Ayr Force One! Plane hopping to the USA as pair of daredevil Scots head to Boston

Published: 20:12, 11 June 2026 | Updated: 20:12, 11 June 2026 It is a trip of a lifetime for the thousands of Tartan Army footsoldiers descending on the United States for the World Cup. But one pair have taken no chances of missing out on the party – by flying over themselves. Ayr United chairman David Smith and vice-chairman Fraser MacIntyre embarked on the marathon journey to Boston on Tuesday. The duo is ‘country-hopping’ they way over Scotland’s opening game flying a four-seater, single engine craft which they’ve dubbed Ayrforceone via a number of gap stops. Having brought the Cirrus SR22T craft over from Turweston, in north Buckinghamshire to Prestwick, Ayrshire, earlier this week the friends then embarked on a four-and-a-half-hour flight to the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik covering some 855miles. After an overnight stop and re-fuel on the island nation, they set on a 422-mile leg to Greenland before embarking on the trip’s longest leg of 925 miles to Iqaluit, the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. David Smith (Ayr United chairman, left) and pilot Fraser MacIntyre (Ayr United director) are making an unconventional journey to the World Cup David Smith and Fraser MacIntyre with the plane they are using to make the journey From there, their plan is to fly to Goose Bay in Newfoundland before crossing the border to Boston on Friday in time for Scotland’s World Cup opening game against Haiti on Saturday. Mr Smith messaged the Mail from onboard Ayrforceone and said: ‘Currently a couple of hours to go to Canada and clear of Greenland. ‘Aiming for Boston on Friday night and yes, we’re heading to Maimi as we’ve tickets for all the games. ‘We’re going to head to Goose Bay for tonight.’ The journey comes after the daredevils flew to the Euros in Germany two years ago. The small plane has also come handy for a number of Ayr’s away games which both men have attended in their official capacities – but also as fans. Piloted by Mr MacIntyre, his 54-year-old friend has had time to film their air voyage for social media updates. On Tuesday, they shared a photo of the pair of them standing on the wings of the plane, holding a Saltire. It read: ‘Ayrfoceone ready to start an epic journey across the Atlantic to see @Scotland NT with captain @Fraz_Mac at the wheel. Survival suits and life jackets are on and keep your fingers crossed we don’t need them… First stop Iceland!’ The following day, Mr Smith posted their take off from Reykjavik saying they were headed to Greenland with footage of mountains, icy seas and a gravel runway with words: ‘This s*** just got real!’ The route the two Scotland fans will take to the Finals He also shared a clip of him in his hotel room, with sun streaming through the window saying: ‘I think it’s morning. It doesn’t get bloody dark here.’ As they left Greenland on Thursday in slightly ‘pea soupy’ conditions, Mr Smith said: ‘Bye Greenland, big flight day today and next stop Canada.’ Mr MacIntyre added: ‘We are off to Canada today. We are on the east coast of Greenland and we are going up and over the icecap to Canada to Iqaluit and after that we will refuel and head down to Goose Bay.’ It is estimated the 925-mile leg which is close to the small craft’s maximum range of around 1,175 miles could take them up to eight hours to complete. In total, Ayrforceone will cover more than 4,200 miles by the time it lands for the biggest party Scotland has seen in 28 years since the national side last played the World Cup. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.