Tales and Planes

Getting up on Saturday morning was a shock. The sun was out and looked like it might be out all day.

Was I going to miss this opportunity to get on my motorbike? No sirreeee.

Got the leathers on and headed out with no particular destination to start with, when I remembered about the National Museum of Scotland Airshow at East Fortune. Well I thought, a bit skint and not paid 'till monday..but I could watch the show from a surrounding road....they would be in the air so should be easy to see.

I set off along the Edinburgh Bypass and was confronted by a queue of traffic at Sherrifhall...no probs on the bike though....weaved my way through the middle of it...god its good to be on the bike :-)

After that is was down the coast road to East Fortune...cutting inland about Longniddry and finally on a little road just outside the show itself.

A line of parked cars greeted me....parked alongside the 'No Parking' signs put there earlier in the day by the police.

I thought to myself that this could be problematic later in the day, and so found a private drive with an elderly gentleman sitting in his car. He said OK to my question about joining him at the end of the drive...and so off the public road. Another biker joined us and we sat watching the airshow and swapping stories.

Turns out that this gentleman was in the Home Guard stationed near Macmerry during WW2 and it turned out that my fellow biker's dad was as well. I had tears in my eyes listening to the stories that both came out with.

Like the time they were detailed to blow up a small building during an exercise. Noone had explosives experience, so they got some from a miner that worked the coalface. On hearing how much they put in the building, the regular army officer said they should 'run' after lighting it. They did.

The building was blown into the Forth!

At the same time we watched the motorcycle police moving on all the parked cars...and eyeing us carefully. Private road though....couldnt touch us.

After the Avro Vulcan bomber had done its bit, it was thanks to the old chap and back on the bikes for the ride home (weaving in between the traffic at the roundabout again).

Great chat, good show and a fantastic ride......thats what makes a good day.