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Imperator-Zor — Infrastructure: Part Four Hundred and Seven
#aircraft #aviator #biplane #bureaucrat #fantasy #infrastructure #pilot #pusherprop #sciencefiction
Published: 2024-04-30 03:53:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 2798; Favourites: 10; Downloads: 0
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A thousand people turned their heads in near unison, tracking the strange thing which made its way through the autumn sky. It banked, turned, descended, levelled out, climbed and did full roll turning itself upside down. Many were shocked and feared that something would have fallen out of the contraption, instead it spun down neatly and resumed a level course. That caused a cheer. Shortly after it turned around and made it's way past a patch of land kept clear for it's touchdown. It rolled along the ground on it's four wheels, taxied a short distance to a small stage with fluttering banners as it's engine cut out. Another round of cheers happened as the pilot got out of the ceder and canvas contraption and removed her goggles, looking smart in her sheepskin flight jacket.
She disembarked, fresh faced and confident. She kept the grin on her face as she stepped onto the stage to applause and a waiting Bureaucrat. "Let's hear it for Katerina Ryabova and the Sparrow-3!" Which got another wave of applause. "My good Aviator, how as the weather up there?"
Katerina let out an internal sigh of relief. At least this guy could work a crowd, which was more that she could say about some Hubtown Bureaucrats. "A bit windy but quite fair all things considered." The rote line got chuckles from the crowd, it always did.
"And the view must have been magnificent."
"That it was. The Horizon's more than 60 km away at the highest point and I could make out Valsinisleb and Delbonsk." Admittedly both of those towns would have been fairly indistinct smudges, but they were well within that radius.
"Sounds impressive, maybe you could take me up while your still here."
"Not quite yet. The Sparrow-3 can only carry one passenger. But the Ministry of Engineering and Technology has big plans."
"Oh really? Now what might those be?"
"I can't say much, that's classified. But what I can say is that the Sparrows and Robins are just the beginning. As we speak Engineers, Technicians and workers are hard at work honing their craft. But I will say this, the Skyfleet will need skilled people. If you eat right, exercise regularly and pay attention in school, one day one of you might take to the sky." This was of course technically true but grossly embellished. At the moment the Infrastructural Skyfleet had forty members, seven pilots, two trainees and four active planes, two Robins with a puller engine in the front and two sparrows with a pusher in the back. Four more planes had been built, but the Robin-1 had been permanently grounded, two had crashed and one had been destroyed in a barn fire.
"I could not have said it better myself." The Bureaucrat said as he extended his hand, which he shook and took into the air. "Once again people of Gredolsk, let's hear it for Aviator Ryabova and the Skyfleet! The latest marvel produced by our Great Machine, Hail Infrastructure!"
The cheers and applause rose again, along with replies of "Hail Infrastructure". Katerina maintained her grin through the exultation, knowing that a nice private lunch would be in front of her soon. Aeronautic demonstrations for Hubtown fairs were self evidently crowd pleasers which raised money and good attention to the nascent Skyfleet, but she was never one to enjoy being the centre of attention. When she'd been brought into the program a few years ago she'd been intrigued by both the challenge and the idea of taking to the air. Ballooning had it's charms and gliding had been a thrill. But powered flight...now that was transcendent experience. There were risks of course, already one pilot had died and another had been severly wounded, but when she took to the air that thrill was worth it, even factoring in the price of performance.
