(CNN) -
The pilot, who is inches from his passengers, raises his hand and flips the metal switches that start the engines.
Two propellers, visible through the windows on both sides, start to work noisily.
The small aircraft runs across the gravel for a few hundred meters.
Then, when the pilot pulls the control column, it rises and begins to turn to the right in a wide turn on its axis.
Below, the ground fades to be replaced by blue-green waters.
Loganair's flight LM711 isn't the most comfortable experience.
Eight passengers squeeze into a cabin the size of a VW van.
The engine noise is incessant.
And there are no facilities on board: if you need to go to the bathroom, the only option is to cross your legs.
Except there is no room to do that either.
The flight is not the most comfortable in the world.
Barry Neild / CNN
However, there is something very special about this flight that, if you did not know it before, you will realize it after two minutes of travel.
Because after two minutes of travel, it is very unlikely that the plane is still in the air.
According to Guinness World Records, this is the shortest scheduled air service in the world, a journey that covers just 2.7 kilometers in less time than it takes most passenger planes to reach cruising altitude.
On a good day, with favorable winds and little luggage, it takes 53 seconds.
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The trip, which takes place two or three times a day, connects Westray, an island on the edge of the Scottish Orkney archipelago in the north of the country, with the smaller and even more remote island of Papa Westray.
Throughout the year, it is a lifesaver for the nearly 80 people who live on this 10-square-kilometer island.
In summer, it also attracts tourists, mostly hikers, looking to experience air travel and discover the many charms of Papa Westray.
The true start of the visitor's journey is at the airport serving Kirkwall, the lively capital of Orkney, on the archipelago's largest island, known as the Mainland.
From here, it's a quarter-hour flight to Westray before taking the last record-breaking jump.
It is in Kirkwall that they first climb into the cockpit of Loganair's diminutive Britten Norman BN-2 Islander.
Aviation enthusiasts, especially those who manage to sit in the first of the four rows of passenger seats, will appreciate seeing a pilot at work.
But you cannot choose where to sit.
The allocation is based on the uniform distribution of weight around the aircraft.
Windswept airport
Final destination: Papa Westray Airport.
Credit: Barry Neild / CNN
Liftoff, after a succinct safety briefing over the pilot's shoulder, is a flurry of switches, dials, and screeches from the radio.
Watching the altimeter roll and the horizon tilt on the attitude indicator is almost as exciting as the view out the window.
However, the view takes the cake.
It's early August, so a patchwork of summer green Orkney farmland alternates with the green and blue waters of the Atlantic as we pass over the islands of Gairsay and Rousay.
After 15 minutes in the air, the plane lands at Westray Airport, a windswept site consisting of a small building, a gravel runway, and an asphalt taxiway.
There is a short pause to allow a passenger to get on the last short leg of the trip, and then we are off.
This is the record-breaking part of the journey, a flight that is shorter than the runway length of most major airports.
There is no need for the seatback screens to show you the route map: you can look out the window to see where you are going to land before you even take off.
With the timer running from the moment the wheels lift off the ground, it turns out to be a slow day for the shortest flight in the world due to the direction of the wind.
The flight lasts just over two minutes and 40 seconds.
The map shows the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland.
Landing is another flurry of emotions.
We land on Papa Westray's main gravel runway (it has two more of grass and wildflowers, so we can land when the wind blows the other way), and the island comes to life around us.
There is a waiting fire truck manned by a pair of brothers who pause their nearby farm work while the plane visits last.
Once the plane has departed, the woman who man the control tower puts on a postal service jacket and jumps into a van to deliver the mail.
As the plane's engines fade into the distance, the tiny airport goes silent, the only noise being the strong sea breeze churning through the orange cone of wind that can be seen in the field.
From here, there is not much else to see.
The treeless island seems desolate and almost deserted.
But it is not.
Despite its size, Papa Westray, or Papay, as it is also known, is a truly magical place.
And while the record-breaking thrill of the flight alone may be worth the $ 20 fare, the real attraction is the island itself.
Especially when Jonathan Ford is around to guide.
A resident for nearly eight years, Ford works as a "Papay Ranger," a job that includes taking excursions and boat trips, organizing events, creating art projects, and keeping an eye on the island's wildlife during the years. long dark winters and endless summer days.
Nobility or witchcraft?
Chapel of San Bonifacio.
Credit: Barry Neild / CNN
There are almost seven hours of waiting before the return flight, but the island has a lot to fill them with.
Ford begins with a drive down Papay's only road, where he tells us local stories and gossip as we pass islanders taking advantage of the seasonal lull in the harsh weather they are often exposed to.
There is talk of a site found under a house and the discovery of a Viking sword.
From the lively nights in the community center that is the social center of the island and the location of a youth hostel to spend the night.
And from the algae industry which, until the early 20th century, saw locals working in harsh conditions to collect the algae used in the production of glass and soap.
We pass in front of the trailers with bricks to prevent them from blowing up.
The island school (number of students: four, two in kindergarten and two in primary school).
Small country houses and large farmhouses.
And acres of arable land bounded by hand-built dry stone walls, including a wall painted in red and white stripes to mark the end of an airstrip.
Our first stop is next to Holland Farm, the largest on the island, where a path through a cattle field leads to the coast and an archaeological site known as Knap of Howar, a 5,000-year-old house that, It is said to be the oldest standing building in Europe.
It is an extraordinary place.
The ruins of two connected chambers, sunk into the ground, in which families lived before even the pyramids of Egypt were built, are within the reach of anyone.
Best of all, in one corner is a smooth mortar stone on which the former occupants of the Knap pounded the grains to make flour.
On it, also smooth, is what appears to be the mortar that was used.
Holding something that could have been in the hands of someone in this very place up to five millennia ago is a truly exciting moment.
The next stop on the tour is another historic site dating back to the 8th century.
San Bonifacio is a restored chapel whose two-gabled architecture reveals the Hanseatic influences of continental Europe.
In the lichen-covered cemetery there is a tombstone whose occupant, says Ford, may be related to nobility, or perhaps witchcraft.
The last of the great auks
This is a tribute to the last of the British Isles auks.
Credit: Barry Neild / CNN
After lunch, we go in search of wildlife on a walk through Papa Westray's North Hill Nature Reserve, a coastal wasteland maintained by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds of the United Kingdom, where some of the dozens can be spotted. of migratory species that visit the island.
As we stroll along the shoreline, followed in the water by a curious gray seal, we see seagulls, gulls and a fulmar chick, from which we keep well away.
This gull-like bird is capable of projectile vomiting a foul-smelling substance to scare off predators.
This gull-like bird is capable of vomiting a smelly substance.
Credit: Barry Neild / CNN
We also visit a sad monument in memory of the common auk, a large flightless bird hunted until its extinction in the 19th century.
A bird shot at Papa Westray in 1813 is believed to be the last auk to breed in the British Isles.
Even on this short coastal walk, the weather is constantly changing.
The blue skies are quickly covered by rain clouds.
The light on the water turns from golden to silver.
It's a brief taste of the changeable temperament that Ford says is one of Papay's main draws.
"I like the fact that things change all the time," he says.
"But you have to be here for some time to see it, and I like being able to be here throughout the year to see all the changes that take place, especially those of the birds, which come and go with the seasons.
"I also like to experience the polar opposites of the year: the almost 24 hours of daylight in summer, which has an amazing effect on your body, when you realize that you cannot stop working. nervous and you don't get tired. "
While the birds - including puffins, guillemots, gray auks, quincinets and oystercatchers - are another top draw for Ford (check out his fantastic Instagram feed), so are the island's inhabitants and their caring determination to keep this remote island prosperous.
"That's why I came here," he says.
"You really need that sense of community. I don't think you can live on birds alone. I mean you could, but ..."
Side landings
Happy Landings - Loganair pilots are used to dealing with bad weather.
Credit: Barry Neild / CNN
As the last departure flight of the day approaches, it is once again time to see the community in action at the small airport, where firefighters Bobby and David Rendall are once again patrolling the runway in their truck.
Before long, the BN-2's engines can be heard shutting down as Chief Pilot Colin McAlister, a 17-year veteran of Orkney flying, leads it to another perfect landing, something he and his teammates can achieve even on the tough ones. winter weather conditions, says Ford.
"In summer, they can operate almost on autopilot, but in winter they earn their money," he says.
"I've seen the plane land almost on its side."
Whatever the season, the airplane is a vital connection to the outside world, says Ford.
The island has a slower boat service, but the air connection to Kirkwall allows quick access to essential medical and social services, as well as things that many of us take for granted, such as hairdressers, coffee shops or jobs.
For older kids, it's the school bus.
The island also has a slower boat service.
"It definitely helps me as a means of seeing that there is another world outside the island," he says.
With McAlister at the controls, the plane is ready for its return journey.
This time, downwind, it's a faster ride, near its top speed of 240 km / h.
Once in the air, each moment brings a new joy.
Once again, the thrill of flying in a small plane and watching the pilot deftly operate the controls.
The joy of being able to look ahead and see the horizon rushing towards you.
And above all, the beauty of the Orkney land and seascape.
And then, exactly one minute and eight seconds after our wheels left the ground, we were back on solid ground.
Back home, the shortest flight in the world is a little shorter.
Orkney Archipelago
