2-34

 

34.

Nige eventually released me, set me free like a wounded bird restored to health, and with hiscertification the Army pronounced me ready to fly Apaches.

But nope—it was a trick. I wasn’t going to fly Apaches. I was going to sit in a windowlessclassroom and read about Apaches.

I thought: Could anything be crueler? Promise me a helicopter, hand me a stack of homework?

The course lasted three months, during which I nearly went insane. Every night I’d slump² backto my cell- like room in the officers’ mess and vent¹ to a mate on the phone, or else to mybodyguard. I considered leaving the course altogether. I’d never even wanted to fly Apaches, Isaid to everyone, petulantly³. I wanted to fly the Lynx. It was simpler to learn, and I’d get back tothe war faster. But my commanding officer, Colonel David Meyer, quashed that idea. Not achance, Harry⁴.

Why, Colonel?

Because you’ve had operational ground experience in reconnaissance, you were a very fineFAC, and you’re a bloody⁵ good pilot. You’re going to fly Apaches.

But—

I can tell from the way you fly, the way you read the ground, this is what you were meant to do.

Meant to do? The course was torture!

And yet I was on time every day. I showed up with my three-ring binders⁶ full of info about theApache engines, and listened to the lectures, and fought like crazy to keep up. I tried to draw oneverything I’d learned from my flight instructors⁸, from Booley to Nige, and treated the classroomas an aircraft going down. My job was to regain⁹ control.

And then one day…it was over. They said I’d be permitted at long last to strap¹⁰ myself into anhonest-to-God Apache.

For…ground taxiing.

Are you joking?

Four lessons, they said.

Four lessons…on taxiing?

As it turned out, four lessons was barely enough to absorb all there was to know about groundtaxiing that massive bird. I felt, while taxiing, as if the aircraft was on stilts¹¹, set on a bed of jelly.

There were moments when I truly wondered if I’d ever be able to do it, if this whole journeymight be at an end here, before it had even begun.

I blamed part of my struggle on the seating arrangement. In the Firefly, in the Squirrel, theinstructor was always right next to me. He could reach over, fix my mistakes straightaway, or elsemodel the correct way. Booley would put his hand on the controls, or Nige would do the pedals,and I’d do the same. I realized that much of what I’d learned in life had come through this sort ofmodeling. More than most people I needed a guide, a guru—a partner.

But in the Apache the instructor⁷ was either way up front or way in the back—unseen.

I was all alone.

 

1 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

2 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

3 petulantly   

参考例句：

• \"No; nor will she miss now,\" cries The Vengeance, petulantly. “不会的，现在也不会错过，”复仇女神气冲冲地说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 binders   

n.（司机行话）刹车器；（书籍的）装订机( binder的名词复数 )；（购买不动产时包括预付订金在内的）保证书；割捆机；活页封面

参考例句：

• Propellant binders based on these materials have excellent mechanical properties and good performance. 用这些材料制成的推进粘结剂的工作性能很好，而机械性能则更为突出。 来自辞典例句
• The and inferior binders fabrication process has become much more important. 黏合剂制作工艺优劣显得更加重要。 来自互联网

7 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

8 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

9 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

10 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

11 stilts   

n.（支撑建筑物高出地面或水面的）桩子，支柱( stilt的名词复数 )；高跷

参考例句：

• a circus performer on stilts 马戏团里踩高跷的演员
• The bamboo huts here are all built on stilts. 这里的竹楼都是架空的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》