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 with his eyes closed, holding a giant cup of coffee like it was the only thing keeping him upright--not entirely inaccurate--and waited 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 tried to smile at them. It sort of worked. "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. You can try either one, or both if you're feeling especially motivated." Anakin closed his eyes and drank from his cup of coffee again. "Get to work."

Comments

Sign in

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

For maximum collapsingness!

Re: Sign in

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly signed in gleefully, grabbed a cookie and gave Anakin a big smile.

Re: Sign in

[threeweapons.livejournal.com]

Alanna signed in, with an odd feeling of dread in her stomach.

Re: Sign in

[fates_jaye]

Jaye signs in, and she doesn't exactly look apprehensive as much as she remembers her driving record already has a couple marks on it.

First run in the Sim

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

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

Ask Anakin 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

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly approached the simulator. "Anakin!" she called, maybe a little louder than necessary. "I think I'm going to need instruction."

Re: First run in the Sim

[threeweapons.livejournal.com]

"Anakin?" Alanna looked at the machine with something very much like horror. "Please?"

Re: First run in the Sim

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean kinda dithered near the simulator. Asking for help wasn't something he did easily, but he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of trying this alone either.

Re: First run in the Sim

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

"Duu-uu-uuu-uuuuuuuuude." Jude was clearly enthusiastic. He almost bounced into the pilot's seat, having paid close attention during the demonstration. "Sweet."

Re: First run in the Sim

[fates_jaye]

"Anakin!" Jaye calls. "Where should the key go? Also, where's my key?"

Re: First run in the Sim

[twohalvesofaphd.livejournal.com]

Zack stared helplessly at the controls. "Uh...Mr Skywalker, sir?"

Re: First run in the Sim

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

Peter hopped into the cockpit and grinned. "Okay, controls, pedals, there's probably an ignition button here somewhere. Hey, Anakin, what do I push to start it up?"

Re: First run in the Sim

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

Alec got into the cockpit with barely contained excitement. He may have been only mostly paying attention to what Anakin had been saying about the controls, but he was sure he'd figure it out pretty easy anyway.

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

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly was flying way too fast. She didn't last long before getting hit by an asteroid.

Re: Second Run in the Sim: Weapons-Free Course

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

Peter ran through the course, barely managing several crashes.

It took him eighteen minutes, though.

Second Run in the Sim: Weapons Course

[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: Weapons Course

[dude-its-jude.livejournal.com]

Explosions? Guns? Going really, really quickly? Jude was sooooo in.

His eyes narrowed as he settled in and reviewed the objective. "Groovy. Let's do this."

Re: Second Run in the Sim: Weapons Course

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

Peter flew through the course with his finger constantly on the trigger. He managed to destroy three of the turrets due to the odds of probability (if you fire that many times, you're going to hit something!), but that was it. His weapons overheated and then he was a sitting duck.

General chatting

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Talk with your fellow students.

Try to keep it down.

Anakin's in a Mood.

Talk to Anakin

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Because a hungover, snarly Jedi-type sounds like someone fun to poke today.

Re: Talk to Anakin

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

Cameron of course had impeccable timing as he showed up after the workshop was over. "Yo, Anakin!"

Re: Talk to Anakin

[threeweapons.livejournal.com]

Alanna came by an hour after class with a glass of something that was still steaming in her hands. "Anakin?"

Re: Talk to Anakin

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory came by shortly after Alanna, still wearing her sunglasses, though somewhere along the way she had managed to locate a shower and change her clothing.

She was holding a very greasy looking bag and two huge cups of coffee.

"Knock, knock," she called softly. "I know I'm like way late but I move surprisingly slowly while hungover. Go figure."

OOC

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin will have absolutely no problem handing out detentions for bothering him today.

Ping me down here if you're interested.