Chapter 90: Failure is Necessary Part 2
"Fortunately, going down is easy. First, you need leg loops like a bosun's' chair." He showed her again how to tie it, then had her double-check her work before he checked again. "If you are doing a straight rappel, you'll only have the one harness, so you want it perfect because you're trusting your life to it. Some people will wear an extra belt to give another place to clip the rope." He attached the big clip the loop he'd had her make and the safety harness, too. She double-checked the rope's attachment to the ring, then he told her to toss the rope down the wall. He handed her a pair of gloves which fit snugly on her hands.
"Stand at the edge, holding the rope in your right hand. Lean back, keep your back straight. Now gradually let the rope slide until you are standing on the face of the wall with your back to the ground. Walk down the wall as you let the rope slide through your hand."
The trip to the bottom was much quicker than going up. Cal grinned as she pushed off and dropped the last couple of feet to the ground.
"We'll make a climber of you for sure." Clarke helped her untie the ropes and get out of the harness.
Cal tilted her head back and looked up the wall.
"Beat you."
As a reward for her victory, Twost led her in a wild gallop back to the Shed.
***
Back in the barn outside her home, Cal allowed herself to relax and experiment with all the things she held back from at the Shed. A steel ball three feet across sat in one corner. It was one that rated up to the 1500 psi. Landers didn't failure test it because he knew the design wouldn't go any higher. Cal rescued it off the scrap heap with Bundo's help and brought to the barn. What she discovered was once the pressure was up on the ball, it never dropped below 1000 psi even without a fire to heat it. She used a copy of Lander's valve to control the flow so she didn't have to light the fire much.
She couldn't take one of Patrick's engines as they all failed spectacularly. The kid was determined and each test lasted a minute or so longer than the last. He'd given up on trying for precise balance and was working on a vibration dampening system. Cal had convinced a blacksmith to make a ridiculous number of what he called steel teeth. She welded the teeth onto the shaft, then painstakingly balanced it. By placing either end on a support and waiting for it to settle into a resting position, she was able to pinpoint the heavier teeth and file them down. After three tedious weeks of work, the shaft and blades no longer rotated on their own. Now, she fitted the conical shell around it. It all attached to a four-bladed prop which the engine team had made then discarded because it was too big.
Hans laughed at her for getting a leather blouse made, but it kept sparks from lighting her clothes on fire. The welder's goggles completed the outfit. Fortunately, Hans was no artist so Cal was safe from finding a picture of her in her work gear pinned to her door. Not to mention after the first time he'd lit his pants on fire, he'd seen the wisdom of her outfit.
She'd rescued a pile of silk fabric thrown out because of the tear. By cutting pieces out around it, she'd made an envelope which filled most of the barn and as far as she could tell, held pressure. To be on the safe side, she'd double-layered the envelope fabric, staggering the seams. After she sewed them, she then glued them as well.
What took up space in the barn now was a single beam with the high-pressure tank, engine and prop mounted on it. She'd got Hans to help her build a floor, then made a frame from wooden slats to glue fabric to for a tent to shelter her from the cold and wind.
In her design, control for the speed would come from a single lever. Instead of stabilizers and rudders, Cal made a single vertical fin at the rear of the envelope. Then large fins on either side of the gondola which she could tilt independently of each other.
The inspiration for the fins came from the project she had finished, but not found enough nerve to test. Hans called it the Kite, and with a strong enough wind, she and the students had actually been able to fly it on a rope, very much like a kite. Cal didn't intend for it to be attached to a rope for use. The last time she'd tried it, she'd had them fly it with her hanging on to a crossbar with her hips and legs on slings. She'd never been so terrified in her life. The Kite had shaken and tumbled, almost throwing her off.
Seeing it standing in the corner made her feel guilty, so on one of her raiding trips to the Shed, she and Bundo had carried it up the roof and put it in the small barn on the top where she didn't have to look at it.
Tonight, Cal inspected all the pieces of the ship but didn't adjust anything. She'd gotten a reply from Crysabel saying that she and Pentam were coming to town and would visit Cal soon.
"What does the Admiralty think of your hobby?" Hans slipped in the door.
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