Author's Notes
Thanks again for your comments, they are always appreciated!
Here the story should really start to take off! (My puns are almost as bad as Drakken's)
Hope you enjoy.
---------------------------------
"Now, engage the number two starter, Ron," Wade said, his voice flowing into the cockpit via the communicator. "You need to push and hold. Kim, watch that gauge that reads N2. When it gets up to thirty, flip the fuel cut-off lever to the on position. When you do that, yell at Ron to stop holding the starter. It could get very loud in there."
"Got it, Wade," Kim responded. Ron reached up to the panel over his head and pressed down the starter. The old turbine engine started spinning with a loud groan. Gradually, as it picked up speed the groan became a whine of increasingly higher pitch. Kim watched the gauges, and at the appropriate time threw the fuel-flow switch. The big engine roared to life, the helicopter shaking slightly. "RON... NOW!"
Ron pulled his hand away from the panel, and the engine continued to accelerate, the high pitched whine becoming more consistent as the blow- torch like stream of superheated air in the engine's core reached its maximum velocity and temperature. Wade ran them through the same procedure for the other main engine. The main rotor began spinning, bringing on a familiar whump-whump sound.
Kim felt her spirits soar as she realized this might actually work, but the joy was short lived. She felt a wave of apprehension fall across her as Ron manipulated the controls. Wade seemed to be telling him everything, and Kim wondered how much he actually remembered from his flight lessons... if he ever took flight lessons.
She shook off the thought, knowing Ron wouldn't lie to her, at least not about this. The rotor was spinning faster now, approaching a speed that would support flight.
"Let me know when the white needle gets into the green arc," Wade ordered.
"Which white needle? There's a ton," Ron responded. He turned to Kim who could only return a confused look.
"Rotor RPM."
"Oh, yeah... right... actually, Wade, it's already in the green."
"Excellent... you should be ready to go then. Take it easy Ron."
Ron smiled, Kim sensing both his excitement and trepidation. He slowly raised the collective lever, causing the helicopter to lift off the ground. He held it there, wobbling in an unsteady hover only a few feet in the air, and looked over at Kim.
"Not too bad, eh?" he asked, unwittingly edging the control stick forward. The big helicopter drifted ever so slowly ahead, nudging gently against a chain-link fence with the underside of its nose. The shriek of metal-on-metal reverberated throughout the aircraft, and Ron suppressed the urge to scream.
"What was that?" Wade yelled over the communicator.
Kim peaked over the nose, then turned back to the communicator. "Ron hit a fence."
"Hard?"
"Didn't feel too hard."
"OK... the Sea King is one tough chopper... you should be OK. But you might want to tell Ron to increase the collective and get clear of obstacles, like, soon."
Kim turned to Ron, who hadn't been able to hear Wade over the roar in the cockpit. "Wade says to increase the collective and clear the obstacles!" she yelled.
Ron shot her a quizzical glance. "WHAT?"
"GO UP!"
"OK!"
Ron adjusted the collective, causing the lightly-loaded helicopter to accelerate rapidly upward. As he cleared the trees, he eased the nose down and the enormous chopper accelerated forward, picking up speed slowly at first, then more rapidly.
"I think we woke them up," Kim yelled, pointing out the window at the numerous military vehicles converging on their takeoff site. She immediately regretted the comment, watching in horror as Ron craned his neck to look behind and beneath the helicopter.
Luckily, the distraction didn't hold Ron's attention for a dangerously long period of time. He continued to keep the helicopter in a climb, its airspeed now well over one hundred miles per hour. "Kim, isn't it about time we figure out where we are going?"
Kim cupped her hand around her ear, yelling back to him, "I DIDN'T HEAR YOU!"
"WHERE ARE WE GOING?"
Kim pulled the communicator up close to her mouth to avoid having to yell too loudly. "Wade, we need to figure out where we are going!"
"OK... I'm guessing Ron isn't too familiar with the navigational instruments."
"That's a safe bet, Wade," Kim answered.
"I'll plot your position, required course, and other information using GPS and send it to the communicator. Then you can tell Ron which way to go."
"Please and thank you." It took only a second for the information to flash onto the screen. Wade had provided comprehensive outline of everything they needed. "RON, TURN LEFT!"
"WHY?" Ron asked, glancing at Kim for a moment, a move which induced yet another sinking feeling in her stomach.
"BECAUSE WE ARE HEADING TOWARDS WASHINGTON!"
Ron brought the helicopter into an unstable left bank, working furiously to keep the big chopper under control. Kim could see that he was over-controlling the helicopter, but she wasn't yet convinced she could do better.
She waved at Ron to level off, and after a brief moment of confusion he got the message, bringing the helicopter back into something that abstractly resembled straight-and-level flight.
--------------------------------------
"General Simms, I have Colonel Wallis on the line for you."
The big general glanced towards the lieutenant that was peaking through his office door. "Very well, put him through," Simms announced, picking up the telephone receiver off his large desk. "Simms."
"General," Colonel Wallis said excitedly, "we have a situation at the New Castle storage facility."
"The storage facility?" Simms asked, his voice carrying a mix of displeasure and confusion.
"Yes, sir. Someone, somehow, managed to sneak in and take off in one of our helicopters."
"But all of your helicopters are grounded," Simms said angrily, "how could..."
"Sir, we had three Sea Kings that were flight ready, one of which was scheduled to fly to the scrapper tomorrow. We fueled it up last night so it would be ready for a morning departure."
"You had a flight ready bird sitting, fully fueled, at a low-security instillation?" Simms asked angrily, pounding his right fist on his desk in frustration.
The colonel's frightened gulp was audible enough to be heard clearly over the telephone line. "That's, ahh, correct sir."
"Do we have any idea what they are doing?"
"No sir... we tracked them heading to the south, but our radar is only short range here. I can call air traffic control and see if I can get any records."
"I'll have my personal staff take care of it. You sit tight, and wait until I have further instructions. Is that clear?"
Colonel Wallis began to protest, but quickly decided it was better to keep quiet. "Crystal, sir."
Simms slammed the receiver back in its cradle, and yelled for his assistant. The young lieutenant appeared at the door.
"Son, get all of the senior staff together. Tell them we have an M-V- Thirty-One Stroke Bravo scenario: mysterious theft of a rotary-wing aircraft."
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Kim, how much farther. I'm getting tired."
"Ron!" Kim looked at her friend, still trying to figure out how she ever went along with this plan. "Ron," she said again, this time more calmly. "You need to hang in there. Everyone is counting on you."
"That's way intense pressure, KP." Ron took his hand off the collective for a moment to wipe his brow.
"You're doing good, Ron," Kim said. At least you're keeping it right- side up.
"So... when I get over the submarine, you climb down using the winch?" Ron asked.
"What about you?" Kim inquired.
"Hmmm... good point."
"I have a solution," Wade said, his voice coming in loudly over the communicator. "Just land next to the sub."
"Wade," Ron yelled, "the sub is in the middle of the ocean!"
"And the Sea-King is built so in an emergency it can land on water."
"Really?"
"Really."
"OK, then I just fly it into the ocean and we're chauncy."
"Ron, please rephrase that," Kim asked politely. She turned back to the communicator. "So, how long till we make a splash, Wade?"
"Based on your current speed, the winds, and other pertinent factors, I'd expect you to arrive over the submarine in 42 to 45 minutes."
"You rock, Wade."
"I try."
------------------------------
The officers all snapped to attention as General Simms strode into the room, his elegant leather briefcase under his left arm and an aide in step behind him.
"Gentlemen, seats," Simms said, motioning for the men in the room to sit. "As you all know, roughly an hour ago an SH-3 Sea King helicopter made an unauthorized departure from the New Castle Decommissioning Installation. Using data provided by the FAA, we have been able to track the helicopter to this location." Simms placed his pointer against the wall map that dominated the room.
"Thus far," Simms continued, "we have not been able to contact the pilots. I want a flight of fighters dispatched immediately to intercept the aircraft and make all possible efforts to contact the helicopter."
"We have Falcons standing by at Andrews, sir," an Air Force Captain said.
"Good," Simms replied. "I want to make contact with whoever has that helicopter, but make sure your pilots know if the chopper does not respond, I want them to take it down."
Thanks again for your comments, they are always appreciated!
Here the story should really start to take off! (My puns are almost as bad as Drakken's)
Hope you enjoy.
---------------------------------
"Now, engage the number two starter, Ron," Wade said, his voice flowing into the cockpit via the communicator. "You need to push and hold. Kim, watch that gauge that reads N2. When it gets up to thirty, flip the fuel cut-off lever to the on position. When you do that, yell at Ron to stop holding the starter. It could get very loud in there."
"Got it, Wade," Kim responded. Ron reached up to the panel over his head and pressed down the starter. The old turbine engine started spinning with a loud groan. Gradually, as it picked up speed the groan became a whine of increasingly higher pitch. Kim watched the gauges, and at the appropriate time threw the fuel-flow switch. The big engine roared to life, the helicopter shaking slightly. "RON... NOW!"
Ron pulled his hand away from the panel, and the engine continued to accelerate, the high pitched whine becoming more consistent as the blow- torch like stream of superheated air in the engine's core reached its maximum velocity and temperature. Wade ran them through the same procedure for the other main engine. The main rotor began spinning, bringing on a familiar whump-whump sound.
Kim felt her spirits soar as she realized this might actually work, but the joy was short lived. She felt a wave of apprehension fall across her as Ron manipulated the controls. Wade seemed to be telling him everything, and Kim wondered how much he actually remembered from his flight lessons... if he ever took flight lessons.
She shook off the thought, knowing Ron wouldn't lie to her, at least not about this. The rotor was spinning faster now, approaching a speed that would support flight.
"Let me know when the white needle gets into the green arc," Wade ordered.
"Which white needle? There's a ton," Ron responded. He turned to Kim who could only return a confused look.
"Rotor RPM."
"Oh, yeah... right... actually, Wade, it's already in the green."
"Excellent... you should be ready to go then. Take it easy Ron."
Ron smiled, Kim sensing both his excitement and trepidation. He slowly raised the collective lever, causing the helicopter to lift off the ground. He held it there, wobbling in an unsteady hover only a few feet in the air, and looked over at Kim.
"Not too bad, eh?" he asked, unwittingly edging the control stick forward. The big helicopter drifted ever so slowly ahead, nudging gently against a chain-link fence with the underside of its nose. The shriek of metal-on-metal reverberated throughout the aircraft, and Ron suppressed the urge to scream.
"What was that?" Wade yelled over the communicator.
Kim peaked over the nose, then turned back to the communicator. "Ron hit a fence."
"Hard?"
"Didn't feel too hard."
"OK... the Sea King is one tough chopper... you should be OK. But you might want to tell Ron to increase the collective and get clear of obstacles, like, soon."
Kim turned to Ron, who hadn't been able to hear Wade over the roar in the cockpit. "Wade says to increase the collective and clear the obstacles!" she yelled.
Ron shot her a quizzical glance. "WHAT?"
"GO UP!"
"OK!"
Ron adjusted the collective, causing the lightly-loaded helicopter to accelerate rapidly upward. As he cleared the trees, he eased the nose down and the enormous chopper accelerated forward, picking up speed slowly at first, then more rapidly.
"I think we woke them up," Kim yelled, pointing out the window at the numerous military vehicles converging on their takeoff site. She immediately regretted the comment, watching in horror as Ron craned his neck to look behind and beneath the helicopter.
Luckily, the distraction didn't hold Ron's attention for a dangerously long period of time. He continued to keep the helicopter in a climb, its airspeed now well over one hundred miles per hour. "Kim, isn't it about time we figure out where we are going?"
Kim cupped her hand around her ear, yelling back to him, "I DIDN'T HEAR YOU!"
"WHERE ARE WE GOING?"
Kim pulled the communicator up close to her mouth to avoid having to yell too loudly. "Wade, we need to figure out where we are going!"
"OK... I'm guessing Ron isn't too familiar with the navigational instruments."
"That's a safe bet, Wade," Kim answered.
"I'll plot your position, required course, and other information using GPS and send it to the communicator. Then you can tell Ron which way to go."
"Please and thank you." It took only a second for the information to flash onto the screen. Wade had provided comprehensive outline of everything they needed. "RON, TURN LEFT!"
"WHY?" Ron asked, glancing at Kim for a moment, a move which induced yet another sinking feeling in her stomach.
"BECAUSE WE ARE HEADING TOWARDS WASHINGTON!"
Ron brought the helicopter into an unstable left bank, working furiously to keep the big chopper under control. Kim could see that he was over-controlling the helicopter, but she wasn't yet convinced she could do better.
She waved at Ron to level off, and after a brief moment of confusion he got the message, bringing the helicopter back into something that abstractly resembled straight-and-level flight.
--------------------------------------
"General Simms, I have Colonel Wallis on the line for you."
The big general glanced towards the lieutenant that was peaking through his office door. "Very well, put him through," Simms announced, picking up the telephone receiver off his large desk. "Simms."
"General," Colonel Wallis said excitedly, "we have a situation at the New Castle storage facility."
"The storage facility?" Simms asked, his voice carrying a mix of displeasure and confusion.
"Yes, sir. Someone, somehow, managed to sneak in and take off in one of our helicopters."
"But all of your helicopters are grounded," Simms said angrily, "how could..."
"Sir, we had three Sea Kings that were flight ready, one of which was scheduled to fly to the scrapper tomorrow. We fueled it up last night so it would be ready for a morning departure."
"You had a flight ready bird sitting, fully fueled, at a low-security instillation?" Simms asked angrily, pounding his right fist on his desk in frustration.
The colonel's frightened gulp was audible enough to be heard clearly over the telephone line. "That's, ahh, correct sir."
"Do we have any idea what they are doing?"
"No sir... we tracked them heading to the south, but our radar is only short range here. I can call air traffic control and see if I can get any records."
"I'll have my personal staff take care of it. You sit tight, and wait until I have further instructions. Is that clear?"
Colonel Wallis began to protest, but quickly decided it was better to keep quiet. "Crystal, sir."
Simms slammed the receiver back in its cradle, and yelled for his assistant. The young lieutenant appeared at the door.
"Son, get all of the senior staff together. Tell them we have an M-V- Thirty-One Stroke Bravo scenario: mysterious theft of a rotary-wing aircraft."
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Kim, how much farther. I'm getting tired."
"Ron!" Kim looked at her friend, still trying to figure out how she ever went along with this plan. "Ron," she said again, this time more calmly. "You need to hang in there. Everyone is counting on you."
"That's way intense pressure, KP." Ron took his hand off the collective for a moment to wipe his brow.
"You're doing good, Ron," Kim said. At least you're keeping it right- side up.
"So... when I get over the submarine, you climb down using the winch?" Ron asked.
"What about you?" Kim inquired.
"Hmmm... good point."
"I have a solution," Wade said, his voice coming in loudly over the communicator. "Just land next to the sub."
"Wade," Ron yelled, "the sub is in the middle of the ocean!"
"And the Sea-King is built so in an emergency it can land on water."
"Really?"
"Really."
"OK, then I just fly it into the ocean and we're chauncy."
"Ron, please rephrase that," Kim asked politely. She turned back to the communicator. "So, how long till we make a splash, Wade?"
"Based on your current speed, the winds, and other pertinent factors, I'd expect you to arrive over the submarine in 42 to 45 minutes."
"You rock, Wade."
"I try."
------------------------------
The officers all snapped to attention as General Simms strode into the room, his elegant leather briefcase under his left arm and an aide in step behind him.
"Gentlemen, seats," Simms said, motioning for the men in the room to sit. "As you all know, roughly an hour ago an SH-3 Sea King helicopter made an unauthorized departure from the New Castle Decommissioning Installation. Using data provided by the FAA, we have been able to track the helicopter to this location." Simms placed his pointer against the wall map that dominated the room.
"Thus far," Simms continued, "we have not been able to contact the pilots. I want a flight of fighters dispatched immediately to intercept the aircraft and make all possible efforts to contact the helicopter."
"We have Falcons standing by at Andrews, sir," an Air Force Captain said.
"Good," Simms replied. "I want to make contact with whoever has that helicopter, but make sure your pilots know if the chopper does not respond, I want them to take it down."