Posted by Lieutenant Commander Jax storm (Chief Helmsman) in Side Sim: Pilot Training

Posted by Lieutenant Izak Waryn (Chief Engineer) in Side Sim: Pilot Training

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Jax storm (Chief Helmsman) in Side Sim: Pilot Training
Posted by… suppressed (11) by the Post Ghost! 👻
“Shuttle Bay 2.” The Chief Engineer said as he entered the turbolift. It was a bit earlier than he would have liked and he wasnt fully awake yet, but this was the only time that worked for both his and the Chief Helmsman’s schedules.

Izak stepped out on the port side corridor of Deck 29 and walked the short distance to the shuttle bay. There was a handful of Crewman present, and from the look of things they were prepping a Workbee for use. Right… hull and emitter inspections were scheduled for this shift. He waved to the Crewmen, some of whom were from his department, and approached one of the two shuttles.

The Armadillo-Class medium shuttle had been the work horse of the fleet for about a quarter century. While it didn’t excel in any one area, it was highly versatile craft that filled a number of roles. It was maneuverable and easy to handle, despite its relative bulk, which made it ideal for flight training.

Lt Waryn had piloted these shuttles many times during his career, primarily at the academy but also onboard the Ark Angel. His duties didn’t leave him much time for piloting however. At least not as much as he would have liked. And today… if all goes well, I’ll earn my Level 3 pilot’s certificate in an Armadillo as well.

OOC: This started as a sim for Izak to attempt his Level 3 pilot certification… but if others are interested in pilot training I’m sure we can fit them in.

Lt Izak Waryn - Chief Engineer - U.S.S. Ark Angel

Storm was inside the shuttle doing a system check to make sure she was ready he had already inspected the outside and found it to his standards without a scratch. as he exited the shuttle he saw the chief engineer “morning Lieutenant” he said “shes almost ready to go but I keep having issues with one of the thruster systems.”

LT commander Jax Storm
Chief Helmsman/ops
U.S.S Ark Angel

“Morning Commander.” Izak replied easily… but then made a face when the Chief Helmsman mentioned an issue with the shuttle. “The thrusters, huh? Let me run a quick level 4 diagnostic.”

Lt Waryn accessed one of the auxiliary stations and typed in the necessary sequence to start the scan. It was automated as well… but took the system offline temporarily and provided more detail than the level 5 version.

“Thanks again for doing this.” Izak said over his shoulder. “Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of pilots onboard with advanced certifications. And the few of you that are onboard all seem to have pretty full scheules.”

A short time later the console chirped. The diagnostic didn’t take that long since Izak had isolated it to the thruster in question. “Huh… looks like it identified a fault with the flow regulator, but the system believes it corrected the issue.” He glanced over toward Jax. “Want to run that portion of the preflight again?”

The automated tools were great, but the best diagnostics relied on a lot of manual intervention and assessment.

Lt Izak Waryn - Chief Engineer - U.S.S. Ark Angel

” of course” he said ” i try to be very detailed in my preflight as i dont want any damage occuring to even the smaller ships onboard.” he then looked over and saw that the rear bay doors had been opened “we should get moving before to long”

LT Commander Jax Storm
Chief Helmsman/ops
U.S.S Ark Angel

Izak nodded and took the the other pilot seat at the front of the cockpit. The Brekkian Lieutenant slipped into the routine of the preflight checks with Jax and sealed the shuttle’s hatch when directed.

“Looks like were cleared to launch Commander. How do you want to handle this?”

Lt Izak Waryn - Chief Engineer - U.S.S. Ark Angel

“let me take her out slowly and then once we are a few hundred yards out i will give you the controls”

LT Commander Jax Storm
Chief Helmsman/ops
U.S.S Ark Angel

Lt Waryn nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me.” He pressed a button to activate the comms. =/\=”Helm, this is Shuttle Pangolin. Our preflight checks are complete and were requesting permission to launch.”

The NE manning the helm station responded almost immediately. “Pangolin, this is the Helm, You are clear to launch. Safe flying out there.”

=/\=”Pangolin copies.” The Chief Engineer replied with a grin. He was always excited about a chance to get behind the controls and fly.

Izak turned to Jax. “She’s all yours Commander.”

Lt Izak Waryn - Chief Engineer - U.S.S. Ark Angel

storm piloted the shuttle out very slowly at first before suddenly doing a high speed almost breaking turn ” sorry if that statled you. sometimes you have to know how to evade quickly even in ships as small as these.” he said “shes all yours now if you want to take her for a spin and i can teach you how to do that if you would like?”

LT Commander Jax Storm
Chief Helmsman/ops
U.S.S Ark Angel

Izak was caught completely off guard by Jax’s sudden maneuver.

While the shuttle’s intertial dampeners did their job, the residual G-forces that leaked through were strong enough make the Brekkian Lieutenant grab the console to balance himself.

When the shock wore off a few seconds later he couldn’t keep a grin from splitting his face from ear to ear. “Of course I want to learn that maneuver! That was awesome.”

He tapped a sequence on his station and said, “Taking control of the shuttle… now.”

The Chief Engineer took the Pangolin through a series of smooth turns to get a feel for the shuttle. While graceful and efficient… they were a far cry from what the Chief Helmsman had just pulled off. Level 2 certifications covered basic piloting and emergency situations, not combat operations.

Once he was comfortable with the controls, he turned to Lt Cmdr Storm again. “So… how would I go about an evasion like that?”

Lt Izak Waryn - Chief Engineer - U.S.S. Ark Angel

“its relatively simple but not something starfleet will teach you.” he said ” I personally learned it back in my time before starfleet as i used to race starships around alpha centari” “first your going to want to gain a bit of acceleration before going hard into reverse and steering left or right.”

LT Commander Jax Storm
Chief Helmsman/ops
U.S.S Ark Angel

The Chief Engineer snorted, then grinned. “This sound like one of those things that’s simple in theory… and yet devilishly difficult in the execution.”

Izak didn’t waste any time however. He piloted the Pangolin to a safe vector and then started accelerating. He felt that familiar tingling in his fingers… a byproduct of his Brekkian biolectrical abilities… and something he once thought let him control computers.

He shook his fingers to banish the sensation and then returned to the controls. Lt Waryn saw the shuttle had gained quite a bit more speed than he’d intended, but didn’t think that would be a bad thing. Lt Cmdr Storm didn’t specify a speed after all.

Izak took a deep breath then tried slamming the shuttle into a hard reverse. He didn’t shift thrust quickly enough though, and when he steered the Pangolin to the left the shuttle bucked violently and did not execute anything approaching Jax’s graceful manuever.

“So much for beginner’s luck.” He added, a little annoyed with himself. “Too much speed?”

Lt Izak Waryn - Chief Engineer - U.S.S. Ark Angel

“its alright” storm said ” i usually try to aim for nothing above 50 percent impluse”

LT Commander Jax Storm
Chief Helmsman/ops
U.S.S Ark Angel

“Hmm.... okay. Let’s try that again.” Fingers flew over the controls and Izak executed a tight turn to get back on a clear path.

He got the Pangolin up to about 35% impulse and hit the reverse thrusters again. This time the shuttle did slide into a much tamer version of Jax’s manuever… but Izak also realized something he’d done wrong.

“I think I’m getting it… but the Engineer in me is at war with the pilot in me.” He flashed the Chief Helmsman a wry grin. “I don’t think I’m hitting the reverse thrust as hard as I need to because I know all the wear and tear we put on the auxilliary craft translates to hours of work for my Engineers.”

Lt Izak Waryn - Chief Engineer - U.S.S. Ark Angel

” i understand that” storm said “it takes time to get used to. why do you think im so protective of the ark angel when others are at the helm”

LT Commander Jax Storm
Chief Helmsman/ops
U.S.S Ark Angel

“Of course you’re protective, she’s your baby. I feel the same way.” A sly grin crept over Lt Waryn’s face. “Looks like we’re actually co-parenting the Ark Angel.”

With a smile still on his face, Izak returned to the controls. “A manuever like that would only be used in extreme circumstances. That means survival is more important than a dozen extra maintenance hours.”

The Chief Engineer kept that in mind as he got the Pangolin accelerating again. He waited until the shuttle was up to 37% of impulse and then executed the manuever again… this time he actually slammed the thrust into full reverse while steering right.

The medum shuttle performed what Izak had mentally been referring to as the ‘Storm Manuever.’ It wasn’t nearly as finessed as the Chief Helmsman’s demonstration, but Izak new that would come with time.

“Yep… that’s still awesome. Thanks for teaching me.”

Lt Izak Waryn - Chief Engineer - U.S.S. Ark Angel