First trip of the year to the farm strip at Kirriemuir for a BBQ Fly-In. I took off early – so early that as we approached the strip, there was nobody else on the ground.
Did we have the wrong day? Not wanting to make an arse of myself we extended the route towards the coast. Passing Brechin:
And then Edzell disused airfield, now an engineering yard for the oil industry…
We once spent ages circling Edzell in the work helicopter trying to find the scene of an industrial accident. The paramedics on scene assured us that they were parked next to the casualty, so we were searching for an ambulance. Then one of the them realised their mistake and had the sense to tell us the previously secret (but quite important) information that they had driven the ambulance right into one of the large warehouses (visible top left) to get to the patient!
It all became clear, and after that it was easy. We landed, did what had to be done and flew the patient to hospital. All’s well that ends well.
Back to the present…after Edzell we made our way back to Kirriemuir for another look – and somebody else was there! Feeling a little more confident we came in and were the second to arrive…
The third arrived shortly after…
Then the fourth…
And so on. Eventually there were quite a few of us parked up:
The enthusiasts like the Kirriemuir Fly-In…they can get close to the action and there are no fences between them and the aircraft, making for better photography…
Aaron the airfield operator arrived in the Cub from Perth and parked right next to the BBQ. Rank does have its privileges.
Also, he was on grill duty and the hungry crowds were starting to gather.
After a burger (or two, I’m not admitting anything), it was time to head home. I said my goodbyes and wandered back to the aircraft, finding one of the troubles with warm weather flying off grass…insects!
…on top of the crusted-on insects, the vibration had loosened off one of the spat retaining screws and its washer. Who knows where they ended up? Luckily I always carry a few spares just in case.
Getting airborne there was smoke on the horizon, so it was time for a little bit of fire spotting on the way home…
It looked like two separate fires:
Circled around for a good look…
Quite often these are controlled burns, but checking them out from lower level didn’t show any evidence of people in attendance:
I was reminded of an exercise back in the RAF where a bunch of us were “holding” in between training courses. We were topping up the numbers of the “hunter force” on the Basic Flying Training escape and evasion exercise. Having set up a night-time ambush for a group of escapees, I managed to burn down about half an acre of North York Moors with an errant mini flare…it was a three pump fire, as they say in the US. The three fire engines made their way up the track and sorted it out quite quickly. I visited them a week later with several slabs of beer to apologise 🙂
Back to the present…Shopping on the way home after landing. Appropriate headline spotted..!
