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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Anakin nodded. "The one on the right does. The left one slows you down. Don't hit it too hard or you'll spin out in zero g."

Peter made note of that. That could be fun in a simulator. "Okay, I think I'm ready to go."

After all, he knew how to go faster and how to steer... he thought, he did, at least. He'd played enough video games, at least. Anyway, it was just a simulator...

"There's nothing to hit out there," Anakin commented, taking a sip from his coffee. "So it's okay to go a little nuts."

Anakin wasn't the one strapped into a cockpit and spinning this time, so he was probably not the best person to ask for advice.

"Cool," Peter said with a big grin.

He pressed down on the right pedal and took off quickly. He was pretty sure he'd eventually have to figure out how to do a more gradual takeoff, but that wasn't important right now. It's not like he lost any landing gear or anything. As far as he could tell, at least.

After adjusting to the speed, Peter pulled left on the controls, making a sharper turn than he was expecting. "This isn't like it is in video games. How dare they make space flight in video games that isn't authentic? I should suuuuuue-- Whoah!"

And that's when Peter accidentally tried the spinning out trick because he pushed on the wrong pedal. Desperate for something to pull him out of the spin because it was not really as fun as he had expected, he pulled up on the controls. Now he was spinning in a loop. That was a huge improvement.

Anakin gave rapidfire instructions on how to correct the situation.

Possibly a little too quickly.

Peter didn't follow any of that, so he pushed the controls forward and to the right in hopes that it might help counteract his spinning.

Anakin winced. "Okay, better," he said, slightly truthfully. "Now ease up on the right rudder pedal and pull back slowly on the throttle."

Peter did as instructed and the simulator finally stopped spinning and twisting. "That was fun. Can I go again?" Peter asked slightly woozy.

Anakin smiled. "Sure. Take it a little easier this time, okay?"

"Oh, no, I was being facetious," Peter said, GENTLY turning the starfighter around to return. "I'll be happy to get out of here for a few minutes."

Anakin paused. "I totally knew that."

No he didn't.

Peter landed with a simulated THUD (no, it wasn't the smoothest simulated landing ever), and climbed out of the simulator. He stumbled a tiny bit, but said, "I'm okay. I just need to sit on something that doesn't move for a minute."

"Take your time," Anakin said, looking a little concerned. "The floor's not going anywhere."

"Are you sure about that?" Peter asked, taking a seat.

"Note to self, don't do that again. It's mildly nauseating."

"Need a drink of water?" Anakin asked. "Or a cookie?"

"Nah, I've had worse," Peter said. "I just need a little time to appreciate stationary objects, then I'll be good for my real run."

"That's the spirit," Anakin said, smiling.

Flight and Flying [Friday morning]

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