Britten-Norman’s first Islander to have its airframe assembled in the United Kingdom from detail component level has successfully completed its maiden flight from Bembridge Airport.
The aircraft took to the skies yesterday (Thursday) and has now entered its flight test programme, marking a significant milestone for the historic Isle of Wight aircraft manufacturer.
Aircraft 2317 (G-FRZT), a BN2B-26 Islander, was rolled out at Bembridge on 30th July 2026 and is destined for the Falkland Islands Government Air Service. Once delivered, it will become the 1,254th Islander.
The milestone follows Britten-Norman’s decision to bring complete airframe assembly under its own production control at Bembridge, rather than receiving major sub-assemblies for final assembly.
A second airframe is already progressing through the same production line, while components for the aircraft behind it are on order.
Britten-Norman is working towards continuous production, with a strategic ambition of building 8 aircraft a year.
Bringing the process back to Bembridge gives the company direct control over the build sequence, tooling and quality checks, while removing the need to transport major aircraft sub-assemblies by road across Europe.
The company says the move should support on-time deliveries and allow individual customer specifications to be incorporated during assembly rather than fitted afterwards.
Around 350 Islanders remain in service across more than 70 countries and 6 continents, with the worldwide fleet having accumulated around 20million flying hours.
The renewed production line is also drawing on decades of aircraft-building experience at Bembridge.
Peter Dowers joined Britten-Norman as a fitter in September 1978, with aircraft 2317 marking the 500th Islander he has worked on. He has spent this year passing his airframe-building knowledge on to colleagues.
Callum Trueman, who began his apprenticeship under Mr Dowers in 2006 and is now a Production Manager at Bembridge, has said:
“Being an apprentice under Pete’s leadership, I learnt a lot from him and now the whole team have had to learn and engineer this aircraft pulling on Pete’s knowledge, which going forward will help us create a quality product at rate.
“This aircraft is Pete’s 500th and my first, and the next one is already on the line.”
Richard Milne, Chief Operating Officer at Britten-Norman, has said:
“Operators want to know two things. Will the aircraft do the job, and will it arrive when we said it would.
“The first has been settled for a long time. Assembling the airframe here is how we settle the second, because it puts the sequence, the tooling and the quality standard in our own hands.”
Following completion of flight testing, the aircraft will move into the final stages of the programme ahead of delivery to the Falkland Islands Government Air Service.
I hope that it is not flying too fast.
BN would not want to upset JS, The Truth Hurts or any of the other blancmange for brains IDs under which it dribbles.
Good to hear a success story.