Flight and Flying (Friday, July 14, morning)
Anakin stood in front of the Flight Club shed with his hands hidden in the folds of his robe, looking every inch the confident Jedi. He didn't realize that he was imitating Obi-Wan's way of standing.
He gave a short nod to the class as they assembled in front of him. "Welcome," he said. "My name is Anakin Skywalker, but most of you know that. You can call me Anakin or Master Skywalker--I don't really care." Secretly he was hoping someone would call him Master Skywalker, but he wasn't going to mention that. He looked at the students and continued. "Today, we're going to fly podracers." He cleared his throat and opened the door. "Well, in a simulator, anyway." He gave Peter a small smile. "The last one I built was made for, um, much smaller people."
Inside the shed were two 6 foot-long simulators sitting side by side. Anakin walked over to one with evident pride. "Okay," he said, pointing at the controls, "everything you need to fly a podracer is located on its handlebars. You push them forward to go faster, pull back to slow down, and pull one or the other towards you to turn." He pointed at the buttons in the center of the console. "That controls the engines," he said. "You push the big button to light them up, and on these two models, you can push it again for an extra burst of speed." He looked at the class. "Which burns your fuel very, very quickly, so save that until you need it."
He raised an eyebrow. "Normally, these things are attached to giant engines--like 6 or 7 meter long engines--but these aren't real, and the simulator won't really give you the noise that's normally associated with the podracer. But the simulator has been programmed to go very, very quickly." He pointed to the simulator on the left-hand side. "This one, properly piloted, can get up to 950 kilometers an hour. The other can get up to 900. To fly a podracer at those kinds of speed requires iron nerves and split-second reflexes."
He clasped his hands in front of him. "Okay. Today you can take a turn learning how the simulators work, then pair up to fly against each other." He gave them a slightly predatory smile. "Since there are nine of you, the person without a partner will get to fly against me. I built the real version of this podracer," he patted the left-hand simulator, "and used it to win a race when I was nine years old. And I won't give you a head start."
He gave a short nod to the class as they assembled in front of him. "Welcome," he said. "My name is Anakin Skywalker, but most of you know that. You can call me Anakin or Master Skywalker--I don't really care." Secretly he was hoping someone would call him Master Skywalker, but he wasn't going to mention that. He looked at the students and continued. "Today, we're going to fly podracers." He cleared his throat and opened the door. "Well, in a simulator, anyway." He gave Peter a small smile. "The last one I built was made for, um, much smaller people."
Inside the shed were two 6 foot-long simulators sitting side by side. Anakin walked over to one with evident pride. "Okay," he said, pointing at the controls, "everything you need to fly a podracer is located on its handlebars. You push them forward to go faster, pull back to slow down, and pull one or the other towards you to turn." He pointed at the buttons in the center of the console. "That controls the engines," he said. "You push the big button to light them up, and on these two models, you can push it again for an extra burst of speed." He looked at the class. "Which burns your fuel very, very quickly, so save that until you need it."
He raised an eyebrow. "Normally, these things are attached to giant engines--like 6 or 7 meter long engines--but these aren't real, and the simulator won't really give you the noise that's normally associated with the podracer. But the simulator has been programmed to go very, very quickly." He pointed to the simulator on the left-hand side. "This one, properly piloted, can get up to 950 kilometers an hour. The other can get up to 900. To fly a podracer at those kinds of speed requires iron nerves and split-second reflexes."
He clasped his hands in front of him. "Okay. Today you can take a turn learning how the simulators work, then pair up to fly against each other." He gave them a slightly predatory smile. "Since there are nine of you, the person without a partner will get to fly against me. I built the real version of this podracer," he patted the left-hand simulator, "and used it to win a race when I was nine years old. And I won't give you a head start."