Planes Page #3

Fly safe.

Man, it's going to be cool.

You're going to cross oceans

thousands of miles wide.

Freezing your rudder off one day...

- And burning it off the next!

- Freaking hurricanes.

- Cyclones!

- Typhoons!

- Monsoons!

- Tornadoes!

- Sandstorms!

- Gale force winds!

Yeah! (WHOOPING)

Hmm. (SIGHS)

SKIPPER:
Bad idea.

You'll end up a smoking hole

on the side of a mountain

with your parts

spread over five countries.

What makes you say that?

You're going up against

the best racers in the world.

And some of them don't even finish.

You're sloppy on your rolls,

wide on your turns,

slow on your straightaways.

You've been watching me?

Yeah, watching you

make a fool out of yourself.

You need to be tighter getting

in and out of your knife-edge.

Okay.

Any extra control input

costs you speed and seconds.

- So, you think I'm overcorrecting?

- Absolutely. Rookie mistake.

Are you giving me pointers?

No! I'm telling you to forget

all this racing malarkey.

You just ain't built for it.

You're a crop duster!

You don't think I know that?

I'm the one who's been

flying back and forth

across the same fields day after day,

month after month, for years!

I have flown thousands of miles

and I have never been anywhere.

Not like you.

You were built to fight,

and look what you did!

You're a hero.

I'm just trying to prove

that maybe, just maybe,

I can do more than what I was built for.

(SIGHS)

You know what? Just forget it.

You'll never understand.

0500, tomorrow. Don't be late.

Wait. 0500?

Yeah, 5:
00 a.m.

(ROOSTER CROWING)

(SPARKY HUMMING)

- Sparky, binoculars.

- (BLOWING)

Those are some

mighty clean optics, there.

What do you use?

Some kind of shammy?

- Oh, no, it's a special microfiber cloth.

- Ah. Microfiber.

Yeah, lint-free, scratch-free.

I'll get you some.

I got an ex-Navy buddy

who sells them to me wholesale.

I helped him set up his web...

Knock it off. We got a lot of work to do.

- (WHISPERS) I'll hook you up.

- Thanks.

SKIPPER:

All right, Dusty, remember this.

It ain't how fast you fly,

it's how you fly fast.

- Roger that.

- Show me what you got.

DUSTY:
Watch this! Oh, yeah.

SKIPPER:
Great, you can

go up and down. What else?

- Show me your turns.

- Here we go!

You think that was good? That stunk!

Knife-edge those elm trees.

Oh, come on. Keep your nose up!

Hey, Skip.

- You want speed, right?

- Yeah.

- Serious, bolt-rattling speed?

- Oh, yeah!

Then look up.

Do you see those clouds?

The highway in the sky.

Tailwinds like nothing

you've ever flown.

What are you waiting for?

Come on, power up. Firewall thrust.

Max torque, max torque!

All right, looking good.

Hold V-Y, Dusty. Max rate, now.

Your nose is too high.

Get your nose down.

You're going to stall.

Ease off the pitch. Nose down!

Oh!

Hey, what are you doing?

(PANTING)

(EXHALES)

SKIPPER:

What just happened up there?

I'm... I'm low on fuel.

Do I look like I was built yesterday?

- No, no. It's a long story.

- I got time.

Uh...

Okay, well, um, you know,

I feel like I was having some problems

with my axial compressor so...

The Jolly Wrenches have a motto,

Volo Pro Veritas.

It means "I fly for truth."

Clearly, you don't.

Sparky, push me back to the hangar.

(STAMMERS)

I'm afraid of heights.

(BRAKES SCREECHING)

- But you're a plane.

- I'm a crop duster.

I've never flown over a thousand feet.

Are you kidding?

Scared of heights and you want to

race around the world?

Uh, Skip, during the attack

of Tujunga Harbor,

why, even the P-38s

had trouble at high altitudes.

Well, they didn't have to fly

over the Himalayas, did they?

I'll still be low to the ground,

just high up.

And after the war,

those 38s went on to win races.

Really? Is that true?

Yeah, true.

Like in the Cleveland race of '46.

- For real?

- Wait, it gets better.

In '49, the P-38 Sky Ranger

averaged 337 miles per hour.

Wait, 337?

Well, actually 337.4, but they

round it down in the record books.

Why would you do that?

Some people just have

no respect for decimal points.

- Yeah, I know. Tell me about it.

- Why couldn't they round it up?

- Seriously, he...

- All right, all right.

So, you're a flat-hatter.

We'll work on that.

But for now let's see if we can turn

low and sloppy into low and fast.

Roger that.

It'll go like this.

The flag marks the start line.

Across the cornfield,

three silos are waiting for you.

Slalom those with a radial-G pass.

DUSTY:
Wait. "A radial" what pass?

SKIPPER:
Once you get to the trees,

go to your optimal rate of climb

to about 500 feet.

Roll inverted and extend,

trading altitude for air speed

- and dive toward the finish line.

- DUSTY:
Uh, okay.

You string all that together,

you might have a chance to beat him.

Who am I racing?

SKIPPER:
Here he comes.

He's a twin commuter

pushing about 1500 horsepower.

DUSTY:
Uh, he's pretty high up.

SKIPPER:
You're not racing him,

you're racing his shadow.

Beat it to the water tower.

Let's do this! Thread the silos!

Tighter! Lean into your turns more.

- His turns are terrible.

- Yeah.

SKIPPER:
Let's go, Dusty. Faster.

You're falling behind.

Begin your climb

and catch him in the dive.

Start your dive now.

Never mind, you already lost.

(GROANS)

So, we can increase power

or we can decrease drag.

(GASPS)

Definitely increase power.

- (BEEPS)

- (MACHINE WHIRRING)

More torque means more speed.

Lousy.

Come on, let's work that radial-G turn.

Do it again. One more time. Again!

Come on! Push it, Dusty!

Better!

Remember now, altitude for airspeed.

Gravity is your ally.

The laws of physics govern speed.

All right, Dusty.

Give this run all you've got.

Use your radial-G.

Let gravity work for you.

Looking good.

That's what I'm talking about.

Firewall the throttle! Go! Go! Go!

You got it, Duster!

(MOOING)

SKIPPER:
Begin your climb!

All right, altitude for airspeed.

Catch him in the dive!

Dive now!

- Ballistic!

- (WHOOPING)

(LAUGHING)

SPARKY:
He kicked

Aston Martins out there!

- CHUG:
Dusterino!

- He's ready.

DUSTY:
Whoa!

CHUG:
Oh, that's cool.

The piston and cross-wrenches.

Your squadron insignia.

- You've earned it.

- CHUG:
It fits you.

- It fits you, Dusty. (SNIFFLES)

- SKIPPER:
Now, listen.

When the race starts and

all those planes take off,

it'll stir up a bunch of swirlies

just like the Wrenches ran into

in the Battle of Airway.

Roger that. Sure wish

you were coming with me, Skip.

Just radio back when

you get to the check points.

I'll be your wingman from here.

Volo Pro Veritas, right?

Volo Pro Veritas.

- Kick some tail, buddy.

- We're all proud of you.

Whoo-hoo! Dustmeister!

(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING)

Wow.

TOWER CONTROLLER:

Break, break.

Air racer number 7, Air racer number 7.

Do you read? Kennedy approach, over.

(STAMMERS)

I'm Dusty Crophopper,

I'm looking for JFK airport.

Crophopper 7, you are supposed

to be on the Carnice visual.

Turn further left, heading 1-9-5.

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