Krauss pulled himself into the cockpit and hopped into the pilot's seat. Picking up a headset next to him, he told Edward to do the same as he placed his on his head. He then pulled out a preflight check list and began to go through the motions of starting up this beast.
"Alright, alright.... let's see here... electronics, on.... Oil pressure within acceptable ranges, artificial horizon seems to be balanced and good, radio on..... Okay, we're set to start her up." Krauss open his side window and leaned out. "CLEAR PROPS, CLEAR PROPS" he yelled, then turned the starter. The right engine's propeller started to slowly turn, then began to speed up. "CONTACT" he yelled, as he began to adjust the fuel mixture. Just then, the left engine began to start as well.
Soon the VTOL was vibrating slightly as both engines now throttled to idle. Krauss made some fine tuned adjustments to sync the engine's throttle controls perfectly. Once they were properly balanced, pressed the transmit button on his radio.
"This is Atlas One to the Garrloch Bridge, over."
"Atlas One, this is the Bridge of the Garrloch, we read you. Send your traffic."
"We're all set here Garrloch, permission to take off, over?"
"Permission Granted Atlas One, skies are clear, enjoy the view, over"
"Roger that Garrloch, Atlas One out."
With that, Krauss looked to his passengers and smiled. "Let's get our flight underway." Slowly, and with much precision, the aircraft began to lift off of the ground. The ground crew backed away as the VTOL lazily hovered into the air, gradually gaining altitude and distance from the ship. Soon, they were hovering a few hundred feet in the air, the Garrloch now a little ways away from the unique craft. Krauss tapped on Edward's shoulder and pointed the ship.
"This a good angle for you to take a picture, I can shift our positioning if you'd like. Once you get a few good pictures, we'll start putting her through the motions." he said through his headset. The engines were so close and loud, that like many small aircraft, pilots can only really effectively communicate through on board communication systems.
