Unknown Skies part 17
A few days after Sam's announcement as Prince of Arendelle.
Things were progressing rather well in Arendelle after Sam had been announced as a sibling of Elsa and Anna. There had been some confusion and wariness over the matter but those concerns were soon quashed by Sam being as kind and as helpful as his sisters were. The three spent a lot of time together running the kingdom and relaxing when not on duty. Being an Airline Pilot, Sam had many useful skills that could be applied to the running of Arendelle, which he picked up during the countless meetings he had attended whilst working for Winter Airways. A family portrait of Sam, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven was painted with the Royal family standing in front of Quebec Echo and the castle in full view behind that.
If you travel to Arendelle, that very painting hangs pride of place in the Castle to this day.
A suitable formula of Airline fuel, as close to Kerosene that Arendelle's scientists could make, had finally been made. A sizeable amount of fuel had already been gathered so Sam and Dan could attempt to start Quebec Echo's twin Rolls Royce RB211 turbofan engines in a short space of time. Anticipation for that event was growing sharply as Quebec Echo represented the only aircraft in the world and the possible opportunities for Arendelle and the world, once the 757 was flying again, were endless.
Once a week, Sam and Dan went out to the Aircraft and performed maintenance. The aircraft needed to be in tip-top condition for its return to service after spending several months grounded due to lack of fuel.
Right now, months of planning and waiting were to finally come to an end, today, on a dark and slightly drizzly Thursday morning. Sam and Dan were going to attempt to start Quebec Echo's engines!
Everyone in Arendelle had been gathered for this momentous occasion. Kristoff unfortunately had to take care of a massive order of ice that day so he couldn't make it.
Preparations were going smoothly; the pedal operated fuel pump had been connected between the fuel storage tanks and the aircraft. Several soldiers were already seated at the machine and were ready to start the process of pedalling the fuel into the aircraft. Sam and Dan were sitting in the cockpit, making final preparations before they started the engines. They had just finished firing up the electrical system when Dan said to Sam,
"Looks like the old girl remembers how to wake up"
"True, but we need to be careful. This aircraft has been standing idle for a while so she may be reluctant to get going again" Sam replied wisely.
"Being a royal really has rubbed off on you hasn't it?" Dan asked jokingly.
"My good sir! I have no idea what you are blathering on about!" Sam replied in a mock posh voice.
That was when they heard a snort of suppressed laughter. Both pilots turned to see Elsa and Anna poking their heads through the cockpit door opening.
"We do not talk like that!" Elsa said to Sam and Dan with a joking tone.
"Good to see you too sis. Why don't you two come in?" Sam replied.
Elsa and Anna both looked hesitant; the cockpit of Quebec Echo was widely considered to be the exclusive territory of Sam and Dan, since they were the only two people in the world who were actually qualified to fly an aircraft.
"You sure?" Anna asked nervously.
"Sure as this aircraft has two engines" Sam replied with a warm smile. Carefully, Elsa and Anna stepped into the cockpit. Their eyes were wide with wonder. Sure they had been on-board Quebec Echo before and they even had been in the cockpit once. But never when all the electrical systems were on and the aircraft's computer flight displays activated.
"We are just about to begin the pumping aboard of fuel so we can start the engines on our own power. Since, unfortunately the necessary equipment to start the aircraft from the outside is unavailable." Dan explained as he was gesturing to various points around the aircraft's cockpit.
"Which switch starts the engines?" Anna asked with curiosity.
"Well, it involves several procedures, there's got to be air and power going into the engines. The APU will handle that. But it runs of the same fuel the engines use. Once we have power, we activate the fuel pumps then activate the ignition switches marked 1 and 2. You see them?" Sam explained as he pointed to the engine ignition switches.
Both sisters looked up at the tiny white dials. They looked so small and insignificant at a distance. It was hard to believe that those two switches were the ones that would start the twin jet engines and the incredible power that each one possessed.
Sam and Dan showed several points of interest for the two sisters in the 757's cockpit, now that the electrical systems were on.
Elsa and Anna were so full of wonder at the almost magical flight deck of the 757 that they almost didn't hear the captain of the Royal Guard shouting up to the aircraft.
"We're ready to begin pumping fuel at your command sir!"
"Well, we'd best be going then. I expect that you two will need maximum concentration for this" Elsa said to Sam and Dan.
Anna looked a little disappointed and the sisters both turned to leave, until Sam called after them.
"There are two jumpseats in the cockpit. If you wanted to be on-board when Dan and I start the engines, you may."
Both sisters whirled around in surprise.
"Really?" both exclaimed at the same time.
"What's to stop you? All three of us are royalty, and I am the captain of this aircraft. If I deem it safe, and I do, you two can stay in the cockpit as we make Arendelle history." Sam replied, smiling now.
Elsa and Anna were excited at this, and after Dan nodded as if to say that it was ok for the sisters to sit in the cockpit jumpseats, Anna darted outside to let the captain of the guard know what she and Elsa were going to do. She came back with several guardsmen who at the guard captain's insistence, had to be there for safety reasons. As the guardsmen boarded, Anna shut the entry door behind them.
Sam and Dan didn't seem to mind as they strapped themselves into their seats whilst Elsa and Anna did the same.
Once strapped in, Sam called out the cockpit window,
"Alright guys, you can start pumping aboard fuel!"
At that, the people manning the pedal powered fuel pump began pedalling their hardest. The slightly yellowish kerosene equivalent began to flow through the pipe leading into the aircraft's fuel tanks. Slowly but surely, the total fuel indicator began to increase in the amount of fuel on-board.
Sam had his hand on the APU ignition switch, so he could rapidly start pumping fuel onto the aircraft, under the 757's own power to save the effort on the pedal pumping team. It was an agonising wait until finally there was just a tonne of fuel in the tanks. At this, Sam turned the ignition switch. There was a soft thud and nothing seemed to happen for a moment.
"The APU will take a few minutes to start" Sam explained.
There were a tense couple of minutes before finally, the APU whirred into life and the electrical systems started to glow brighter as they were being charged. The pedal pump crew stopped pedalling and the bypass valve which allowed fuel to bypass the pump to get to the aircraft was activated.
The APU ran for a few moments before it shuddered and groaned as it got a taste of the Arendelle produced jet fuel.
"Doesn't like that does it?" Dan winced as the electrical systems started dimming and brightening as the APU tried to get used to the Arendelle fuel.
"Just let it keep running. We've come too close to give up" Sam replied, His hand ready to activate the APU fire extinguisher.
Finally though the APU stabilised and all that were on or near the aircraft could breathe a sigh of relief.
Sam and Dan quickly checked the systems for any anomalies, when they found none. They knew what was to happen next, after waiting for the APU to pump aboard a large amount of fuel.
"Ok, let's get this beast started" Sam said to Dan.
Dan got out the Boeing 757-200 checklist book and flipped it to the correct page.
"APU?" Dan asked.
"Started and supplying power" Sam replied.
"Thrust levers?"
"Idle"
"Fuel Quantity?"
"Check"
"Instruments?"
"All on and fully functional"
"Engine number 1 start"
At this Sam yelled out the cockpit window at the top of his voice,
"CLEAR JET!"
At this call, all equipment connected to the aircraft was disconnected and carried away, people and machine both evacuated to safety zones off the frozen fjord patch.
"Elsa, Anna, I want you two to activate the engine starters. Elsa, you take the left engine and Anna, you take the right" Sam said to his sisters.
Both Elsa and Anna looked confused and a little nervous until Sam told them in a comforting tone,
"Dan and I can't take all the credit for this historic moment. You two should get a part in making history"
The two sisters smiled at this and both got up from their seats and held one of the two starter switches each in one hand.
"Ok Elsa, you can turn the left engine starter switch to ignition" Sam said to Elsa.
Elsa's hand was shaking now, a little patch of frost coating the switch until finally, she turned the ignition switch!