A formal Lanark Air Show committee has now been created to ensure that the Centenary of the aviation display held in the town in 1910 is properly marked in two year's time.

The committee is chaired by Lanark aviation enthusiast Dr Brian East and backed by a committee of local history and aircraft experts.

LASC hopes to re-create as much national and international interest in the 2010 event its predecessor did 98 years ago.

More than a quarter of a million visitors flocked to the town to see the early flying machines struggle into the air.

Lanark's was only the second air show ever held in Britain and the very first in Scotland.

Brian and his team are under no illusions that they are taking on a big challenge.

Early estimates are that the show could take upwards of £200,000 to stage and various grant and sponsorship sources are already being investigated.

Initially it was thought that the original venue for the show, Lanark Raceourse, would, these days, be only suitable for some form of model, remote-control aircraft show to be held.

However, some expert advice has been taken by the committee and it appears the old course is still up to at least light aircraft landing and taking off as part of the commemoration.

A helicopter 'fly-in', perhaps as a tribute to Lanark's late sporting hero Colin McRae, is also a possibility.

A major part of the show, pencilled in for August 7-8, 2010, will be fly-overs of Lanark, hopefully by some of the nation's major aviation acts.

Initial contacts have been made with the RAF — itself celebrating its 90th birthday this year — with a view to booking the world-famous Red Arrows display team for the main day of the event.

Its formation flying routines involving breath-taking stunts by its nine, gleaming red Hawk jets, have long been recognised as one of the aviation world's greatest turns.

With the team being in such demand worldwide, the committee has been quick to indicate its interest in booking the Arrows for the 2010 show.

Another internationally-respected, if slightly more sedate, display mounted by the RAF is its Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

It is hoped to have them flying over Lanark during the show, giving the crowds a rare sight of a Spitfire, Hurricane and a Lancaster bomber in formation together, 70 years after their legendary World War Two exploits.

Also being pursued as a possible flying attraction is a replica currently being built in England of a historic aircraft with very strong local connections, the Westland Wallace.

It was in 1933/34 that the then Lord Clydesdale (later the Duke of Hamilton) was the lead pilot in a British expedition to be the first aviators ever to fly over Mount Everest.

The Wallace, named after Lanark's own Braveheart hero, was specially designed to fly just barely over the 29,000 foot summit, an amazing achievement at a time when the normal ceiling of aircraft was a third of that altitude. As things turned out, the Wallace made it — just!

Although the original aircraft was wrecked in an accident and scrapped many years ago, a group of English enthusiasts have been working on a full-sized flying replica and it is hoped to bring that to Lanark for the centenary.

On the ground, it is hoped to bring to the Racecouse several aircraft of historic importance for static display.

The Scottish Museum of Flight at East Fortune has been contacted to examine the feasibility of bringing some of its veteran airframes to the Racecourse.

Other attractions on terra firma being considered are a classic car rally (the Racecourse also hosted Scotland's first recognised car show, in 1913!), an Edwardian Fair and a Glenn Miller-type Big Band Dance at the adjoining Scottish Agricultural Centre.

A major aeromodelling event is also planned plus a 'hands-on' exhibit in the form of a redundant RAF jet fighter cockpit for children to clamber in and out of.

Brian and his team are keen, at this early stage, to promote the event as not just a local or even a national one.

Following the lead of their predecessors 98 years ago, it is being seen as an internationally-important display with the aviation world's attention focused on Lanark for the first time in a century!