fandomhigh | Flight and Flying [Friday morning]

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."

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"I'm pretty sure that the times I'm gonna wanna spin are going to be never," Dean said, concentrating hard on flying straight and maybe doing some very cautious turns.

"So no loops then, either?" Anakin asked.

"Only if you can convince me this is a rollercoaster," Dean said dryly.

But he was loosening up a little as he continued to fly without anything bad happening.

"Really?" Anakin said, eyes lighting up. "Because this is so much better."

Dean glanced over his shoulder at Anakin dubiously. "It is?"

Anakin nodded. "You're not limited to a track, for one." He reached for the controls. "Want me to show you? I promise not to do anything too insane."

Dean hesitated, but his curiosity and sense of adventure overrode his reluctance. "Okay. Go for it."

Anakin grinned. "Remember. There's nothing out here for me to hit, even if I was so inclined. Which I'm not."

His hands moved lazily over the throttle as his feet worked the rudder. The ship turned smoothly. "It's just a matter of feeling comfortable," Anakin said, increasing the speed, "trusting yourself, and trusting the ship." He took the ship through a series of tight but controlled spins, then looped up and over and looked over at Dean. "Nothing to worry about."

Dean gripped the seat with a white knuckled grip but keeping the idea of a roller coaster firmly in his head, he was able to actually feel the exhileration instead of stark terror.

He shot Anakin a grin that was only a little shakey. "Not bad."

"I'll convert you yet," Anakin vowed. He waved his hands towards the controls. "Your turn."

Dean took them gingerly. "I'm not sure I can spin on purpose," he admitted.

"That's all right," Anakin said. "I'm not sending you out against Trade Federation droid ships or anything."

He pressed a button and a moon appeared a few thousand kilometers away from them in the star field. "Try to get us there," he said, pointing.

"Right," Dean muttered, then, biting his lip in concentration, carefully steered them in the direction of the moon.

"Good," Anakin said, smiling and biting back any comments about how long it was taking them to get there.

Obi-Wan would be very proud of him.

Feeling extra daring as things were going so good, Dean asked, "Where's the gas in this thing?"

Anakin grinned and pointed. "There."

Dean returned the grin and added more speed.

Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

"Excellent," Anakin said, smiling.

"Well it's not an Impala, but I guess it's not completely bad," Dean admitted, speeding them up evern more.

"What's an Impala?"

"Dude, you're kidding me. You don't know..." Dean shook his head. "It's only one of the best cars ever made. Especially the '67. It's what my Dad drives."

"Sorry," Anakin said, blushing. "I haven't caught up on land-based transportation. I'm mostly a flying kind of guy. Sounds great, though."

"It is. I'd offer to show you if there were, y'know, actual cars on the island."

"Rory drives a Prius," Anakin offered. "Is it like that?"

Dean blinked, then sputtered for a moment. "Let me see if I can put this in terms you understand. This ship? An Impala. Paper airplane? Prius."

Re: First run in the Sim

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