A Scottish schoolboy has been given the chance to fly in a plane that he helped build with fellow pupils.

Kinross High School student Aaron Mackay was one of a group of pupils who helped build a Eurofox kit plane from scratch as part of a STEM awareness campaign to encourage participation in science and engineering.

The project began in November 2017 when the kit was delivered to the school from Slovakia.

Pupils were then given set time in class to learn about aviation engineering as part of their studies, but they enjoyed the task so much they even gave up personal time after school to work on the project.

Now 15 months later the plane is ready to take to the skies and Aaron is the lucky pupil chosen to take the maiden flight.

Before the flight from Fife airport the teenager said: "It is a truly incredible honour to be the first pupil to have a flight and it has been a terrific project to be involved in.

"I can really visualise taking forward my interest in STEM subjects and perhaps go on to a career in aviation engineering."

Overall, the project has taken two years of planning and fundraising with hundreds of hours of engineering assembly time by the pupils and a team of dedicated amateur pilots, with the build overseen by an expert independent engineer authorised by the Light Aircraft Association.

Aaron is just the first pupil to get the chance to fly in the plane he helped build, with other pupils also getting their opportunity in the coming weeks.

It is hoped that other schools across the country may be interested in taking part in a similar project in the future.

Headteacher of Kinross High School, Sarah Brown said: "From the very start this project has peaked interest from both staff and pupils across the school and beyond. We have been in the amazing position of having the dedicated Aero Space Kinross team on our doorstep, to guide the entire process, but also have staff willing to give extra-curricular hours and that speaks volumes."

"We would welcome the opportunity to share this experience with any other schools and colleges wishing to know more about inspiring their young people in this way. Not only have our pupils taken away a truly memorable STEM education experience from the Build-A-Plane project, but also inspiration to progress further in the field of aviation and engineering.

The project was the idea of a group with plans to build a £10 million aviation and space science centre in Kinross.