," she said. "Healing ones. Check it out."

He stared at the little vials. "Do they all do the same thing? What kinds of things do they heal? I mean, what's the limit of what they can do? Bumps, bruises, breaks? More serious stuff?"

Not that he'd ever been in a position to need treatment for any of those things. Yah right.

"These ones," Rikku said, uncapping one with a bluish liquid inside, "are regular potions, like, you got bumps and bruises and you want to be back to good again. These?" The next vial was a little smaller, somewhat squarer, and the liquid inside was dark green and somewhat thicker. "These are kinda those ones but hopped up a lot. Breaks and major damage, or lots and lots of little damage. And then you have these."

There was one bottle which was much smaller, and she removed the lid very, very carefully, trying not to slosh it around. The mixture inside was black and sludgy. "This is an x-potion," she said. "It smells awful and it tastes worse, these are so bad. If you're still breathing, it'll fix you. These are really, really rare, I've only got ten. For use only in extreme emergency."

He watched with interest as she uncapped them all.

"Those would be handy," he remarked. "But I think I'd rather avoid situations that warrent the use of that one." He pointed at the black stuff. Either for himself or a friend, but especially for a friend.

"They suck," she insisted, putting the cap back on carefully and giving it a test shake to make sure it was sealed tight. "Saving the world kinda means you end up needing stuff like this, unfortunately. But it's really nice having them when you need them."

"In that way, I would have to agree. The reason behind having them in the first place."

"Saving the world?" he asked curiously.

"My cousin Yunie," she said, as if that explained everything. "She had to go on this dangerous pilgrimage-thing to save the world and I was one of her Guardians. And then we found out the whole thing was a lie and had to take down the government and save the world in a totally new way. Which we did, so that's pretty cool."

"Oh. That kinda...stinks. I mean about the government and the lies an' all." Since that didn't sound familiar to him at all. "People you thought you could trust wind up bein' corrupt." He gave her a serious look. "Glad you were able to fix things."

She waved it off. "I never trusted 'em. They didn't like us. Bad blood and all that. It's okay, really. And it's better now. Some. Getting better, you know?"

"That's good about it getting better. We still have some issues too. Hopefully it'll be fixed someday."

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I think ... most governments are like that. There are good people and bad people, but ... too many people just willing to be told what to think, you know? And people take advantage of that. It's scary."

"Yep. Too many people out for themselves. Using everyone else as pawns. It's sickening."

Flight and Flying; Thursday 5/22

Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock

Re: Talk to Murdock