Vocabulary:
Case I: landing pattern used when flights will not encounter instrument conditions; ceiling and visibility are no lower than 3,000 feet and 5 nautical miles; pattern is a left-hand circle tangent to the ship's course, maximum diameter is 5 nautical miles.
Air Boss: aka air officer; responsible for all operations involving aircraft on the hangar deck, flight deck, and airborne aircraft out to 5 nautical miles from the carrier. Maintains visual control of all aircraft in the control zone from the tower. Any aircraft desiring to operate in the control zone must obtain his approval
nautical mile: equivalent to 1.15077945 miles
Landing Signal Officer: aviator that guides approaching aircraft while landing; keeps them on the glide slope
Glide slope: angle of decent of an aircraft
arresting wire: cable used to help stop aircraft on the flight deck
RIO: Radar Intercept Officer
traps: taking off/ landing onto the carrier
A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy the first chapter of my latest idea. If I missed any vocab that you may not know, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I know most of these terms and sometimes I may skip over a word thinking it's common sense, but the reality is that I grew up with a bunch of these terms.
Updates for this story will be about once a month. I want to focus on another fic I'm working on for a friend, so this one will be on the back burner. But I still wanted to get this one out there.
Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World
The Enterprise cut through the ocean's gentle waves, causing the sun to glimmer off of its surface even more as she moved. The crystal clear sky was a welcoming sight to everyone on board, especially to the pilots who were currently finishing their day traps. It didn't matter what the weather was like around them, they flew no matter what. You don't choose the weather you fly in in war time.
"Enterprise tower, this is two five o tomcat, four point five requesting final approach," the pilot, Lieutenant Friar radioed as he continued his case I landing pattern around the aircraft carrier below.
"Roger, two five o. Continue final approach. Call the ball," the air boss returned.
The lieutenant nodded as he switched communications to the flight deck. "Enterprise, this is two five o tomcat, ball four point three."
"Two five o tomcat, roger ball," the Landing Signal Officer replied, clearing him for his landing.
Lieutenant Friar finished the landing pattern and began his decent, keeping his narrowed eyes on the pitching deck of the Enterprise as it gradually grew closer.
"Looking good, two five o," the Landing Signal Officer continued, helping to guide the pilot down safely and keeping him on the glide slope.
Every few seconds, the Landing Signal officer would repeat his words, letting the pilot know that he didn't have to make any corrections as he continued his descent.
Luckily, no corrections were needed as he finished his landing. The F-14 touched down onto the flight deck, and the tail hook grabbed ahold of the arresting wire, helping to bring the fighter jet to a sudden stop as the pilot throttled the engines into full reversal. That was it… their daytime qualifications were complete.
"Nice work, Cowboy!"
Lieutenant Lucas 'Cowboy' Friar glanced at the small mirror located towards the top of the cockpit to look at his RIO, who was sitting in the back seat: Lieutenant Farkle 'Griffin' Minkus, a dear friend of his since flight school.
"Thanks, Griffin."
"How many good traps does that make?" Farkle asked, knowing fully well how good Lucas was.
Lucas shrugged as the canopy began to open, allowing them to exit within the next couple of moments. "I don't know. You know that I, personally, don't keep track of my totals. I'm just another average pilot."
Farkle laughed at Lucas' comment as they climbed down from the plane, headed off the flight deck, and walked to the locker room to change out of their flight suits. "'Another average pilot'? Come on, Lucas! You're one of the best pilots on this ship, and you know Riley would say the same thing if she were here."
The young pilot smiled at hearing his girlfriend's name. It felt like it was an eternity since he last saw her in person, but thankfully, he was going to be able to see her soon. The Enterprise was heading back to their homeport in Norfolk, Virginia, and he couldn't wait to meet up with her.
"Perhaps," he responded.
Farkle rolled his eyes as they made their way to their quarters. "You're doing everything you can to make sure this doesn't go to your head, aren't you?"
Lucas nodded. "'A good pilot must be confident, but never cocky. Being cocky can get you into trouble'," he said, quoting a family friend, then Commander McCall, when he first entered flight school. "Besides, I promised Riley that I'd come back in one piece."
"Yeah, she'd appreciate that."
Lucas nodded again as his mind drifted back to about two and a half years ago to when he first met her.
Farkle and Lucas made their way through the crowd after their winging ceremony. It was hard to believe that the two friends had completed flight school, and were about to embark on their first sea voyage in a few days. Lucas' eyes softened as he glanced around the room as he followed his friend. It seemed to be the same everywhere. Parents and siblings were congratulating the newest pilots in their family. Everyone seemed to be partaking in the same thing, everyone but Lucas that was. Lucas' parents didn't approve of his decision to join the military, let alone the idea of their son becoming a naval aviator. His father made it clear that he wouldn't be part of anything as Lucas went on in his career. He originally wanted for Lucas to go into something with, as he described, a little more purpose. Or in other words go into the family business with him. While his mother didn't like her son's ideas on his future, she was pleased that he was doing something he wanted.
"There they are!" Farkle announced, and headed towards his family and friends.
Lucas shot a hand out and grabbed ahold of Farkle's arm, stopping them both in their tracks. "Farkle, maybe I should leave you guys. I mean, they are your family and friends, and I don't want to impose," he explained, feeling as if the collar of his dress white uniform became very stiff, making Lucas feeling even more uncomfortable.
"Nonsense! Besides, I want you to meet my friends from high school. I think you guys would get along great!"
Lucas reluctantly agreed, and followed his friend over to the corner of the room. Once they were there, Lucas immediately recognized Farkle's father, Stuart Minkus, from the news. His company, Minkus International, was really taking off (and was a huge rival to his father's business, not that he cared). Right next to him stood Farkle's mother, along with a couple of Farkle's younger brothers who looked to be about fifteen years old or so. Lucas couldn't really tell; he wasn't one for guessing ages.
Standing a couple feet away from the family were two young ladies about his age. One of them stood a little over five foot tall and had long blonde hair, and she didn't look too excited to be there. Her eyes kept slowly drifting around the room, and they appeared to lack any sort of excitement.
The other young lady stood a couple inches taller than the blonde. She had long dark brown hair, and chocolate colored eyes that appeared to be filled with joy. If anything, she looked as if she was going to burst from all the enthusiasm she was holding in.
After Lucas was introduced to Farkle's family, the two young ladies approached the shorter man and embraced him.
"Congratulations, Farkle!" the brunette exclaimed.
"Yeah," the blonde agreed. "We're both really proud of you."
"Thanks guys. It really means a lot to me that you came. And, I'd like you to meet my friend, Lucas Friar. Lucas, these are my good friends, Maya Hart and Riley Matthews."
"Pleasure to meet you both," Lucas greeted.
Maya simply nodded her head, while Riley replied, "Likewise," as her eyes seemed to brighten even more when they made eye contact with Lucas'.
Lucas extended a hand towards her, to which Riley graciously accepted. She immediately felt her breathless as their skin made contact. I guess what they say about dress whites and gold wings is true, Riley thought as a new feeling started to grip her heart.
Ever since that moment, the four of them became close friends. Lucas and Riley especially. They kept in close contact once he was off serving sea duty. It wasn't long afterwards that Lucas asked her father, Cory Matthews, if he and Riley could try a long distance relationship. Cory agreed. He grew fond of Lucas through their own email conversations, but warned him that Riley may say no. Luckily, she said yes. It was hard at times since emails and phone calls couldn't replace talking face to face, but that made the time they did have together all the more special.
Lucas smiled as the memory faded away. He remembered when he and Riley connected, and at the time, he wasn't looking for a girlfriend. Lucas knew how hard it could be at times, and didn't want to do that to anyone. But when you think you've found the right one, everything is worth it.
The two lieutenants walked into their quarters and Farkle said, "I bet Riley can't wait to see you in two days."
Lucas nodded as he flopped down on his bunk and released his breath as he closed his eyes. "Yeah, I can't wait to see her, too," he responded, trying to imagine what their time will be like together when they're reunited. Lucas could almost smell her perfume and feel her arms wrap around his neck.
Farkle began to chuckle as he sat down at the computer and looked at the screen. "Speaking of Riley," he began, "you have an email from her."
Lucas' eyes snapped open as he sat up and took a couple of steps to reach the desk. "Thanks for telling me, buddy. It slipped my mind that we were going to email each other tonight."
Farkle stood up and let Lucas have the desk chair. "Don't tell Riley you said that," he teased.
Lucas rolled his eyes. "She knows how busy we get."
"I know, I'm just pulling your leg. I'm going to go get some chow. Make sure you get something to eat before our night traps."
"Will do, see ya later."
A/N: Let me know what you thought! Also, the GMW Rucas challenge for one shots ends this Saturday, the 11th at midnight Pacific Time. Feel free to submit works until then!