#Pt-17

[nocternalrandomness]

1942 Stearman PT-17

[usaac-official]

A Stearman biplane pulls around onto the ramp at a CAF airshow in Virginia, October 2023.

Shot on my 1983 Betamovie camcorder, hence the less than stellar quality.

[bigglesworld]

Boeing PT-17 Kaydet A75N1 VH-JLA. At Hunt Field YHTF. 2010

[airmanisr]

PT-17 Formation, Cerny, 04-06-2022 by Gordon Riley

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 17

PREVIOUS

1. You do not talk about the Speakeasy in the basement 2. You DO NOT TALK about the Speakeasy in the basement

Those are two of the three cardinal rules of Eden’s Twilight both as a VIP customer and as an employee. The rest are more suggestions or requests that are fairly malleable depending on the night and the patron.

Andrew himself had broken the latter half of ‘Don’t be a dick or try anything with your dick on the club premises’ multiple times with Roland and then he’d broken it even further and with more vigor with Neil.

Roland had tried to bill them for the furniture in the break room and Andrew had been more than happy to use some of the blackmail he’d been holding onto to make it go away despite Neil’s repeated attempts to try and pay for it. “It’s my fault Andrew, I asked you to lay me there.” And “Allison didn’t warn me that it could stain fabric, she said it transferred really easily onto skin.” Had been waved away as Roland was happy to have those particular bits of blackmail out of play.

That being said Roland had come in despite the clear ‘occupied’ signs on the door and interrupted some of Andrew’s finest work a few weeks ago (His from? Excellent. His pacing? Excellent. His angle? Excellent. The noises Neil had been making? Perfection.)

Roland still couldn’t look at Neil without his eyes wandering where they shouldn’t so Andrew had a guest pass for the speakeasy waiting for him at the bar to make up for that wandering eye.

Which meant that he could take FF down to the speakeasy tonight. He was sure that FF would pass muster and be able to come without a pass after the night, he was just the kind of guy that they liked to have down there.

It would all be so simple if it weren’t for the third cardinal rule of Eden’s Twilight.

3. Nicky Hemmick is not allowed to know about the Speakeasy.

When Nicky had worked at Eden’s he’d been popular but he’d also talked about all sorts of secrets. He spilled tea like Aaron had spilled drinks.

So the club had done what it had to do in order to protect the incredibly select and private feature of their club:

They lied about what was down there and then they committed to that lie.

So the day came and Nicky was looking at the door with a guard next to it, “Where does that go?” He asked.

“It’s an exclusive club for straight swingers to meet and swap.” The lie rolls off of Roland’s tongue like the truth.

Nicky made a disgusted face. “Straight people.” He said shaking his head and then Roland swiftly made some purchases to sell his lie and offered the guard Frank an additional $5 an hour if he was willing to change his uniform.

Nicky Hemmick has never gone near the door since then and it is considered a success for the record books by all of the staff and VIPs in the know.

Which is why Andrew had needed a plan to pry Nicky off of FF for the night.

Nicky and FF had spent the entire time at Sweeties elbowing one another and laughing (well Nicky laughed and FF tolerated all of Nicky’s jokes and implications stoically), Nicky had been sticking with FF like he was one of the various flecks of glitter that stuck to FF after the freshman had slept in Nicky’s bed.

Before he’d gotten FF dressed up Nicky had made a solemn oath, “You and me Smithy, we’ll dance the night away!” Nicky had exclaimed.

“I’m good thanks.” FF said, “You know what will happen if I dance.” He says and Nicky grimaces as if remembering something painful. He wonders if FF just isn’t a good dancer or if the consequences of someone bumping into him were as painful as they were when someone bumped into Andrew on the dance floor.

“Well, then you and me will just have to spend the entire night chatting in the booth Smithy!” Nicky had smiled as if he wasn’t fucking up Andrew’s plans to take FF down to the speakeasy where they could sit without the headache inducing music that Nicky, Aaron, and even Kevin (he claims Stockholm syndrome) claim to love.

So, Andrew had needed to find a way to get Nicky to a state where he would be compelled to dance and leave FF alone for the night.

There are exactly three sure-fire ways to get Nicky Hemmick to become a slave to the dance floor.

1. You have to play his favorite music and Andrew doesn’t know if there’s enough blackmail in the world to get Roland to force a DJ to play nothing but Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass, Gasoline by Daddy Yankee, or Usher’s DJ’s Got Us Fallin’ In Love (his three current obsessions) on a loop for the entire night. (Bust)

2. You are Erik Klose and you want to dance. This option was unlikely due to Erik currently (as far as Andrew knew) being in Germany. (Bust)

3. Nicky has taken some party drugs. (Feasible)

So, Andrew may have been the one that had reminded both his brother and Nicky about Cracker Dust on their way to the car. Neil shoots him a look he ignores because Andrew hasn’t really pushed or mentioned Cracker Dust in almost a year.

It was something that they had all gotten off of for various reasons the year prior.

Neil had never started, Andrew had his deal with Neil, Kevin wanted to cut back on the substances he was abusing and he was not going to be giving up alcohol anytime soon, Aaron had needed a squeaky clean image for the trial, and Nicky had given it up in solidarity.

Aaron had been bemoaning that he had forgotten to get any the last four times they had gone to Eden’s so, really, Andrew was just being a thoughtful brother when he’d reminded his cousin.

So when they park the Maserati and head into the club it is no shock that after the first round of drinks (Neil & FF both had bottled waters) Nicky whips out the sandwich baggy he had gotten from FF and hands Aaron his share.

In a turn of good luck a bass heavy remix of Flo Rida’s Club Can’t Handle Me started playing and the only thing Nicky did was squeal, kiss FF’s cheek, and drag Aaron out onto the dance floor.

And then there were three.

***

FF had NOT been able to figure out where the hell the bathrooms were.

It might be due to the fact that his stomach is trying to stage a revolt against him but he’s pretty sure he’s forgotten how to read English. There are no other languages around  for him to see if this illiteracy has spread to other languages.

He wonders it he brought out his katakana flashcards if the lines would blur or if his brain would be so filled with the unrelenting desire to go to the bathroom that his Professor would wonder how he ever got full marks on his midterm.

Maybe clubs didn’t have signs that pointed to the bathroom? Was he supposed to go up and ask that bartender that Andrew kept going to? Was it like a gas station where he had to ask for keys?

Oh god Captain Neil just asked him something.

When the hell did Nicky lea-

Oh Dj’s Got Us Falling In Love is playing. Nicky is definitely on the dance floor. FF has yet to escape Nicky grinding on him whenever this song happens to come on the radio he is sure that someone right now out on the dance floor is suffering the same fate that he has 3-4 times a week.

He wonders if Nicky will call Erik like he usually does when it comes on outside of the club.

At least it’s super hard to hear in this club if Nicky takes a seat next to him and starts gushing to Erik in German.

Oh god Captain Neil just asked him something and he just remembered that this would be the second time Captain Neil has asked him something.

If there was one weakness in FF’s foreign language arsenal it is that he has a hard time processing language when surrounded by loud sounds. If he knows what language they’re talking in he can sometimes get by on reading lips (does that count as another language? Probably not) but Captain Neil speaks like four languages fluently and his Spanish is getting better and better every-

Oh god Captain Neil and Andrew just asked him something and he still hasn’t answered the other two times.

“I can’t hear you!” He calls out and hopes they can at least understand HIM.

Andrew rolls his eyes and bumps Captain Neil’s shoulder with his own. He sees Andrew whisper something to Captain Neil before pointing somewhere in the distance.

OH

They had noticed his obvious plight and were going to show him to the bathroom!

That was nice.

Maybe Nicky had asked them before his songs came on.

Andrew and Captain Neil are out of the booth and Andrew juts his chin off in a certain direction. FF does NOT need to be told twice, he’s more than happy to follow Andrew to the bathroom like some pre-schooler following their mom. These are desperate times.

So Andrew and Captain Neil guide him across the dance floor and…sure enough Nicky is grinding on some other guy who looks like he’s in heaven and he thinks he can see Aaron’s pale arms flying uncoordinatedly all over the place somewhere in the middle distance.

FF finds himself with Captain Neil and Andrew in a hallway. There’s a guard in front of the door with a bizarre pineapple shirt (why are they all upside down?) on but FF hadn’t even dressed himself tonight so he really shouldn’t judge.

“Minyard, Josten, and one guest.” He can hear Andrew say now that they’re away from the loud thrum of the music.

How fancy is this bathroom?

The man looks at Andrew, Captain Neil, and then FF. There is a visible head-to-toe inspection when he hits FF and whatever the man sees must past muster.

“Acceptable. You know the rules.”

Rules?

Wash your hands?

Don’t piss on the floor?

Let staff know if the urinal is low on ice?

FF hoped the rules would be posted in easy to understand pictures because his ability to read the English language was still heavily hampered at the moment.

Why is the handle to the door an upside pineapple too? Did someone install it wrong? Also Eden’s does not give off a very tropical vibe so why would they pick that?

The door opens and-

Oh.

Those are stairs.

Oh.

Andrew’s taking him to the basement.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

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[nikkalick]

I have chronic back pain, have for a while. It’s not so bad now that I had surgery, but I lived with it for years. I tried to go to a doctor for it, but they just said to lose weight, so I learned to live with the pain until one morning I couldn’t get up from bed. Couldn’t move without feeling like electricity was running up and down my back, burning my spine and leg from the inside.

This had me back in front of a doctor who (thankfully) listened and then for an entire year my insurance jerked me around requiring that I try different methods to manage the pain before finally agreeing to cover surgery.

In that year leading up to surgery something inside me broke. I couldn’t do the most basic tasks. Having to learn how to move my body in just the right way so that I wouldn’t lock up trying to wipe my own ass is one of my least favorite memories. Next to it is a tie between falling at my sister’s wedding because my leg gave out and being in so much pain I couldn’t sleep for days on end. I couldn’t sit, couldn’t drive, couldn’t bend or twist or even lay down without feeling like my nerves were on fire.

Work accommodated but I felt useless. I couldn’t lift inventory anymore. Couldn’t do a key part of my job that I (oddly) enjoyed doing. Commuting the hour to school twice a week was excruciating, but it was my first year of grad school. I had to push through. My professors were kind, they accommodated so that I could be as comfortable as possible in class. But I felt like a distraction, a nuisance, a bother. It was so hard to focus on lectures and homework when 90% of the input my brain was receiving was that of pain.

I grit my teeth and bore it, my mental health hit a new all time low, and I broke down in front my my mother more times than I can count. And I did this for a year because insurance refused to cover surgery unless I proved to them I needed it. I had to jump through their hoops and play by their rules to get the procedure I needed and that my care team knew I needed. I lost feeling in my leg and foot because they made me wait.

I will forever be grateful for the doctors who listened, for the physical therapist who advocated for me, for my mom who surprisingly became my rock during the whole ordeal. But my insurance company? They can go fuck themselves.

My pain before that year was bad, but not excruciating. My pain now? It’s minimal. Sometimes I still lock up and I’ll likely never have all of the sensation return to my left foot, but I’ll take the constant pins and needles over that year of pain any day. That said, had it gone on much longer I genuinely don’t know if I’d be here typing this.

Anyways…I guess what I’m saying is IF he did it, I get it. I really really get it.

[jeonstudios]

me: plans for 8-10 parts and estimates roughly 50-60k words.

also me:

[crimeronan]

camila and hunter going from VERY TENSE coexistance in worst timeline to bonding over the 24/7 emotion of "luz keeps doing Things without telling me with Full Confidence they'll turn out fine. but. but i dont think they will."

luz's initial solution to "hunter isn't allowed to sleep in my room" is "oh, that's fine!! i will just stay awake all night and then catnap on his shoulder during the day and no one will be the wiser." this of course means she's getting approximately two hours of sleep per day and none of it is REM. She Is Not As Smooth As She Thinks She Is

hunter yells at her about it before like two weeks have gone by & then is like camila can i Please sleep with her on the couch. please please please. we'll be directly in your sight and i'll keep my hands above the covers. Blease

camila is Also worried sick about luz so she's like. yeah okay. hunter pulls a weighted blanket over luz and holds her and she literally immediately falls asleep for 19 straight hours. hunter refuses to extricate himself to pee or eat even though he himself is awake for approximately 13 of those hours, so camila keeps bringing him granola bars and being like. honey you Can wake her up. it's Okay.

hunter: >:( Absolutely Not .

[18catsreading]

Lou: for my sister, for my daughter -- and I bring it down.

Brennan: you slice this piece of cake perfectly in half. To the point where no decent burial or anything done with his remains could be anything other than a disgrace and a mockery to his memory.

Lou: I get down on my knees and I grab the back of his pants. And I lift them up and I wait to watch while he shits himself

Brennan: one final humiliating shit.

Cumulus: Wow!

Amethar: Oh. Yea, cousin, uh --

Cumulus: You don't have to explain yourself

Amethar: Ok cool. Cool.

Brennan: Calroy Cruller is dead.

[usafphantom2]

Ryan PT-17

@ron_eisele via X

[fiddles-ifs]

does bautista spot for the tracker if they like to work out? assuming the tracker wasnt being their typical idiot self and worked out without a spotter lol.

Bautista does spot for the tracker! Hard not to. :]

[nocternalrandomness]

Gary Rower taxis his 1941 PT-17 during the Aviation Nation Airshow at Nellis AFB

[roaringroa]

they should make a life where you don't have appointments, work, school and scheduled events every single day for months on end

[kilandra-mordea]

Happy birthday to meeee! 🥳🥳🥳 It's already past midnight here, but I'm still on 17th vibes. A dear friend wrote a oneshot as a gift for me, and it is my duty to share. It's a mega-drama-end-of-the-world short story that made me cry like a baby 😭😭😭 ...just how I like it! 🥹 It's in Portuguese, though, for those who can read it or don't mind using translators. https://www.spiritfanfiction.com/historia/if-the-world-was-ending--naruhina-25917885

I hope you like it as much as I did 🥹🥹🥹🥰❤️

[anger-anon]

How would you feel if PT and 🔥 called you their little Princess at the same time?

I-uh…I think that’d be what makes me have a heart attack for the first time actually..

[jtl-fics]

Idk if wip Wednesday but I'd love to see more new kings!! I can't wait ik once Neil gets back to the foxes it's gonna be so good!!!

WIP Wednesday (7/12/23) - Closed | New Kings AU

Neil's exhaustion was catching up to him. Wymack watched as Neil drifted off with his cheek resting on Andrew's shoulder, a fry still in his hand.

Andrew carefully took the fry and ate it himself. Neil sighed and shivered slightly in the AC of the airport. Andrew looked at Wymack, "The stores usually have those blankets and pillows." he says and Wymack rolls his eyes.

"Are you asking me to buy Neil a set?" he asks and Neil startles back awake.

"I'm fine." he says.

Wymack sighs getting up to his feet (it was still strange to find his knees working so well) and heading to one of the convenience stores ignoring as he heard Neil's attempted protests. He grabbed a grey package deal on the travel pillow and blanket set before moving to the medicine section and grabbing what he remembered Andrew had started using at the end of his career at Palmetto to deal with flying as well as three bottles of water and a can of pringles.

He deposited all but one bottle of water and the pringles with his two players. "I expect both of you to sleep through the flight." he says.

There's still 20 minutes before their flight and Neil dozes off again as Andrew types away on Neil's phone.

Then their boarding group was called and Wymack watched as Andrew clicked rapidly through Neil's phone with a smug look on his face before shutting the phone off and handing it to a drowsy Neil.

"What are you doing Minyard?" he asks brow raised.

"I just texted all the Foxes 'Hi, it's Neil.'." he says as he shuts off his phone and hands the Gate Agent his and Neil's tickets.

Wymack wisely shuts his own phone off before the onslaught of texts and calls hit his own phone.

What a little shit.