Islander to return to former glory but has wings clipped
AN ISLANDER aircraft that was one of the first to be flown by Aurigny in the 1960s is being restored by a group of enthusiasts in the Isle of Wight.
The work has been undertaken by the Britten-Norman Aircraft Preservation Society after the Islander was found derelict at an airport in Puerto Rico in the late 1990s.
The aircraft, registration G-AVCN, was the third one produced by Britten-Norman at Bembridge Airport, IoW, and is the oldest one of its type in existence.
Its maiden flight was from Bembridge on 24 April 1967 and it entered service with Aurigny on 1 March 1968.
It later flew in the Caribbean before being left at Isla Grande Airport in Puerto Rico, where it was stripped of useful parts.
That was where it was discovered and, thanks to the efforts of Britten-Norman historians and sponsorship by aviation consultant Airstream International, it was brought back to the Isle of Wight in early 2000.
BNAPS chairman Bob Wealthy said the original aim had been for it to be restored to fly, but that did not work out.
‘It wasn’t really practical for us as a small society to do a restore-to-fly,’ he said.
By 2009, the dismantled remains of the plane were in open storage at Britten-Norman’s Bembridge site and considered to be at risk.
It was at that point that BNAPS was established and, helped by the Bembridge Heritage Society and local people, the group took charge of the remains and had them moved to a small workshop near Bembridge Harbour in 2010.
Volunteers were recruited into the restoration team and work to rebuild the aircraft as a static exhibit started in 2011. ‘Originally it was Britten-Norman who provided an engineer to sign off the work and BNAPS has continued to raise funds to continue with the restoration,’ said Mr Wealthy.
While it will never fly, it will have fully functioning flight controls and electrical systems that can be demonstrated.
The society hopes to have all the work completed, including having the Islander fully repainted in its Aurigny colours, late this year or early next, ready for an official unveiling.
‘The aim is to get it into some place where it can be viewed by the public, probably a museum in the Isle of Wight,’ said Mr Wealthy.
John Britten and Desmond Norman founded their aviation company in the Isle of Wight in July 1954.
