Bryan Sutherland

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Bryan Sutherland

MBE
Born1950 (age 7273)
OccupationEngineer
Years active1967–2017
Known forCareer with Loganair
SpouseDorothy Sutherland

Bryan James Sutherland MBE (born 1950) is a British former engineer. For fifty years, he was in charge of operating the world's shortest scheduled airline flight, Loganair's two-minute-long Westray to Papa Westray route in Orkney, Scotland. [1]

Contents

He is the airline's longest-serving employee, [2] having worked for Loganair between 1967 and his 2017 retirement. [1]

Career

Sutherland joined Loganair on 17 July 1967, [2] five years after the airline's formation. [3] Beginning in Kirkwall, he spent a few years in Glasgow before returning to Orkney. He was then asked to set up the airline's base in the Outer Hebrides in 1975. He returned to Orkney permanently in 1978. [3]

He planned to retire at the age of 65, but stayed on for two more years to achieve the fifty-year milestone. [3]

Personal life

Sutherland is married to Dorothy, with whom he has two daughters: Tracey and Lianne. [3]

He was awarded an MBE in the Queen's 2018 New Year Honours. [3] His nomination was submitted by Liam McArthur, member of the Scottish Parliament for the Orkney Islands. [4]

Related Research Articles

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Orkney, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of the coast of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, the Mainland, has an area of 523 square kilometres (202 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. Orkney's largest settlement, and also its administrative centre, is Kirkwall.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westray</span> Island of Orkney, Scotland

Westray is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, with a usual resident population of just under 600 people. Its main village is Pierowall, with a heritage centre, the 15th-century Lady Kirk church and pedestrian ferry service to nearby Papa Westray island. Westray has a number of archeological sites dating from 3500 BC, and remains of several Norse-Viking settlements. The spectacular sea cliffs around Noup Head are home to thousands of seabirds.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papa Westray</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Isles</span> Pair of archipelagos near Scotland

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Westray Airport is an airport at Aikerness, on Westray in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. It is best known for being one of the two airports joined by the shortest scheduled flight in the world, a leg of Loganair's inter-island service to Papa Westray Airport. The distance is 2.8 km (1.7 mi) and the scheduled flight time, including taxiing, is two minutes. As well as the Papa Westray flights, services to the main Orkney town of Kirkwall are offered.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papa Westray Airport</span> Airport

Papa Westray Airport is located 22 NM north of Kirkwall Airport on Papa Westray, Orkney Islands, Scotland. The facility is best known for being one of the two airports joined by the shortest scheduled flight in the world, a leg of Loganair's inter-island service, to Westray Airport. The distance is 2.8 km (1.7 mi) and the scheduled flight time, including taxiing, is two minutes.

This list of flight distance records contains only those set without any mid-air refueling.

In aviation, the flight length or flight distance refers to the distance of a flight. Aircraft do not necessarily follow the great-circle distance, but may opt for a longer route due to weather, traffic, to utilise a jet stream, or to refuel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westray to Papa Westray flight</span> The shortest scheduled passenger flight in the world

The Loganair Westray to Papa Westray route is the shortest scheduled passenger flight in the world. Flights on the route are scheduled for one and a half minutes, and actual flying time is closer to one minute. The record for the fastest flight is 53 seconds. The route is flown by Loganair, a Scottish regional airline that serves Scotland's Highlands and islands. It is also part of a connector flight that links the island of Westray and the town of Kirkwall, the central and most populous town of the Orkney Islands.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Engineer who kept world's shortest flight operating retires". www.scotsman.com. 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
  2. 1 2 "Island aircraft engineer working on the world's shortest flight retires after 50 years with Loganair". The National. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Munro, Alistair (30 December 2017). "Loganair engineer honoured for 50 years in the air service". Press and Journal. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
  4. "Motion ref. S5M-09816". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 2022-08-17.