South East

The Wright brothers were the first people to make a controlled flight of a heavier than air machine back in 1903.

But they weren't the only brothers reaching for the sky.

While America had the Wrights at Kitty Hawk, Britain had the Shorts - Horace, Eustace and Oswald.

They flew their planes on the Isle of Sheppey.

The island is naturally good for flying. And best of all - aviators could fly for 10 miles without hitting anything.

Back in 1909 pioneering aviators flocked to Sheppey because the Shorts had discovered that Eastchurch was the ideal place to build and fly aeroplanes.

And when they invited the Wright brothers to take a look, things really started to take off.

Flying high

Sheppey impressed the Wrights so much that they gave the Shorts the world's first contract to manufacture six Wright Flyer aeroplanes.

The island was where the British aviation industry really began.

In 1911, four men from the Navy arrived at Eastchurch for training.

There was no such thing as the RAF, so these volunteers were the first military men to learn how to fly.

The Shorts' work for the Navy led to the idea of Seaplanes, and this was bad news for Sheppey.

But what was bad news for one part of Kent was good news for another.

The Shorts needed a place that was easier to get to, with wider roads to carry heavier loads.

So they relocated to Rochester, where the River Medway made the perfect liquid runway.

But most planes don't take off and land on water, so the Shorts needed an airstrip.

The Wright Brothers commissioned Shorts.

As luck would have it, Rochester City Council wanted an airport. So in 1933 they gave the Shorts the lease for a patch of grass that was to become a landing strip.

Production moved from strength to strength and the town got to work making planes that changed the world.

But, just as on Sheppey, the good times didn't last.

In 1947, the Shorts left war-ravaged Rochester and relocated to bigger premises in Northern Ireland.

Rochester Airport today

Today the only aircraft building at Rochester Airport is done by the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society.

They rebuild rare old planes using the same tools as they were built with in the first place.

The long haul airliners that owe so much to Rochester fly well overhead now.

It's not heavy industry that keeps Rochester Airport going - it is light aeroplanes and helicopters.

Although there's a lot of enthusiasm for Rochester Airport, the place is showing its age and its future is uncertain.

Rochester Airport PLC runs it on a short term lease but the land is owned by Medway Council.

Although there's a rich history to Rochester airport it can't afford to be trapped in the past.

The PLC wants to bring the airport up to date with a series of plans for the future.

The pre-war Short Brothers' factory buildings will disappear to be replaced by modern low level hangars, and the whole complex will undergo modernisation.

Heritage remembered?

But what about Eastchurch on Sheppey?

There were ambitious plans to turn this site into a major attraction but it just missed out on the Lottery funding it needed.

The Queen Mother at Rochester Airport.

2009 will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of British aviation in Kent and new plans are being drawn up to make sure Sheppey's contribution to flying is remembered and celebrated.

And in Rochester there are also plans to show that the Short brothers were part of its aviation history.

Finally, Horace, Eustace and Oswald Short - the "British Wright Brothers" will be celebrated for their pioneering work as Kent's early birds.