January 17
Christine and Sean came to breakfast together, and he was wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing the night before, but she was wearing new clothes. They also smelled like each other—they must have worked out their disagreement between Star Wars and Star Trek the fun way.
I didn't have anything planned for the day, so I thought I'd go flying. It was a perfect day for it, a little bit chilly but perfectly clear. It would be my first chance to really stretch my wings.
Pegasus magic doesn't work as well on Earth. We don't know why, but our scientists are working on it (on the other hoof, human electronics don't work very well in Equestria). So I knew that I wouldn't have the same endurance I had back home. Still, as long as I didn't overexert myself, I'd be fine, and it would be a good chance to see just how far I could fly before getting tired.
Just the same, I asked Peggy if she had any plans for the day. I didn't know if she had been planning to spend the day with me, and it would be rude to just fly off without telling her where I was going.
She said that she was just going to do laundry and hang out with the friends who lived down the hall, and told me to have fun and be careful. I put on my vest and my light, and made sure that I had my map and spare batteries in my vest pocket. Then I strapped on my light and radio, and I was ready to go!
I glided down the stairs—it's kind of fun to make the turns at the landings, but I have to watch out for people coming up the stairs—and then walked out the front door.
As soon as I was outside, I flew up to our window and waved at Peggy, then took to the sky. I used the radio to get clearance from the airplane directors when I was at the level of the bell tower. Before they answered, the bells started ringing, and I almost jumped out of my skin! I'd forgotten that they sometimes ring them on Sunday morning.
Once I got my flight clearance, I went up higher and surveyed the area. I knew it pretty well from the map, but things always look different the first time you're looking down on them from above. It takes a little bit to get used to.
In Equestria, the easiest thing to do would be follow roads or follow railroad tracks. Rivers are also a good thing to follow, but there isn't one next to campus. There's a little creek, but it's hard to see because it's so small, and it gets hidden by the trees a lot, and when it goes under the road it gets lost.
There were roads—lots of roads. I could probably follow the main roads and not get lost, but then I spotted the railroad tracks at the base of campus, and that was an even better path to follow.
They ran sort of diagonally, then turned into the center of town. There was a big brick railroad station, which also had a lot of buses at it. Some of them were silver and blue with a big greyhound on them; the others were white and had numbers on the roof.
I continued to follow the tracks to a crossing, which was a good waypoint, and then a river. There was a big dirt field next to the river, so I landed there and checked the map. I could go further east if I wanted to, or I could follow the river north or south.
East felt like the best direction to me. If I was ever going to fly out to visit Aquamarine, that would be the direction I would be going. From looking at the maps, it was a safe bet that these tracks would go to East Lansing eventually, so it was a good idea to get familiar with them and what was around them.
I tried to keep my altitude at about five thousand feet. That was plenty high enough to get a good view of the city and pick out the landmarks. It's actually easier on Earth, because there are tall buildings and big towers that stick well above the trees, and most towns have water towers with the town's name painted on them. When I turned in a slow circle, I could see six of them (although only one was close enough to read). But they were good waypoints, even if I couldn't read them, 'cause they weren't all the same shape or color.
I probably could have gone further if I'd wanted to, but I decided that when I got to Augusta I was going to turn around. The last thing I wanted was to completely exhaust myself, and have to walk back to campus, especially since I couldn't very well walk back along the railroad tracks. That's dangerous! A train could come along and run me over, and Earth trains are much bigger than Equestrian trains.
A long freight train passed me on my way back. I heard it honking its horn off in the distance, and after about ten minutes, it overtook me. Even at my height, I could smell the acrid smoke of its exhaust, and it hung in the air for a long time. Our trains make a little bit more smoke, but it doesn't smell as bad. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to it.
It looked like a giant snake, undulating along through the trees. Even when it had gotten quite a lead on me, I could occasionally see it as it passed by open fields.
Unexpectedly, I caught up to it again on the outskirts of Kalamazoo. It was stopped at a red signal just short of a crossroad, and I wondered what it was waiting for.
The tracks go through a ravine, while the road for cars goes up and over them. Just on the other side of that road, I saw a fast silver train going the other way—what Aquamarine called an Amtrak, and I figured that was what the freight train was waiting for.
I still had some energy left, so when I got back to the center of Kalamazoo, I followed a road that went north. It passed through a kind of run-down neighborhood for a while, and then curved out into open fields. Strangely, as I kept flying, the smell of mint suddenly filled my nostrils, and it got more intense as I kept flying.
The road curved to the west, and while I might follow it one day, it was getting late, so I turned around and headed back for campus. It's a highway, so I could follow it for quite a while if I wanted to.
Kalamazoo College's bell tower is a great landmark. Even when the trees are leafed out, it will be impossible to miss. I flew a direct course, circling over the center of campus to my landing spot.
Peggy was still in the room, wearing her lounging pants and a t-shirt, so she probably hadn't been out all day. After I put away my flight clothes and took a shower, she got dressed and we went to dinner together.
By the time we got back to the room, I was tired, but it was the good kind of tired. The kind of tired you get after an honest day's work. Peggy started working on an essay that she said was due tomorrow, and I went to bed even though it was still kind of early. All that flying had worn me out some, but now I had a good idea of how long my pegasus magic would last and with practice I ought to be able to get better endurance.
You tripped me up with Vicksburg. It's the name of a fairly historically important town here and I was like--wait wat
Sounds like somepony needs a GPS. "Siri, I need directions to..."
Wasn't it the perfect occasion to collect a cloud to show in climate science class?
Those water towers would make it easy know where you are. Google glass or similar heads up display would be a good product to develop for pegasi when used in conjunction with flight instruments. It would be a no brainier to let future pegasi fly safely without much safety training.
If this is anything like Celestia sleeps in and OPP the computers would have to be made with higher voltage transistors and high amounts of EMI shielding. I be a GPS or magical equivalent over in Equestria would go over ecstatically with the long distance flyers and weatherponies.
7027740 class is not in session and I would think pegasi would consider it bad form to leave a cloud where it does not belong.
Star Wars and Star Trek the fun way
Not sure who was the fan of which so I'll leave these puns.
1. Someone needed help cleaning their light saber
2. Someone go an A in captain kirk's class on interspecies relationship
3. Got that photon torpedo into that exhaust hole
4. Captain course laid in to the uncharted territories
Time for an info dump!
Is the university underneath controlled airspace (is it very near an airport with a control tower)? If not, then that's uncontrolled airspace and she doesn't need to radio for clearance. Pilots of small aircraft only need to communicate when interacting with airports, when flying through their airspace (if they have a tower), when opening a flight plan*, or at certain intervals if they've voluntarily requested flight following (a service where you stay on frequency with a big airport so they can monitor you on radar, advise you of traffic, and know if something goes wrong). It's good practice to keep your radio set to the frequency of the nearest airport so you can hear the communications of any nearby traffic, but there's nothing you're generally required to say in uncontrolled airspace.
Whoo-wee that seems high up for a pegasus! Not that she probably couldn't or wouldn't go that high. In a place like Kalamazoo with a relatively low ground elevation, though, 2,500 feet above sea level is generally the go-to altitude for short VFR** flights. It's a comfortable elevation where you can see for a long distance but can also easily recognize most smaller features on the ground. 5,000 feet, meanwhile, feels fairly high. It's near some altitudes commonly used for longer VFR flights***, but it's not a very "casual" altitude to fly at -- it takes a small aircraft several minutes of climbing to reach that height, and no structure is going to be tall enough to be an obstruction. It's a height at which you start to feel disconnected from the ground, like you're in a realm of sky and the ground is inconsequential scenery, instead of an active consideration.
To be clear, I'm talking about 5,000 feet MSL (meaning 5,000 feet above Mean Sea Level) in a coastal area, so about 4,000-5,000 feet AGL (Above Ground Level).
*A flight plan is a privately operated service for your safety. Before taking off, you file a flight plan by calling flight services at 800-WX-BRIEF and give them a bunch of information on your impending flight (route; time en route; how much gas you have; how many people will be on board; aircraft colors, model, and tail number; etc.). Then, upon takeoff, you make a quick radio call to the nearest flight service station to open the flight plan. This way, they know what time you took off, and since you gave them your estimated time en route (which you calculated accounting for winds based on information from aviation weather services), they know about what time you should land. They then expect you to call them upon landing to close the flight plan. If you don't call within 15 minutes of your planned arrival time, they start trying to reach you by phone. If you then don't answer within a certain time frame, then they assume something may have gone wrong and start looking for you, which is the point of the service: if you somehow manage to crash, it helps ensure you'll be found, and hopefully rescued. It's technically optional, but is very, very strongly encouraged. You shouldn't go for a flight longer than a few miles without a flight plan.
**For anyone else reading: VFR, or Visual Flight Rules, are the procedures you follow when flying in good weather conditions where you can see clearly out to certain minimum distances vertically and horizontally, as Admiral Biscuits alluded to in the January 12 entry. The alternative is IFR, or Instrument Flight Rules, designed mostly for flying in bad weather or at high altitudes, when you have to rely pretty much entirely on your instruments to orient yourself. Flying using the latter, or in conditions that warrant it, requires getting an extra certification beyond the basic pilot's license.
***For anyone who's interested, there are a few rules for what altitude to fly at depending on your route and whether you're flying VFR or IFR.
1: Your altitude must, of course, be well above any obstructions near your route of flight.
2: If you're flying in an easterly direction (as in, any direction on the right half of a compass rose), you fly at an altitude starting with an odd digit. For a westerly direction, an even digit.
3: If you're flying IFR, you fly at some multiple of 1,000 feet MSL (3000, 5000, 7000, etc. for easterly; 2000, 4000, 6000, etc. for westerly). If you're flying VFR, you take a multiple of 1,000 feet and then add 500 feet (3500, 5500, 7500, etc. for easterly; 2500, 4500, 6500, etc. for westerly).
- The latter two rules provide altitude separation for aircraft that would otherwise be more likely to collide, or that would have more disastrous consequences in the event of a collision. If you're in controlled airspace, though, the tower dictates your altitude and assumes responsibility for separation of aircraft, so rules 2 and 3 go out the window and rule 1 is taken care of for you. Also note: for very short VFR flights, rule #2 isn't as important. If you're just making a quick hop to a nearby airport, you'll usually default to 2,500 MSL regardless of direction, assuming ground level isn't too high for that.
7028335
I don't know exactly where the college is, but the local airport is Class D (KAZO), and has a TRSA. If the college is within 5 NM, she'll technically need clearance; I'd still do it anyway even if a litte outside of that, since getting in a mid-air collision would suck.
I'm from Wisconsin and sometimes miss the snow. But then I remember snow shovels and like *snap* that I'm cured.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh my sides, a freight train waiting for Amtrak, this is the best AU ever
Ah the usual student schedule, if it wasn't for the last minute nothing would ever get done.
Thanks for the reminder...
7028628 Ditto
7028335 You seem to know a lot about that ..you fly?
Given that human electronics work on the same fundamental principles as human bodies (especially nervous systems,) that statement's more than a little concerning. Of course, I'm probably thinking about that way too much.
7027672
We built ours first.
Nah, just kidding. It was originally founded in 1831, and named Vicker's Mill.
I did consider the confusion, but dammit, it really is the town that Silver Glow would get to as she flew out of Kalamazoo.
7027677
Nah, IFR (I follow river) and well-labeled water towers are plenty sufficient. Plus, Silver Glow can fly low enough to read street signs, too.
7027740
It wouldn't have lasted long enough without her resorting to dumping a lot of pegasus magic into it (my headcanon). She's better off getting one in the morning before class, ideally from a low cloud.
7027756
That's one of the ways my brother navigated his Cessna when he was flying around our old hometown. You could usually see a good half-dozen water towers (so you knew where the towns were), and most of them had the name of the town right on them. Obviously, that doesn't work for flying at night, but during the day it's a very effective system.
7028335
Somewhat. The airport is 5.4 miles from campus by road, so it's probably in the airport's control zone.
My thought is that the FAA would want her on the radio so that other planes know to look out for her. Basically, a traffic advisory for everyone who's listening, and the tower can also warn other flights that she's in the air.
I may change that. I wasn't sure what the normal altitude small planes liked was.
Whenever I give altitudes in this, I'm just speaking of feet above local ground (since I believe that's how her altimeter works). Not as precise, but then she doesn't have to worry about thinking what the altitude of Kalamazoo is (784 feet). She's not going to be making any IFR flights, anyway (except for I Follow Rivers).
Dammit, I forgot about that.
7028483
5.4 miles by road, so probably within its control area.
7028581
Yeah, I just don't shovel if I can help it. It makes getting out of the driveway fun!
7028628
Actually, Amtrak owns a number of the routes in Michigan, so they can call the shots. I can't remember if they own the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek segment (that's what Silver Glow was following), but they own the rails west of Kalamazoo.
They also own some of the section from Chelsea to Ann Arbor (how much of it I don't know), and I've seen freights there waiting for Amtrak to go by.
7028662
I used to read the assignments for my short fiction class after I'd taken my seat in class.
7028671
You're welcome!
7029726
You're overthinking it.
Makes me think of the building that I had my job interview in for the conductor job with Grand Elk Railroad over on Mills Street. Although I'm pretty sure you were referring to the passenger train station.
Oh baby!
7034792
THAT'S WHAT IT'S CALLED!!!!!!!
Not that long ago, I went back to K'zoo, and noticed that there were a bunch of locomotives with a paint scheme I didn't recognize in the little yard just east of downtown K'zoo. They were too far to properly make it out, and while I thought I was going to Google it, I never did. Then I forgot about it.
I was referring to the train station, though.
7034900
The best way to work out a disagreement.
I thought freight had priority over passenger trains.
7037365
Passenger trains are supposed to have priority, but it's complicated. Usually Amtrak gets screwed; however, there are some rails that they actually own, and they can call the shots on those.
I'd be amazed if Pony magic worked at all on Earth, given our universe's physical laws would seem to outright forbid almost everything the ponies do with it.
If it did... well, that would raise quite the number of questions. Of course, so would a portal between dimensions opening in the first place.
wakefulsometimes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/73a03-ohmy.gif
Overtaken by a freight train? It seems like it would be really tiring to fly so slow.
Here's the chart for the Kalamazoo area. It might take a bit to get used to the layers of information as it's quite dense, but it tells you a lot once you can read it. It's the sort of chart she would be expected to have with her when flying.
7243905
What does the circle marked 'objectionable' mean?
The best way.
I just had a dark thought. What if someone mistakes silver for a drone, and that someone is one of those "drone hunters"...
7505564
One of my favorite MtG cards, to be honest.
She can and does.
Then you'll just have birds armed with wire coat hangers.
One hopes that since she's usually wearing a high-viz vest and a blinking light, people wouldn't mistake her for a drone. One hopes.
If you have trouble visualizing her decked out in her equipment, Totallynotabrony was kind enough to do an art of it:
pre04.deviantart.net/0aa5/th/pre/f/2016/191/7/0/weather_pony_by_totallynotabronyfim-da9k0j3.png
7027672
I have made a correction:
While what I said before was true, I managed to mix up the location of Vicksburg and Augusta. The town that Silver Glow flew to would have been Augusta, not Vicksburg.
Ooooohhh...she's gonna get into so much shit for that!
Wasn't she supposed to be restricted to 1000 feet or less?
7636781
Ten thousand is her ceiling.
The thousand feet is the minimum (generally) for other aircraft, so when she stays below that, she should be pretty safe.
[rainbow smugface intensifies]
Note to self: Add a Rainbow smugface emoticon.
Interesting to see how she navigates in flight. That's very mich how birds do it in real life (except for the reading the signs stuff).
7638939
As it happens, a study of homing pigeons found that they'd go out of their way to follow roads, because it was easier than the direct route. And I seem to recall that some migratory birds follow the I-75 corridor, although I haven't been able to find if they're following the road or if the road got built more or less on their traditional migratory route.
Oh
Google Maps, girl. Satellite view. You can perfectly match the map with the actual look on that.
Welp. That was nice. Wonder what that mint smell was.
7118189
Of course we all know that turbolaser technology from Star Wars is, actually, plasma technology, because it's a projectile, slower than light and it's a gas that was... overenergezatied (sorry, don't remember right word right now).
Aaaand Imperial Star Destroyer also has a not-so-little missile launchers....
So this video is just bullshit. :/
7997108
7118189
The Engineer Michæl Wong, who is a fan of both Star Trek and Star Wars, has analyzed this question. From what we know, an Imperator-Class StarDestroyer greatly outclasses a Sovereign-Class StarShip (the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) is a Sovereign-Class StarShip). It would take 5-10 Sovereign-Class StarShips to reach parity with 1 Imperator-Class StarDestroyer, but even then, the Imperator-Class StarDestroyer could enter HyperSpace and escape at about 1,000 times Warp 9. Please do not take this wrongly:
Star Trek is about a fledgeling civilization starting to explore its surroundings. One would not expect it to have multiKM-long StarShips nor the ability to travel from edge to edge of their galaxy in only 1 month. The rate of WarpTravel is just right for a show about multiple multiyear missions of exploratory expeditions. It would take about a century to travel from edge-to-edge of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Star Wars is has a galaxy-spanning civilization. It need HyperDrive to be fast enough to go from 1 edge of the galaxy to the other in less than a month. It makes sense that such an advanced civilization, with the resources of an whole galaxy, could build multiKM-long StarShips.
You can read the analysis here:
StarDestroyer.Net
Since the analysis can be a bit dry, Michæl Wong wrote a great story about how a conflict of the Galact Empire versus the civilizations of the Milky Way Galaxy might playout:
As 1 WebPage per Chapter:
Conquest
The whole story as 1 PDF-File:
Conquest
7989441
It's one way to reach a compromise.
Close to it, anyways. However, I can say (having used Google Maps a lot for details) that there are some things that aren't on the map that do exist in real life, or that are on the map but don't exist any more.
That I can tell you exactly:
wildflavors.com/LAI-EN/assets/Image/locations_full/wild_kalamazoo.jpg
The A. M. Todd Company makes mint oil, and especially on cool, clear winter nights, you could really smell the mint in the air.
7998534
Well, I don't think you can expect me to go research the location you chose just to solve such mysteries. Especially since I do all my reading while I'm on the train, and thus, offline
7999200
Heh, no worries, you don't have to follow along on maps (you can if you want, and some readers have).
Since you bring it up, though, I don't think that Silver Glow ever figures out what the smell is from.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
8007581
It's the best way to settle an argument.