Going for a little plane ride [Nathan]

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

According to the slip of paper that was held in Owen's left hand and that flapped as the wind went by it, he was to report to the vehicle garage to meet up with a Flight Sergeant by the name of Nathan Knight. The person at HQ had scheduled Owen an aerial tour of the area, so that he could have a good understanding of the area within range of the base.

He had gotten the message shortly after waking up early. His new bunkmate had rolled off the top bunk and needed Owen to bring him to the Medical Area of the base at 0300 hours. By the time he got back, it was time to wake up anyways and he was told that they wanted to speak to him at HQ, where he was given the notice which brought him to where he was now.

So, in the early morning, paper in hand, he walked across the muddy ground, wetted from last evening's rainfall. The mud squished underneath the soles of his shoes, taking away last night's excellent polishing job. He was headed to the hanger of the vehicle garage to meet up with this pilot.

Soon, Owen walked into the hanger, probably the only part of the base that was not improvised from an old residence. He had no idea what any of the scattered parts that lined the edges of the room did as he had very little knowledge of planes. He had only even been in an airplane once, on his trip to Europe, when he had slept through much of the ride.

[Nathan Whyte]

The pilot’s overalls were folded down so they were more like a pair of trousers. The white t-shirt he wore underneath was stained with oil and grease as he drunk from the ceramic mug of coffee. He looked casually towards the open doors of the hangar and spotted the Corporal walking towards him. He threw the rest of the drink down his neck, whimpering slightly as it burned his throat and walked towards him, slipping his arms into the overalls and pulling it up. By time he reached the soldier, he had managed to get the zipper done as well.

He extended a hand towards the stranger, ”Corporal Pearson, I presume. Flight Sergeant Knight, but you can call me Nathan. Welcome to the Third Infantry and Armoured Division Airlines.” Indeed, whenever old Patty said the word, Nathan had to leap into the air and take him. ”The weather’s crap, but it should clear up in a little while. Coffee?” He raised his eyebrows as he said this and jerked his thumb towards the percolator in the corner. They could afford half an hour.

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

OOC: Did you ever notice that the side of your plane has FU painted on it?

Moments after Owen had walked into the garage, one of the few people there quickly jumped up and came over to him, with an extended hand ready to be shaken the man said, "Corporal Pearson, I presume. Flight Sergeant Knight, but you can call me Nathan. Welcome to the Third Infantry and Armoured Division Airlines." After hearing quickly from exactly who he wanted to speak to, Owen grasped Nathan's hand and gave it a firm shake.

Nathan then continued along with, ”The weather’s crap, but it should clear up in a little while. Coffee?”

Although normally this would have upsetted him, Owen replied to the question with a quick answer, "That's just what I would like. I had an early morning; you wouldn't believe the crap I had to go through before reveille was even blown. That coffee would be heaven sent."

[Nathan Whyte]

The pilot smiled as he span around and began striding across the hanger. He pointed out a plane as he walked past it. ”This is what we’ll be going up in later, an Armstrong Whitworth Albermarle. It’s a good kite.” He grabbed a clean mug from the bench and busied himself quickly. ”How do you have yours?” he asked, ”We’ll have to wait for a new pot this one’s gone cold.”

He turned around and leant on the bench. ”Sooooo.” He drew in breath and looked up through the skylight at the grey sky above him. ”Tell me about yourself. You ever flown before? Any bad experiences with planes? I’ll let this boil then I’ll introduce you to the crew.” He looked the Corporal up and down. ”You’re a quiet one, aren’t you.”

The quiet ones were the ones that worried Nathan. They were more prone to snapping, but equally they were the ones that were afraid to ask, and when something was wrong that wouldn’t tell. He carried on with the unofficial briefing. ”You’re in for a wee treat today. We’re trying to get as many men as possible in the air today for a bit of practise for a run we’re gonna do over Germany soon. Big para drop with plenty of air cover, pretty exciting stuff, and you get to watch it all.”

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

After Nathan had pointed it out the plane that they would be using, Owen looked up at the plane and began to feel his excitement for the ride eat away at him. He turned towards Nathan because he was also excited about getting a cup of coffee. Nathan asked how Owen would like his coffee, and quickly continued with, ”We’ll have to wait for a new pot this one’s gone cold.”

Then, Owen replied with, "I like having two creams, and it's okay that it will take a while. I am in no rush." Then Nathan bombarded him with questions. Owen responded to the questions quickly with, "I came to the army through the United States where I was trained, and I have been going all over to different bases. I have only flown in a plane once - on the trip to Europe - so I haven't had enough experience to have any problems."

Nathan asked why he was so quiet, and Owen told him, "I am just kind of cautious when I first meet people. Once I get more used to the base, I will probably be more open to everyone." He knew that this was how he worked when he met new people, it was a very strange thing about him that he had noticed soon after joining the army.

Nathan then gave Owen a bit of information about the other activity in the sky and said, ”You’re in for a wee treat today. We’re trying to get as many men as possible in the air today for a bit of practise for a run we’re gonna do over Germany soon. Big para drop with plenty of air cover, pretty exciting stuff, and you get to watch it all.” This made the whole situation much more worth it. He was told that it would be more of a survey of the area, but he was ecstatic that he would get to see an actual jump.

[Nathan Whyte]

Nathan nodded as Owen spoke. "Atlantic flight's aren't usually that bad. European flights are a right pain in the arse, though. Those inconsiderate Germans like to try and shoot you out of the sky. Now very good manners if you ask me, but oh well, I suppose I am dropping a few thousand pounds of high explosive on their heads." He smiled at the joke before carrying on. "You'll find your feet soon enough, we're not all monsters over here."

He turned around. "Two creams, eh? Oi, Lewis, Dan, Kyle, Erik and Arnold. Over here!" The five pilots began ambling over as Nathan fixed up some drinks.
"Ah, good one, Nathan you won't mind getting us some then?" Lewis said. Nathan cut him off with a two fingered salute before doing the introductions to Owen.
"Right guys, after these, we're going to take to the air," He began leading the men into a room to the side already full of paratroops. "Sergeant," He said, "How many?"
"Twenty, including myself."
"Good man. Anyway, Gentlemen, we'll gear up and take this route to the drop zone." While saying that, he traced a path on a piece of string towards the drop zone. "That'll take about half an hour to an hour. During that time, we'll be acting as if we're under AAA and enemy fighter attacks. Don't expect it to be a comfortable flight. We'll then throw you paras out, and you'll do some of that infantry shit before turning back. Some trucks will pick you up. Get ready lads."

As the soldiers filed out towards the planes, Nathan turned back to Owen. "Any questions, mate? You'll go in the co-pilots seat, next to me."

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

Owen laughed at the joke that Nathan had made with great pleasure. He had not laughed enough since his close friend Max died in battle. On his first day in training Maxwell Brookhouse came up to him and started up a conversation out off nowhere, The two had become the greatest friends during training and went off to Germany in the same division. In one battle though, Max chose to be heroic and help out another member of the division in mid-battle. Max dashed over to the wounded soldier and started to give medical aid to the man. Owen ran over to the bunker just after Max in order to give some protection to the two preoccupied soldiers. He went down to reload after his clip had emptied and a sniper got off two perfect shots at Max. At home base Max was identified to have been killed on the spot, Owen felt that death should have come his own way instead. After that battle his division was spread out, and he volunteered for the open position at the base where he was now.

After he came out of his Scrubs style flashback, the five other pilots were on their way over to them. Nathan poured and gave out the hot coffee to Owen and himself. One of the men made a small joke of this just before Owen was introduced to the pilots, Lewis, Dan, Kyle, Erik, and Arnold.

Owen followed Nathan into a side room of the hanger. The room was full of paratroopers ready to fall through the sky to the ground waiting for them below. The plan was explained and the paratroopers headed out to the planes. Nathan turned back to Owen and said, "Any questions, mate? You'll go in the co-pilots seat, next to me."

Owen told Nathan, "I am all set to go."

[Nathan Whyte]

Nathan leant into a cupboard, wrapping his hand around a leather jacket and pulled it out, passing it to Owen before picking his up off of the leather swivel seat by the desk. Putting the coffee cup down he slid his arms into the sleeves and zipped it up, enjoying the feel of the wool against his neck. Feeling for the ignition keys in the draw he pulled them out, sliding them into his pocket as he gestured for Owen to follow.

Climbing in through the fore pilots entrance with the three airmen Nathan took a minute to lean his head to where the paratroops were, stuffed like sardines with their full combat gear. ”Now you poofs have fun back their, but don’t make this plane ride bumpier than it has to be!”

He turned around smiling and he winked at the navigator as he lowered himself into his seat. Looking at the controls around him, Nathan smiled as he felt where he belonged, a position which felt to him like nothing could go wrong. A small tractor backed into the hangar, and the driver jumped out, attaching the towing gear to the front of the plane. The small vehicle struggled but it managed to get the lumbering giant out of the room. As the old driver drove away, Nathan hit the ignition, sparking the two giant propellers into life. If he had turned them on in the hangar, all hell would have broken loose as every loose sheet of paper, every tool took flight. A whine filled the plane as they powered up and the second there was suitable power, Nathan began steering along the taxiway, getting in line between the first two Spitfires. A third was behind him, then the other Albemarle, the final plane, the anal guard.

The Spitfires took to the air and the Albemarle moved into position. Nathan took a final look at Owen, giving him a small smile before reaching into the middle of the console to the two thrust control levers. Wrapping both of them in his large hand he pushed them forwards to the 80% mark before moving both hands onto the mottled grip of the joystick. They were going up.

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

A leather jacket stood out in front of Owen. He took the jacket from Nathan's extended arm. He drank the one mouthful of coffee that remained in the mug and then set it down on a nearby desk. He put on the jacket one sleeve at a time. He followed Nathan to the plane, as Nathan motioned for Owen to come.

They reached the plane and Owen got into the copilot's seat. The knobs and levers spread over the dash not letting Owen in on the delicate construction. There were two handles in front of him and two large foot pedals on the floor. He was as clueless as a little boy in a strip club. He put the seatbelt around him as Nathan said to the paratroopers in the back, ”Now you poofs have fun back there, but don’t make this plane ride bumpier than it has to be!”

The plane was taxied out of the hanger on to the runway building up the suspense for Owen. The propellers came on surprising Owen, who jumped at the sound. He would have been out of his seat if there wasn't a belt holding him down.

The plane moved in to the middle of a line of a few other planes. Nathan moved the plane forward and they went up into the sky with the other planes.

[Nathan Whyte]

The engines struggled slightly with the full payload of men, but it still easily managed to pull all the men into the air. Nathan let himself have a small whoop for not screwing up infront of Owen. That would not have looked good. For the next five minutes, Nathan was one of the least social people on earth, one wrong move and he could easily kill the 25 people on the plane.

Every neccesery switch was flicked, all the right buttons pressed. The plane casually banked round from the Western take-off to a Northern flight path. "Form up, Gentleman. Limey on point." He said calmly into the radio. The front two Spitfires accelerated into position and Nathan slipped behind them. That was all he worried about, it wa up to everyone else not to mess up.

The planes kept a level heading, small movements up and down, miniscule rolls as the pilots kept control of the vehicles. Nathan calmed down now as they settled at a pre-detirmed speed and altitude. The navigator walked over, confident in Nathan's skill enough to know he wouldn't be thrown to the floor, from the back came laughter from the paratroops.

"We're on target, Flight Sergeant. We're estimating another 25 minutes until we're over the drop zone."
"Thanks." Nathan grunted the reply as he fiddled with throttle controls, putting the engine up slightly. "Triple A. Evasive! Spit's, make runs, transports, Angels 16!"

On the ground, cannons were firing blank-flack, just contatiners filled with black chalk into the air. Apart from one, the Spitfires rolled down towards the ground and began firing blank ammunition onto targets to disable the threat.

The Albemarles and the final Spitfire went up to 16,000 feet. Nathan pushed the engines to 90% to help keep a stable speed. He turned briefly to Owen. "So how you liking it so far?"

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

From fear, Owen shook as if he had just gotten a death note. The clouds hovered below the moving plane as if they were giant pillows floating through the sky. "Form up, Gentleman. Limey on point.", said Nathan, leaving Owen confused. The planes appeared to get into position as if they were geese flying south for the winter. Then, it appeared as if they had steadied themselves out.

A man sitting in the cockpit got up and walked around. The sound of laughter came from troops in the back of the plane. Something came over the radio that seemed to be good to hear, as Nathan said, "Thanks" to the message.

A few moments later, Nathan said a bunch of things over the radio that sounded like jibberish to Owen. There was a simulated attack that happened just after that.

The planes got past the "attack" and steadied out. Nathan asked Owen, "So how you liking it so far?" Owen quickly said back, "Oh, It's great!" He could barely hear himself over the sounds of the airplane.

[Nathan Whyte]

Nathan smiled. He had a funny feeling if they had been in a 2-man fighter plane, Owen wouldn't be as enthusiastic. The rides tended to be slightly less comfortable under those conditions....

"Two minutes!"

Nathan turned his head towards the navigator and nodded briefly. Two minutes until it was jumping time for the group in the back. The radio in his ear sparked into life as the command was relayed between the planes. Nathan took a peek at the altimeter and swore as he realised he was way above jumping altitude. This was only confirmed seconds later by the pilot of the second Albemarle. ”Yeah, I know. Follow me.”

Nathan checked his seatbelt was secure before advising the rest of the crew to do the same. He flicked on the plane’s internal radio. ”You jumpers might wanna hold on tight. Be ready, though, when I give the order, you’ll only have thirty to get out the door. We’re going down.”

Although it wouldn’t have mattered too much if the drop was late, it would not look good on Nathan’s report, and the bad reports got all the bad and often fatal missions. This did not appeal to Nathan one iota and that meant he was going to be doing something a bit unorthadox. He put the plane at a nose angle of 60^o and pulled the engines up to 95% A surge of acceleration filled the plane, pinning the occupants to their chairs. Nathan felt his cheeks ripple slightly as the speedometer aided by both gravity and the twin Hercules engines, pushing it downwards at an ever increasing rate.

Nathan waited, and waited, each second getting more and more perilous. He heard groans from the back of the plane and he wasn’t sure whether it was the soldiers or the metal. Eventually, to the relief of all aboard, Nathan levelled the plane out. Giving the troops a few seconds to get their balance he flicked the radio back on. ”Jump before I open the bomb bay up!” Nobody wanted to be dropped like that and it the back of the plane turned into a frenzy as the man leaped out of the door with the obligatory macho calls.

The navigator stepped into the back to check the door was secure before Nathan banked the plane around, circling the large group of silver hemispheres in the air. He pointed his nose him and prepared for the AAA he would be facing any minute.

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

"Two Minutes!" blasts over the radio. Nathan quickly tells everyone to tighten or put on their seatbelts, then seemed to nosedive down scaring the heck out of Owen. The plane flattened out and Nathan forced the paratroopers out the door.

Owen watched as people jumped out of the other planes. Their parachutes were opening up as they went down creating arcs of fabric crossing the blue skies. They looked like clouds falling down out of the planes to the ground.

Owen could only imagine the thrill of falling through the sky freely. Nothing would be under his feet and straps would pull at his back keeping him slightly afloat. The ground would rise up to him slowly, it's features becoming larger and larger.

He felt the chute that he had on for safety and hoped that it wouldn't have to deploy and carry him to awaiting ground.

[Nathan Whyte]

The ride home was relatively uneventful. Safe in the knowledge of where all the Anti-Air-Artillery was the planes managed to skirt around them without any sort of contact. What kind of fool would go straight into the jaws of the enemy if there was a way around them?

By time the planes were navigating towards the runway, storm cloud were beginning to reform in the sky and Nathan cast a casual eye over them as he raised the flaps on the plane to help decrease it’s speed. He held the controls tight as the nose rose up slightly from the change in shape. ”Owen, just do me a favour, watch the altimeter their, every 300m we descend, twist this dial an extra ten percent. It’ll make it that little bit easier for me.” Landing wasn’t the hardest part of flying, but it was certainly the most dangerous.

As the planes descended through the clouds one by one, the usual murmur of activity inside the front of the Albemarle descended into silence as everyone allowed Nathan to concentrate. His hands flicked over the controls quickly and accurately. The landing gear was lowered as the plane lined up with the runway and Nathan eased the plane downwards. The engines whined down to reduce the lift and after a few moments of dangling, the plane touched onto the runway. Straight away, Nathan applied the wheel brakes, causing the rubber to squeak unnervingly against the tarmac. Once the plane had slowed down enough, he moved in onto the taxi lane where Mr. Tractor hooked himself back up to the plane.

Turning to Owen, he ripped off his leather gloves and unzipped his jacket. He let out a deep breath as he reached behind him for a canteen of water. ”And that’s flying, Mr. Pearson. Enjoy yourself up their?”

[⊕ Owen Pearson]

The plane turned, as if it was about to flip over in the sky. This scared Owen a bit, forcing him to grip tightly on the leather of the seat. The plane straightened out and was heading back the way they came, surprising Owen on how short the flight was for a training mission.

In the distance, just outside the base, Owen could see dark clouds forming into an anvil shape. More rain? he thought as he noticed the clouds, Apparently Mother Nature doesn't like this place much.
The rain began falling out of the clouds, showing that they would probably get back just before the downpour.

Nathan said, ”Owen, just do me a favour, watch the altimeter their, every 300m we descend, twist this dial an extra ten percent. It’ll make it that little bit easier for me.” Owen glanced at the dial and the altimeter, and said back to Nathan, Can do.

300 meters went by and he turned the dial with his left hand. It made a click noise indicating that it was correct. Another 300 meters, one more click. Nathan hit a few more switches and turned a couple dials, another click. Owen heard the sound of the landing gear coming out, another click. The plane lined up, another click. They went in their final decent, one last click.

The wheels hit the runway and the reverberation went through the plane. The plane quickly slowed down, pushing Owen onto his seatbelt and the edge of his seat. The plane was eventually turned off of the main runway and was connected to a tractor.

Nathan, had turned towards Owen and had asked, ”And that’s flying, Mr. Pearson. Enjoy yourself up there?” Owen felt like the little kid who had just gotten off the roller coaster, and almost asked if they could go again. He thought about what he should say for a short moment and said in a polite and almost joking tone, "I might do it again sometime."