Hugh MacKinnon and the first plane on Tiree
Photograph of Hugh MacKinnon and the first plane on Tiree.
Courtesy of Mrs Netta Martin
Hugh MacKinnon (Eòghann Dhòmhnaill), known as the Contractor, is pictured here on the Reef with the first plane to land on Tiree. The two-seater Moth piloted by Captain A. N. Kingwill was brought over from Renfrew by the Tiree Association for their Sports Day in July 1929.
The Contractor owned one of the few cars on Tiree at the time and took the pilot to his house for lunch. The first passengers on a short trip over the island included the Contractor himself and John MacLean (Iain a’ Ghaffer) of Kilkenneth.
Kingwill went on to fly with Sir Alan Copburn’s flying circus and made the first scheduled landing at a municipal airport later that year when he piloted a Moth into Wythenshawe Airport at Manchester.
Black and white photograph of the Tiree Association Sports Day in the late 1920s.
Tiree Association Sports Day, 1927 or 1928. Since its foundation in 1900, the Tiree Association has organised an annual Sports Day on Tiree which continues to this day. In 1927 or ’28, Captain A. N. Kingwill was hired to fly the first plane to the island, bringing with him the day’s newspapers. Short flights on the plane were on offer at 2/6d (12p) a time and Captain Kingwill gave a display of stunt-flying. Hugh MacKinnon, a local contractor from Crossapol, pictured behind the wheel of his car in E24, presented him with a medal.