Gratuitous Domestic Posting (TM)

The Missus took the Llama-ettes out to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Annex today. The huge hit of the trip was the simulator room, the eldest flying one of the jets solo and the five year old taking a shuttle ride up to the ISS with her Mom. (I've already been warned that the gel intends to announce she flew in space today when I get home.)

If you haven't had a go in one of these rides, you really should the next time you find yourself at Air & Space. The effect of three-D all-around graphics and a hydrolic system that lets the pod climb, dive, bank and invert, is quite impressive.

A couple of Christmases ago now, I took the eldest on one of the simulators at the Air & Space museum down on the Mall. It was a simulation of a carrier-based fighter. I figured I'd impress the child with a little hot dogging, so as soon as we were ready, I firewalled the throttle and yanked back on the stick.

Big mistake.

Not because of the gel, you understand - she loved every minute of it. But rather, because the sensation was so realistic that my own horrendous flying phobia came right to the surface, with its attendant sweaty palms, white knuckles and dry mouth. I won't say that I panicked, necessarily. But I sure wasn't my usual calm, cool, collected self either.

After a minute or two, I calmed down sufficiently that I could fly the plane on a gentle, leasurely course. In this way, we went after a series of fixed ground targets, self at the controls and the Llama-ette manning the guns. If it had come to aerial combat, with its necessary violent manuevering, I've no doubt we would have been blown out of the sky almost before we knew we were under attack.

I don't how the Llama-ette did in her solo today, but if I know anything about her personality, I'll bet she was stunting that kite for all it was worth.