Last month, and tenuously gaming related, the hobby
widow and I headed east to the next county over to attend the annual East Fortune Air show. How is this gaming related? Well, it has bi-planes. Age of
Glory has bi-planes. That's my justification.
I've always had a passing interest in things aeronautical
and love the idealistic romance and adventure of the early planes. I can't say I have any
real knowledge of the subject, other than failing to land in numerous video
game simulations from the ZX Spectrum onwards. Yes, "I'm old. Not
obsolete."
With my recent forays into Age of Glory, it was pure coincidence that Bill Bryson's 'One summer: America, 1927' was on my holiday reading list this year which contained a substantial (and, of course, witty) commentary of the early days of aircraft and the challenge of the first trans-Atlantic crossings.
I've never taken things any further though. Yes, I've
made numerous commercial flights as a passenger in various types of aircraft
over the years, from micro-lights to dodgy Russian helicopters in Nepal; I've
even tandem-skydived and bungee-jumped, but that's just falling without
hitting the ground. And mad.
But I've never seriously considered learning to fly for
real. Unlike my brother who's apparently on his way to getting his private
pilots license and is building a truly epic computer simulator in his equivalent 'Battleshed'.
Not sure I'd go up with him though. I've seen they way he drives.
I do like the thrill of an air show, and the East Fortune
show is one of my favourites. Not only is it local and in a very picturesque
locality, it's the site of Scotland's National Museum of Flight. I heartily recommend
this to any potential visitors to the area.
Here's a few snaps from this year's show:
Here's a few snaps from this year's show:
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