A VIAT ION


In the course of the company’s


half-century of existence this production line has turned out some 1,300 Islanders, of which a staggering 700 are thought to be still in service – although getting exact figures is hard for an aeroplane whose natural habitat is remote places. Not every passenger will relish


40


being told that the plane they’re flying in is substantially older than them, but then the eyes of the (up to nine) passengers who clamber aboard are not going to be lingering on the wear and tear of the seat trim or the glossiness of the in-flight magazine. Instead, they’ll be bewitched by the pilot turning in his seat to deliver the safety talk, by the cockpit dials laid out in plain view, and by the carpets of land and sea that unravel beneath the wings. Te guiding


FROM ABOVE: Britten-Norman Islanders are custom-made for each client; the cockpit is in plain view of the passengers


Treated right, nothing wears out, which does create a conundrum for a company that wants to sell aircraſt


principles of the aircraſt have always been simplicity and durability. Treated right, nothing wears out – except perhaps the seat covers – which creates a conundrum for a company that wants to sell aircraſt. “Our number one competitor is an older Islander,” admits William Hynett, Britten-Norman’s chief executive, because the demand for new aircraſt is massively reduced when there are still perfectly good old ones out there. Tere were times in the 1970s and 1980s when ten aircraſt were in the


JUNE 2 0 18


BN production line simultaneously, but these days new-builds are down to three or four a year. Instead, servicing, refurbishing, adapting and supplying parts provides a growing part of the company’s turnover of around £12 million per annum – along with a substantial contract with the Ministry of Defence.


THE PERSONAL TOUCH A great many of the newer Islanders – some 498 – have passed through the hands of one man, Pete Dowers, who has supervised construction for the past 40 years. Dowers still has the original design drawings as his guide, and he’s overseen a long list of modifications for bespoke aircraſt, from cocktail cabinets to glass floors. As the person who signs off the final product he has to run a tight ship: “You need to make sure that every tool that goes on-board during assembly comes out again; when you’re up in the sky there’s no pulling over onto the hard shoulder to see what’s rattling.” And does he keep tabs on all the aircraſt he builds? “I try not to. It really upsets me to see one crash.” As for William Hynett, he’s pretty hands-on himself. Besides the responsibilities


of running a company of 160 employees, he’s also a pilot and personally gets involved in delivering, or retrieving, Islanders from far-flung places. En route, he oſten takes the opportunity to drop in on customers past and present. Tese trips are not always straightforward. Hynett tells the story of bringing


an aircraſt back from Florida via Greenland, with an extra fuel tank behind the pilot to increase the flying range. “Normally in these situations the tank fitters block off the heating duct under the tank, but when the weather really started to get cold I could smell burning rubber. It hadn’t been blocked.” So he had to turn the heating off, and complete the rest of the journey wearing a sleeping bag. In the world of the Islander, you have to be prepared to improvise.


BT busin e s s t r a ve lle r . c o m


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