Jet Turbines

 

Jet Turbines

At the dawn of the jet age Riga was a test pilot. She flew piston engine fighter planes. Every version of the legendary Messerschmitt 109 from the prototype to the K version. It was a real hot rod. It was the best service fighter Germany had produced. The 309 was faster and carried more guns. It was cancelled. Riga liked the 309 the most. She thought it should've been built. Future developments had made all piston engine fighters obsolete. Even the 109. Jet turbines powered aircraft were the way forward. The future was here now. Riga test flew Messerschmidt's newest plane the 262. The first prototype has a propeller on the nose. It had a tail dragger landing gear and flew line a bus. This was fine. When the jet engines were ready they were installed. One under each wing. The jet took a long to become airborne with the tail wheel gear. This was later fixed to include tricycle gear with a nose wheel. Riga flew this version of the jet. It was slow to accelerate. Yet with underwing turbines it was fast. Well over five hundred miles per hour. There was no roaring engine or vibration or spinning propeller. It was like horse riding through the waves on the beach. So care free like being a bird. The fastest bird in the world. This plane was no bird. It was armed with four big canons and would obliterate American bombers and avoid their escort fighters by its sheer speed. This was the future of air warfare. Riga flew at five hundred and fifty miles per hour. She could only fly for an hour. That hour was unlike anything else. What a machine. It was like a shark. In looks and capability. Riga knew she was the chosen one. Flying a weapon of the future right now. With this plane Germany would win the war. It really was like being a bird...

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Riga Laser Fire

 

 

 

Riga Laser Fire

The bright blue laser fire hit the back of Riga's small spaceship fighter. The laser fire came in at an angle of 25 and at a ratio of 3 to 1 to 5. This allowed it to pierce the triple defensive shields and fields. It disabled the drive and engines. Her ship went from being agile to drifting in space. It was a good shot. She gave them credit for that. All her screens and lights went blank. The life support went off and she couldn’t talk to anybody. Only the emergency back up system was online. It sent out an encrypted message before it ceased operating. No more laser fire came in. The enemy craft has gained a mobility kill. The question was what would happen next? Would they finish Riga or let her drift and die in space or come to capture her? She pressed the buttons and tapped the dark screen. It was all dead. Riga sent a prayer out to all that she believed in to get her out of this mess. Faint laser fire flashed to her right. Several white dots that were ships twisted and turned almost out of sight. She remembered the five kills she'd gotten this mission. They mattered little now in a dead ship with a useless pilot. This was war and battle had rules. A kill was a kill. She was out of the fight. What would happen next? Would she die alone in space or would they come get her and torture her to death? Oh my goodness!  If only my craft had stronger defensive shields!

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Riga Alfa Sport

 

Riga Alfa Sport

Riga had some savings. She bought a brown coloured sports car. It was Italian. It had to be from Italy. They built the best ones. Not the fastest or costliest but the best looking. And it had to be an Alfa. Riga drove her two seater up over the mountain roads. This car was sixty years old. Legend had it that Marlon Brando once owned it when he was here filming. Now Riga ascended a steep hillside road. The engine growled as she climbed in second gear. The wind blew her hair and her shades hid her eyes. The radio played Rammstein. It was good music for mountain setting along Italy's Adriatic coast. Everything here was dramatic. Riga was dramatic if small. The German heavy metal music was dramatic. The mountains were dramatic. The Alfa was dramatic. All dramatic in the right way. A small car with a little 2 litre petrol engine. How could this be so much fun? A simple 4 gear shift box and the most basic features. No seat belts or crash protection. But you wouldn’t crash this car, would you? Not the Alfa that Brando once drove. Riga loved this vehicle from first sight. She bought it and that was that. A car like this had to be driven over mountain roads. Not by the coast or in the city. Over those steep winding mountain roads. Especially an Alfa. Going up over the crest of the peak Riga was rewarded with such a view. A mile below was the distant see and numerous fishing villages. She pulled over and parked at a tiny layby. The sun was bright and sky a pure blue. This was perfect. How could it be not? If asked to describe beauty it was this, the feeling of now. This moment. Ownership of this time and her life. In a classic antique sports car once owned by Marlon Brando. The diminutive gal felt overwhelmed. Tears of joy came to her eyes. She blinked them away and tapped the wooden steering wheel. Yes, this was her moment. Few things equal this. In an Alfa a mile above the ground in sunny Italy by the Adriatic coast. If only my dad could see me now. Does he know how happy I am, right now? Time paused. Yet in reality the moment passed. Riga sighed and nodded. She started the car and slowly pulled onto the road. Later she decided, she would eat pizza. This was Italy…

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