fandomhigh | Flight and Flying (Friday, May 26, morning)

Anakin stood in front of the Flight Club shed with his hands hidden in the folds of his robe, looking every inch the confident Jedi.

He gave a short nod to the class as they assembled in front of him. "Welcome," he said. "My name is Anakin Skywalker. You can call me Anakin or Master Skywalker--I don't really care." Secretly he was hoping someone would call him Master Skywalker, but he wasn't going to mention that. He looked at the students and continued. "Today, we're going to fly podracers." He cleared his throat and opened the door. "Well, in a simulator, anyway." He gave a small smile to Rory and Sam. "The last one I built was made for, um, much smaller people."

Inside the shed were two 6 foot-long simulators sitting side by side. Anakin walked over to one with evident pride. "Okay," he said, pointing at the controls, "everything you need to fly a podracer is located on its 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 things are attached to giant engines--like 6 or 7 meter long engines--but these aren't real, and the simulator won't really give you the loudness that's normally associated with the podracer. But the simulator has been programmed to go very, very quickly." He pointed to the left-hand simulator. "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. "Okay. Today you can take a turn learning how the simulators work, then I've put you into pairs to fly against each other." He gave them a slightly predatory smile. "And if you'd like, after that you can fly against me. Fair warning, 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."

[OOC: ~~Plz to wait for the amazing OCD...~~ Done! Fly away!]

Oh, and in terms of simulator, mod yourself through whatever twists and turns you think you'd make, especially in the comment where you're by yourself. The modifications that Anakin has made cause the simulator on the left (the one that looks like his podracer) to be much more likely to spin into walls and down canyons and stuff if you don't have super-reflexes--but it's a sim, so you'd only get a "game over" type deal--no real damage.

ETA: He finally noticed that the sim was hinky. Both now work like they should, so you're on equal footing when you face off against each other.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Let's go, Malfoy."

Cedric grips the controls tightly and stares ahead. As soon as the signal's given, Cedric's sends the podracer shooting off the start line.

Draco gripped onto the handlebars and the podracer sped off past the start line. The podracer wobbled a bit before Draco got control.

Cedric's not having much of an easier time as the controls are still odd and jerky and he's concentrating to remain in control. Concentrating too hard again, he veers almost off the course.

Draco took this chance to gain some speed on the podracer. Unfortunately, this gave him less control and he side swiped the side of a boulder on the course.

Cedric, still trying to regain control of his podracer, finally gets back on course and accelerates...too much. He doesn't see the boulder that nicks the front of his racer and proceeds to slow him down.

Draco noticed a canyon up ahead that looked like it could only fit one racer in at a time. He tries to speed up enough so he'd make it to the canyon before Cedric without going out of control.

Cedric glances ahead, sees what Draco's heading for and accelerates as much as the racer can go. He leans down, trying anything that would give him that extra burst of speed.

Draco sped ahead and made it to the canyon first. He grinned at the fact that he was actually beating Cedric Diggory at something. He turned to look at Cedric and in doing so he ended up slamming into the canyon wall. He slowed his speed considerably.

Cedric speeds around Draco, careful to avoid canyon walls and looks over his shoulder to grin smugly at Draco.

Of course, that's a mistake and it ends up in Cedric nailing a rock and turning completely around.

Draco was beginning to learn one of the rules of podracing: Don't turn around to give your opponent smug looks. He tried to keep his eyes ahead and not be smug as he drove ahead of Cedric. He tried not to look at the scary natives shooting guns at them.

Cedric manages to right his podracer but Draco's opened a lead and his racer's puttering along.

"C'mon, you piece of junk!" He kicks at the racer and ducks to narrowly avoid a shot from a native.

Draco could see the finish line coming up. He did not see one of the fake natives hit his left engine. He slowed down considarbly.

"Come on!" he yelled, pushing forward hoping that it'll help the podracer move ahead. Worked with broomsticks.

Cedric manages to catch up to Draco when his podracer just...dies. Doesn't go anywhere else.

And he can walk to the finish line at this distance.

"This thing bloody stinks!"

Draco managed to get his podracer across the finish line. Draco might have let loose a girly squeal when he got out of the podracer. He waited at the finish line for Cedric, trying to hold back a grin.

"Next time, Diggory. Next time!" he said.

"These things are rubbish compared to brooms," Cedric grumbles and walks across the finish line.

Draco nods in agreement. "They're too big." he says "You did a good job though."

"Of course it just proves I'm a better flyer than you." he says, grinning.

"Today. Today you were better," Cedric corrects. "Next time, you won't be."

Flight and Flying (Friday, May 26, morning)

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy

Re: Paired up race: Cedric Diggory and Draco Malfoy