Birthday up, up and away

A case in point is Hamilton patriarch Ernie, husband of Alderman Mary Hamilton, and father to three loving but mischievous daughters, who found himself several thousand feet in the air on Thursday of last week after a birthday surprise to beat all.

It was a throw-away comment that landed Ernie in bother. Asked what he wanted for his birthday just over a fortnight ago, he joked 'Just buy me a plane'. So his daughters set about getting him the next best thing - almost an hour in the air in a single engine airplane visiting all the haunts of his youth.

Setting out from the Flying Club on the outskirts of Londonderry, close to Eglinton, Ernie, accompanied by his wife, were flown down to Bready, taken over Slieve Kirk which is close to where Ernie was reared. Then they were flown over the Donemana area taking in Raspberry Hill and Liscloon, back into Strabane over towards Lifford, which is where Mary came from, along the hills and back up the valley, going over Altnagelvin and back to the Flying Club.

It's not the first time Ernie has been up in the air - he flew over the City once in an old-fashioned four-engine wartime plane many years ago.

"I think she was an old bomber or some type of carrier, for she had old wooden seats, and I remember William hay was beside me and any time they moved the plane around he landed on top of me. That flight took place when they used to do the air shows at Eglinton," said Ernie.

Although he was not scared to get into such a tiny aircraft and be buffeted by the elements, Ernie admitted that when he was offered the controls he declined.

The flight was secretly brokered by Ernie's daughters, Eleanor, Heather and Miriam with flying ace Alfie Danton, and it had been planned for Ernie to take to the air with his brother David who was visiting, but David decided not to sprout wings, so it fell to Mary to fill the final seat on the birthday flight.

"I think she was more scared of the plane than I was," said Ernie with a chuckle.

Not to be outdone Mary chimes in: "I went up and thought 'Now what happens if this thing goes down?' I didn't intend to go up but there was a spare seat. I was able to go over Lifford and look up our own lane at home and see our home. It was lovely," she said.