Flight and Flying [Friday morning]

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

The flight simulator looked radically different than it had last week.

For one thing, there was only one. It was also longer, sleeker, and painted maroon and white.

Anakin leaned up against it, waiting for the class to arrive. When they came in, he put the box of cookies from J,GoB on a table and turned to face them.

"This is the training sim for the Delta-7 Aethersprite Interceptor," Anakin said, patting it. "It's better known as the Jedi starfighter. Today we're going to use it to practice flying in a zero-g environment."

He pushed a button and the door to the simulator swung open. "Because it's a trainer, it's designed for two people--a pilot and an instructor--to fit. The real things only have room for one being on the inside and an astromech droid," he looked at the class, "um, think of it as a robotic co-pilot of sorts who can get to mechanical problems while you're flying. For example, fixing shields that have been damaged by laser fire." He pointed at the empty socket on the simulator. "Obviously, I don't have an astromech with me, but the sim's been programmed to make up for that. And for very elementary maneuvers like we'll be working with today, you don't really need to learn how to work with the astromech."

He pointed into the inside of the cockpit. "There are a lot more controls on the starfighter than the podracer, obviously. Here you need to regulate atmosphere, gauge fuel and weapons' levels, as well as communications, landing gear and assorted other bells and whistles."

He smiled at them. "But don't worry too much--you're not going to be tested on this." He sat in the cockpit and handwavily showed them how to make the ship speed up, slow down, turn and spin. "Obviously, this moves much faster than the podracer," he said, "and the sim has been programmed with the grav you'd have in your cockpit, so if you spin yourself too fast, you will make yourself sick. And then you will be cleaning out the sim."

Anakin clasped his hands together. "Okay. You'll each get a chance to try the sim out to learn how it works. You'll be in a program set way out in space so there's nothing for you to hit if you can't figure out how to steer right away and stuff. Once you feel more comfortable, there'll be a choice of two courses to run through--one that's strictly testing you on mobility, the other than also allows you to use the laser cannons."

He smiled. "Have fun. Oh, and Cedric and Draco? If you could stick around after class, I'd appreciate it."

[OOC: Wait for the OCD, plz... Come play!]

Comments

Sign in

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Comment under each other so the thread collapses, please.

Re: Sign in

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair signed in

First run in the Sim

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Learn the controls. Fly around in circles. Try not to get sick.

Give Anakin a shout if you want him to sit in the instructor's chair--if not, he'll just let you learn by trial and error.

Re: First run in the Sim

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

This is a little more Cedric's style, a little more freedom and no things to run into. He still feels boxed in and he does several rolls that make his stomach turn but manages to learn the controls rather quickly and ends up doing all right.

Re: First run in the Sim

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair bounces into the sim and proceeds to maneuver the controls with all the grace of a hippo doing needlepoint. "Whoa, trippy."

Re: First run in the Sim

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter was fairly tentative at first, but he soon mastered the basic controls. The fact that he had three-dimensions to fly in seemed to escape his notice until he accidentally put himself into a spin.

Ooops.

Luckily, he has a strong stomach and was able to pull himself out of it after just a bit of flailing.

Re: First run in the Sim

[can_be_more]

This helps Aeryn's day a little. She's not used to the ship, exactly, but she knows the basic style, so that's easy enough for her.

Re: First run in the Sim

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

Cameron climbed into the sim and took a moment to familiarise himself with the controls. It's definitely more complicated than the podracer, but at least there's no wonky left control. Once he got more confident with it, he sped up the fighter and tried some more fancy moves.

He however hadn't realised that Barry had crawled into the cockpit with him so when he ended the simulation, Barry waggled out, holding his hands over his mouth and ran off looking decidedly green.

Re: First run in the Sim

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

There was something oddly familiar about these controls, and Rory surprisingly enough didn't have any trouble with them.

Though she did spend her entire first try attempting to figure out where the déjà vu was coming from.

Re: First run in the Sim

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

It took Sam a few minutes to get acclimated--she wasn't used to the aircraft and she wasn't used to flying without atmosphere.

Consequently, she ended up going much faster than she meant to at the beginning, but she quickly gained control and indulged in some dogfighting maneuvers she hadn't done in a while. "This is so slick."

Re: First run in the Sim

[pure-blooddraco.livejournal.com]

Draco was a little bit better with this sim than the one they had last week. He does a few sharp turns but he stays away from trying anything fancy.

Second run in the Sim: Weapons-free course

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

You're flying through a asteroid field. Duck, dodge, and spin to avoid being squished like a bug.

An average pilot should take about 10 minutes to fly through. Fastest time gets a cookie.

Yes, Anakin has cookies.

Re: Second run in the Sim: Weapons-free course

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

This is a little more difficult to say the least. With things to run into that are not stationary, Cedric takes several hits to his ship and gets jolted around a lot.

After calming himself down and getting control, he manages to finish the course with damage to his ship but not in a squished state. It takes him about twelve minutes.

Re: Second run in the Sim: Weapons-free course

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair chooses to go through the weapons-free course and spins most of his time spinning and making his ship bounce. He does manage not to get hit and gets through the course in just over 10 minutes.

Re: Second run in the Sim: Weapons-free course

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

And as Rory maneuvered carefully through the asteroids, she figured out how she knew this sim, and grinned.

But she wasn't so happy that she sped up. Because she's Rory. So it took her just under fifteen minutes.

Re: Second run in the Sim: Weapons-free course

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter figured he'd stay away from the weapons for the time being and chose the asteroid simulation. He took several hits to his ship as he kept forgetting that asteroids could hit him from below, but he managed to avoid being squished and even sped up a bit towards the end of the run. End time? 14 minutes.

Re: Second run in the Sim: Weapons-free course

[pure-blooddraco.livejournal.com]

This was a little bit harder. Draco did his best to dodge the asteroids but he ended up getting hit a few times. He managed to get through the course without being squashed. It takes him twelve minutes.

Second run in the Sim: Using weapons

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

You're flying through the trench run on the Death Star zero-g canyons full of sharp turns. There are five laser turrets shooting at you that you must destroy, as well as a thermal exhaust port two-meter wide target at the end of the run that needs to be taken out.

An average pilot can go through the run in about 12 minutes. Fastest time gets a cookie.

Yes, Anakin still has cookies.

Re: Second run in the Sim: Using weapons

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

Cedric's not sure what's worst. Things to run into or things shooting at you. A lucky short destroys the first turrent and Cedric grins in delight.

Of course, that's enough to distract him and he takes a hit on the front of his ship. He slows the ship and is able to take that turret out after taking another strike.

The last three turrets are a bit easier as he's had time to get used to the controls. He takes several strikes and even thinks he's going down at one point before fighting the controls and righting the ship.

He finishes the course in about thirteen minutes.

Re: Second run in the Sim: Using weapons

[can_be_more]

This is much more interesting, and in about twelve minutes Aeryn's able to fly the course, even if her shots aren't one hundred percent exact. It has been a few months since she's flown in combat. She might be a tiny bit rusty.

Re: Second run in the Sim: Weapons-free course

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

Barry stayed far away from the flight simulator when Cameron headed in for his second run. It was probably a good thing considering this ride was a lot rougher.

Cameron managed to take out all the towers, but he misses the target at the end of the run. He finishes in 12 minutes and 36 seconds.

Re: Second run in the Sim: Using weapons

[pure-blooddraco.livejournal.com]

Draco wanted a goddamn cookie. He freaks out the first minute or two and gets shot a few times. He got three of the turrets on the first try. He ended up doing pretty well for himself. He finishes in about twelve minutes.

General chatting

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

While waiting for your turn in the sim, watching other students, stealing cookies if you're feeling especially lucky, whatever.

Re: General chatting

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

Cameron's patiently waiting for his turn. His gnome, Barry, is wearing sunglasses because he's a little hung over.

Talking to Anakin

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Because he looks like he's in such a good mood today.

Re: Talking to Anakin

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair walked up to Anakin and smiled brightly. "Hi! I sorta missed last week. Totally my fault man, and I'm sorry. Is there anything you wanted me to make up or something before I started in with this weeks stuff?"

OOC

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

...and now I am done.