Is Mal a pilot?
POSTED BY: spock74
UPDATED: Friday, June 20, 2008 15:28
VIEWED: 10455
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It was a shame when Wash died. He was a very powerful character which brought some balance to the crew of Serenity, so I wonder what they will do to replace him. I know at the end of Serenity the movie it was planned to have River in the Navigation seat, but if she is still going to be hunted then what will they do when a Cruiser is met?
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If I can have a Red Dwarf moment here in answer to that question rallem:
"Why don't we all just moon out of the starboard porthole, it always works for me!"
And in the pilot ep, I believe Zoe actually said "Sir, can you take the helm? I need this man to tear all my clothes off." So it's obvious he's capable of flying, just not proficient.
Anybody who disagrees with any of this violently can do so. But no matter what you do, "You can't take the sky from me".
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Quote:
Originally posted by andman:
If I can have a Red Dwarf moment here in answer to that question rallem:
"Why don't we all just moon out of the starboard porthole, it always works for me!"
And in the pilot ep, I believe Zoe actually said "Sir, can you take the helm? I need this man to tear all my clothes off." So it's obvious he's capable of flying, just not proficient...
Nuthin' to indicate Mal ain't proficient...
However , Serenity novelization , page 44 :
" The reason why he kept Wash and Kaylee around was so they could understand all the technical go-se , freeing him up to do captain-y things ."
With regard to Zoe's piloting proficiency ,
page 78 :
" Zoe had lots of fine qualities that made her the most valuable person in Mal's life , but she was only an average pilot...
...when they reached the flats , Zoe veered at some rocks , buzzing them closely enough to loosen them and send them flying into the Reavers . The skiff was forced to veer behind a rise , giving the mule a whole lotta extra room to make the U-turn they'd need in order to make Wash's magic trick work .
All right , maybe she's an above-average pilot ." ( Mal's stream-of-consciousness )
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Quote:
Originally posted by out2theblack:Quote:
Originally posted by andman:
If I can have a Red Dwarf moment here in answer to that question rallem:
"Why don't we all just moon out of the starboard porthole, it always works for me!"
And in the pilot ep, I believe Zoe actually said "Sir, can you take the helm? I need this man to tear all my clothes off." So it's obvious he's capable of flying, just not proficient...
Nuthin' to indicate Mal ain't proficient...
However , Serenity novelization , page 44 :
" The reason why he kept Wash and Kaylee around was so they could understand all the technical go-se , freeing him up to do captain-y things ."
With regard to Zoe's piloting proficiency ,
page 78 :
" Zoe had lots of fine qualities that made her the most valuable person in Mal's life , but she was only an average pilot...
...when they reached the flats , Zoe veered at some rocks , buzzing them closely enough to loosen them and send them flying into the Reavers . The skiff was forced to veer behind a rise , giving the mule a whole lotta extra room to make the U-turn they'd need in order to make Wash's magic trick work .
All right , maybe she's an above-average pilot ." ( Mal's stream-of-consciousness )
Again, that last about Zoe was while piloting a mule evading a skiff. Space vehicle different from mule.
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Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Again, that last about Zoe was while piloting a mule evading a skiff. Space vehicle different from mule.
As Kaylee would say , " Not SO Different ."
If Mal concludes that Zoe has above-average skills at PILOTING a 'mule' , then it stands to reason that she might have
at-least-average skills at say , PILOTING a Shuttle , Standard-Range/Short...
It's not ALL buttons and charts , little grasshopper...It's also PITCH-YAW-ROLL , hands-on throttle and control-yoke , which a PILOT-y type person knows are present on Mule , Shuttle , and Serenity herself...
Serenity is about an order of magnitude more difficult to fly than the Shuttle or the Mule , principally due to the presence of the vectored-thrust engine nacelles , turkey-feathered adjustable exit nozzles , hard-burn-capable air-breathing supersonic-compression turbo-ramjets , atmospheric entry and escape parameters , etc .
The list goes on and on...
Were it not for the level of automated function to keep the pilot workload to a manageable level , and a so-very-pretty mechanic , Serenity couldn't be convinced to fly at all...
The oxen are SLOW , but the Worlds are Patient...
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" Will work for Bar Credit at The Brown Coat Pub and Theatre " .
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Hello,
I believe that Mal is a pilot in the same way that I am a race-car driver.
By that, I mean that I could drive a race car... But no one would want me to.
By the same token, Mal can pilot Serenity or a shuttle, but likely lacks any flair beyond the basics.
--Anthony
"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner
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Quote:
Originally posted by out2theblack:Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Again, that last about Zoe was while piloting a mule evading a skiff. Space vehicle different from mule.
As Kaylee would say , " Not SO Different ."
If Mal concludes that Zoe has above-average skills at PILOTING a 'mule' , then it stands to reason that she might have
at-least-average skills at say , PILOTING a Shuttle , Standard-Range/Short...
It's not ALL buttons and charts , little grasshopper...It's also PITCH-YAW-ROLL , hands-on throttle and control-yoke , which a PILOT-y type person knows are present on Mule , Shuttle , and Serenity herself...
Serenity is about an order of magnitude more difficult to fly than the Shuttle or the Mule , principally due to the presence of the vectored-thrust engine nacelles , turkey-feathered adjustable exit nozzles , hard-burn-capable air-breathing supersonic-compression turbo-ramjets , atmospheric entry and escape parameters , etc .
The list goes on and on...
I fear your analogies fail.
Driving today's ATV, SUV, helicopter, turboprop, VTOL, commercial jet, and fighter jet are all so different as to be seperately trained and qualified. One does not convert to the other in terms of piloting, only in terms of navigational, comm, rad skills, and maybe engineering skills.
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Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,
I believe that Mal is a pilot in the same way that I am a race-car driver.
By that, I mean that I could drive a race car... But no one would want me to.
By the same token, Mal can pilot Serenity or a shuttle, but likely lacks any flair beyond the basics.
--Anthony
"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner
No one would want you to ?
Why are you caring about that ?
If you really wanted to be a race-car
driver , "no Power in the 'Verse would stop you".
Shouldn't extrapolate out of your own lack of
experience , onto the Captain...That's called
projecting...
Mal doesn't care whether someone else
wants him to own and fly his own ship...
For him , it's a 'good day' because he's
still flyin', and for him ,
that's 'Enough'...
Makes me curious 'bout that signature quote of
yours...
Look up what Ben Franklin had to say
about 'essential Liberty', and get back to me
'bout what Security you're giving up...If you've
got a sufficiently insightful Humanity , you'll
Know not to let your Liberty be taken ,
'cause of what someone else wants...
Try Not..Do...or Do Not...There is no 'Try'...
Dong Ma ?...
_________________________________________________
" Will work for Bar Credit at The Brown Coat Pub and Theatre " .
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Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
I fear your analogies fail.
Fear Not . " Fear is the mind-killer..."
Losing the fear is the name of the game...
There's more to the Art of Flying than
'Falling
with Grace'.
Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Driving today's ATV, SUV, helicopter, turboprop, VTOL, commercial jet, and fighter jet are all so different as to be seperately trained and qualified. One does not convert to the other in terms of piloting, only in terms of navigational, comm, rad skills, and maybe engineering skills.
Now that sounds ALMOST sensible , in a
superficial kinda way...You ain't weak ,
but I guess if you wanted schoolin',
you'd have gone to flight school...
( There's that projectin' thing
rarin' up again...)
Yoda says : "Only in your mind are they
different."
But , Solo says : "Flying a starship
ain't exactly like dustin' crops..."
You've started to mix your metaphors , then
turn 'round tellin' me that my 'analogy'
has failed...
See , I didn't ever mention ATV's ,
SUV's , and the like...Those are really
not aero or space vehicles...Right ?
River says , "It's not applicable."
Zoe says , "Talkin' ain't DOIN'."
When we refer to the other vehicles from your
list , we don't generally call it 'driving',
except in the most colloquial sense...
Flying is flying...Ask any Astronaut...
Point of fact , I met many astronauts along my
career path , and all of 'em will tell you the
same thing...
Perhaps most memorably , I got to see the Apollo
11 crew , all in one place , and an F8F Bearcat
flew along the flightline , which was quite the
distraction to Neil Armstrong , 'cause he had
experience with the type , and he commented that
"Flying is flying , but right now , I'd really
LOVE to be flying one of THOSE !"
A REAL PILOT is always learning , and EVERY
Flight is a Training Flight...
Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
...One does not convert to the other in terms of piloting, only in terms of navigational, comm, rad skills, and maybe engineering skills.
Try tellin' that to the literally , oh , shall
we conservatively say , HUNDREDS of
Pilots that I've known who have converted
to 'the other' , as you so eloquently put it...
'Comm' ? Ain't none of these guys would 'drop the
airplane' to 'fly the microphone'...
'Rad Skills' ? Well , at times I've been
accused of having 'rad skills' , but in view of
all that you don't know , I have to ask what
you're referring to there ?
See , there's three basic ways that folk
apprehend and process their information...
1. There's when 'they know what they KNOW.'
2. There's when 'they know what they DON'T KNOW '...
And , 3.-- There's when 'they DON'T KNOW what they don't know.' This is what makes folk 'crash and burn' , what test pilots call , 'The unknown UNKNOWNS'...
Kaylee says , " That was mean , is what..."
Mal says , " Why are we still talking about this ? "
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" Will work for Bar Credit at The Brown Coat Pub and Theatre " .
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