Dust Devils - A Girls Und Panzer Story

Chapter 72

Saturday, September 14th 2013

The sun has barely crested over the horizon and the Mojave Rose tankery team were already at Inspiration Park for practice, though they did have several minutes to spend before things got truly underway. With their tanks parked closely together, most members of the team took the time to perform additional prep work, others ate a light breakfast and quietly chatted among themselves. That's the key word. Quietly. As a some members were using the short time they had to squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep, those that were awake did their activities as noiselessly as they can. The relative silence matching the calm that mornings were known for. It would all be shattered when the sound of a whooping alarm filled the air followed by a computerized voice.

"Terrain. Terrain. Pull Up! Pull Up!"

Heads turned toward the SU-14.

"For the love of god, Jacqueline!" decried Amber, fidgeting nervously behind her commander. "Pull up! That thing costs over six thousand dollars!"

"We're fiiine," Jacqueline responded incredibly nonchalantly. "I'm just putting the thing through its paces."

"You're gonna crash! And since that thing runs on actual fuel, it's gonna be ugly!"

"Relaax."

Prior to the team driving out to Inspiration Park, a large package was placed near the SU-14. Upon latching eyes on it, Jacqueline raced toward it and like a rabid kid on Christmas morning, tore open the packaging and revealed the box that was encased within. When she read the labeling on it, she squealed with pure delight.

Lockheed SR-71 'Blackbird' 1/12 RC Model Jet

It wasn't too long after when the plane was free from its box and placed on the garage floor. From nose to tail it was over eight feet long, which proved to be enough of a spectacle of its own as people from the team would come over and lay down next to it to compare their size to the plane. It was made from the exact same type of aviation-grade aluminum alloy used to manufacture airplanes such as the Boeing 737, painted in the identical color scheme that gave the Blackbird its name; dark blue.

The RC plane was powered by a pair of small turbojets. If a person wanted to buy just one of the engines and nothing else, then they would need to be prepared to shell out two thousand dollars. These engines could either run on diesel or kerosene and when they were activated, their exhaust fumes could reach temperatures of seven hundred degrees Celsius, or nearly thirteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit.

It's landing gear, too, mimicked the real deal. They were not simple wheels, but actual tires. The box came with an small air compressor with the operating manual specifying the exact PSI that is to be maintained for optimal performance.

All in all, these features and components would very much justify the overall price for the RC Blackbird, but there was more.

What was also in the box was a large, bulky briefcase. When opened, it showed that it wasn't just the plane that was sophisticated. The top portion had a monitor mounted to it, with the bottom containing the controls. A throttle, a control sick, and a whole host of buttons and switches. In all, it was a condensed cockpit made to fit in a briefcase. The complexity would make anyone shy away, but for Jacqueline, she gravitated toward it and immediately worked to get familiar with everything.

When the team were still in the garage, she got the plane ready. As she fueled it with diesel, Jacqueline was in thought. Everyone who came to see the plane up close showed great enthusiasm and when she explained to them how the aircraft could benefit the team, gave her their support. That was all fine and good, but even if the team gave their unanimous support for usage of the plane, it could all be rendered moot by a single 'no' from Valarie. She had the final say.