Mystery Vertical Fin Tip Identified: Britten-Norman Islander
Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 09:58PM 
1960's and 70's era Britten Norman Islander
Originally I had cropped down a small portion of the wingtip of this Britten Norman Islander for the 3-5-11 NTP game, but I decided that the aileron counterbalance might make it too easy to identify. So I got kinda crazy by only showing the top of the vertical fin. Even then, it still only wound up taking well under 24 hours for @JimWay to issue forth the winning ID. Pretty amazing work I'd say! He's snagged a bacon sandwich at Oshkosh 2011 for his effort.
I've always liked the Islanders. I remember back in the mid 70's there was a small commuter airline operating out of SFO that had some Piper Navajos, several Britten Norman Islanders, and even a Trislander. I got to ride on the Islanders several times and always really enjoyed it. I even rode that crazy looking Trislander once. They're just a good, hard working airplanes that keep going and going.
Watch for more Name The Plane games to pop up from time to time. You can follow @NameThePlane on twitter to get a tweet when a new game goes up. It's the only game in the world that I know of that rewards excellent aircraft ID skills with bacon!
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Reader Comments (3)
Rode on the Islander when Harbor Airlines in Oak Harbor WA was still around, about thirty one or thirty two years ago. OH to SEA and back on occasion.
ORPO1- I don't know if you enjoyed your Islander rides, but I sure did. If I had a pile of cash, I'd trade some of it for an old, cheap Islander just for fun. Seems like it would make a great 'station wagon of the air' to haul a bunch of friends and their stuff around!
It was the only way to and from SeaTac Airport for sailors and marines for many years. It was a neat airplane. I first flew on one about 32 years ago after I finished going through the A6 RAG outfit. I had to chase my squadron which was on deployment to West Pac on Ranger. The first leg was Harbor to SeaTac.
Pretty good short field airplane. I would like one myself at times. It was tough in the mold of the DHCs.