Ready for Boarding (closed to Angel)

[wanttobeaplane]

It is 9 am precisely when Martin emerges from the back of Ten Forward where he has already loaded his simulation into one of the holosuites and a Cessna Citation Mustang is awaiting a pilot and his sole passenger at London City Airport

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[zombie_on_call]

I'd been up early and thanks to a heart attack patient last night tanked up on brains. I was wearing jeans, my boots, a tank tee and a brand-new fur-lined 'biker' jacket. It wasn't real leather and it wasn't real fur, but it was real warm.

This winter crap could go back to Alaska, as far as I was concerned. Or I could go back to Nice, Louisiana. Whichever was easiest.

I was out in the bar dallying over a coke when Martin came out. I smiled. "Oooh! Look at you! I'm so excited... is everything ready?"

[zombie_on_call]

It took me a moment to move inward towards the cabin because I was so stunned, all over again, at the interior. "Holy shit," I whispered. I had no idea why I whispered, really.

Like I was dream-walking, I stepped to the right and touched the seats there. Yeah. They felt real as hell (but that made sense, I mean - Star Trek always said it felt real).

"And you get to fly this every day?"

[wanttobeaplane]

Martin climbs on board behind her and busies himself with closing the door while Angel inspects the cabin.

"No, of course not every day. Pilots have very strict regulations on working hours and rest periods. And, well, the plane I usually fly isn't a business-jet like this one. It's ... a bit like a smaller version of the British Airways you saw earlier." And a lot older than this sleek jet and with parts more or less frequently failing.

[zombie_on_call]

"So this is kind of a treat for you too? Fair enough," I grinned.

I went to each of the seats and peered out their windows, trying to figure out which would have the best view.

[wanttobeaplane]

It's lucky for Martin that Angel is looking out of the windows so she doesn't see him blush.

"Ahm, yes. No. I mean, I like to practice on different planes. If I want to move on to a different company at some point, I'll have to be familiar with other machines. So - this is good practice!" And a treat, yes.

[zombie_on_call]

"That's cool," I nodded. "I guess I haven't had a job where I've wanted to learn more than the bare minimum to do it before." Though working at the Coroner's Office back home, and the morgue here was kind of interesting...

"Do you want to eventually fly one of those big things?"

[wanttobeaplane]

"I'd love to, yes. Though... if anyone were to offer me a position as captain of his business-jet, I might be tempted, too."

He turns left into the cockpit and slides into the pilot's chair, stores away his hat and instead picks up a clipboard with some sheets of paper on it.

[zombie_on_call]

I watched over his shoulder for a minute. The cockpit looked cool enough to pilot a starship...

He looked kind of busy, checking this and that, so I sat down quietly in one of those luxury seats and kind of daydreamed.

Maybe, if I won the lottery, I'd get dad just a seat out of one of these planes. Nah. It'd end up stained in beer and get cigarette burns in a couple of hours. Maybe a used truck.

[wanttobeaplane]

Once Martin has finished his check-list, he turns around to speak to Angel.

"You should fasten your seatbelt now. We're ready to go, I just need clearance from the tower."

Then he gets on the radio and contacts the tower, requesting permission to start the engines, which is granted immediately. So Martin starts up first the right engine, then the left. Once they've warmed up, he requests permission to roll to the run-up.

[zombie_on_call]

I sat in a forward-facing chair and shamelessly leaned around the rear-ward one to watch what I could of the pre-flight.

I kept mum, 'cause I heard that takeoff and landing were the most stressful parts of the flight for the pilot, and even though this wasn't really real, I didn't want to find out what happens in a plane crash, thank you very much.

[wanttobeaplane]

Martin releases the breaks and the jet slowly starts to move. He manoeuvres them across the tarmac onto the taxiway and lines up behind an - in comparison big - A319. Then the A319 moves to the run-up and immediately powers up, speeding past them in the opposite direction.

Martin lets the jet roll forward and about a minute after the A319 took off, the voice of the tower can be heard giving them clearance for take-off, followed by instructions to next contact ATC on some other channel.

Martin confirms and powers up the engines of the small jet so it quickly gains speed and then they're airborne above London.

In between talks with ATC and getting his post take-off check-list out, he points out the Thames with the London Eye, Houses of Parliament and the Tower Bridge and even the Olympiapark.

[zombie_on_call]

The movies all showed the planes taking off at an angle, but that was nothing compared to the actual feeling of being in a plane as it feels like the whole world tilts backwards, I found. Pressed into the seat like a giant pushing you was also something the actors never seemed to bring across.

I may have let out a whoop of excitement as the wheels left the ground. I don't remember.

The only reason the windows didn't get all kinds of nose-prints as he pointed out the sights was because (thankfully) my skin isn't that oily.

[wanttobeaplane]

"We've reached our flight height of 35,000 feet," Martin reports once the plane has levelled out. "The English Channel will be coming into view soon."

He listens to the radio for a moment, but the call is not for him.

"Uhm, if there's anything you want to know, you can ask." This is quite nice, being able to talk to your passenger without the need for a p.a.

[zombie_on_call]

When we got over the water, the view was much less exciting.

"Can I come up and watch you fly?" I asked.

[wanttobeaplane]

"I suppose so, yes. The co-pilot's seat can legally double as a passenger seat on this model," Martin confirms.

[zombie_on_call]

"Thanks!" I unbuckled and went up to the cockpit and just looked at it. In a way it was kind of disappointing - the miles of knobs and indicators had been replaced with computer screens.

On the other hand, it was pretty cool - the miles of knobs and indicators had been replaced with computer screens.

I gingerly squirmed into the empty seat and buckled in, looking at everything and reading (as slowly as that still took) the names of the indicators and everything.