Riga You There

Monday 20th April 2026 3:26 am

Riga You There

Riga flew over a town centre in a small single seat helicopter. It was painted yellow and green there was a small cockpit with dial gauges and a single computer screen. This showed a map and engine details. Like any helicopter this had three controls. There was the cyclic that made it rise or descend. It was controlled with the left hand. On the end was the throttle. The rudder pedals made it turn left or right. Her feet controlled these. A joystick banked the craft right or left. This was a sports chopper. Not a passenger or war craft. It was well engineered and was fully aerobatic. There were small wings either side. They had no control surfaces but helped give lift. Up to a third of total lift was provided. The main rotor made the rest. The wings added ten knots to the top speed. This was listed as 180 knots. Riga had taken the chopper to over 190 safely. There were twin engines. Each was 800 shaft horsepower. That was a lot for a single seater. That much power would easily move four or six people in a bigger vehicle. Riga slowly circled the town and looked down. She saw shoppers going about their daily routines. Office workers were going to work or taking their breaks. Riga left the town and flew higher. She saw distant mountains. Those were the Apennines. Some of the peaks were high. Have to be careful of turbulence when crossing. If there were valleys she would follow those. Fields and small villages were now below. Riga rolled her chopper to the left. Her feet and hands worked the controls. This is thrilling! The world turned on its axis. For a few seconds the ground was where the sky was. Wonderful! How cool that this helicopter was built and put into production. I’m sure it will be a best seller. I got the first one! My name is painted on the side. Time to loop the loop. Riga and her cool stunt ‘copter…

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