Green aviation: Electric powered plane trialled over Orkney

Scotland's first hybrid-electric plane has taken to the skies at a new test centre in Orkney.

US-based aviation company Ampaire has replaced one of the piston engines in their retrofitted Cessna aircraft with a compact electric motor.

Ampaire believes hybrid technology could pave the way to flying inter-island and short haul routes with greener technologies.

After initial test flights in Hawaii, the aircraft was shipped to Scotland for its first flight across open water. A 90-minute rapid charge of the plane's battery can provide around an hour of flight.