“we should have had you do glider training before we put you in the cessna.”
“dad, you say that every time there’s a glider performing at the airshow.”
her father looks at her from under one of mum’s floppy garden hats, which he says is good sun protection but linda knows is also to help cover his thinning hair.
“it would have taught you about energy management early,” dad muses, gesturing at the light craft doing loops above them. enya plays on the big loudspeakers. midday, but combined with the gentle dance of the glider pilot’s control, it’s almost soporific. linda yawns a little, tips her head over to rest on her father’s shoulder. he bends down, the brim of his hat tickling the side of linda’s face, and kisses her forehead. “reckon herc and arthur are headed back with lunch?” he asks, nodding over to their empty chairs.
“hopefully soon,” linda replies, eyes on the glider in a wide controlled spin, aerobatic smoke oil painting the sky in pink and green. “they’ve been away for a while.” she straightens up and takes a closer look at her father, his mustache curved up in a benign smile that seems perpetually glued to his face. “why, are you hungry? i still have snacks.”
“no, love,” her dad shakes his head. “i just don’t want them to miss this. the one time you do want to hear silence when you’re in the air.”
linda lets out a sensible chuckle as footsteps sound by them, and arthur’s returning to the group, food in hand; herc’s just behind, a grin on his face.
“linda, colin,” herc calls out pleasantly; “i need to call in some assistance from one of you on a rather pressing matter of theoretical importance.”
“heavens, herc, i’m retired,” linda’s dad replies, “surely you should refer to the captain on this.”
“don’t you teach, dad?” linda snorts, accepting some food from arthur with a smile of thanks.
“not right now,” colin puts his hands behind his head and leans back. “or maybe i just like to show off.”
linda rolls her eyes but smiles up at herc, silhouetted against the sky. “what was it?”
“i was wondering where the glider gets its speed from, since there’s no thrust,” arthur pipes up, and linda turns her attention to him.
“i knew that gliders offset drag by looking for thermals or whatnot to generate lift, but i couldn’t explain how they overcome weight,” herc says. “ground school was a long time ago, you see, and i was never that keen on glider flight.”
“oh, okay,” linda nods. “well,” she looks back at arthur. “the glider pays in height to get speed. does that make sense?”
“oh, so it has to get lower to stay moving?”
“exactly. but it can do it in different kinds of ways, which is why we can see this,” linda points upward at the glider still performing tricks above them. “each maneuver sacrifices a bit of height for a bit of speed. eventually it’s going to get back down to land, but the pilot has to get it there with energy to spare.”
“that makes sense. thanks, linda,” arthur sits back down next to her, unwraps his food, and goes to town.
“yeah, of course,” linda smiles back.
“great explanation, captain fairbairn,” herc remarks on his way to his seat, and linda rolls her eyes but smiles at him as he goes.
“see? i’m truly retired. not a word needed from me,” her dad says from her other side.
“dad,” linda says exasperatedly, and he laughs, kisses her on the cheek, and they return to the show.
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