Flight Line Check

Posted on Wed Sep 11th, 2019 @ 12:28am by Lieutenant Commander Jacob "Jack" Devine & Lieutenant Gavin "Zoomie" Racir & Lieutenant Commander Adlyn Rowley

Mission: Down the Rabbit Hole
Location: Hangar Bay; Fighter Division
Timeline: MD 5, 0900

Jacob stood on the flight line visually looking over his birds. The Kaneda was a class he was accustomed to though the Shadow Class had been a step up. Of course he kind of missed the old F180s where the pilot did it all and it was a one man show.

In one hand he held a PADD as he reviewed the status of each bird, noting the tech crews scattered about the bay. Twenty birds, twenty pilots, twenty TSOs. It was going to be loads of fun moving everything around to match his watch list.

This morning he was dressed in a flight suit. Zoomie was supposed to meet up with him in half an hour so they could take a spin around the ship and get acquainted with their new bird. With that thought in mind Jacob crossed the bay to where 001 rested on her pad nearest the hangar doors. And that's where he found her with her engine compartment open and two people looking over her insides. One was clearly a technician but the other was a woman of rank.

"Problem?" Jacob inquired as he moved to a point where he could see what they were doing.

"...Yes, I see what you're saying," Adlyn stated in response to the technician who's head was deep in the compartment, and Adlyn was right next to him. She slid out of the compartment when she heard they had an observer. "Keep working on it," the thought finished before she completely stepped out of the underbelly and out to whoever spoke. "Nothing serious, just a misaligned power coupling discovered this morning. Considering that there was a booked flight this morning, I wanted to make sure everything was working prior to its flight." She looked over the man and recognized who he was from his personnel records and the flight suit. "Which I am guessing is your flight?"

"Yes, that would be my lady," Jacob said, motioning to the kaneda. "I was hoping to take her out for dinner and a dance. Get to know all her quirks and lags and imperfections." He paused as he crossed his arms over his flight suit. "Is that gonna be a problem, chief?" He really hoped not. As SQL, he could take out any of the birds for a test run but it was considered bad manners to dance with someone else's lady.

"No, no it shouldn't be a problem," Adlyn replied. "We're just wrapping on the misaligned power coupling and then she should be good for a flight around the base." She looked over to the compartment, and the technician held his thumb up. "Definitely looking good. We haven't officially met; I'm Lieutenant Commander Adlyn Rowley, Chief Engineering Officer." She extended her hand out to shake hands with the flight officer.

"Lieutenant Commander Jack Devine," Jacob introduced himself while taking her hand. "SQL for the Andromeda. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of one another over this flock." He smiled at her then looked at 001. "ETA on how long before I can launch?" He didn't want to rush them considering his own safety was on the line but he was eager to get his wings back.

She looked over to the technician finishing up what he was working on. "Maybe another ten minutes or so? That way we can power her up and make sure that everything is operational. You're more than welcome to stick around for that. Moralez is finishing up right now."

"Thank you I will," Jacob agreed then glanced over his shoulder. "I'm still waiting on my TSO anyway, so no need to rush." He'd be doing his own flight check when they were through and not because he didn't trust them. It was required SOP before taking off. Still, it made Jacob feel a bit awkward to appear to be inspecting their work. "You ever fly in one of these, chief?" he asked Adlyn in an attempt to carry the conversation a bit farther.

"Me personally? No. This is the first time I'm working with the craft." She ducked into the hole that he was working on and inspected his work after he popped out of the hole looking at her. When she was done she popped out and brushed off her hands. "It's also the first time for an Akira as well. The repairs are complete. He is going to go and power everything up." Moralez scampered up to the Kaneda and powered everything up. Everything looked good from where they were standing. The power reading issue disappeared and he held a thumbs up. "Looks like everything is good to go. I'll get a team up here to run the rest of the Kanedas through the checks. Common issue with new vessels fresh off the line, when this is wrong with one, it's usually wrong with another."

"Good to know." Jacob watched as Moralez climbed out. "If either of you ever want to take a ride in one, let me know."

"You're not giving my seat away again." Gavin walked up to join the group, dressed in a flight suit, a helmet under one arm. "Cause I can go, like, take a nap or whatever." He glanced behind him in the direction he'd come from with a mock look of wistfulness.

Jacob glanced heavenward barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes then turned his attention back to Adlyn and Moralez. "This is Ensign Gavin Racir, my TSO." To Gavin he said, "This is our chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Adlyn Rowley, and one of her techs, Moralez."

"Pleasure," Gavin addressed the pair, leaning forward and extending a hand in their direction.

Adlyn extended her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you. Maybe some other day. I got a lot of work that I need to get done and there is no rest for the weary when it comes to deadline of shipping out in two days with an unknown deep space assignment." She weakly smiled. "We were just addressing a misalignment in a power coupling and needing to ensure the rest of the Kaneda compliment does not have the same issue."

"We appreciate your diligence, chief," Gavin said with a warm smile as he approached the Kaneda and began to do his own pre-flight check.

Jacob's eyes followed his TSO then he turned his attention on Adlyn. "We do appreciate your efforts but we won't keep you. If you ever decide you want a flight later on just let me know." That said he followed Gavin to their bird.

"Sounds like a plan," she called after them as they walked up into the Kaneda. "Let's get the rest of these on the schedule. I want the gambits run on them prior to departure; we're going to need some backup."

"Ma'am," he stated as he packed up his kit and he moved on to the next one and she left to get back up support from Engineering.

=*=

Lt. Commander Adlyn Rowley
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Andromeda

Lt. Commander Jacob Devine
Squadron Leader
USS Andromeda