Cadet Flight Training (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 19 Jun 2014 @ 9:39pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Cadet Sophomore Grade Alenis Taban

2,264 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Holodeck 1, Deck 5
Timeline: MD 4 - 1440 hours

[CONTINUED]

Lamar looked down at his console and double-checked their current coordinates. "Good," he said quietly, then input a new flight path into the navigational computer. "Now let's change course, heading three-zero-zero, full impulse. I've inputted a new course with several waypoints which your nav computer will show on the HUD. Try to take us through each circular marker with less than a one-degree course deviation."

The Cadet nodded and, pushing the shuttle into a gentle slope to port headed for the first marker. He started the run at full thrusters, before increasing to 1/4 impulse. With only a few hundred metres until the marker he adjusted his course so it looked like he was going to miss the centre of the marker by a good few degrees. Sensing that the Chief might be raising an eyebrow or something similar only made him smile as he decelerated back to 2/3 thrusters, and began a slow roll to starboard - beginning the turn to take the shuttle towards the next marker before it had passed the current one. At the very moment that the marker disappeared from the HUD with a satisfying ping on the instruments the shuttle had re-adjusted in order to pass directly through the centre, and Taban had just begun the re-acceleration to take them towards the next marker.

"Try to keep your course stable on your final run through the marker," Lamar commented after watching Alenis turn away from the marker then perform a last-minute correction in what would have otherwise been a perfect fly-through. Well, perfect according to Lamar. "Keep those fingers steady," he advised.

The Cadet nodded. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to not having to deal with the lumbering back-end of a freighter." He made sure to take the next two markers exactly as requested, aiming directly at the centre before making the turns in good time afterwards. The next two markers were something of a challenge, however, with the second being sharply to port and above the first.

As he considered the best way to tackle the challenge, he kept the velocity low to give him a little extra thinking time. Finally, he came up with a plan, though one which he was sure the Chief wouldn't like. Increasing speed until he was very nearly at the marker, at which he had aimed roughly 25 degrees off-centre to the port, he suddenly decelerated and fired the shuttle's port thrusters: the aft ones at full thrust and the forward ones at a quarter. The shuttle began to turn sideways, pushing its momentum into a rotation as it coasted through the marker, almost having passed through 70 degrees by the time it passed through the marker, with an 0.91 degree variation.

Looking across to the Chief, Taban smiled "I'd not fancy doing that in a freighter..." he quipped as he slowed the lateral momentum and began a curving run to the next marker, which was a far smoother ride than the sharp turn which would have otherwise been required - and which would have probably cost both men their respective lunches.

"Nice sideslip," Lamar complimented, completely surprised that such an advanced maneuver was within the repertoire of the young cadet. It had taken the warrant officer almost two months of holodeck simulation time to figure out the nuances of the Type-9, but Alenis seemed to be a natural of sorts.

"No, I don't think you'd have much luck trying to slip a freighter like that -- at least not a clunky one -- but all of Galileo's support craft can handle some pretty intricate maneuvers. And wait till you get to practice on the Waverider...that baby can get up to mach 12 in a planet's upper atmosphere," he continued while waiting for Alenis to finish running the course.

With the hard work for the marker completed, all that was left was to keep the shuttle steady through it, which the cadet managed. Looking ahead he saw there were only two markers remaining. With plenty of time to set up the run, Taban could take a moment to reply to the Chief. "Sideslip, is that what it's called now?" He asked, genuinely interested, "I, err..., I always just knew it was the only way to get a lard-ass like the 'Karra turned quickly. The boss' daughter taught me it when we had to make a quick getaway from a Miradorn trading post."

His pause to chat meant that he took his eye off the cockpit for a moment. Before he'd even finished talking he'd already drifted more than twenty degrees off-course. Realising his mistake, forgetting he was in a shuttle and not a freighter, he tried to bring the shuttle back around, but was already out of kilter for the next turn. He slowed the ship right down and brought it back around to the optimal line to take the marker and the final one beyond. After a further thirty seconds he was back on track, but he was sure the Chief would point out how lax the slip had been.

Lamar shook his head after watching Alenis loose his focus and veer off course. A youthful mistake, but one which was nonetheless unforgiving in the depths of space. "Stay focused, kid," he lightly scolded. "I don't want to have to rerun this scenario any more than you do, trust me. Let's forget the fancy stuff for now and instead focus on the basics of translation and rotation. Take it slow and easy, one axis at a time."

Cursing his error, he sighed. "Sorry Chief." He replied, keeping all of his attention on the final marker. Bringing the ship to a crawl on a parallel heading to the holographic representation of the Galileo he set the automation so that he could properly turn around to see what the experienced man's verdict had been.

"Alright...well at least we got through that run with no major mistakes," Lamar smirked to Alenis with a deep chuckle as they moved through the final checkpoint and completed the course. "Not too bad for your first time piloting a Type-9, I gotta admit. No structural failures or collisions. But I guess there's not much to run into out here."

Lamar quickly debated whether or not to end the session right there or try for one final lesson for the day. "How are you feeling? A little more comfortable behind the wheel? Want to call it quits for the day or try one last thing?" he asked.

The Cadet smiled, slightly nervously. "Thanks Chief." he replied before pausing to think for a moment "I'm up for more - unless you need to get back, Chief." It stuck him that although only a joke, it was quite possible the Chief was speaking from experience about the collisions and structural failures. He never understood how people could be so bad at such things, though. Then again... he'd always felt an intuitive understanding of technology. In the words of Berant he'd 'taken to life aboard ship like a Risian to a brothel'. Then again, the crew of the Galileo were mostly scientists: their specialisms might well be expected to be somewhat different.

"Well, I do have to get back and we're about at the end of your training session for the day," Lamar replied after taking a quick glance at the nearby chronometer. "How about we do a quick landing sequence so I can evaluate your maneuvering and coordination under a bit of pressure?" he proposed. "Galileo's not too far away so how about I give you some additional nav markers to bring you into the aft bay?"

"Aye, Chief." the Cadet replied and immediately turned back and peeled the shuttle away, anticipating the nav markers before they ever appeared. Keeping to minimum speed as the shuttle passed the holographic Galileo's starboard nacelle, swinging out a little wider and lower in order to give the maximum amount of room to make the turn. The idea of another 'sideslip', as the Chief had put it, passed through his mind, but he dismissed it as unnecessary - thinking the Chief would have only thought of it as showboating.

As he brought the shuttle around he lined it up with the shuttlebay and matched speed with the Galileo. Activating the comm he asked for landing clearance, which was swiftly received from the automated system. Increasing speed enough to begin closing the distance with the ship.

Approaching the bay at a relative snail's pace: very conscious that the shuttle wouldn't keep inertia as well as the 'Karra, Taban edged it closer and closer. He could see the bay clearly and he was headed directly for it. "Will there be tractoring in this little simulation, Chief?" he asked as he approached - just to be sure "Or are we doing it the old-fashioned way?"

"Manual for training purposes," the support craft chief replied with a sideways glance at the cadet. "In practice most of the landings are automated with an uplink between the shuttle's computer system and the mothership, but for now...I'd like to know you can do it manually in case of a computer failure."

"Aye, Chief." He replied with a nod. He slowed his approach again as the bow of the shuttle reached the bay's forcefield. At almost slow-motion the shuttle began easing itself down to the deck. Taban's arms were becoming extremely stiff as he tried desperately to keep the shuttle steady. A slight wobble was met with a sharp intake of breath, until finally the shuttle was entirely within the bay and the forward momentum was killed.

With a giant release of breath, the Bajoran lowered the shuttle to the deck. It certainly wasn't the smoothest landing ever, but Taban was sure the Chief would have seen worse. He collapsed back in his seat and let his arms fall to his sides once it was complete, with another huge sigh of relief.

Craning his head to look out of both sides of the cockpit as Alenis set the shuttle down, Lamar gave a grunt of approval when the shuttle lightly jolted at the soft impact from touchdown. "Not bad. The approach could use a little work but that was pretty good for your first time." Again, there had been no collisions or crashes, which in Lamar's book was good enough for the cadet's first day. Better than good, actually.

Queuing up a post-flight checklist on his PADD, he passed the slim silver device over to Taban for him to look over. "Let's finish up your post-flight, power this baby down, and call it a day."

Taban immediately started running through the checklist, having nodded to the Chief in gratitude. He powered non-essential systems down first, and made the weapons systems safe before also putting them offline. Reaching some of the more important systems his brow furrowed. "Chief, I'm getting some abnormal thermal readings from the impulse manifold. Would you mind taking a look? Could it be a partial clog, do you think? Seems strange for one to have built up so quickly, but same goes for a faulty sensor, 'cos they checked out in preflight too."

Lamar's dark fingers began to manipulate the co-pilot console and he brought up the shuttle's diagnostic system for him to look over. Verifying the reading which Alenis had mentioned, he gave a light shake of his head. "It's not a clog, it's the simulator properly modeling the hull friction that was caused by some of your earlier maneuvers," he explained. "The manifolds heat up according to the amount of stress you put on them."

"Ah." Sighed the Cadet. This shuttle really wasn't a freighter. He proceeded to run through the rest of the list and powering systems down once they were cleared. A few minor discrepancies popped up, but instead of making himself look silly again, he made a note of them in the ship log. He had heard that pilots often delegated such tasks to the deck crew: which often included Operations personnel, so he tried to ignore his technical training and concentrate on the job the Chief had asked him to do.

"Thank you, Chief. " he finally said as he powered the last systems down.

"All in a day's work," the chief warrant officer replied after Alenis finished the Type-9's post flight checklist. Standing from his seat and stretching his arms, he waited for Taban to also stand before ending the simulation.

"Computer, end program," Lamar said. A few short milliseconds passed before the interior of the shuttlecraft fizzled away, now replaced by the distinctive orange and black checkered hologrid. "Like I said earlier...not bad for your first time around. How about some lunch? I'm starving."

The Cadet almost bowed in appreciation as he thanked the Chief eagerly. "Wow... that means a lot, Chief, thanks. I would love to, but I have to get to OPS and finish up a diagnostic sweep." He had to almost bite his tongue to stop himself accepting and overriding his assignment in order to spend time with the incredibly experienced pilot. If he'd been able to he would have pushed the sweep back, but he needed to finish on time in order to study for his Damage Control and Emergency Procedures evaluation - he'd even packed his bag up and put it next to the door of his quarters ready for a quick getaway once he got off duty.

[OFF]

--

MWO Lamar Darius
Chief Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Saalm]

Cadet (SO) Alenis Taban
Operations Officer (provisional)
USS Galileo

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