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."
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."