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Cameron lay on the floor of his garage under what looked like an aircraft.
It had a wooden frame in the shape of a child's sled (In fact, it was), two wooden wings with a canvas covering (that where similar to bat wings) and an engine with a wooden propeller.
In the words of Douglas Adams, this thing looked like it would hang in the air the way bricks don't.
"Oi, Mutt." Cam said. A bark answered him.
"3/4." he said, and a few seconds later, he heard the ticking of some claws on the stone floor.
His dog lay the tool beside him, wagging its tail happily.
"Thank you." he said, picking up the wrench and working on the engine.
About half an hour later, he got out from under it.
"Ok, this is the moment of truth." he said, using the chains that hung from the ceiling to move the large 'aircraft' into place on a launcher behind the garage.
On the outskirts of town, this store had a huge vacant lot behind him that made it perfect for testing.
The launcher went downhill slightly, enough to hopefully get some lift. Cameron had forgotten wheels, of course, so landing would be rough.
He sat on a chair just in front of the engine, and grabbed the rudimentary controls. He released the clamp, and throttled up.
The engine gave a whine of protest but when faster anyways. The rickety vehicle shook as it when down the track.
At the end of it, Davids pulled back on the stick. The 'nose' of the aircraft lifted, fell back down, and with only a few feet of track left, lifted again, this time taking the whole aircraft with it.
"Oh my God." Cam said casually, looking down as the ground flew past him.
"I'm flying on a sled with home built wings and a motor." he added, looking ahead.

((I'm going to post once I've done the cleaning up in the house >.> Give me an hour or two.))

Cameron look around in awe. Three thoughts passed through his head so fast he swore they where one.
How is this possible, how am I not dead...and do I have gas? he soon realized the last one came out really wrong.
In fact, his fuel level was fine.
He banked toward the city, having to keep low for many reasons. He barely skimmed the higher buildings. He noted the view was clear at this height, he could make out individual people.
Cam pulled back on the stick again, trying to gain altitude so he could buzz the cathedral coming up. This was something he did many times...
Although usually it was in a well built Enfield aircraft.
As soon as he reached height enough to safely clear the cathedral, he relaxed...a moment too soon. The engine behind him coughed and the plane dropped. By the time the engine kicked back into gear, he was too low.
The right skid of the aircraft cleared the cathedral roof. The left...not so much. It caught the lip and kicked the left wing up high.
To make matters worse, as if they COULD get worse...his engine coughed again...and died.
"s**t." was all he said. The plane, had it been a real plane, would have glided gracefully.
Douglas Adams was right. The plane held in the air like a brick.
It dove hard for the large fountain in the middle of town. Try as he might, Cam couldn't level the plane easily. He made it, but not in time to make this landing any more softer.
The plane hit the ground hard, the metal skids digging into the stone. The aircraft bucked around in a circle, smashing engine first into the fountain.
"Why did I not bring a helmet..." he groaned, getting up groggily.

[Same difference xD Feel sorry for me dammit, I just crashed!]

[Last post of the night. 'night.]
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Cameron walked slowly away from the wreck. When he turned, he sighed.
The aircraft was a mangled destroyed mess.
The left skid where he landed was buckled and now sideways. Both wings where snapped off, the right one destroyed completely.
The steam engine was destroyed beyond repair, as was the whole back assembly, including stabilizers.
The front was okay, only some minor dents and dings.
The custom sled was not going to fly again.
Cam sat on the edge of the fountain, head in his hands. He needed a rest.

"No." Cameron said. "That sled took me ages to build and a ton of money." he explained.
He looked up finally at who asked the question.
"Time to see why exactly this failed." he said after a moment, getting up and moving to the engine.
Because of its destroyed nature, the panel he pulled ripped off easily.
He looked inside, and saw that the majority of the wood that was burning was now out...and he figured out why.
Being a dirt-cheap second hand engine, it likely had problems. The water tank had burst on this one, flooding various areas of the engine including the wood compartment.
"Oh, well that explains it." he said casually.

"Yep." Cameron said, turning to Abigail. "Took me a while, but I built it myself. With a little help from my dog." he added.
"And to answer your other question, I bought a dirt cheap piece of crap for the engine..." he said, kicking it. "So the parts sucked. The bouncing take off and the jarring impact when I grazed the church somehow ruptured the water tank, flooding my engine and cutting off my heat. The engine died just past the church there, and I ended up slamming into the fountain." he explained.