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 Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:05 pm
Questor Information Salen-Stormwing: Mule SN's: Alex_Barrett IoDM Newbie? (Y/N): Yes Serum: Serum 54, Red-Tailed Hawk CODE for your quest banner(s):  Now with 100% more IoDM Official Seal! heart
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:09 pm
Name: Alexander “Alex” Barrett Special Meaning: None Nicknames: Alex Age: 27 Marital Status: Single Place of Birth: Long Beach, California Education: Aviation Mechanics School Residence: Manila, Philippines Occupation: Cargo Pilot Vehicle: Restored and Modified PBY Catalina Seaplane Family: Mother, Father, and Younger Brother Favorite Color: Blue Favorite Gemstone: Emerald Favorite Beverage: Diet Coke, Sprite Known Likes: Flying, Working on engines, Talking about airplanes, Noodle cups Known Dislikes: Bills, Shoddy replacement parts, Rust, Rough weather, Rising Price of fuel Theme Music:* Sonny Rhodes - Firefly Main Theme (Ballad of Serenity) Inventory:Flight Goggles (Worn on occasion) Jacket (Worn when needed) Aviator Glasses Pilot Cap (Worn on rare occasions) Leather Shoes Navigational Maps Flight Log PBY Catalina (More on this later, although it won't be in his possession by the time he arrives on the island)
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:10 pm
Character Personality:
Alex is a pretty nice guy when it comes down to it. Some people might call him annoying at times, since he does have a habit of talking about airplanes and engines and what not, things that others might find pretty boring overall. He often comes off as a work-a-holic, though that’s not quite true. For him, flying cargo from Manila to an island in Indonesia, or sitting on top of the wing of the PBY while working out an engine problem, it isn’t really work. It’s ‘fun’. If anything, the real work of the company is the work he tends to dread doing. Paperwork and bills and supplier problems aren’t as fun as just the act of being out on the plane.
He’s very friendly and talkative with others who know stuff about engines, airplanes, and flying. Even discussing stuff like wars and airplanes are interesting to him. Flying is sort of a passion of his, and he does try to share it with others. When it comes to business dealings through, he sometimes gets frustrated at stuff, especially since it wasn’t something he ever thought about learning until he was knee deep in it.
When he’s not working, he tends to relax, enjoying the time under the sun. Since he has a seaplane, he often will go swimming off the pier, or sometimes if he’s returning from a long delivery, he’ll take a quick swim to cool off before heading back. If anything, it reminds him of going to the beach in Long Beach. He also enjoys soaking up some sun on the top of one of the wings of the plane. Just throw out a blanket and lay down. Fishing is another fun pasttime he enjoys, since it’s easy to do especially considering it gives him something to stay busy with while cargo is being unloaded or he’s waiting for passengers to arrive.
Since he started living in the Philippines, he’s picked up a like of the instant noodle cups that they sell in the stores. On one hand, they’re cheap to buy, and frankly its one thing he doesn’t have to worry about when it comes to cash, but on the other hand, they just taste really good. He also has a fondness for diet cokes. Mostly he drinks them when he’s flying long distances and needs some caffeine to keep him awake. Green tea is a good substitute for coke, when he can get it, but since he doesn't have much in the way to heat water up in the plane, he usually drinks cokes in flight.
He’s pretty calm while flying, trusting in both the work he’s put into his plane as well as the skills he’s picked up in the years since he started flying at school. Unlike some, he’s not much for ‘hotdogging’ around in his plane, knowing that while the plane may be able to handle it, he’d rather not put any undo stress on it until the time is right. After all, there are plenty of storms he’ll have to fly through that’ll put the plane under more than enough stress, he doesn’t need to push the plane too far on his own.
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:11 pm
Character Background:
Early Years:
Alexander was born in Long Beach, California. His life was pretty uneventful through most of his early childhood. He was the older of the two siblings. Like most kids in Long Beach, he got to enjoy going to the beach and soaking up the sun, even if his younger brother made going to the beach less than fun on occasion. But that’s what little brothers are for.
Early on, Alexander knew he wanted to work with and fly airplanes. For him, airplanes were something that on special folks got to deal with. So he started to learn what he could about airplanes, watching shows about them, reading about them, learn how planes worked. It’s not like his parents felt a need to stop him from learning about stuff. Indeed, they mostly felt it was a childhood fascination of his and that he’d grow out of it. It wasn’t until he hit high school that it seemed that his passion for airplanes was more than a childhood fantasy.
Highschooling:
During his high school years, Alex spent a lot of time up at the Long Beach Municipal Airport. Mostly he tried to talk with some of the local private aviators, and find out what he could do to become a pilot. In order to raise some money so he could try and take some short flying lessons, he started to use his technical knowledge and put it towards working on his friends cars. While their desire was towards cars and having them taken care of mechanically, Alex would turn the money he heard from those jobs so he could further his interest in planes.
Aviation Education 101:
By the time he had graduated, Alex was already pretty good with fixing cars and engines, but still wasn’t any closer to really getting his hands on an airplane. Instead of going off to join a college, he turned his attention to an aviation mechanic school, where he could finally learn more about airplanes than he had before. Of course his parents weren’t thrilled at the concept of him deciding not to go to college, so he could learn to work with airplanes, but that didn’t stop him. While his parents knew that the school wouldn’t be as good for him as college, they weren’t ones to tell their son not to follow his dreams either. And so he packed his stuff and went to northern California, to study at the aviation mechanic school.
Being in the school was a great time for him. He got to meet quite a few other students who shared his passion for airplanes, as well as got to learn from many others who had been in the aircraft industry for years. A person he met there, a student by the name of Raymond Tan, became a good friend with him. Ray was from the Philippines and had traveled overseas to study. After a lot of conversation and planning, the two decided to try and get their pilot licenses. Both were eager, even though it would be sort of costly in the short run for them, but a love of planes drove them to try and become well rounded, both as pilots and mechanics. Unfortunately, this didn’t last very long. As soon as Ray’s parents found out he was spending extra money on ‘unnecessary’ stuff like flying lessons, they had his finish up the classes he had at the school before having him come back to the Philippines. With that, Alex had lost a good friend, someone who shared his love of planes.
This was pretty depressing for Alex, since part of the fun of getting hours in with flying practice was getting to hang out with his friend afterwards as well as being able to talk about all their experiences with aircraft. It wasn’t like he had much choice though, and so he pushed ahead, finishing up his courses in mechanics over the next year, as well as getting the last of the requirements to get certified for a pilot license. And with that, he’d finally come one step closer to actually working with airplanes, although it didn’t help him feel great, knowing his friend wasn’t there to help celebrate with him.
Change in Directions:
Then, a letter came a few days later for him. His buddy Ray wrote him, asking him to visit. It seemed that Ray had missed his friend and wanted him to come over to see him. Ray had gotten a job working on small jets at an airport in Manila, and he wanted his friend to come over so they could celebrate Alex’s graduation and getting his pilot’s license. Considering the distance, Alex decided he’d let someone else do the flying ‘this time’, and so off he went, to visit his friend in Manila.
The vacation (that’s what Alex told his parents it was, which wasn’t too far from the truth) was a welcome break from the classes and lessons he’d had. Alex spent a lot of time catching up with his friend, learning all the interesting and not so interesting things that had happened since Ray had been forced back home. It also gave Alex his first exposure to a foreign culture, which lead to quite a bit of humor being generated from Alex’s lack of Filipino, one of the two official languages of the Philippines. Luckily, English is the other official language of the country, meaning that Alex wasn’t totally lost in the country.
It was during his last week he was supposed to be in the Philippines that Alex stumbled across a For Sale ad at the airport for an old surplus PBY Catalina. Alex had wanted to buy his own plane, but most airplanes aren’t exactly cheap, but this one seemed like a bargain. A quick taxi ride to the Manila Port quickly proved why the plane was such a bargain. For a seaplane from WW2, the plane had seen more than a bit of use. Parts of the hull needed patched up, the engines were barely functioning, and most of the controls were rusting or in a bad state of repair, and the whole thing needed general repairs in several other spots. Needless to say, Alexander fell in love with the beat up aircraft. Sure, anyone could buy a new plane, but it would cost less to buy one that needed a lot of work and to do it himself. There was the problem with how he’d pay for the airplane though, as well as needing to stay in the country long enough to do the work it would need. Since he was in the same city as his best friend and he wasn’t working currently, he decided to get himself a work visa so he could stay in the country to work. That wasn’t too hard for him to get, although then he had to talk with a bank to loan him the cash he’d need to buy the plane and make repairs, as well as money to start up his own business. If he was going to have a large seaplane at his disposal, he might as well use it. He could use the plane to island hop customers to other parts of the Philippines, and haul cargo to remote locations as well. After a lot of haggling, Alex finally got the funds he needed.
Be Your Own Aviation Boss for Better or Worst:
The next two months were some of the hardest work for the would-be pilot. He rented out a spot on the outskirts of the seaport, where he could work on the plane and set up a small office, and then started to work on the airplane. Each day was a lot of work for him, from having to replace parts of the engines to patching up all the parts of the plane. Refurbishing the plane was a major task, since the plane was more of an item just ‘floating around’ than being used, so taking care of the issues generated by it was an undertaking. The plane may have been cheap but the replacement parts, the dock rentals, and all the assorted things he needed weren’t. At the end of the two months though, Alex had his plane in one piece, and it was once again serviceable as air transportation. Unlike some aircraft, Alex had decided to revamp some of the plane, to make it easier to handle for a single crew by moving all the navigation and communication equipment he might need to next to his pilot seat. Another modification was to streamline the plane some by removing the front observation area as well as the old gun blister canopies on the back half of the plane. The fresh coat of blue-grey paint over the whole plane only helped to finish off its rebirth as a plane ready to fly.
And so Alex began his life as a mechanic, pilot, and the owner of the small ‘Air-Asia Cargo’ company. There’s probably something to be said about Alex’s life at this point. He had spent so much time, so much effort, on becoming a good pilot and a good mechanic, that of all the things he knew how to do, the one that would cause him the most issues would be the fact that business wasn’t something he knew well. And the company showed because of it. Alex hired a few people to help manage some of the work, but even then, bringing in business was almost as hard as managing it. The company itself wasn’t very big, maybe 4 employees at most at any one time, one being himself. The business he did gather was usually low paying tourists, or small express deliveries that needed to be sent to another island. A few better-paying jobs took him and his PBY into Hong Kong, dropping off and picking up cargo and people, and flying back to Manila. While the work was good, he always did cherish the work he got to put in on the PBY, as well as flying it around the South Asian seas.
A few years passed and Alex had been in the country long enough to learn Filipino, as well as bits and pieces of Chinese. This was a good thing, since it let him be able to converse with his clients, many of whom didn’t feel quite so comfortable flying with someone who didn’t speak their language. English maybe the language of flying (especially air traffic controllers), but customers weren’t quite the same. Then the tsunami struck nearby country of Indonesia, in late December, ringing in a change for the company. Now, Alex wasn’t one to try to turn a profit on the suffering of others, but he also had one of the few aircraft that could get too many of those remote islands in Indonesia. And that’s how Air-Asia Cargo began a busy year of flying cargo and people to Indonesia and many of its islands. Relief workers, news crews, folks just wanting to get supplies to the poor folks who lost so much in the massive tidal wave, they all came through the doors of Air-Asia Cargo. Alex was a very busy pilot by then, and actually making enough money to pay off some of his loans although rising fuel costs always seemed to try to thwart the company’s profit margins.
Lately (Stormy Skies Ahead):
And then things settled down once more, and the days of good profits and helping others in Indonesia were pushed aside as local Indonesian based groups started to be cheaper for their needs. Once that happened, those bills of the company started to haunt the doorsteps, and made Alex wonder if he really knew what was best for his company. The choices of either letting the business fail slowly into an unrecoverable debt, or to sell it outright to someone else would slowly start to work at him. He’d think about it a lot, although part of him refused to believe that he couldn’t fly or fix his way out of any problem.
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:12 pm
Red-Tailed Hawk Information: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Falconiformes Family: Accipitridae Genus: Buteo Species: B. jamaicensis Weight: 2-4 lbs. Length: 22" Wing Span: 56 inches" Sexual Maturity: 3 yrs. Mating Season: Spring Incubation: 28-32 days No. of Eggs: 1-3 Birth Interval: Year Lifespan: 10-21 yrs. Typical diet: small rodents, snakes AppearanceThe Red-tail is the largest hawk, usually weighing between 2 and 4 pounds. As with most raptors, the female is nearly 1/3 larger than the male and may have a wingspan of 56 inches. This species shows a great deal of individual variation in plumage. The adult has a rufous-colored tail that may or may not have a black terminal bar. Adults are dark brown on the back and the top of their wings. The underside of the bird is usually light with a dark belly band, and a cinnamon wash on the neck and chest. . Immatures resemble the adults except their tail is brown with dark bars; the red- tail molts in during its second year. The adult Red-tailed Hawk is easily identified, for when it leaves its perch on slow, measured wing beats, or turns while soaring overhead, the broad, rounded tail shows a rich, russet red, hence the name. Within its range, its frequent soaring and loud voice are a good pointer. Food & HuntingThe Red-tailed Hawk is a most opportunistic hunter. Its diet is varied, but there is conclusive evidence now that 85 to 90 % is composed of small rodents, with rabbits, snakes and lizards included. Where there are large numbers of pheasant, these become the food of choice in spring and summer. Like all hawks, its talons are its main weapons. More Information:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_Hawk http://www.desertusa.com/aug96/du_hawk.html
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:16 pm
The PBY CatalinaOr, All You Never Wanted To Know About Alex’s Seaplane General characteristics* Crew: 9 (Currently 1) — pilot, co-pilot, bow turret gunner, flight mechanic, radioman, navigator, two waist gunners, tail gunner. This has been modified so that 1 person can pilot the airplane and handle the communications, plus all the gunner positions have been eliminated to make room for cargo space and seating for passengers. * Length: 63 ft 10 in (19.46 m) * Wingspan: 104 ft 0 in (31.70 m) * Height: 20 ft 2 in (6.15 m) * Wing area: 1,400 ft² (130 m²) * Empty weight: 20,910 lb (9,485 kg) * Max takeoff weight: 35,420 lb (16,066 kg) * Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial engines, 1,200 hp (895 kW each) each * Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0309 * Drag area: 43.26 ft² (4.02 m²) * Aspect ratio: 7.73 Performance* Maximum speed: 196 mph (314 km/h) * Cruise speed: 125 mph (201 km/h) * Range: 2,520 mi (4,030 km) * Service ceiling: 15,800 ft (4,000 m) * Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s) * Wing loading: 25.3 lb/ft² (123.6 kg/m²) * Power/mass: 0.034 hp/lb (0.056 kW/kg) * Lift-to-drag ratio: 11.9 Aircraft History and InfoIn World War II, PBYs were used as anti-submarine warfare aircraft, patrol bombers, convoy escorts, search and rescue aircraft, and transports. The Catalina can be considered the most successful aircraft of its kind, as no other flying boat was produced in greater numbers. The last active military Catalinas were not retired from service until the 1980s. Even today, over seventy years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as an airtanker in aerial firefighting operations all over the world. The Catalina was originally designed to be a patrol bomber, an aircraft with a long operational range intended to locate and attack enemy transport ships at sea in order to compromise enemy supply lines. With a mind to a potential conflict in the Pacific Ocean, where troops would require resupply over great distances, the US Navy in the 1930s invested millions of dollars in developing long-range flying boats for this purpose. Flying boats had the advantage of not requiring runways to take off and land, in effect having the entire ocean available as its runway. Several different flying boats were adopted by the Navy, but the PBY Catalina was the most widely used and produced. Although slow and ungainly, Catalinas distinguished themselves in World War II as exceptionally reliable aircraft. Allied armed forces used them successfully in a wide variety of roles that the aircraft was never intended for. They are remembered most by veterans of the war for their role as rescuing aircraft, where they saved the lives of thousands of aircrewmen shot down over the Pacific Ocean. Many of these aircraft were amphibians, able to land on both the sea as well as a conventional runway. The PBY in Alex’s possession is one of those aircraft, although he has only used it to land on land on rare occasion where there is an actual runway where he’s going. For more information, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBY_Catalina where you can read more on the airplane as well as see pictures of the aircraft.
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:20 pm
Development:My ideal 100% metamorphosis: In his final form, Alex will probably resemble a fully anthro Red-tailed hawk, although his arms will be replaced by large, broad wings. His legs and feet would also more closely resemble the hawk that he was being combined with. Without hands at this point, he’d be reduced to using his large taloned feet or his sharp beak to try and manipulate anything. He wouldn’t be quite as bad off as to need to lean over and keep his body parallel to walk around like a regular avian might. His feet will probably be the easiest way for him to manipulate items, although if you think he might start writing a novel, don't expect the penmanship to be very good. Standing up fully would cause his deep red tailfeathers to drag a bit at the ground behind him thought if he did, making it so he’d have to walk around at a slight forward angle. His muscular structure would be more like a hawk’s as well, his powerful chest muscles connected to his wings to allow him some level of flying, or longer gliding. His face would push out into a sharp hawk beak, his eyes sharper and larger to match his feathered head, although the eyes would still retain their blue-grey coloration, instead of a red-tailed hawk’s more yellowish eye color. The whole body would be covered in feathers, all colored much like a typical red-tailed hawk, although his crest feathers on his head would probably retail the more golden brownish color that his hair had. See http://www.chattanature.org/red_tailed_hawk.htm for a better look at the coloration of the feathers. The 100% is more of a concept than anything. It wouldn't be unthinkable that the form might retain some sort of 'wing hand', albiet primative in nature, like an Archaeopteryx. How does your Character get to/why was your character chosen for the Island?: How: This is pretty easy, in the grand scheme of things really, on how poor Alex would become an easy victim… err… choice for the island. Alex is always trying to find ways to make money for the company, to keep the business afloat, and it wouldn’t be unheard of to an outside business to consider buying up smaller businesses. Air-Asia Cargo is a company that hovers on the edge of famine and feast. After a good year of profits, the swing in the winds of the business making things tight for the business as a whole. So, enter the mysterious shipping business, and their offer to buy up the Air-Asia Cargo business. In reality, it was just another front company for the dear Doctor’s use. And so they made the offer, to buy the company, and also to hire on Alex to “fly for their company”. Not only would they make sure the business and bills were paid for, they also offered to buy the PBY from the bank (considering they were holding the pink slip for it because it was the only way Alex could buy it in the first place). For him, Alex would work for the company until his services were “no longer needed by the company, at which point he could have the PBY for a reduced amount”. Needless to say, it was a deal too good to pass up. Of course, the new ‘owners’ wouldn’t need him to work the same old routes at Air-Asia. No-no! They needed him to be transferred to a better spot in the organization, one where he’d really “fly for the company”. And after he’s gone, it’s just an easy matter to liquidate the company, merge what few assets are into the front company, and maybe even give the airplane over to a group looking to preserve PBYs. Maybe a museum even. Its good Public Relations and having a good image is a good cover. Why: So that’s the question, why would Alexander Barrett be a good candidate for the dear doctor’s research? Well, he’s an easy target, with a company trying to keep its head above waters, it would be easy for the right amount of pressure and financial persuasion. Alex also is a natural flyer. He’s been so focused on flight and flying that he’s a good test subject to see if that natural talent translates to someone altered by an avian-based serum #54. Why this animal/plant for your character?:Well, the red-tailed hawk is one of my favorite types of birds of all time. They’re good at soaring around, and they’re also the most common hawk in North America. They’re not flashy, except for their bright rusty red colored tail feathers. Sure, others might want to be some sort of quick falcon or a noble looking eagle, but that just doesn’t seem to be right for someone who isn’t out to look sharp or prove he’s the best pilot. So why not a bird-of-prey that’s common? That and I really do like red-tailed hawks though. If push comes to shove though, I’d guess almost any sort of flying avian type might work, but I figured I might as well try for what I liked first, if nothing else. I guess in the end it would be all good.
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:24 pm
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:31 pm
Ok. I'm done for now. If I need more room, I'll use this post. But I think I should be good. I'll try and make stuff look prettier and add some pictures or something to help make it look nicer soon.
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 4:42 am
First comment...? *blink* Anyway.
I like the concept~ The character seems pretty cool, too. :3
*Random hello and post* XD
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:08 am
*mew* cute! ^^ It's a really good idea, I think. And there do need to be more birds on the island. I've been contemplating whether Aislinn should be from the San Diego area, since I'm familiar with it. Perhaps she's met your Alex at some point! ^_^
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:17 am
Thanks Evan for the support. smile Shiaree *mew* cute! ^^ It's a really good idea, I think. And there do need to be more birds on the island. I've been contemplating whether Aislinn should be from the San Diego area, since I'm familiar with it. Perhaps she's met your Alex at some point! ^_^ Thanks Shiaree. He might occasionally make trips back to his home town for family visits during the holidays (since business probably will be slow afterwards), but if you're ever looking for transportation to someplace in the Philippines, thats totally doable. I need more customers! gonk Repeat customers are the best customers too. heart
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:32 am
Well, I can see Aislinn having some need to fly. Though, for shows she'd have to drive. But she's probably sent to get supplies and animals and stuff from all over, since she works for the zoo and whatnot. And as she wouldn't be driving her horses herself, she'd probably just fly up to wherever it was she was showing and start getting a look around.
He'd be willing to stop off in San Diego to pick her up occasionally, no? ^_-
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:38 am
Shiaree He'd be willing to stop off in San Diego to pick her up occasionally, no? ^_- It is a bit out of the ways. Like... serveral thousand miles. *breaks out some maps* Well, even I don't fly to Long Beach and back in the PBY. The cost of fuel is outragous. And I won't mention how expensive the trip would cost either. And its not exactly 1st class either for how much you'd have to pay. sweatdrop Gotta hate small time cargo operations. Always getting priced out of the big jobs by huge cargo ships and those massive air freight jets. sweatdrop
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 8:52 am
cool
Any comments, critiques, requests for RP? Its all good. I probably should see about cleaning up the profile a bit more but thats just my thoughts.
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