Britten-Norman

History

The Britten-Norman Company evolved from the ambition of two young men, John Britten and Desmond Norman, who had met as de Havilland apprentices at Hatfield in 1947. Deciding to build their own light aircraft after they had finished their apprenticeships at the de Havilland Technical School in 1949, the Britten-Norman partnership came into being. Their first project was the construction of an ultra-light monoplane, the BN1-F Finibee, built in a garage at Britten’s home, St. Denis, Bembridge, in the Isle of Wight. At this time, building aircraft was still very much a side project for the two young engineers, with John employed in the family theatre business while Desmond was working as an export assistant at the SBAC, while continuing to fly de Havilland Vampires with 601 Count of London Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force.

Britten-Norman Limited was formed in 1953 and during the early 1950s specialised in converting surplus training aircraft, mainly Tiger Moths, for agricultural use. However, by 1954 the demand for these conversions was beginning to decline and attention was turned to improving crop spraying techniques, leading to the development of the Micronair Rotary Atomiser for crop spraying in 1955. The design successfully replaced the clumsy boom-and-nozzle style equipment of the era, and by 1958 over 500 Micronair Rotary Atomiser units had been sold worldwide. In order to operate aircraft fitted with the Atomiser, a company known as Crop Culture (Aerial) Ltd was formed in 1956 when Britten and Norman joined up with Frank Mann and Australian born Jim McMahon to pursue crop spraying business worldwide.

In 1959 B-N and Crop Culture began to study air-cushion vehicles or hovercraft, with the funds for design and construction coming from Fyffes and arose from the need to overcome difficulties when transporting bananas from their plantations in remote locations poorly served by roads, to sea ports for export. Their first craft, the CC1, was the world's second hovercraft and design and construction of the Cushioncraft series successfully proceeded through various stages. The idea of operating a hovercraft service across the Solent was formed which resulted in setting up a new company, Hovertravel. Don Robertson became the managing director with John Britten, Desmond Norman and Frank Mann as directors. However, the proposed CC5 never went ahead and Hovertravel set up their service with SRN5 from the British Hovercraft Corporation at East Cowes. With the increasing demands of the BN-2 project, the Cushioncraft work was hived off as a separate business and went on to produce the CC7 type which was reasonably successful and a small quantity of this type was taken up by the Army and the Royal Marines. In the late 1960s all Cushioncraft interests were sold off by Britten-Norman to the British Hovercraft Corporation. Hovertravel was managed for a number of years by Christopher Bland, following on from his position managing Cushioncraft Ltd as a subsidiary of Britten-Norman, eventually taking full ownership.

As part of their varied interests the partners set up a company called Cameroons Air Transport (CAT) in 1960 to run a scheduled service linking Tiko with Douala entailing a 15 min. flight across the estuary of the Mungo River in the Cameroons. CAT initially operated a five seat Piper Apache, followed by an Aztec. They realised that what was wanted was a high seating capacity for the size of the aircraft (coupled with the capability of being able to use the large cabin volume for freight) and reasonable short field performance. Finding there were no aircraft that went any way towards meeting the requirements, John Britten and Desmond Norman came to the conclusion that they must build their own aircraft.

In 1963, John Britten began designing the BN-2, looking for a low-cost “Dragon Rapide” replacement. The concept was schemed out by John Britten, the initial chief designer on the project being John Allan, ex-Handley Page Chief Designer, later replaced by Denis Albert Berryman C.Eng. FRAeS (b. 21 Dec 1928 in Hampshire, d. 21 May 1994 in Bembridge, Isle of Wight), part of a group of engineers on loan from Miles Engineering. In January 1964 the decision was made to go ahead with the building of a prototype. Metal was first cut in September of the same year.

Until the end of 1965, the whole of the cost of design, prototype building and early development flying, as well as initial production tooling and component building, to the extent of some £170,000, had been met by Britten-Norman alone. On the advice of the Transport Aircraft Requirements Committee, the Ministry of Aviation had recommended to the Treasury that the project, on its achievements and forward prospects, should be supported. On 1 November 1966, the Ministry of Aviation announced that it was prepared to meet up to half the launching costs and that the Government would participate in the proceeds from Islander sales. With this timely support in the form of a £190,000 loan the project went ahead with increasing impetus. A new factory, with an area of 56,000 sq. ft. to expand the existing facilities at Bembridge, was put in hand and brought into use at the end of 1966. In February 1967, the Minister of Aviation announced additional support in the form of an interest-bearing loan of £250,000, as a result of the greatly increased interest and orders that were being attracted by the Islander. The loan was later increased to £550,000 by the Ministry of Technology.

On 13 June 1965 the BN-2 Prototype made its first flight. The aircraft was an immediate success and by 1968 sales of the Islander far outstripped the available production capacity at Bembridge. In April 1968, an existing contract for 700 wing sets with British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC) was amended to include 236 complete aircraft kits, subsequently increased again to include another 134 aircraft kits. The Bembridge factory had been cleared of all component manufacture so that it could be used entirely for final assembly, with Westland Helicopters manufacturing components at their Weston-super-Mare factory, and C. F. Taylor (Hurn) Ltd. producing the ailerons, elevators, rudders, tail-plane and flaps and other components including the exhaust systems and wing pick-up fittings. The last wholly B-N constructed Islander was c/n 22. Initially painting was still completed at Bembridge, but this too was soon contracted out, mainly to Marshalls of Cambridge, with aircraft from c/n 47 being flown unpainted from Bembridge to Cambridge.

From February 1968, a second production line of bare Islander and later on Defender aircraft was set up in Romania, as a result of a technology transfer agreement associated with setting up production of the BAC. 111 airliners. The initial agreement called for the manufacture in Romania of 215 airframes that were to be assembled at Baneasa Airport near Bucharest from materials and components supplied by the B-N. The aircraft were fitted with ferry instrumentation package, engines and landing gear and were then flown green to Bembridge for replacement of ferry engines and landing gear, installation of avionics and interior furnishings and painting, before delivery to customers. All Romanian output was purchased by B-N, who remained responsible for all Islander sales, flight testing, delivery and support. Although the first aircraft produced by the Romanians were assembled from components supplied from Bembridge, they were later equipped with a complete set of jigs and their thirteenth aircraft was entirely fabricated in Romania using the basic materials supplied by B-N. Once delivered to Bembridge, no distinction was made between the Romanian and the British-built aircraft.

Britten-Norman then designed a four-seater touring aircraft to compete with established types such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee. A single prototype of the BN-3 Nymph, was built and flown in 1969. A feature of the Nymph was a plan involving final assembly by suitably qualified local organizations from kits of fully finished, interchangeable parts supplied by the manufacturer. At one point, Short Brothers were considered to build and supply the kits. Britten-Norman seemed to make a good start to sales of the Nymph with an order for 100 kits from their Australian distributor, H. P. Hunt. The plans were to have the aircraft assembled by Aero Engine Services in New Zealand. Unfortunately lack of cash flow prevented this plan from being implemented and the Nymph remained a prototype only.

Following the failure of the Nymph, Britten-Norman continued to develop and improve the Islander design. This culminated in 1970 with the BN-2A Mk III, a trimotor version with greater range and capacity, the first Trislander, as it became named, flying on 11 September 1970. In 1975 Britten-Norman won the Queen's Award to Industry for technological innovation for the Trislander.

Though the Trislander was an immediate success, during the latter half of 1971, Britten-Norman was experiencing further cash flow problems. Britten-Norman owed the UK Government £257,000 from previous loans, and the Government could not see its way clear to provide a further loan to make more working capital available. The company’s bankers, Lloyds Bank, together with its subsidiary, Exporter’s Refinance Corporation (ERC), provided most of B-N’s backing. ERC had already loaned over £2 million and indicated that it was reluctant to extend the loan any further. Trade creditor pressure for significant payments forced HM Government and ERC to decide whether to advance further loans or to appoint a receiver and manager. In the event ERC decided to demand repayment and with the agreement of the Britten-Norman board, Monty Eckman of Price Waterhouse was appointed as Receiver on 22 October 1971.

Eckman announced the formation of a new company, Britten-Norman (Bembridge) Limited, on 23 November 1971, to take over the assets of the old Britten-Norman. The new company was managed by Monty Eckman until a suitable buyer could be found. The much-slimmed down company now employed 170 people, including 60 on the shop floor, an overall reduction of about 120 people. Early in the summer of 1972 Britten-Norman (Bembridge) repaid in full £275,000 to the UK Government. In August 1972 the Receiver finally accepted a bid from the Fairey Group for the takeover of Britten-Norman (Bembridge). Amongst the companies in the Fairey Group was Fairey SA, a wholly owned subsidiary with a factory in Gosselies, Belgium, and the business of both Britten-Norman and Fairey SA, were linked through a holding company Fairey Britten-Norman. Norman and Britten remaining as directors until February 1976, when they left “to pursue other interests”, with Dr Gordon Watson taking over as Managing Director in June 1976.

Fairey steadily moved Islander and Trislander production from Bembridge to their Gosselies subsidiary, aircraft only going to Bembridge for UK certification. During 1972 the company conducted a feasibility study for a short-haul, three-Dart-powered passenger/cargo transport, the Mainlander, aimed as a replacement for such types as the Fairchild C-119 and the Bristol Freighter, production of which would have been based at the Gosselies plant, and would be first Britten-Norman design to have the Fairey Britten-Norman prefix. BAF management studied the Britten-Norman Mainlander as a replacement for the Carvair, but the project remained on paper only.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation (PADC) had been established in September 1973, and a contract was placed with them for 100 aircraft, which involved the delivery to PADC of 6 300hp Islanders with tip tanks fully equipped and painted, followed by 14 aircraft without paint and only ferry avionics. The balance would then be shipped in kits to be assembled and completed in Manila. In the end, only 47 aircraft were produced under that arrangement.

By July 1977 the Fairey Group were in financial trouble; poor management at the top had led to production exceeding sales, the production at Gosselies having continued for longer than intended, due to delays in commencing production of F-16 fighter aircraft for NATO. In a statement issued on 19 August 1977, Short Brothers of Belfast announced they were holding discussions with the Fairey Group, concerning acquisition of the Islander and Trislander aircraft business, and a declaration of intent was signed, with a view to the deal concluding on the 21 September. Production at Fairey's Gosselies plant had already ceased in August, but problems remained concerning compensation for the Belgian workforce and the transfer of jigs and tools from Belgium to Belfast. Following a sit-in by Fairey workers at Gosselies, Fairey threatened to close the plant and terminate the F-16 contract if they weren't allowed to transfer the civil aircraft production line without paying unacceptably high compensation. Shorts were unwilling to sign a firm agreement to take over the Islander and Trislander until the situation was resolved. By 11 October, the receivers had been called in and two parts of the Fairey group, Fairey Britten-Norman and Fairey SA, were immediately liquidated.

Negotiations with Shorts continued. The price and takeover of Britten-Norman had been agreed and would include the production jigs at Gosselies, but the Belgians decided the offer was too low and wouldn't compensate them adequately, so they forcibly prevented the removal of the jigs. By 5 November, hopes of Shorts purchasing the aviation side were receding. On 19 November the receivers, acting on behalf of Fairey, rejected an offer from Shorts for both Britten-Norman and the Islander and Trislander interests of Fairey SA.

Subsequently Britten-Norman was sold to Oerlikon-Bührle, owner of Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland, in 1978, creating Pilatus Britten-Norman, renamed as Britten-Norman Limited on 22 July the same year. However, in 1981 mounting losses, together with a downturn in the aviation industry was the cause of concern at the group HQ in Stans, Switzerland to the extent that Dr. Egon Haefliger was given instructions by the parent company to liquidate the B-N side of their business. Fortunately, having taken stock of the business, and taking a positive view of what he perceived as its future prospects, Dr. Haefliger convinced the parent group to adopt a more positive approach and proposed the introduction of major changes to make the B-N business profitable.

Eventually Oerlikon-Bührle sold Britten-Norman to Litchfield Continental Limited, a British Virgin Islands entity located in London, a diversified holding company with holdings in chemical, real property, maritime, mining, research and development and financial management companies., in 1998 and on 19 October that year, Biofarm Inc., a US based company from Linfield, Pennsylvania, who 12 days earlier had been renamed from Global Spill Management, Inc., announced its acquisition of 100% of the capital stock of Britten-Norman Limited from Litchfield. Neither of these acquisitions injected much needed capital into Britten-Norman, and the company once again went into receivership on 3 April 2000. However, on 4 May 2000, Alawi Zawawi Enterprises, a consortium which includes members of the Al Zawawi family from the Sultanate of Oman, formed B-N Group, in order to acquire the assets of Britten-Norman Limited, the latter going into final liquidation on 19 May 2000. The company was headed by Alawi Al Zawawi as chairman, aided by his brother Munim, with William Anthony Hynett as CEO, but both Al Zawawi brothers resigned their directorships on 28 June 2008.

On 8 May 2002, a subsidiary company, Fly BN Limited, was formed to specialise in product support and MRO, while on the 10th, the corresponding design and manufacturing subsidiary, Britten-Norman Aircraft Limited, was formed. Various new support companies have since been formed:

• BN Resources Limited, an HR and Training company, on 1 October 2003.
• BN Aircraft Sales Inc. in USA on 1 August 2004, to handle US aircraft sales.
• Britten-Norman Pty Ltd in Australia on 1 November 2004.
• Aero Composites Limited, a Fly BN subsidiary, in August 2005.
• BN Logistics Limited in June 2006, based at new premises near London Heathrow, but dissolved on 5 August 2014
• BN Helicopters Limited in September 2006, based at premises at Thruxton Airfield, but dissolved on 11 August 2015.
• BN Defence Limited in February 2007, originally based at MOD St Athan Airfield, but now at Daedalus Airfield.
• BN Aerosystems in June 2009, specialising in avionics and systems integration, installation, maintenance, modification and repairs.

On 14 December 2005 Cirrus Aircraft announced that Britten-Norman would provide final re-assembly of Cirrus’s SR20 and SR22, via its Aero Composites subsidiary, for aircraft to be delivered to European customers.

In 2010, facilities for aircraft manufacture in the UK were moved from Britten-Normans traditional home of Bembridge to the newly created Lee-on-the-Solent manufacturing facility at Daedalus Airfield, a former Royal Naval Air Station. Spare parts production continued at the Bembridge site with sub-assemblies also being supplied from the Romanian facility. As of June 2023, production in Romania was planned to end, with all manufacturing being based in Bembridge, with airframes being shipped to Lee-on-the-Solent on the UK mainland for completion and delivery.

Led by Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS), Project Fresson started on 1 October 2019, aimed at the development of an electric propulsion system for B-N Islander, though by March 2021, the power source was switched from hybrid-electric to hydrogen fuel cells, with wing-mounted fuel tanks. In April 2023 Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Britten-Norman announced their merger plan as part of a broad strategy to deliver zero-carbon aircraft. These plans were eventually put aside. Financial losses forced a restructuring of Britten-Norman, and in February 2024 it filed a notice to appoint administrators and was exploring refinancing options. The administrators sold 100% of the share capital of Britten-Norman Aerospace – another group company, which until 29 February had traded as BN Aviation – to Shelton Bidco, an investment vehicle established by a group of financial investors led by 4D Capital Partners. Britten-Norman Aerospace subsequently acquired the business and assets of its sister companies. Shelton Bidco also acquired the share capital of the firm’s US entities BN Aircraft Sales Inc and Britten-Norman Inc.

In October 2024, Britten-Norman gained new owners alongside fresh investment in the business. Northern Irish business Beechlands Enterprises replacing previous owner 4D Capital Partners. Alison Rankin Frost, a director of Beechlands, was appointed as a director of Britten-Norman, replacing 4D Capital’s Alex Silk, and Patrick Cowan – a former chief engineer at Short Brothers – joined long-term Britten-Norman director William Hynett on the company’s board.

Company References

1. Flight International, 22 May 1969
2. Flight International, 5 June 1969
3. Flight International, 12 June 1969
4. Flight International, 28 October 1971
5. Flight International, 2 December 1971
6. Flight International, 19 April 1973
7. Flight International, 1-7 July 1998
8. Flight International, 2-8 May 2000
9. BNAPS* News Vol 4 Iss 2 – March 2014
10. BNAPS* News Vol 4 Iss 5 – September 2014
11. BNAPS* News Vol 6 Iss 3 – May 2016
12. BNAPS* News Vol 9 Iss 1– January 2019
13. BNAPS* News Vol 9 Iss 6 – November 2019
14. BNAPS* News Vol 10 Iss 3 – May 2020
15. http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2015/06/13/aviation-history-britten-norman-islander-50th-anniversary/
16. https://www.flightglobal.com/airframers/britten-norman-has-new-owner-alongside-fresh-investment/160638.article?adredir=1
• * All BNAPS (Britten-Norman Aircraft Preservation Society) publications are available at https://www.wightmagic.com/bnaps.htm

Project Data