Aircraft
B-N putting a positive spin on its propeller-driven aircraft
Despite the encroachment of ever lighter new jet aircraft on the traditional marketplace for piston- and turboprop-powered models, there are always going t

Despite the encroachment of ever lighter new jet aircraft on the traditional marketplace for piston- and turboprop-powered models, there are always going to be requirements that can be cost effectively met only by rugged and versatile workhorses such as the Britten-Norman Islander. Three decades after the aircraft entered service, some 800 of the family (including the larger, three-engine Trislander) remain in service out of a total output exceeding 1,250 airplanes.

Two years ago the UK airframer was rescued from bankruptcy by Oman’s Zawawi family and now, having been restructured as the B-N Group, it has recommitted to keeping the 10-seat Islander in business by agreeing to a further production run of 24 more aircraft over the next two years. It is also building a business case for resurrecting the 18-seat Trislander.

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