My average day was relatively routine. Fly a new plane here, safely eject there, things that all get rather monotonous after a while. In case you haven’t guessed, I was a test pilot for Lockheed Martin. Like most in my profession, I dreamed of being ‘up there’ as an astronaut. Not that being a test pilot wasn’t great and all. It certainly satisfies the plane-nut in me. Today however was one of those special routine-breaking days. Today was the day I got to fly Lockheed’s hydrogen powered F-35B. Created in complete secrecy for reconnaissance operations, it was designed to replace the hole that decommissioning the F-117 left, and filling the void with a vertical takeoff jet. Needless to say, I was super excited.
I could rant on all day about this plane, but let me give you the quick rundown. The aircraft is powered by hydrogen, an extremely abundant element in space. Doing this was a genius move. The engine produces 0 emissions and runs on, simply, water. Stealth wise, this eliminates jet trails. In case of the need for a ship landing, the vtol function allows it to land on the helipad of a much smaller battleship. Aircraft carriers weren’t required anymore. Fueling is much simpler than on a normal plane. Most of the small cargo compartment was filled with a folded solar panel meant to plug into the onboard fuel cells. Using it is as simple as laying the solar panel out and pouring water in the container. The process of this takes just under an hour.
Enough of the plane, I’m here to tell you of the test. A real-world test they called it. Something great and never before seen. I was here to test the plane for practicality. What better way than to fly it around the world?
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“What’s the time Sarah?” I asked my wife.
“5:30” she mumbled, still half asleep.
“Shit!” I yelled as I fell off the bed, instantly wide awake. “I need to be at the airstrip at 6!” Managing to stand up, I throw on some clothes and scarf down a bowl of cereal. Just as I’m about to leave, I see Sarah standing at the door.
“Promise to come back with all your limbs.” she smiled sadly, “A week is a long time to be gone, much less in an experimental jet.”
“I promise, ” I said, “If all works out, we’ll be up there with Amelia Earhart.”
“Just don’t crash and never be found again, ” she said, “That would look bad in history books.”
“I’ll do my best” I turned to walk out the door.
“Wait!” my wife says, “Don’t forget this.”
She hands me my backpack, filled with everything I would need for the trip.
“You really are the best.” I smiled, kissing her goodbye.
As I drive away, I looked back to see her waving out the front door. ‘I’ll miss her, but a week isn’t a lifetime.’ I thought.
Driving up to the air base, I’m torn from my thoughts by the sentry at the gate.
“Better hurry up Mike, the plane’s on the runway.” I heard him say.
“Better get over there then, wish me luck!” I said.
“Will do.”
I parked the car, and walked over to the main hangar doors. Sitting there in all her glory was the plane I was to fly. The F-35H, a real beauty she was. Over on the wall were the flight suits. I step into a stall and quickly put it on. Walking towards the plane top gun style, helmet under my arm, I have been graced with the ever pleasing presence of my manager.
“Now don’t crash it you hear me!” he yelled, “That plane cost more than you make in a lifetime to build!”
“Gotcha, ” I nodded, “I’ll treat it like my first car.”
I guess he didn’t know what to make of it, because as I walked away from the crotchety old man I heard nothing more. The badass walk to the jet I had looked forward to was not to be it seemed. A couple engineers ran up to me, clipboards in hand.
“Don’t forget to refuel Doctor Mike!” one said,
“Don’t go into the light Doctor Mike!” said another.
I turned to the last one, fully expecting more of the same.
“The conditions for today are looking perfect. There are some winds up at 30,000 feet, but that’s to be expected.” he said, “Don’t be too heavy on the elevator, and you'll be just fine.”
“Sounds great.” I said, finally hearing some useful information.
Climbing up the ladder into the cockpit, I take one more glance at home. I’m not sure why I did it, but I had this nagging feeling. ‘Oh well’ I thought, ‘stressing will only make this worse’. I turn on the engines, relishing the sound. Once on, I flip the switch to initiate vertical takeoff. I hear a mechanical sound, followed by a loud ‘Click’ and a buzz signifying that the process was completed. I ease up the throttle until the plane starts to hover a few inches off the ground, and gradually increasing it until I was at an altitude of 100 ft. I turn the switch back, and the jet starts to move forward. I look down as much as I could, and saw the base pass under me. ‘Better get comfortable’ I thought, ‘It’ll be a long flight.’
My starting point was Edwards Air Force base in California. From there, I was flying to my first stop in Sapporo, Japan. 5,093 miles and about a 3hr flight at top speed. The instruments are more than capable of telling me this, but I had a habit of doing the distance calculations in my head. By now I was passing over the coastline, out into the Pacific ocean. For as beautiful as it was, boring was the first word that came to my mind. If you bank a little to get a nice view of the ground, you instead get an endless expansion of water. Kind of sucky in my opinion. ‘Whatcha gonna do though?’ I thought, ‘It’s a good opportunity.’
An hour and a half through the flight I was getting a little uncomfortable. Turning on the primitive autopilot, I reached for my backpack in the compartment behind me, getting a small pillow to put behind my neck. Turning back to the windows, I spotted something flashing faintly on the horizon. Figuring it’s just another plane, I looked down at the radar and prepared to alert it of my presence. Nothing was on the screen. “Making my life difficult, figures” I said to myself.
I fly closer, trying to get a blip on the radar. ‘The sensors on the plane are so advanced they could pick up a B-2’ I thought, ‘So what are you?’ As I flew closer, the light got brighter. I saw a warning light come on. “Lost signal” I said, “How do you lose satellite signal in a plane?” As I got closer, more alarms came on. I was almost upon the light as it filled the canopy. The target lock alarm came on. I tried to move my arms to dump flares, but it was as if the light had become solid. It was as if I was blind, seeing only white. White turned to black as I fell unconscious.
I woke up to the smell of evergreen trees. Quite a wonderful smell my sleep-addled mind thought. 'Wonder if they added air freshener in a plane?' I thought. I opened my eyes, bright sunlight blinding me. Giving my eyes a couple seconds to adjust, I looked over to see my plane safely a forest floor, a log cabin, and a frightened lavender horse. Check that. Unicorn with wings and a pointy ass tattoo.
"My name's Twilight Sparkle, mind if I ask you some questions?"
With that, I slipped under the warm blanket of unconsciousness once again.