A landmark moment in the history of Highland aviation was remembered in spectacular fashion when a biplane took to the skies above the far north. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the launch of the first air mail flights between Inverness and the Scottish islands - a development which was also the first such internal air mail service in the UK. Pioneered by Captain Ernest Edmund "Ted" Fresson, the flights - which took off from an aerodrome in what is now the Longman industrial estate - were the early forerunner of the passenger routes that today criss-cross the sky and provide vital transport links between communities in the Highlands and Islands.
And to mark the 90th anniversary of Capt Fresson’s pioneering efforts, the Fresson Trust secured the use of the world’s only remaining airworthy de Havilland Dragon biplane to recreate the journey that the same type of aircraft once flew between Inverness and Kirkwall. READ MORE: WATCH: Celebrating 90 years of air travel from Inverness READ MORE: Loganair celebrates 90th anniversary longest-running UK commercial flight – which left Inverness The biplane, which had belonged to Highland Airways and was originally named Kirkwall, re-enacted the route of the original flight almost 90 years ago to the day. Setting off from Inverness Airport, it flew over the site of the long-lost Longman Aerodrome in Inverness, where the original flight departed, before heading up the coast to Wick John O'Groats Airport on the outskirts of Wi.
