On 2017-08-02 17:34:07 +0000, Francesca the Fierce said:

On 2017-08-02 05:14:35 +0000, Sundance and/or Rebecca said:

Fur ennee kitteez innerestid, here iz sum info abowt da broked ice
shelf in Antartika:
https://sputniknews.com/environment/...berg/Antartika


Francesca, maybe dat will hewp wif yurown flite plan. Oh, an da artikle
sez dat rite now itz dark awl day in Antartika, so I will hab
flashlitez an lanternz delibbered to da plane befur we takez off.

Rebecca

Eggzelent! Fangu.

FtF

[Francesca quietly disappears. Nothing much happens for a while, then a
noise can be heard approaching. A distant humming sound, accompanied by
a soft "thwap, thwap, thwap" noise. Moments later a very large chopper
appears. It find a clear space to land and settles gently to the
ground. As the engine stops and the rotors coast to a stop, the side
doors slide open. Francesca steps out wearing a pilot's helmet,
followed by Ranger. Aed and Morgana approach cautiously.]

Aed: What kind of catacopter is dis? Why is it so big?

Morgana: An what is it used for?

FtF: Dis is a Katkorski KatterHauler. Iz da biggest caticopter dat
Katkorski makes, an dis one has a bunch of special features designed by
da late Harri Roadcat. First, you prolly noticed dat it isn't furry
loud.Da engine and rotors are special designed for quietude. An take a
look inside.

[Francesca leads them inside the craft.]

See deze seats? Dey's specially designed fur kitties. You can sit in it
like a hoomin seat. Or you can press dis button (paw shaped, of course)
and da seat back retracts, leaving you wif a nice comfy kitty basket.
An dis one is made special fur arctic work. When da seat is in basket
position, if it gets really cold in da cabin (like if da catacopter
doors are open), you press dis yellow button on da edge of da seat, and
....

[Francesa pushes the button. The retracted seat back reappears, rises a
little bit then folds forward, making a roof over the cat basket. Once
the roof is in place, a transparent shield extends from what had been
the top of the seat back and folds down, forming a completely enclosed
kitty space.]

An da seat is temperature controlled. It has a cooler an a heater in
it, to keep da occupant comfy at all times.

Aed: Wow! That is very cool! But with all of these special kitty seats,
running cooling or heating for all of those seats must use an awful lot
of power. If the engine isn't running, how long can the seats continue
to heat or cool?

FtF: Dat's one of da coolest parts! Come back here, to da back of da
cargo area.

[Francesca leads them through the spacious cargo hold, back to a closet
set into a side wall. She pops open a maintenace hatch, revealing a
gleaming silver donut-shaped device with a steel access hatch over the
middle.]

Dis is a special fuel cell designed by Miss Amelia. I dun't know why it
never went into full production - it's furry useful. DIs fuel cell runs
on hairballs, and a single hairball can keep all da seats fully powered
for a week. Give it a dozen hairballs and it could run a small city fur
a munth! Even a hoomin city. Even a city wif goggies.