widget/exchange-29
widget/exchange-30widget/exchange-33
widget/exchange-31

Transport / Touchdown! Large drone lands in Fair Isle after flying from Orkney

Watch a video of the drone’s approach and landing below

A LARGE drone has flown from Kirkwall to Fair Isle and back as part of a new trial – and it was even greeted by a group of local residents on its arrival.

The Windracers drone flew the route, which is around 60 miles each way as the crow flies, on Tuesday.

Photo: Windracers

It is the same drone which was recently used by the Royal Mail to deliver letters and parcels to the island of North Ronaldsay in Orkney.

The Fair Isle trial is taking place to allow Windracers to gauge how the drone performs over longer distances, so no mail was carried.

It is all part of the Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE) project at Kirkwall Airport, and it is using a large twin-engine unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Windracers, which provides transportation services to the humanitarian aid, research and environmental protection sectors, aims to also carry out further flights in Shetland next year.

offset-carousel/post-mobile/0

The large drone can fly up to 2,000ft and it is said to be able to operate in poor weather conditions.

The UAV taking off at Kirkwall Airport earlier this month before heading to North Ronaldsay with residents’ mail. Photo: Colin Keldie/SATE

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
widget/pd_widget-6widget/pd_widget-7widget/exchange-53widget/exchange-54widget/pd_widget-8widget/exchange-55widget/pd_widget-9widget/exchange-56

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.