Let the Music Play, Chapter 37

[Tiger]

I see nothing wrong with your last sentence, Benji. It might be a bit run on but the sentiment is dead on.

 

 

........It was deliberate of course, you know!!

I see stuff like that in stories all the time. Now, if I see that in technical or schoolastic writing, I'll throw my grammar Nazi book at your head. Anyway, I really hope that at least some of the Instinct members survive.

[TalonRider]

Well, that last sentence had me sitting my office at work LMAO. It's a good thing none of my staff are around to wonder what the hells going on.

[bizzymom38]

As wonderful a chapter as this was, I just can't see mr. goat killing off his principles.............

 

Doesn't make much sense, unless the whole world then goes up in flames......... and then what kind of ending is that...................

 

I'll wait for the 'rest' of the story

 

Thanks

 

hugs and blessings

 

Susan

[Benji]

I see stuff like that in stories all the time. Now, if I see that in technical or schoolastic writing, I'll throw my grammar Nazi book at your head. Anyway, I really hope that at least some of the Instinct members survive.

 

 

.....Ahem!!!!

[shadowgod]

I'm really late to this discussion!

The cliffhanger has really reached new hights! Now where did we leave all that tar and feathers?

 

Seriously though, great chapter. It does look like an imposible scenario. The only way out I can think of is if a large part of the plane came off. For example there was once an incident where the roof came of an airliner (Aloha airlines I think). Despite the gaping hole there was only one casualty. In our case the front of the plane is already damaged so it is possible that a large peice of the body may fall off. In that case what do the misiles follow, the piece that came off or the rest of the plane? They are not designed to follow anything that falls apart. A piece of falling debis could possibly be mistaken for an evasive manuver.

 

If that happens the part of the plane still holding together could escape. If at that point it was too close to Las Vegas to justify the use of more misiles they could have a slim chance at an awkward landing. From what little I know of aviation I don't think it is inpossible for an untrained person to land a plane. The main problems are knowing what speed to do it at and keeping the nose of the plane up.

 

The title of the next chapter doesn't tell us anything. With corpses piling up everywhere there is death on the plane, on the ground, and anywhere else you can think to look.

 

Bad Goat!

 

interesting Jfalkon, however i think the missiles will stay with the larger "blip"

 

 

.................The first missile hits the damaged engine and lodges itself in place but amazingly fails to detonate, the plane regains a little control as the missiles continues to burn its thruster, Brandon seeing the dry lake bed below dives to attempt a belly landing the 2nd missile is deflected by the wing by the sudden movement and the remaining missiles miss their target. As the plane dives, Brandon fights to keep the nose up and the plane level, the fuselage lands hard but straight, Brandons head hits the control panel and he loses conscious, the impact shears the wings off and the engines are left behind as the plane continues to plow into the lake bed finally coming to a stop, Eric is the first to realize that they have landed, checking his brothers he is amazed to find them with little injuries but they are unconsicous. Betty is not so lucky as Eric reaches out and close's her eyelids. Moving forward Eric finds Brandon slumped forward in his seat, but he feels a pulse.

 

On a nearby mountain a goat is taking in the scene below while munching on some scrub brush, he is momentarily perplexed as an object seems to grow in size coming at him, his last instinct is to jump, but fearing cliffs he freezes in place as the deflected missile greets him.

 

ROTFLMAO!!!! Too Good Benji! We'll make a writer of you yet, even if it is just to spoof the goat!

 

As wonderful a chapter as this was, I just can't see mr. goat killing off his principles.............

 

Doesn't make much sense, unless the whole world then goes up in flames......... and then what kind of ending is that...................

 

I'll wait for the 'rest' of the story

 

Thanks

 

hugs and blessings

 

Susan

 

Susan! how ya been? Yes it would seem ridicules to kill of the principals, however there has been some discussion as to just who the principles in LtMP really are.

 

other notes: tiger I believed had something about missiles rushing into the ball of flame created by a first missile detonating. Interesting, however, I do not think these are the heat seeking variety...

[Tiger]

other notes: tiger I believed had something about missiles rushing into the ball of flame created by a first missile detonating. Interesting, however, I do not think these are the heat seeking variety...

If that's the case, then maybe there's a chance of survival after all.

[wildone]

Okay, here is my guess....

 

Since the goat challenged us to come up with how they get out of the cliffhanger, I do believe I have the solution. They say the devil is in the details, so who better than the devil to write them in the details . Yes CJ has given us a fair bit of information. So much that it actually took around 2 to 3 hours of research on the internet to find what I was looking for.

 

So in order to avoid having the Sparrow missiles hit the plane, we need the technobabble on what a Sparrow missiles is. First off is that as mentioned above, the Sparrow's guidance system is not heat seeking, as the pilot issued the words "Fox one". This is the brevity code for a missile that is semi-active radar guided or semi-active radar homing (SARH). The guidance system is what is going to determine the direction the missile is to go.

 

In SARH basically, there is no radar equipment in the nose cone of the missile, it relies upon the radar from the launching plane, or launching vehicle (Sparrow's also used on Navy ships for surface to air combat). How essentially it works is the F15's radar begins bouncing radar off an object. Once the missile launches, it zones into the bounce coming back from the object.

 

Technically accurate would be to say if the F15 could not bounce radar off the Bizjet, then the missiles wouldn't have anything to zone in on. So the Bizjet needs to get outside of the fighters envelope.

 

The Bizjet is running on one port engine, at now 1000 feet above ground level, in mountainous terrain in Nevada. In order for any of the missiles to work, the F15's must maintain the illumination of the Bizjet. If the Bizjet continues to lose altitude, and or mountains come into play, then the missiles will have no target to home in on at all.

 

CJ was right, there is no self destruct button, but with no target for the missile to hit if lost from the radar, the missile would eventually burn out of fuel.

 

One interesting stat on a side note, in operation desert storm, the sparrow only had a 37% hit ratio. Although this is with full active, maneuverable jets, opposed to the disable Bizjet, still, 63% of missiles did not hit.

 

I could go into all the references that I used here, but if anyone wants to further look into it, go back to the chapter, and search what was mentioned: The F15's AN/APG X-band pulsed-Doppler radar, the Sparrow AIM 7M. That should lead you to SARH and a lot of other stuff.

 

So hopefully for all of us poor readers who had to suffer the will of CJ's cliffhanger this is the correct answer. If so, maybe we'll have chapter 38 by the weekend, if not, mon/tues is only five days away .

 

Steve

[Benji]

Okay, here is my guess....

 

Since the goat challenged us to come up with how they get out of the cliffhanger, I do believe I have the solution. They say the devil is in the details, so who better than the devil to write them in the details . Yes CJ has given us a fair bit of information. So much that it actually took around 2 to 3 hours of research on the internet to find what I was looking for.

 

So in order to avoid having the Sparrow missiles hit the plane, we need the technobabble on what a Sparrow missiles is. First off is that as mentioned above, the Sparrow's guidance system is not heat seeking, as the pilot issued the words "Fox one". This is the brevity code for a missile that is semi-active radar guided or semi-active radar homing (SARH). The guidance system is what is going to determine the direction the missile is to go.

 

In SARH basically, there is no radar equipment in the nose cone of the missile, it relies upon the radar from the launching plane, or launching vehicle (Sparrow's also used on Navy ships for surface to air combat). How essentially it works is the F15's radar begins bouncing radar off an object. Once the missile launches, it zones into the bounce coming back from the object.

 

Technically accurate would be to say if the F15 could not bounce radar off the Bizjet, then the missiles wouldn't have anything to zone in on. So the Bizjet needs to get outside of the fighters envelope.

 

The Bizjet is running on one port engine, at now 1000 feet above ground level, in mountainous terrain in Nevada. In order for any of the missiles to work, the F15's must maintain the illumination of the Bizjet. If the Bizjet continues to lose altitude, and or mountains come into play, then the missiles will have no target to home in on at all.

 

CJ was right, there is no self destruct button, but with no target for the missile to hit if lost from the radar, the missile would eventually burn out of fuel.

 

One interesting stat on a side note, in operation desert storm, the sparrow only had a 37% hit ratio. Although this is with full active, maneuverable jets, opposed to the disable Bizjet, still, 63% of missiles did not hit.

 

I could go into all the references that I used here, but if anyone wants to further look into it, go back to the chapter, and search what was mentioned: The F15's AN/APG X-band pulsed-Doppler radar, the Sparrow AIM 7M. That should lead you to SARH and a lot of other stuff.

 

So hopefully for all of us poor readers who had to suffer the will of CJ's cliffhanger this is the correct answer. If so, maybe we'll have chapter 38 by the weekend, if not, mon/tues is only five days away .

 

Steve

 

 

.......Thanks Steve, I'm learning a lot more than I probably wanted to on the military aircraft's missile systems!! I'm sure the goat did his research also!

[MikeL]

OK. OK. I've got it. When you consider the irony of this, you will be convinced it is the scenario that will play out in chapter 38.

 

A flock of Canada geese, their natural sense of direction impaired by the nuclear blast in Australia, have wandered over the Nevada desert and are desperately seeking a lake, pond, or swimming pool in which to rest from their long migration. Unwittingly, they fly between the bizjet and the flock of Sparrows and the resulting collision detonates the missiles. The pursuing fighter pilots, their cockpit glass suddenly coated with goose grease, blood, and offal, are momentarily unable to determine the need to fire additional missiles.

 

Meanwhile, back in the bizjet, Chase's cellphone suddenly gets a dial tone from a nearby tower. Chase fights off Eric's attempt to keep him in his seat and rushes to the cockpit. He kisses Brandon as he dials 911. The emergency operator patches him through to the FAA tower and he explains the dire situation to air traffic control. The controller patches in Nellis AFB and they call off the attack. Major Pierce, a commercial airline pilot, then flies alongside the bizjet and talks Brandon through a perfect wheels up landing at the Vegas airport.

 

Yeah. That's it. That has to be it.

[Benji]

OK. OK. I've got it. When you consider the irony of this, you will be convinced it is the scenario that will play out in chapter 38.

 

A flock of Canada geese, their natural sense of direction impaired by the nuclear blast in Australia, have wandered over the Nevada desert and are desperately seeking a lake, pond, or swimming pool in which to rest from their long migration. Unwittingly, they fly between the bizjet and the flock of Sparrows and the resulting collision detonates the missiles. The pursuing fighter pilots, their cockpit glass suddenly coated with goose grease, blood, and offal, are momentarily unable to determine the need to fire additional missiles.

 

Meanwhile, back in the bizjet, Chase's cellphone suddenly gets a dial tone from a nearby tower. Chase fights off Eric's attempt to keep him in his seat and rushes to the cockpit. He kisses Brandon as he dials 911. The emergency operator patches him through to the FAA tower and he explains the dire situation to air traffic control. The controller patches in Nellis AFB and they call off the attack. Major Pierce, a commercial airline pilot, then flies alongside the bizjet and talks Brandon through a perfect wheels up landing at the Vegas airport.

 

Yeah. That's it. That has to be it.

 

 

.....I like the scenerio, but where is the mountain goat??

[C James]

Ok, one clarification; I've never said they get out of the cliffhanger, only that it is resolved. One possible way for the cliffhanger to be resolved is; of the four missiles, three roar past Instict's jet within the radius of their proximity-fused warheads. The resulting explosions riddle the plane with a hail of shrappenl, shredding fuel tanks, engines, electronics, human bodies, etc. This also causes an explosion which renders the plane in to small pieces of burnt, shredded metal, leaving, of course, no survivors.

 

That would resolve the cliffhanger, no?

 

OK, hrmmm, what else can I say? There are some GREAT theories here. And somebody is warm.

[Benji]

Ok, one clarification; I've never said they get out of the cliffhanger, only that it is resolved. One possible way for the cliffhanger to be resolved is; of the four missiles, three roar past Instict's jet within the radius of their proximity-fused warheads. The resulting explosions riddle the plane with a hail of shrappenl, shredding fuel tanks, engines, electronics, human bodies, etc. This also causes an explosion which renders the plane in to small pieces of burnt, shredded metal, leaving, of course, no survivors.

 

That would resolve the cliffhanger, no?

 

OK, hrmmm, what else can I say? There are some GREAT theories here. And somebody is warm.

 

 

...........That's because I'm lighting a fire, things are gonna get warmer

Edited April 30, 2008 by Benji

[MikeL]

.....I like the scenerio, but where is the mountain goat??

The goat, startled by the explosions, jumped off the cliff.

OK, hrmmm, what else can I say? There are some GREAT theories here. And somebody is warm.

I can feel the heat.

 

Speaking of geese, have you ever noticed that the V-formation geese use on their migratory flight is never quite a perfect "V". One side of the V is always shorter than the other. Anyone know why that is?

[YaP]

what a chapter ! truly a "MOACH" (mother of all cliff/cloud hangers). Mean mean mean ! I think i will not read CJames next story (or sequel / second book to one of the stories already up) until its completely posted. Better read a weekend non-stop than wait for another week for such a cliffhanger to resolve Great chapter though !! Mean, brutally crude to us readers, but a great chapter.

 

I have NO idea how the boys will get out of this alive. But they have to, don't they !?!?

 

Maybe the EMP impulse of the second bomb going off will stop the missiles.. even though they SHOULD be shielded against an EMP.. but maybe they are not the newest ones and are not shielded well enough ? The fighters weren't really the latest models, so maybe the missiles aren't either......

[C James]

I just wanted to add; if anyone gets it, I'll remove the post temporarily, replace it with one of mine saying who it was who got it, and post the chapter. I'll return the winning post, along with a spoiler alert, as soon as the chapter is actually oneline.

 

Or, we could just do this the easy way; insist that Shadowgod reclaims his throne. He's really being very cruel to all of you, keeping you waiting like this when all he has to do is reclaim his throne to get the chapter posted... So, add the the outcry; call on Shadowgod to reclaim his cliffhanging throne! It's not as if he doesn't deserve it... Remember Living In Surreality, chapter 26? LiS 26 is truly the Mother of all Cliffhangers.

[Drewbie]

With Lis 26 it was only a possibility one guy that might die, not the whole band and a their manager

 

I like the goats goes off the cliff theory myself

Edited April 30, 2008 by Drewbie

[MikeL]

I just wanted to add; if anyone gets it, I'll remove the post temporarily, replace it with one of mine saying who it was who got it, and post the chapter. I'll return the winning post, along with a spoiler alert, as soon as the chapter is actually oneline.

Well, that bums me out; I was sure I had it figured out.

[GaryK]

Consider the Prologue. It's all about The Scar. Instinct has never been the main characters and there is no reason why they should survive other than our hopes that they do.

 

Am I the one who's warm? If so here's my slightly modified theory:

 

Instead of the missiles missing the bizjet one of them does hit, lodging itself in the one operating engine nacelle and exploding. The force of the blast is enough to shred the engine to pieces but not strong enough to outright blow the plane apart. The missile exploding is the fire above part. I'm sticking with my theory that the fire below is when the bizjet hits the ground and explodes in a fireball killing everyone on board.

 

Do I win anything CJ?

[MikeL]

Consider the Prologue. It's all about The Scar. Instinct has never been the main characters and there is no reason why they should survive other than our hopes that they do.

 

Am I the one who's warm? If so here's my slightly modified theory:

 

Instead of the missiles missing the bizjet one of them does hit, lodging itself in the one operating engine nacelle and exploding. The force of the blast is enough to shred the engine to pieces but not strong enough to outright blow the plane apart. The missile exploding is the fire above part. I'm sticking with my theory that the fire below is when the bizjet hits the ground and explodes in a fireball killing everyone on board.

 

Do I win anything CJ?

[GaryK]

OK, Mike. I like a good challenge.

 

The fire above is the plane exploding in a fireball as all the missile hit their target. The fire below is when The Scar sets off his next nuclear device.

[Benji]

OK, Mike. I like a good challenge.

 

The fire above is the plane exploding in a fireball as all the missile hit their target. The fire below is when The Scar sets off his next nuclear device.

 

 

.....You're forgetting my mountain goat, currently on fire.

[YaP]

OK, Mike. I like a good challenge.

 

The fire above is the plane exploding in a fireball as all the missile hit their target. The fire below is when The Scar sets off his next nuclear device.

 

I agree with the fire below being the second bomb... but the fire in the sky can't be the plane.. because the boys HAVE to survive somehow... well, it could be the plane if they got out of it somehow (e.g. if they find parachutes.. but there isnt enough time for action like that because the missiles are already on their way).

 

Well, maybe the nuclear device (the fire below) triggers the missiles going of (the fire in the sky) just BEFORE they hit the plane !?!?

[GaryK]

Silly Benji. The flaming wreck of a plane hits the damned goat and saves us the trouble of BBQing him.

[YaP]

Silly Benji. The flaming wreck of a plane hits the damned goat and saves us the trouble of BBQing him.

 

LOL

hmm, BBQ... tomorrow people all over germany will have BBQs.. as it is the 1st of May So lets have a 1st of May goat BBQ !

[Benji]

LOL

hmm, BBQ... tomorrow people all over germany will have BBQs.. as it is the 1st of May So lets have a 1st of May goat BBQ !

 

 

........Receipes are welcomed! The fire in the sky could be a wayward missile hitting the oncoming F-16's. Silly Gary, the boys are going to survive!