IDA TRAINS

SUMMARY-

swimming test

       In chapters 11-15 in Fly Girl written by Sherri L. Smith, Ida Mae Jones has been training very hard every day. She has had many ups and downs these chapters. In the first chapter, Ida had to swim a whole lap around the Avenger Field pool! The thing is, she didn't know how to swim at all. She was always scared of it. Since Ida has a very good friendship with Lilly and Patsy, they both help her cheat her way through the test. Lilly got in front of Ida in the line and she went before Ida. As Lilly swam, Ida got out of the line. Once she finished her lap, Lilly got back in line and went again for Ida. Since everybody was wet, nobody noticed. Ida was very relieved as she saw that nobody noticed, she also noticed that some girls got disqualified for not being able to swim. In doing this,  Ida felt very wrong. She felt very lucky because if she didn't have these friends, she would be out. As the days went by, Ida has been training very hard for the test that shows if you qualify to move up to intermediates. The instructors give them their maps and informed the girls their location: Bakers Pond. The women studied their maps and prepared for the flight. A week had already passed and everybody was ready for the test. Ida volenteered to go first and as she did, she was very nervous. Bakers Pond was very hard to find in the map, and Ida thought about the possibility of failure. She got on the plane and began the test. after 20 minutes of flying, she finally landed and passed! She was very happy as Lilly and Patsy also passed. For the women that one the flight test, they all went and celebrated at the bar with the men from the army. Lilly and Patsy were off dancing with other men while Ida stayed at the table writing a letter to her family. She kept writing until suddenly an instructor for the W.A.S.P named Jenkins, asked Ida for a dance. Ida was very nervous because she had been asked to dance with her own instructor. She had been told that dancing with an instructor is against the rules, but Jenkins didn't care. So they both danced together and everyone was amazed, even her friends. After the celebration, all the girls that were now in the intermediate class had to train. Since they were all in a new class, they were all introduced to a new tool to help with training called a flight simulator. This was a machine that was attached to the floor and had special equipment to help simulate the feeling of flying. Ia volenteered to go first. But something caused Ida to go claustrophobic and so she panicked and fainted. After she woke up, she was afraid she would be sent home, and she realized how hard this will be.

QUOTES-

1.) "I wish the army has taught us how to navigate feelings as easily as they did a starless night sky"

Starless night

• Page 103, chapter 11, Sherri L. Smith
• I really like how this quote compares to things to make a metaphor.
• The two comparing things: navigating feelings, and navigating a starless night sky.
• The way the author put these words is really smart and I like how its has a meaning behind it

2.) "Fuel line."

              "Check."

              "Wing?"

              "Check."

              "Propeller."

              "Check."

• Page 114, chapter 12, Sherri L. Smith
• This quote is very interesting because it taught me the process that pilots do before takeoff.
• Also, since Ida is the one saying this, it informs me that she is very professional and takes flying super serious.

CONCLUSION

      These 5 chapters were not that fun or entertaining for me because it was mostly just details of training and all of that stuff. Since the last chapter left off with Ida in the emergency room after she fainted, I predict that she will probably not go home. The reason why I think this is because it happened to other girls. But who knows? Maybe she will go home, or maybe shell still be in the W.A.S.P. I personally hope she stays!