Microlight pilot and Memorial fan Eddie McDowell has donated an amazing £1,120 to the Trust after a remarkable sponsored solo flight around the whole of Scotland.

Eddie took his GT450 Flexwing on an epic ‘longest day’ adventure, taking off from the historic Balado Airfield at 5.15am on 22 June at the start of a flight around the entirety of the Scottish mainland plus the Orkney Isles and a smattering of the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

By the time he landed back at Balado, he had flown over, approached or landed at 30 airfields, with ‘full stop’ comfort break and refuelling landings at Lamb Holm (Orkney) Plockton and Oban.

The flight was one of the longest solo one-day trips ever attempted in terms of both endurance and distance. “It was a fantastic adventure and I am proud of what I achieved and glad that I was able to raise money for such a fantastic cause as the Battle of Britain Memorial,” Eddie said. He covered 750 miles flying at an airspeed of just over 70mph and took 12 hours to complete the epic trip.

The challenge was sponsored, with public appeals via two funding channels raising £1,120 in support of the Trust, a charity that receives no public cash help.

“I choose the Memorial Trust as I felt it appropriate to try to raise money for a flying-related charity,” said Eddie, who has not visited the clifftop tribute to the Few but now has an open invitation. “With the 80th anniversary of D-Day earlier this month my thoughts went to the brave pilots of the second world war and your splendid memorial.”

Eddie, who lives in Edinburgh, has a full private pilot’s licence and trains people to fly both fixed wing and flexwing microlights.