Luzon

Chapter 1

The Big Adventure

It was six o’clock in the morning when Shack came knocking on my door. Bam! One solid knock, in the best military drill sergeant tradition, was my greeting as usual.

“Buck! Get up!” Shack heckled me.

“I’m up, I’m up,” I asserted. As I opened the door, Shack popped into the room like a jack-out-of-the-box.

“Come on! We’ll miss the first Jeepney.”

Jeepneys are World War II Jeeps that the Filipinos have converted to taxis. They are brightly painted and some parts are covered with engine-turned sheet metal. This metal looks as though it has whorls scratched into it. They range from junky to gaudy. The roof has open sides, and extends from the driver to the back portion where the passengers ride. The passengers sit facing the center of the vehicle down both sides. The wheel base has been extended a foot or two which provides extra capacity. The really good ones are truly handmade mechanical works of art. Jessie’s was not one of them...

“Jessie said if we make it to him first, he’ll wait for us while we’re up there. Otherwise, he’ll be on his route and he won’t be able to stay with us.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” I needled him.

We took the bus on-base to the Friendship Gate. There Jessie was, waiting for us.

“Pottyco, you almost walk to the mountain! Five more minutes, you go alone!” Jessie spoke, in Filipino-English. “Twenty-five Pesos. You got it with you?” he mocked, sticking his hand out.

“Man, who stepped in your Wheaties Jessie?” I griped.

“Sorry Buck, but my riders no like ride other Jeep. I took a lot of lip from them,” he whined.

“That’s malarkey, Jessie,” Shack spoke up. “We oughta be able to rent your Jeep for a month for twenty-five Pesos!”

“Really. Come on, crank up that flat head,” I said, referring to the engine type in the Jeep. “We’ve got a mountain to explore!”

Preview page two: The characters are testing a J-85 jet engine on a test stand. 

“Wah-hoo!” Sgt. Ellis war-whooped at the sight. Shack and Boudreau were concentrating on the controls, since any bad things would go from real bad to ape-shit in seconds now.

“Looks good, go to two,” Shack told her. She moved the throttle another notch, and the sound got almost painful as the flame got darker and longer. “Good, go to three,” he said. “We can’t take too long, it will overheat,” he nodded. “Good, hit it to MAX,” he instructed. At that, the fourth and final stage, the thrust indicator said 5,500 lbs. The sound was excruciating. Even their teeth hurt. “OK, pull it out of AB.” The nozzle closed up, and the flame went out with a R-R-R-A-A-A-P!, and the resulting wide-open jet engine appeared to be almost quiet. “Now, shove it to full AB all at once.” “BOOM/R-O-A-R!” It went to full thrust instantly, just like it should. A crackling blue flame seared the tropical air as the nozzle immediately blossomed. “OK, roll it back to idle,” he shouted. The nozzle popped shut, and then relaxed, squelching the flame, as the engine slowed down quickly to a gentle whistle. After a couple of minutes, he told her, “Kill it.” Boudreau slapped the cover down on the switch and the engine moaned to a stop.

“That was incredible!” she shouted, a little too loud. “My heart’s goin’ a hundred miles an hour!” she grinned.

“Yeah, mine too,” Sgt. Ellis agreed “I bet there ain’t a bird sittin’ on the ground for half a mile!” he laughed.

“It’s like sex, it’s always good!” Shack whacked her on the back. Their skin was tingling from the intense sound energy generated by the engine.

“Can you imagine a J-79?” she asked.

“You have to have a real test cell to run those babies. They look like a giant concrete letter “C” laying on it’s back. The air goes down the front chimney, through the engine, and out the top of the other chimney, straight up. When they turn on the AB, they dump water into the aft chamber to cool the cell. It makes a huge cloud, quiet as a church mouse. They have one in Kadena. I saw it run once while I was TDY,” Sgt. Ellis explained.

“Can you feel it shaking though?” Shack asked.

“Just a little in full AB, that’s all,” he smiled. “The glass