A best seller
The firm of Britten-Norman was established on the Isle of Wight
in 1953 to convert aircraft for agricultural use. Their first
aircraft design, the BN-1F, failed to attract interest and only the
prototype was built. The second aircraft, the BN-2 Islander, has
become the best-selling commercial aircraft produced in Western
Europe, a real success story for the company with over 1,200
built.
To the rescue
One of the most versatile aircraft ever built, the Islander has
been used in a multitude of different roles, including commercial
passenger transport, air ambulance, fisheries protection, policing
and counter-terrorist operations, to name but a few. The
prototype first flew on 20 August 1966 and the first production
aircraft on 24 April 1967, the launch customer being Loganair.
Above: Britten-Norman BN-2A-27 Islander G-BCWO in flight. Photo
© John Allan.
Above: Britten-Norman Islander at Lilongwe Airport, Malawi.
Photo © Donald EG Anderson.
Island hopping
In 1966 Loganair began in inter-island air service in Orkney,
using Piper Aztecs until the Islander came into service on 27
September 1967. Flights operated from Kirkwall to Stronsay, Sanday
and North Ronaldsay, with Westray and Papa Westray added a month
later. The flight between Westray and Papa Westray is officially
recognised as the shortest scheduled service in the world and is
timetabled for two minutes, although the record for the flight
is 58 seconds. You can see a video of the flight,
made by our Assistant Curator for Aviation, Ian Brown, here.
Air Ambulance Islander
Our Islander, G-BELF, was first registered on 13 January 1977
and started its flying career with an air taxi firm in Germany. It
was later sold to Atlantic Air Transport before being operated by
parachute clubs in England and Scotland. It was donated to the
Museum by George Cormack of Cormack Aircraft Services Ltd and has
been painted in the colours of an aircraft operated by the Scottish
Air Ambulance Service in recognition of the contribution of this
service to life in Scotland.