Owner	Pose
War Machine	It's early in the day, the hangar doors slowly slide open revealing bright blue skies in every direction for miles. It's a clear and beautiful day as winds flow in from the now opened doors. Far out on the horizon a little dot becomes visible.      Speeding along the dot is in fact a QuinJet traveling at high velocity right towards the bay. As it comes closer the craft lifts up into the air and backwards looping around on itself once, twice, three times before leveling out. It doesn't take long for the craft to speed its way into the bay turning around with barely any clearance left before touching down onto the floor of the bay.      The hum of the engines slowly fades from a loud roar to a quiet hum as the jet powers down, and soon there's little noise left but that of the everyday goings on around the helicarrier. The cockpit flips open and a figure in a full SHIELD uniform hops out quickly touching down onto the floor of the bay with a clatter of boots on metal.      Rhodey throws his arms back behind his head with a wide smile on his face as he takes a deep breath of that fresh air, starting to make his way from the parked quinjet. He takes one last look around stretching his arms out behind him before falling into a more respectable stance for a SHIELD Agent. "Never gets old." Spoken to the empty air as he walks over to fill out his checklist.
Melinda May	Agent May is not on the Helicarrier often, and then usually only because she's ferrying someone to and/or from the Triskelion. On this bright blue morning she's doing some pre-flight checks on her own quinjet, and she looks over as someone makes a bit of a show out of coming in for a landing. Agent Rhodes is clearly enjoying being here, and... well, May would not consistently agree. She finishes one last check on her quinjet before handing the list off to the co-pilot and heading over toward the Colonel. "What brings you here this morning, Rhodes?"
War Machine	Rhodey looks up from his checklist sticking the stylus back behind his ear for a moment as the data pad goes under his arm. "Agent May." He offers with a bit of a smile and a light nod. "Just running some new modifications on the quinjet through their paces," He shrugs his shoulders as if it was just the average every day for him. "and I figured putting in some reconnaissance for an upcoming op at the same time couldn't hurt matters."      He flicks the stylus back out from behind his ear and checks off a few boxes on the pad, making sure to scribble down some notes for later. "How about you?" He motions over her direction. "Getting ready to clock in some hours?"
Melinda May	"Pretty much. What modifications?" May is looking over Rhodes quinjet now, as if she'll be able to see whatever changes hav been made. She's not a mechanic by any stretch, but she's clocked more than enough hours on these birds to know them almost as well as a mechanic might. She's one of the few SHIELD pilots to have a quinjet reserved for her use only.
War Machine	"Engine's been modified with a new coolant system, and the air intake valve's been resized." Rhodey states calmly as he scribbles out on the pad for a moment, before looking back up. "Also loaded it up with a new prototype firmware fresh out the lab." A quick motion made with the pen to add a dot to the end of his sentence. "So far I've been able to get an extra 15 knots added to her top speed," A quick motion made over his shoulder, before he leans a bit closer to add. "and she handles like a dream in the loops."      Rhodey didn't have his own QuinJet, lacked the seniority for it, what he did have was first dibs on testing out the new modifications the lab boys needed worked on. Sure it meant that often times he was piloting something that had as much chance of exploding in the hanger as it did actually being able to take off, but he enjoyed the risk, lived for the challenge. Besides, most the safety checks were already done a thousand times over in simulations so it wasn't nearly as dangerous as it sounded.
Melinda May	May nods at the explanation -- at this point, any modifications to the quinjets are going to be small ones in her mind. It's the software updates that usually get the most of her attention. She's seen a firmware patch cause ridiculous amounts of havoc, and that she will never tolerate. "Does she truly handle that well?" May actually sounds skeptical, because she is. She's extremely familiar with these birds, and can tell from even basic maneuvers when one has something not precisely perfect with it. That she often can't quantify that 'something' in terms that the mechanics and engineers can act on has been a long-standing point of frustration for her.
War Machine	Rhodey looks her way as he sets up the bad on the wing of the bird behind him for just a moment so he can adjust his uniform. "You have to realize I'm on hour 12 of testing these new modifications so I've already had to work out most the flaws." He looks back over his shoulder at it. "First time out with the new firmware the system died and sent me plunging head first to the water." There's a light shudder of his shoulders as he recounts it. "Only managed to pull up at the last second by going full manual."      He turns his attention back towards May, picking back up the pad. "Other then a slight pull to the left thanks to a miscalibration in the aft thrusters she handles like a dream."
Melinda May	"Fix that miscalibration and I'll be the judge of that." Yes, May did just go there. She also doesn't look like she's making it challenge, simply like it's a plain and simple statement of truth. She's also looking at Rhodes like she's expecting him to fix it right here and now. Maybe she is.
War Machine	Rhodey lets a smile creep across his face at that comment. "That an order?" Asked as already he's grabbing a loose toolbag from the side of the hanger. There wasn't any way he was giving up the chance to work on one of these things himself. "Give me forty seconds and I'll have her ready for your preflight." Spoken with a now ear to ear grin as he flips open the wing to start the calibration process working with the speed and proficiency of a man who'd been working on Quinjets all his life, in spite of his relatively new status as an agent.
Melinda May	May simply watches. So is this guy a mechanic, or a pilot, or...? He moves like military, but has a more casual air about him than the usual Air Force superiority complex jockey. He also has that vaguely annoying charm to him tyha she usually attributes to Stark. That... is simultaneously interesting and troubling. She waits patiently for Rhodes to finish tinkering with the implacable air of Spock waiting for Scotty to finish repairing something while complaining that it should be impossible to do so.
War Machine	It takes some doing but Rhodey falls back from being half way inside the wing of the Quinjet, and onto his feet. He takes a look down at his watch grumbling. "Forty three seconds." He lowers his sleeve back over to cover his combat watch tilting his head lightly to one side. "Close enough anyway." With one hand he closes back shut the wing, flicking the wrench around in his hand twice before slotting it into his pocket.      "That should about cover it." He pauses for a moment. "If I'm right that should have fixed our little listing situation." He takes a long moment to admire his handwork, longer then he actually spent doing it. "Like to see the boys in engineering now." He pauses. "Call sign's War Machine by the way, nice working with you May."
Melinda May	May quirks an eyebrow at realizing the man had been timing himself, then nods when he introduces himself. War Machine... Colonel James Rhodes. Long time associate of one Tony Stark and if Romanoff's assessments were accurate, one of the very few people that the billionaire inventor trusts with his inventions. That explains a LOT. "Colonel Rhodes. Is she ready to test that calibration?" She means the quinjet, of course, and unlike some other pilot types isn't automatically moving to board the 'jet and take her out for another test run. It's technically not job right now.
War Machine	"Someday that name'll catch on" Rhodey says with a bit of a laugh as she calls him Colonel Rhodes. He was used to people in SHIELD refusing to use his call sign unless they had no other choice. Sure there were one or two of the newer agents who used it in regular conversation but it was a rarity.      Flicking the wrench back out of his pocket and into its proper bag Rhodey scribbles a few more notes onto the pad. "I'd stake my career on it." He states confidently with a reassuring smile. It's a wonder honestly they let him keep the beard.
Melinda May	"You're the one who said it, Rhodes." She doesn't use callsigns when people aren't out on field operations, so the Colonel will just have to deal with it. She turns and walks up the ramp into the 'jet proper and then through to the pilot's seat. After a moment of adjusting the seat to her height -- she is noticeably shorter than Rhodes -- she starts hitting the toggles and buttons to key in the fast startup sequence. It might be worth noting that she not only doesn't struggle to reach any control on any of the panels, she reaches for the appropriate buttons and such without having to look at them.
War Machine	Rhodey fiddles around with the bag a bit making sure it's right where he'd gotten it from. His attention shifting back over to the Jet as May begins her preflight. "Wouldn't say it if I didn't stand by it." Spoken as he starts to walk back up the ramp himself. "Pride myself on being a man of my word." Before he lifts right up the ramp and vaults over the side of the jet into the co-pilots seat.      His own motions are quick and deliberate as he does his own preflight checklist. The second seat was already locked into the right position for him since the last time he'd used it. Once you spent enough time with a plane you started to get a real feel for it. "And we are go for launch."
Melinda May	May's pre-flight checks are done and she waits for Rhodes to catch up, taking a moment to pull a pair of aviator glasses from inside her jacket. "When you're ready, Colonel." As soon as Rhodes indicates he's ready, she sets the quinjet to lift off of the tarmac, the movement so well-controlled it's almost not felt. Maintaining about four feet of clearance under the 'jet's belly, she swings the bird around in place without any sloshing about and aims her at the open hangar doors. The quinjet clears the doors as if it were a ground car, and maintains that precise distance from the ground until it's in a clear VTOL space. Then, it's like someone rotated gravity by ninety degrees. The 'jet shoots straight up at maximum acceleration and stops at the maximum allowed test flight height.
War Machine	From his spot in the back seat Rhodey keeps an eye on the readout constantly being spat out by the specially designed test craft. After all this was made specifically for the purposes of testing out new modifications and putting them right to their limits. "All in the green so far." He confirms over his headset as he processes the data about as fast as it comes his way. There was always a lot of data being spewed out during these test flights.
Melinda May	May doesn't seem to be terribly forthcoming with her opinions so far. After letting the 'jet hover in place for a moment, she being to really put the test craft through its paces, diving at full acceleration and pulling up again, rolling and wheeling about as if in the middle of a dogfight, at point even doing the quinjet equivalent of a Crazy Ivan. "She's still pulling to the left."
War Machine	"Bullshit" Rhodey calls from the back seat looking up from his display tapping at it with the tip of his finger. "There's no way it's still pulling left after that recalibration." He leans closer to the monitor double checking the readout before grumbling something to himself under his breath. "I'm getting to the bottom of this." There's a long moments pause before he literally pops open the control panel in front of him mid flight and begins to work on the controls, pulling wires and moving connectors around while the plane's still live.      Surprisingly he doesn't seem nearly as shaken up about the experience as he should be, not even the usual winded or dizziness that such high gee-force maneuvers would normally cause anyone in that position. He sounds about the same as he did when they were sitting in the hanger chatting away. "If my hunch is right, I think I know what the problem is."
Melinda May	May settles the test craft into another perfectly still hover. "Then fix it." She keeps the 'jet completely still while Rhodes reaches into the control panel in front of him. It's not readily obvious, but she's making constant minute adjustments to the controls to keep the jet so perfectly still in midair.
War Machine	Sparks fly from the back seat as he solders away at the connections for a short while. He's working surprisingly fast considering the conditions he's found himself in. There's barely enough room for him to move as he works but there's a moments lurch where the entire plane dies starting to fall from the sky.      "Shit." Is his only response as he works fast as he can to fix the problem. They're plummeting without any power falling lower and lower towards the earth. "And....." The world rushes past faster and faster until there's a spark from the back seat and everything lights back up controls resuming as if nothing had happened. "Bingo."
Melinda May	May actually curses aloud -- in Mandarin -- when the quinjet completely loses power. She GLARES at Rhodes' back until power is restored and then she's busy for the next few moments wrestling the 'jet back into control. "Colonel, you've spent far too much time around Stark." She turns the craft back toward their starting point and flies them back there as smoothly as if nothing had happened. As the 'jet settles back into its spot on the tarmac, she lets go of the controls and looks at the Colonel, as Spock-impassive as ever. "You made it worse. Now she's pulling to the right.
War Machine	"You know I take offense to that." Is Rhodey's only response as he stays flipped upside down working to try and fix the damn thing to the best of his ability. Even as they land he just looks up towards the ceiling of the hanger letting out a low sigh. "If I was Tony I'd already have this damn thing fixed." Spoken in a bit of a grumble under his breath as he tries to figure out what the hell went wrong. "In that case all I need to do is half of what I just did the other direction and it should balance out."
Melinda May	"Maybe. I'll leave you to it." The quinjet she'd originally been doing checks on is still there, and the agent she'd handed her checklist off to is standing there glancing at his watch and looking concerned. "Keep working on it, Colonel. You'll get it. Just remember that tolerances that are too tight are worse than ones that aren't tight enough." Then she's disembarking and heacing toward that other quinjet.