Did my Falklands R&R on Pebble Island, FIGAS uplift from MPA determined by the time of low tide in Elephant Bay as the beach was the runway. Hotel owner would determine which part of the beach gave the best surface and wind direction and radio info to the pilot after he had "buzzed" his arrival. Someone in FIG had determined the Pebble airstrip had not recovered from the pounding it had received in '82 (this was '89!) and was unsuitable for the Islander.

PM

I flew BN2s in Shetland. Local pax/freight services & air ambulance. Simultaneously one of the easiest and most unpleasant aircraft I've flown.

I've just discovered that Sir Thomas Beecham described the sound of a harpsichord as like ‘two skeletons copulating on a tin roof’.

Aaaaah, plagiarism... ;)

Someone at BN sent a 14yo me an Islander POH after I wrote asking for bumph. Wonder if I still have it somewhere...?

It would be great if you could find it. I still have a problem PM'ing anyone due to my post count.

I found it... bit tatty, dusty and the three view has been artistically enhanced by a budding graphic artist... oh dear.

Just chucked out all my Civil Aircraft Markings and whatnot from that period, but I'll keep the POH.

How did he know? :O

PilotU - from what I've seen, BN-2 cruise is 140-144 kts at MP 2350 and rpms 2350 (easy to remember, like the "65 knots for everything" advice. ;) ).

Only other numbers I know are: flaps half (TO) limit 114 kts, flaps full (landing) limit 88 kts.

An oddity I've seen in Caribbean flights is a quick reduction in rpms very soon after TO (like at 500 feet) - I presume to keep EGT and oil temps lower in the hot climate.

:O140-144 kts.....only if you have a 10 to 15 kt tailwind:O

Personally when ATC asked for a groundspeed, I always told them “Mach point one five”:}

Even more good news :}

If you get your PM activated I can dig out BN manuals for you. Or provide an email address for contact.


A most... entertaining aircraft to operate. Certainly got a niche.

140 - 144 kts?

A trifle optimistic; we used to go everywhere at 120 kts (which also made things easy to work out for navigational purposes).

I would’ve enjoyed my Islander flying more if it wasn’t for three things:

1. Someone had figured out that flying it at 105 knots gave us an extra ~50 track miles.

2. It was flown at 500’ in ISA+15-20 temps. This plus point 1 meant it was always wallowing around with its nose pointing skyward.

3. There was a far more civilized Shrike Commander available to do the same taskings in.

Our Islanders did have a nice air data / fuel flow system that integrated with the KLN90 GPS and allowed for me to easily and accurately advise ATC of our cruising Mach number of M0.17.

Edit: I don’t think I’ve kept any manuals, but I’ll have a look around.

I've dug out the old POH.
Stall speed MTOW throttles closed: flaps 56% 49 kts, 25% 52kts , clean 57 kts
VMCA 39 knots
Vx 65 kts
vy 65 kts
best single engine rate of climb speed 65 kts, 250 fpm

Cruise at 67% power, 23"2500rpm at sea level is 136 kts



According to the POH, "The aircraft is perfectly docile on one engine" :ooh:

Islander SE ROc
 

The problem with the islander (from a 'performance by numbers' scenario) was its all up weight was 'optimistic. Indeed it carried a permanent small flap setting to even achieve the rather limited SE ROC it was 'supposed' to have.
In fact selecting flap up 'again' after the normal up removed this and slightly improved the cruise (going into overdrive we called it Ha Ha).
If the engine was feathered and then motored to the near horizontal in absolutely clean air you then set 65 and waited. If/when the needle showed a supposed positive ROC, but not enough to satisfy the COA test then the speed was reduced by 1 knot and then possibly to 63 may be just enough to pass.
any sort of turbulence would see the needle drop down and therefore it was a classic demonstration of trying to squeeze a higher AUW for the brochure, but in practice one just reduced the weight to suit conditions. The actual SE handling was fine, and indeed it was basically a twin engine cub with good vis and plenty of leg room. I seem to recall a max ground operating wind speed of 45 knots was suggested due to the size of the rudder and its ability to slam against the stops which would 'twist' the mass bal on top. Like most British machines it was overbuilt and had originally been designed to use the 180 Lycoming engine not the 6 cylinder 0/540. Anyway it was lots of fun and did what it was supposed to do.

“An oddity I've seen in Caribbean flights is a quick reduction in rpms very soon after TO (like at 500 feet) - I presume to keep EGT and oil temps lower in the hot climate.”

P_I_F, you read far too much techie stuff into that!!!!! Trust me, for noise-sanity alone, a reduction asap was a real treat!! While for the “bean counters”, I’m sure it also saved some, it was always nice to bring the 250 dB back to 249 dB asap!!! Also, the idea of going to fine well out on finals was (thankfully) not my Company’s SOP. In a standard G/A (i.e. on approach) just calmly go fine and then power up. We flew the Approach in course and in the final few feet it was power back, then props (silently) up just in case …. perfect! A couple of times I did chuck it in the last few feet (and once even from the ground - on short strips, if I was the least bit unsure or a float developed – bin it – G/A!) and the above worked an absolute treat! And, again, saved the dBs for the pax and myself! EGT/oil temps? Nah!!!!

H ‘n’ H

It’s been a while, but I seem to remember going to fine on finals but only once the power was back out of the governing range. There wasn’t an unpleasant change rpm then.

We also bought the power back a touch after take off.

I flew many enjoyable hours in the Islander some years ago. Initially piston and then a turbine version sponsored by a friendly newspaper.
Most hours while on parachute duties with a Service para Display Team. Great aircraft for the role.
Quite a bit of UK wide and European trips on display and training sorties. Even better when the team were given the turbine version.
With a nice Bose headset i didn't find it too noisy enroute, and quick RPM reduction after take off, and props forward only in the flare on the piston version helped greatly.
My wife thinks I'm deaf but can't blame it on the Islander!!

Great machine for what it is designed for. We always reduced throttle and rpm as soon as practical after getting airborne, within a couple of hundred feet at least. The short field performance is fantastic, shortest runway I ever used (when light) was 200 meters on a calm day. If I recall we had a 55 kt wind limit for taxi and take off.....always turn through the wind when it is windy to prevent the wind changing sides on the rudder and snapping it across (a gybe I guess if you are a sailor) and taxi with power against the brakes when going downwind to reduce the wind effect on the rudder. Slow speed handling is fantastic......once had her climbing at 25 KIAS with just myself on board 😀

Hi there,

I love the islander. Sat right seat for 3 hours in one and savoured every moment.

Everything at 65knots

Solid.

And yes very very noisy....

Good parachute aircraft. A stripped out Islander and low fuel state meant ridiculously short landings were possible. Only not so great feature was the heavy nosewheel steering via the rudder pedals doing the constant 180 turns on a soft grass runway. Leg muscles aching at the end of a long day.