20/10/2026
A Strathaven Airfield secret: We have applied to become Scotland's first UK Civil Aviation Authority pre-assessed drone test site.
We could, literally, be the catalyst for thousands of well-paid jobs in the West of Scotland.
Glasgow is a centre of European Space technology and a drone research, development and construction hub is now developing rapidly.
Believe it or not, Strathaven Airfield is at the centre of that!
SEPA and the University of the West of Scotland (home of Scotland's only degree course in drone tech) have been using the airfield for drone testing for years.
In the last few months, we have had drone companies from France, Australia and the USA on site. One of them now plans drone manufacturing in Scotland. And the airfield was a guest speaker at a European Drone Conference!
We embrace ambition, for and by others.
When we had a hangar dance, it became HangarFest. When we built a house, it was on Grand Designs. When Kype Muir wanted to build the UK's highest onshore wind turbines, we wrote a letter of support.
We were the first airfield in Scotland to have solar panels, the first UK airfield to have a robot cut all our runways and the first UK airfield to eliminiate our scope one and two emissions.
The planning mantra is "the right development in the the right place".
The scale of the Whitelee plans - at least in the Lanarkshire section - are in the wrong place.
There is so much more at risk than a wee grass airfield and its merry band of aviators.
Strathaven Hotel, Tuesday and Wednesday 2pm - 7pm
Images: SEPA testing software to recognise typical items found lying on beaches - at an airfield 847ft above sea level!
ID lanyard for European drone convention.
