founded 29 july 1954 headquarters bembridge isle of wight key people john britten desmond norman owner b n group website http www.britten norman.com britten norman often referred to as bn is a british aircraft manufacturer and aviation services provider beneficially owned by a consortium which includes two members of the zawawi family from the sultanate of oman . the company is the sole independent commercial aircraft producer in the uk . britten norman has sold more than 1 250 aircraft to customers in more than 120 countries . in addition to aircraft manufacturing the company also performs maintenance overhaul and repair work as well as performing sub contract engineering and design work . the company s historic home is located at bembridge on the isle of wight although airframes have been assembled under sub contract in romania for more than 40 years . romanian 1 aircraft used to pass through avions fairey in belgium to the uk for certification . 2 nowadays aircraft are manufactured in the uk at the company s lee on the solent manufacturing facility at daedalus airfield a former royal naval air station . spare parts production continues at the bembridge site with sub assemblies also being supplied from the romanian facility . the company manufactures such aircraft as the islander and the militarised defender both of which are capable of short take off and landing stol operations . the three engined trislander is still operating but is not currently being manufactured . the aircraft are typically used for inter island schedules . many modern islanders defenders have been fitted with turbine rather than piston engines . some are employed on police or fishery patrol tasks providing an efficient and roomy alternative to a twin engined helicopter . hampshire constabulary that oversees matters on the isle of wight and across hampshire was one of two police forces using defender aircraft . in the uk the greater manchester police gmp and police service of northern ireland psni use the defender 4000 and the aircraft is also used by the police in the republic of ireland the garda s och na . the british army utilises both the turbine version of the islander as well as the defender within its fixed wing aircraft fleet . contents 1 history 2 aircraft 3 see also 4 notes and references 5 external links history edit this section needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . january 2011 john britten and desmond norman started developing crop spraying equipment in the middle 1950s and used de havilland tiger moths modified at their factory near ventnor isle of wight for a contract in sudan . after that britten and norman who had both trained with de havilland turned their hand to aircraft design . their first design was the britten norman bn 1 finibee a light single seater parasol wing aircraft . they pitched the design to several aircraft companies but found no one willing to produce the design . britten and norman made a detailed analysis of the aviation market and decided there was a demand for a twin engined utility aircraft with the minimum of complex systems that could operate from short rough airstrips and also be used for high density commuter flights . this brief developed into the bn 2 islander and the britten norman company was formed to produce the aircraft which first flew in 1965 . during the 1960s britten norman were involved in the development of hovercraft via their subsidiary cushioncraft ltd ; their first craft the cc1 was the world s second hovercraft . desmond 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 but failed to attract significant orders . norman set up his own company to build the plane renamed the freelance and produced components and fuselage sections for six aircraft . however orders were still not forthcoming and following failure to win a military order for the firecracker design norman s company closed . after norman s death in 2002 his son has overseen the completion of one of the freelances to airworthy condition and plans to assemble and sell the other five with the possibility of full scale production . following the failure of the nymph britten norman continued to develop and improve the islander design which was enjoying great success . this culminated in 1970 with the trislander a trimotor version with greater range and capacity . in 1975 britten norman won the queen s award to industry for technological innovation for the trislander . ownership of the company has passed through a number of hands . the fairey aviation group acquired britten norman in 1972 . following financial troubles it was sold to oerlikon b hrle owner of pilatus aircraft of switzerland in 1978 3 hence the pilatus britten norman designation of some of their aircraft . oerlikon b hrle sold britten norman to litchfield continental in 1998 . on 19 october 1998 biofarm inc. biof announced its acquisition of 100 % of the capital stock of britten norman limited bn from litchfield continental limited . b n group was formed in 2000 to acquire the assets of britten norman limited . on 14 december 2005 cirrus aircraft announced that britten norman will provide final re assembly of cirrus s sr20 and sr22 aircraft delivery to european customers . aircraft edit britten norman bn 1 britten norman islander britten norman defender britten norman trislander britten norman nymph nac freelance see also edit aerospace industry in the united kingdom notes and references edit http www.romaero.com index.html avions fairey gosselies . baha.be . retrieved on 17 august 2011 . britishaircraft.co.uk . britishaircraft.co.uk . retrieved on 17 august 2011 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to britten norman . britten norman company website the 1960s hovercraft of the b n group v t e britten norman and ndn nac aircraft britten norman britten norman bn 1 bn 2 islander defender nymph sheriff trislander ndn nac fieldmaster firecracker freelance key people john britten desmond norman v t e aerospace industry in the united kingdom economy of the united kingdom manufacturing in the united kingdom companies current ad aerospace agustawestland airbus uk astrium satellites surrey satellite technology bae systems bae systems integrated system technologies bae systems military air solutions eurofighter gmbh 33 % mbda 37.5 % bba aviation boeing defence uk british airways engineering britten norman chemring group cobham cobham technical services euravia ge aviation systems gfs projects gkn hants and sussex aviation hybrid air vehicles irvin gq lindstrand technologies lockheed martin uk marshall aerospace martin baker meggitt messier bugatti dowty qinetiq reaction engines rolls royce selex es short brothers telespazio vega thales air defence thales optronics ultra electronics 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