Based upon the Britten-Norman Islander, the Trislander was born out of a need by Aurigny Air Services for a lengthened version.
Realising that acquiring more Islanders wasn’t economically viable, Derrick Bailey – the airline’s founder – asked Britten Norman for a larger, 16-seat aircraft which matched the no-nonsense dependability and ruggedness of the ten-seaters already in use. Bailey left the manufacturer’s Bembridge offices with “you build it, I’ll buy it” ringing in the ears of its founders.
The company had previously experimented with a stretched variant of the BN-2 shortly after the type had been granted certification. The prototype, G-ATWU (c/n 002), was modified by adding additional fuselage tubes fore and aft of the wing box. Flight testing the lengthened aircraft, known as the BN-2 Super, highlighted issues with engine-out performance that would prevent the issuing of a type certificate.
The concept of a three-engined Islander that would benefit from a high level of airframe and engine commonality with the BN-2A was initially sketc…
