Weekend of celebrations to mark Bute's aviation centenary
30 AugustA weekend of celebrations to mark the centenary of Bute's avaition pioneer Andrew Blain Baird is to be held from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th September, remembring the island's place in early flight history.
A century ago at Ettrick Bay Rothesay blacksmith Andrew Blain Baird made the first all-Scottish heavier-than-air powered flight on September 24, 1910 in a monoplane aircraft he had designed and built himself - and Mr Baird's son, grandson and family are among those who have been invited to Bute to mark the centenary of the landmark occasion.
The weekend of events will include the unveiling of a memorial monument at Ettrick Bay, a ceremony at Mr Baird's grave in Rothesay Cemetery, and even the renaming of the island's airfield at Kingarth in his honour.
The full story of Andrew Baird's pioneering flight is told at a brand new website - www.bairdofbute.com - which, along with next month's centenary celebration, has been put together by Chris Markwell, who was born in Rothesay in 1944 before emigrating with his family to Canada seven years later.
You can read more on this story here on the Buteman website.
Follow us on: