The Islander Saga: An account of the design philosophy, the development and the production of the Britten‐Norman short haul transport aircraft

SIMPLICITY is the keynote of the Britten‐Norman Ltd. Islander light transport aircraft. Simple in construction and with simple systems, the whole conception of the aircraft was based on the specific needs of the third level or commuter airlines and the air taxi companies for an economical and efficient aircraft with excellent payload capacity over relatively short distances. The fundamental design philosophy behind the Islander was to bring a new low level of operating cost and the potential of a high level of profitability to short haul air transport. For many years the general trend in aircraft manufacture has been to make transport aircraft larger, faster and more complicated; this has applied just as much to small aircraft for the air taxi or feeder‐line operator as to intercontinental airliners, although perhaps not in quite so dramatic a fashion as occurred with the introduction of the Boeing 747 which presented the airlines with an aircraft having double the capacity of its predecessor. The men behind the Islander, Mr John Britten, C.B.E., and Mr Desmond Norman, C.B.E., Joint Managing Directors of Britten‐Norman Ltd., were convinced of the need for a robust utility aeroplane from their early experiences in operating a scheduled service commuter route in the Cameroons. As they saw it, there was a gap in the market for an aircraft designed to have minimum capital cost per saleable passenger scat on short haul sectors. In keeping with this philosophy the airframe structure had to be simple and designed with the fatigue problems of small aircraft very much in mind. Laminations were to be used extensively for spars, inter‐spar stringers and skin‐plating to cut machining costs and to simplify repairs. A high standard of corrosion proofing was needed to give reliability and for operation in all parts of the world. Ancillary equipment that was already proven and in world‐wide use was specified so that the reliability would be of a high order and spares would be easily available. Low wing loading and a high power to weight ratio were necessary to give S.T.O.L. performance without the use of expensive and sophisticated flaps. A large pay‐load capacity together with a cabin that could be quickly adapted for passengers, freight, ambulance, photographic and geophysical survey, agriculture, parachuting and many other roles were also essential requirements.