Planes Page #6

SKIPPER:
Great, you can

go up and down. What else?

- Show me your turns.

- Here we go!

You think that was good? That stunk!

Knife-edge those elm trees.

Oh, come on. Keep your nose up!

Hey, Skip.

- You want speed, right?

- Yeah.

- Serious, bolt-rattling speed?

- Oh, yeah!

Then look up.

Do you see those clouds?

The highway in the sky.

Tailwinds like nothing

you've ever flown.

What are you waiting for?

Come on, power up. Firewall thrust.

Max torque, max torque!

All right, looking good.

Hold V-Y, Dusty. Max rate, now.

Your nose is too high.

Get your nose down.

You're going to stall.

Ease off the pitch. Nose down!

Oh!

Hey, what are you doing?

(PANTING)

(EXHALES)

SKIPPER:

What just happened up there?

I'm... I'm low on fuel.

Do I look like I was built yesterday?

- No, no. It's a long story.

- I got time.

Uh...

Okay, well, um, you know,

I feel like I was having some problems

with my axial compressor so...

The Jolly Wrenches have a motto,

Volo Pro Veritas.

It means "I fly for truth."

Clearly, you don't.

Sparky, push me back to the hangar.

(STAMMERS)

I'm afraid of heights.

(BRAKES SCREECHING)

- But you're a plane.

- I'm a crop duster.

I've never flown over a thousand feet.

Are you kidding?

Scared of heights and you want to

race around the world?

Uh, Skip, during the attack

of Tujunga Harbor,

why, even the P-38s

had trouble at high altitudes.

Well, they didn't have to fly

over the Himalayas, did they?

I'll still be low to the ground,

just high up.

And after the war,

those 38s went on to win races.

Really? Is that true?

Yeah, true.

Like in the Cleveland race of '46.

- For real?

- Wait, it gets better.

In '49, the P-38 Sky Ranger

averaged 337 miles per hour.

Wait, 337?

Well, actually 337.4, but they

round it down in the record books.

Why would you do that?

Some people just have

no respect for decimal points.

- Yeah, I know. Tell me about it.

- Why couldn't they round it up?

- Seriously, he...

- All right, all right.

So, you're a flat-hatter.

We'll work on that.

But for now let's see if we can turn

low and sloppy into low and fast.

Roger that.

It'll go like this.

The flag marks the start line.

Across the cornfield,

three silos are waiting for you.

Slalom those with a radial-G pass.

DUSTY:
Wait. "A radial" what pass?

SKIPPER:
Once you get to the trees,

go to your optimal rate of climb

to about 500 feet.

Roll inverted and extend,

trading altitude for air speed

- and dive toward the finish line.

- DUSTY:
Uh, okay.

You string all that together,

you might have a chance to beat him.

Who am I racing?

SKIPPER:
Here he comes.

He's a twin commuter

pushing about 1500 horsepower.

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