Orkney’s Aviation Festival is set to take off for two days, Thursday 8th and Friday 9th of September. This excellent online festival will be supported by the tech wizards at The Orkney International Science Festival who are hosting it on the OISF YouTube Channel.

Thursday 8th September – Sustainable Aviation Day 

2pm  SATE (Sustainable Aviation Test Environment) has programmed a day of talks abut the work being carried out by various organisations based at Kirkwall Airport. The first of these at 2pm, will highlight the work of SATE looking back on its achievements so far and forward to its future plans.   with David Holden and Dougie Cook 

4pm Windracers   

7.30pm  I AM AIRLANDER! 

If you thought that airships were a thing of the past welcome to the world of AIrlander, one of the most exciting aviation programme of recent years

“Airlander changes the way people think about aviation. From day one, Hybrid Air Vehicles have challenged the status quo. We’re redefining what aircraft can do, how aviation can address the challenges facing our world, and how mature technologies can be brought together in new ways. With Airlander, we’re rethinking the skies.”

Friday 9th September

 2pm      “Aviation and the Art of Engineering” a talk by Professor Dugald Cameron OBE,FCSD,FRSA  

4pm       “You Ought to Take a Norwegian to Show You”  a talk by Robert Foden   This event is recorded and available on the YouTube Channel from 4pm.  

Robert tells the story of the Norwegian explorer Tryggva Gran, the first person to (officially) fly cross the North Sea.

7.30pm    “The Northern Battle of Britain”  a discussion featuring four leading Naval and aviation historians: Commander David Hobbs MBE, Paul Beaver, Anthony J. Cumming and Ian Brown. 

The final event  looks at the early part of WW2 in the north, both in the air and at sea.  

Naval historian David Hobbs, a regular contributor to the Aviation Festival, sets the scene