Flight School
| Flight School | |
|---|---|
| Usage | Training School of the DDF |
| World | Detritus |
| Universe | Skyward Universe |
Training
Mockpits
The majority of the training period for cadets at the DDF Flight School is spent in mockpits. Mockpits are devices meant to emulate flying in a real jet. They consist of a bulky device with a seat, a control console, and part of a fuselage built around them. They look as if they have been ripped out of a starship.[2] The control panel layout in the mockpits are based off the control panel of the current Poco-class starship, containing a throttle lever, a dashboard full of buttons, and a control sphere. Attached to each mockpit is a holographic projector, which allows cadets to simulate flying and being in real battles.[3] The mockpits are incapable of simulating g-forces, so cadets have to spend ample amounts of time in a centrifuge to get their body used to the g-forces they will experience when truly flying.
Flights
Each Flight School Flight is taught by a former DDF pilot, called an instructor. Each flight consists of ten cadets, one of whom is a flightleader. The three most recent graduating flights are Skyward Flight, Firestorm Flight, and Inkwell Flight. Out of ten cadets, the average number to graduate is one, maybe two.[2] Cadets know each other in training by callsigns that last with the graduates of each Flight into their time as full DDF Pilots. Each Flight is assigned to sleep in two dorms, one for boys, and one for girls, equipped with beds and cots, except Spensa Nightshade and Jorgen Weight, who sleep in a cave and their own home, respectively.[4] Flights also eat and exercise together, again excluding Spensa and Jorgen. The Flight School provides Physical Therapy, either swimming laps in a pool or lifting weights. The Flight School also provides target practice with sidearms, and athletic activities such as wall-ball.[5] Romantic relations between cadets are prohibited until after graduation.[4]
Different Ships
Towards the end of their training, cadets practice on different ships, such as Largo[6], Slatra[6], and Val-class[7] starships to see what role they want to perform in the DDF once they graduate.
Culture
Because acclivity rings are so valuable, most instructors tell their students that a good pilot can land a starship and salvage their acclivity ring, as opposed to ejecting.[8] Cobb, however, tells his students that no piece of equipment is worth more than a cadet's life.[3][9]