Islay Airport will play host to an example of one of the world’s most famous vintage military aircraft this week with the arrival of a B17 Flying Fortress en route from America to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford in Cambridgeshire.

In July 1935, the first Boeing B17 was launched. It was an all-metal four-engine bomber, weighing in at 15 tons. Its specifications were well above those laid down by the US Army Air Corps. The plane first flew in Seattle and one watching journalist is said to have commented that the plane, when in the air, was a flying fortress due to the number of machine guns it carried. The nickname stuck.

The B17 was the main bomber used by the American Air Force in Europe during World War Two. It was deployed in thousands of missions over occupied Europe. In total, over 12,000 B17s were built in the war and nearly 250,000 Americans experienced flying in them.

The privately owned, USA based B17 will arrive at Islay on Thursday (3^rd July) and depart for Duxford on Saturday. Local residents are being offered the opportunity to take short flights in the aircraft while it is on the island.

Duncan MacGillvray, Islay Airport manager said: “We’ve had a number of vintage aircraft at Islay over the years but never a B17. It’s a fantastic opportunity for local people to see this aircraft, and even to fly in it, before it travels on to Duxford.

“At HIAL we are very happy to have been able to accommodate the visit and waive the landing fees for the B17.”

The B17’s arrival at Islay is the latest chapter in the airport’s long and distinguished history.

Islay received its first recorded flight in July 1928. Midland Scottish Air Ferries operated the island’s first scheduled flight on 16th May 1933, arriving from Renfrew via Campbeltown. Two days earlier, on 14th May 1933, the island’s first air ambulance flight, using a De Havilland Dragon aircraft, landed on the beach at the head of Lochindaal to collect a local fisherman suffering from abdominal pains.

The airport at Gelegadale opened for business in 1935 and was taken over by the RAF during World War Two. The hard runways that exist today at Islay originally date from 1940. The Avro Ansons of 48 Squadron, Beaufighter and Beaufort aircraft of 304 Ferry Training Unit used the new runways while flying boats of 119 Squadron landed in nearby Laggan Bay. By 1944 the airfield was under the control of Coastal Command and included three runways and six hangars. Personnel stationed there included 266 WAAF and 1,113 RAF servicemen.

Many different aircraft have used Islay Airport over the decades, ranging from a Hercules and a BAE 146 jet of the Royal Flight to the smallest microlights. Loganair now uses Saab 340s for scheduled flights to Glasgow and many charter aircraft from the UK and overseas land at the airport. Scottish Air Ambulance Service planes and helicopters are regular visitors along with a variety of military and private aircraft.

Islay Airport handled 30,000 passengers and 2,700 aircraft movements in the year ending 31 March 2008.