Crashing into Another World

Chapter 1

Hello hello! Here are a few vocab words that may help with understanding the chapter:

1. Center of gravity – the location where all the weight will act through. If it is not within a certain defined range it can result in unsafe flight (i.e. cause planes to crash)

2. Fuselage – the body of the plane

3. Ailerons – These control the roll of the plane, so they basically push one wing down and the other up in order to create a turning motion.

4. Rudder – similar as with boats, it controls the yaw of the plane. This is essentially the left to right motion while the wings remain horizontal.

5. Elevator – the horizontal control surface the allows the plane to pitch up or down (i.e. pitch)

6. Trim tabs – a control surface on an aileron, the rudder or the elevator that allows the pilot the fine tune their control of the plane. It basically makes flying easier if there is a bit of wind or if the balance of the plane is slightly off but still within the "ok" range.

7. Prop is short for propellor

8. Chucks – blocks used in the front and back of wheels to prevent them from rolling

9. METAR

10. Aerodrome – So an aerodrome is different from an airport. While an airport has a certificate basically stating that it is an airport, an aerodrome is essentially anywhere where flight vehicles may land or take off. They also don't need to have a control tower like an airport

I hope I explained those clearly, though you can still understand the story even without this as the aviation lingo with only be used in the first few chapters.

Enjoy :)

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It was early morning; the birds hadn't quite woken up yet, they sounded a bit drunk, with the sun only just starting to make its presence known. The air was still chilly and dew drops could still be seen lining the blades of grass and moistening the pavement.

A woman's short fluffy golden hair could be seen bouncing on her head as she made her way from a rundown building that looked a bit like a very large shed out onto the tarmac. She had a worn bag roughly slung over her shoulder and a clipboard in hand. She walked over to a small, yellow high wing plane, a De Havilland Beaver (DHC-2). Once at the plane, she popped open one of the back doors, flung her bag in a (hopefully) open space and began climbing up the step on the side of the plane so that she could peer inside.

As part of her delivery job she had to ensure that the staff who had loaded in the cargo had in fact done their job correctly. Working for a small bush flying company meant that any error could cost her and the ground crew their jobs. So, the odds of them having made a mistake were minimal, however she rather double check than be sorry.

Standing on a step while keeping balance using the door frame, she counted the cans of food and paged water bottles, all while checking off each sealed pack from her list:

     o Beef stew x20

     o Clam chowder x20

     o Ham & Pea Soup x20

     o Canned Tuna x10

     o Canned Beef x20

     o Large bag of salt x1