Festival of Flight

The Festival of Flight was a complex and extremely advanced machinery, built by G and family, that took months of planning and less than three hours of sleep a night in the final weeks for all involved. Its end result was one of Club Penguin's greatest achievements: they had lifted the island off the sea and into the air, shocking skeptics and terns alike.

It is also the most dangerous party, because it utilized nuclear power whose waste will require storage for the rest of eternity.

Chapter 1: G's Idea
Back in May of 2009, G had taken a coffee break and strolled along CP. Waddling along, he looked up at the sky and happened to notice Ternville floating by. G, being a penguin, was sometimes mocked by the more "specist" terns because he was a bird, yet could not fly. Sure, he had invented Jet Packs that could be fueled by simple gasoline, and he WAS able to suspend anvils with a deluxe "super helium" (a helium isotope), but could he flap his flippers and fly? No, no he could not. He looked around at the island, at the penguins waddling among, then back to Ternville. Thinking of the mockery, G suddenly had a bold and daring idea.

Chapter 2: G is Mocked
The famous scientist placed and unrolled the blueprint in front of the Master Department of Meteorology, a division of the Department of Science. The Department of Machinery also stood, looking over the blueprints. There was silence and mumbling for about thirty minutes.

Then...

"WA HA HA HA!" the terns in the Department began chortling.

"Nuclear furnaces, hundreds of multi-thousand horsepower propellers... a giant balloon?! GASOLINE PIPES? It sounds like something out of a lame kids' game!"

G scowled, he was ready to defend his project. He lived by a code, after all: "Anything is possible with a dream.".

"I'm telling you! Those tunnels Herbert bore caused major holes to form in the island! With basic Trans-Antarctican mining tools and a big Water Party hose, I could-"

The still chuckling leader of the Meteorology Department halted G.

"HA HA HA HA HA!! Seriously, penguin. Go swim in an ocean, slide on your belly, something normal."

G frowned and walked out. Before he exited, though, a penguin in the Department spoke up.

"Hey, give the guy a chance!"

The other penguins and terns nodded.

"I've seen him do great things."

"Yeah, great things that are feasible. Now, get out of my office!" the leader smirked. A few other specist terns escorted G out of the room and onto a Skyline leading back to CP.

G was not phased. He would hoist CP before the end of winter, and when G sets his mind to something, he does not quit. He took out his spy phone and made some calls to his family.

Chapter 3: The Family that Works Together
G and his relatives lined up together.

"Now, as you know, a few terns, to this day, are still specist toward us penguins because we can't fly. However, if I have my way, we'll have a second Ternville by August."

Everyone is G's family were very intrigued. Harry spoke up.

"Brother, what exactly would we need a second Ternville? They're not overpopulated."

G smiled at his younger brother.

"H, this is going to be the second Ternville."

Dooley interrupted. "You're going to lift Club Penguin, brother?"

Perry clapped with glee, he was going to enjoy drawing this.

Benny Franklin was impressed with his grandson.

"My little Gary, you'll make the Flight Brothers very proud with this. Now, you'll need electricity, lots of electricity."

"Oh, and we'll need fuel... lots of fuel... yes... ha ha... yes..." Fredsworth rubbed his flippers together evilly. The rest of his family looked at him.

"Well, it's true!"

Carter appeared from out of the ground, startling his family.

"Might I suggest uranium for your power source? I have plenty."

The others nodded, it was a good idea, since CP had enough water to cool multiple reactors.

"Professor Sling, use your Lime Glasses and retract as much cloth as you can find, and bring it to me."

"Mary Gadget, I'll need you to go underground and map out Herbert's tunnels."

"Carter, you get the uranium. Since you're a ghost, you won't need a Hazmat suit."

"Perry, I'll need you to draw up a propeller for the top of the Lighthouse and a nuclear furnace to fit in it. You will also need to draft a balloon with enough size to stabilize the island. Place it on the Tallest Mountain. Larry II is going to need a computer powerful enough to maintain two nuclear reactors, monitor the weather five thousand feet up, and be powered by a target with snow balls, like at the Snow Forts. Craft a good-sized jet pack to wire to the computer for power."

Perry nodded and ran off with his blueprints.

"Foldy, you will need to bore into the Tallest Mountain enough to outfit a nuclear furnace AND store thousands upon thousands of gallons of jet pack fuel."

"Brother... what if there are MOLE PEOPLE in the Tallest Mountain?"

Everyone rolled their eyes at poor paranoid Foldy. Fredsworth thought fast...

"Then you'll need a suit of tinfoil, a shovel, and an antenna on your head to block, umm, mole people lasers. The antenna makes them run away."

"Really, Fredsworth?"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, YOU- ...umm, yes. Yes it will."

Foldy grinned and pulled out some tinfoil from his inventory.

"Do you... ALWAYS carry that with you?"

"Of course! Who doesn't?"

"Never mind."

"Zany", G continued, "I need you to compose epic music for the party."

"Yarky, build propellers. BIG PROPELLORS. Ones that run on nuclear energy.

"Jerry, I want you, too. Gather as much metal as you can. Anyone who didn't receive specific orders, follow someone and aid them."

Everyone in G's family nodded.

"Oh, and Ned and Nat?"

"Yes Gary?" they answered in unison.

"Head down to the Meteorology jerks and do whatever it is you do to annoy them."

They both nodded.

The Festival was on its way.

Severing CP
Lifting CP was no easy task. However, Herbert's seismic annoyances made it easier, thanks to the massive tunnels in the earth that he had bored. The first thing they had to do was sever the entire island off of the earth's crust. To weaken the permafrost, nonels were used to blast it open. Giant, stone cutting band saws were used to cut the pillars of the tunnels apart. Wooden poles, just like the ones in the Mine, were erected to hold the increasing weight. The stone pillars were left standing to act like poles holding CP up. Kwiksilver loaned a drilling machine to further bore tunnels. When CP was completely severed from the crust (just sitting on the ice pillars like a book on a desk), wooden poles were erected and pipes assembled. Any crust that may lock CP to the earth were blasted with the giant hoses from the Water Party. What wasn't crumbled by the pressurized water eventually cracked and fractured via frost wedging.

Liftoff
Against the Department of Meteorology's wishes, Mayor McFlapp gladly allowed CP to latch itself to Ternville, hooking thousands of cables as thick as a penguin's flipper to the permafrost. Ternville's nitro engines, coupled with natural updrafts, broke the remaining inertia and gravity locking CP to the ground. After pulling CP two thousand feet up and sending a squadron of terns to check all pipes, wires, and dirt, they cables were cut and CP began free falling. G immediately flipped the switch and activated the fission process, roaring the propellers to life and heating the Island Lifter 3000. CP overcame gravity about two hundred feet from sea level, and was lifted, under its own power, to five thousand feet above the air, where it hovered for several days.

Propellers
For the propellers, G was completely aware that he would need to place them in key points on Club Penguin. He placed one on the Lighthouse and one near Deacon Peak. Others were installed in empty patches in places like the Ski Village and the Plaza. These were all hooked up to the piping in CP's bowels, as are their motors (since the shaft and blades are all that are shown). These were chosen over jet engines for safety reasons.

Nuclear reactors and the Island Lifter 3000
The Island Lifter 3000 was installed at Tallest Mountain, and was attached to a massive nuclear furnace under the peak.

From this furnace are the flames visible that is heating the balloon (and expanding the Super Helium). The target, when hit by snowballs, fires the engine a bit and adds an extra burst from the furnace within. Right below the target is the wired jet pack. This item is like a breaker switch. For its function, see the Safety Concerns section.

How the Nuclear Furnace works
The nuclear furnace (the Nuke-'em 3000) under Tallest Mountain was fission-based, specifically a boiling reactor, powered by uranium rods carried in by Carter. When the island was flying, hundreds among hundreds of thousands of strong penguins wearing jet packs carried buckets full of icy ocean water to pour on the rods to prevent a Meltdown.

The penguins dump the water down a funnel which rushes past the reactor core and turns to steam, cooling the rods and preventing meltdowns in the process. When the rods run out, Carter floats off with the rods to a Hazmat boat specifically modified to carry the uranium to a safe storage place. New rods are then installed by penguins in Hazmat suits.

The steam produced from the fission was routed upward to the Island Lifter 3000 and also piped throughout the infrastructure to the various propellers, powering them. Super Helium expands and lifts far better when heated to extreme temperatures, which necessitated the need for the Nuke-'em 3000 to be directly under the IL3K.

Since CP was lifted completely off the ground, it was severed from the Governance power lines and any external electricity. Due to this, wiring was built under CP and along with the pipes to route electricity from the reactor to buildings and other items, and to also double as a backup in case the reactor failed. Colossal batteries in the Northern Mountains stored any unused electricity in the event of a reactor shutdown.

Cloud Maker 3000
The Cloud Maker 3000 uses superheated water (seen in the tank) which is rapidly condensed in a literal mold. For instance, the Anvil shape has water piped into a cast-iron mold, hollowed on the inside, where it condenses. The vents whoosh open and shoot out the cloud, where it floats in the breeze until wind shear rips it apart (after about fifteen seconds). Due to this, The clouds are only visible from Deacon Peak and the Telescope.

Resealing CP to the crust, repairing the Underground Windows, reinstallation of the Cart Surfer Mine
After the party was done, Mayor McFlapp sent a special executive order to the Department of Science's Geology Office. The order was to create a geological disturbance under the northwestern sector of the Club Penguin Crater (the remaining section of the island that did not get lifted). This geological disturbance caused Diamond Falls to erupt, thus covering the top of the Crater with hot, sticky, fresh lava. Much like glue sticking two pieces of paper together, the lava stuck the two pieces of the island back together.

Also, special high-frequency lasers were attached to the bottom of the flying island and to the top of the Crater to help re-align the two halves of CP. The lasers on top of the Crater were shielded to prevent damage from the lava eruptions. The Mine was re-dug and new wooden beams and rails were reinstalled. The base of the Mine and the Mine Shack did not require any sort of repairs because they were lifted with CP.

Governance Blessing (Authorization)
Since G wanted to build a nuclear power plant for the Festival, he was required to go to the only penguin in Antarctica to get a Blessing to build it. P. Benzin, thrilled about the entire party idea, blessed G's party, signing a document authorizing all power plant procedures. In return, G promised to let the P.O.P.E. party with the CP commoners. Snooty Governance employees hated this class distinction, and the FoF actually caused Benzin's approval ratings to drop for a while. P. Benzin could care less, though, since he, like normal penguins, loved a good party.

Nuclear plant safety

 * If the power in the Nuke-'em 3000 becomes to great, or if the rods overheat, the jet pack will ignite and fly off its holster. This will immediately shut down the machine in a process called a "SCRAM". Should the jet pack become unplugged, it severs the electricity and forces the reactor's control rods to fall into the reactor, absorbing neutrons and halting the fission process.

Emergency reserves
Since CP was running on nuclear power in this time, AND since CP was hovering five thousand feet up, a backup was needed so that the beloved island wouldn't crash to the ground.

First and foremost, jet pack fuel was stored in a safe place. Propellers were chosen over jet engines intentionally because they do not require electricity to run. If the plant failed and required a shutdown or SCRAM, penguins would rush the jet pack fuel into the previously empty fuel tanks and the propellers would start burning that instead of turning with steam. There would not be enough jet pack fuel fuel to continue the party, just enough to have CP connect to Ternville and lower itself back to the ground. There was enough fuel to last twelve hours of nonstop propeller and IL3K power.

If that somehow failed, or if more time was needed, the giant batteries had enough power to keep the island up for three hours.

If the batteries failed as well, the AiringJet Current would lower itself and maneuver so as to create a pressurized area around the island, stabilizing it. However, the AiringJet's wind speeds can support only so much weight, even with modifications to its primer pumps.

The absolute final resort, though, was to have millions of parachutes manufactured and stored for distribution to penguins in case the island was doomed.

Annoying awareness groups

 * G had to endlessly assure the annoying PETF minions that no fish were harmed (he left out eaten) in the making of the plant. Eventually, he had Carter scare them off.
 * Nuclear power plant haters tried to sue G, but with the help of Turtleheimer, this was quelled.
 * People were nervous that G didn't have the knowledge to run a fission plant, much less build one underground. G responded to this by having a Governance Megabishop who specialized in nuclear physics oversee and then run the plant.
 * G was glad that he did this, because it allowed him to wonder around the island and say hello to his fans. :)
 * Freezeland opposed having nuclear power, because they feared that they would end up having to store the non-reacting rods. Fortunately, East Pengolia volunteered to take the non-reactant uranium off their hands... (suspicious).
 * Governance employees were annoyed that P. Benzin was partying with commoners. G responded with dignity, saying that anyone can have fun on Club Penguin, and that they were all invited if they wanted to come.

Rod disposal, waste handling, decommissioning
When the rods ran out, they are immediately removed, replaced, and the old one is given to Carter. This waste is quickly carted to a hazmat ship below and placed in a Cooling Pond to keep it from exploding on the ship. The ship, which is very fast, zooms to the nearest coastline where it is trucked, again at high speeds (on closed roads), straight to a laboratory where it can be Vitrificated and then Calcinated. The waste is then poured into the glass (oh, just see that link!) and into the barrels and sealed. Clean freak penguins rush out in hazmat suits and wash the barrel externally in soap and chemicals (not water, water is reactive). It is then cleaned three more times by machine, and shipped to a deep geological repository called the Immortal Immobilizer 3000, designed by none other than Dooley. Located deep in the Trans-Antarctic mountains. There, the barrels, not being touched by flipper, are carried via forklift and placed in the center of the cave, aligned and positioned exactly twenty feet from each other in a square. Sadly, these will require monitoring for the next few centuries, and since Dooley is only six, there are no plans for what to do with the II3K in case of stewardship cessation (abandoning the waste, leaving it to its own half-life devices). In other words, entire generations of penguins will be working in the II3K for the next multi-hundred years.

Statistics

 * Lifespan of one rod: Less than 1 cycle (one day).
 * Uranium rods can actually last three cycles (six years), but CP didn't need to mine very much, resulting in less uranium used.
 * Number of volunteer jet packing penguins carting water at any given time: 200,185,734.
 * Number of waste barrels by the end of the party: 275.
 * Number of years before permanent unmonitored burial of said barrels: 300.
 * Number of permanent II3K employees required: 500 per generation.
 * Number of fan mail to G: Unassessed (estimates in the thirty million range)
 * Number of aviation themed clothing handed out or sold: Unassessed (estimates in the fifty million range)
 * Propeller hats gifted: Unassessed (estimates in the fifty million range).

Reception
Despite the outlined dangers and the requirement of additional permanent nuclear storage (the Centriepistula already has a nuclear plant), the FoF was rendered an absolute success. Penguins everywhere adored it, and were in awe at being five thousand feet up. People from across the continent visited the party, as did CP natives. Millions of green propeller hats were handed out. The jet packs were for CP natives exclusively, not even P. Benzin got one.

It was rated 10,000,000 of 10 in Booyah Reviews Magazine and was given an extra blessing from the P.O.P.E.

G was invited to hold a Tech-Time with his family documenting the FoF, which was granted a Prime Time TV special.