VH-SYU Pilatus Britten-Norman BN-2A-8
Islander
(c/n 769)
The legend across the fin and rudder reads "Keppel Islander" indicating that
the aircraft used
its STOL
qualities to fly shuttle services to the resort on Great Keppel Island,
some 15 km off
the Queensland
coast at Rockhampton. Incidentally, this resort is (as of
early 2008) undergoing
a complete
rework to turn it into a luxury paradise. Probably at
luxury prices, too, I imagine.
Anyway, -SYU
was acquired by Country Air Services Pty Ltd new in 1976. It was
formerly
G-BDHW
and was first registered in Australia in August of 1976. Geoff
Goodall photographed
it (above) at
Rockhampton in April 1978. When sold by Countryair in 1985 it
flew all the way
across
Australia to join the fleet of Rottnest Airbus, a company maintaining
links between Perth
and Rottnest
Island. In the new millennium it was laid up for a while on
Hamilton Island. One
could say that,
throughout its career, it has been a "true" Islander!. As of
early 2008 it was still
current and
registered to an owner in NSW. Theoretically, since Pilatus did
not assume control
of Britten
Norman until 1979, this particular machine should not really have the
Pilatus appellation,
although that
is how CASA describes it.