The Diary of Crankshaft and his Mechanical Misadventures

by BLT185

Chpater 5: Preparing for Flight

Chapter 5: Planning for Flight

I arrived in Ponyville early the next morning, I was rife with anticipation. I knew that I would need some things before I begin to draw up a schematic. I knew I would need canvas, and lots of it. I knew enough about my machines to know that they only rarely work properly with the first iteration and I needed to make sure I had extra in case I overlook something.

My first stop was the post office. I needed to get a few items that I wasn’t willing to travel for. I handed Derpy the order forms I had filled out for two materials I needed, canvas and synthetic leather. “What’re you working on this time Crankshaft?” Derpy asked. I told her that I couldn’t let her know at the time but I would show it to her after it was finished. She tried to get more information from me, but I wasn’t willing to tell. Derpy may be a very good friend of mine, but I had learned not to trust her with any project I wished to keep secret. She told me about my surprise birthday party last year...two weeks before my birthday.

I also needed to visit the eyeglass store. The colt behind the counter assumed I needed a prescription. I gave him the specifications for what I needed after telling him, many times, that I didn’t need corrective lenses. It was rather expensive, but I believe that it will be well worth the expense.

High Fever spotted me while he was out for lunch and insisted that we talk for a while. We didn’t get to talk much at the party two nights ago. He told me about how there seemed to be a case of the flu going about and how I should be careful. I told him about what I was working on. He seemed enthusiastic, but a little concerned for my welfare. We parted ways soon after that. He had to return to his pediatric office.

The rest of the day went relatively smoothly, I got the necessary books from twilight, the lenses I had asked for in the eyeglass shop were completed and I asked High Fever if he could teach me how to sew. I would have asked Rarity, but I thought that my old friend would be better, because he knew about my project and he had sewn up wounds so tightly that there was absolutely no scar. He agreed and gave me some basics; at least enough that I could build a prototype.

I returned home with my saddlebags almost bursting. I decided to unload the books in the house first, all of them regarding flight and enchanting. I went into the forge and took the lenses out of my saddlebag. I put down on a table and looked at them. They were slightly tinted and large enough to cover my eyes completely. I hadn’t needed frames from the shopkeeper. No, I intended to make my own in the forge.

I needed to be very precise. Otherwise the two pairs of goggles I was making wouldn’t fit right. I needed them so that my eyes wouldn’t tear up at high speeds if the machine works. I was making the other pair because I realized what a miracle it was that I still had perfect eyesight. I have been working for years, with my eyes unprotected, in a career where accidental blindness has ended the dreams of many.

I made all the metal parts I needed for the goggles to be functional and look aesthetically pleasing and put them away in the workshop, I didn’t want to keep them in the forge. I ate a small supper of asparagus and began to research the basics of flight with the books I brought home. It brought to mind several issues I needed to consider while designing the machine. Some of them had already been addressed by virtue of the propulsion system and the means of control I had in mind but I had no way of attaching myself to the machine and I had overlooked how I would land the craft if it worked. My mind became focused on the details I needed to work out. Harnessing myself to the machine was the most immediately relevant, I would need to place myself where it would least affect the aerodynamics yet still allow me to control the craft. Before I decided that I would have to draw a schematic.

The design I was looking at using had wings that looked very similar to that of Lunar Guards, but it still had a tail like a bird. The gem reactor would go into an engine between the wings and the engine would operate four propellers in the on the tail and two on each wing, which would generate lift, and the craft would be steered by leaning up or down to the side. It was based off of a flying machine design, with a few modifications, from a Reneighsance inventor, perhaps the greatest of his time. He was the one I wanted to be like when I was a colt.

I a point under the engine that I could strap myself to, attaching a leather harness would allow me to still control the craft and have the least impact on the overall aerodynamics. I labeled my schematic “Icarus Mark I” named after Equestrian history’s first known pegasus. I went up stairs to prepare for bed, satisfied with my work for the day, I needed rest. If all goes well I should be able to test a completed machine tomorrow. That night I dreamed of flying

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading, let me know if you caught where referenced Leanardo Da Vinci

P.S. Releasing two chapters a day will only be every now and then.