Just two months after their initial announcement, Nimbus Simulation Studios has officially released their Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander for X-Plane versions 11.41 and above. Nimbus Simulations Studios is the second to release a BN-2 Islander this year, following the issue of TorqueSim’s airframe earlier in April. 

The epochal regional plane, initially built in 1965 with its maiden flight in June of the same year, is still used in the Royal Air Force and HM Coastguard, among many other (military and commercial) operators. The plane is being produced to this day, and remains the sole aircraft made in the United Kingdom by an independent aircraft manufacturer.

With its two Lycoming 6-cylinder engines pumping out 260 horsepower, the aircraft is able to carry up to 9 passengers. Due to this reason, it is not popular with many major airlines. Loganair, however, use the BN-2 Islander to travel short distances between Scottish Islands.

Many will rejoice over the full PBR and 4k textures on the aircraft, along with numerous other features such as a fully custom 3D sound system, which is meant to provide realistic effects of rattling and vibrations to the user. All of the features of the airframe, as listed by Nimbus, can be found below:

• Highly detailed 3D model
• 4K textures
• Full PBR Textures for quality refection
• 3D Custom Sound System
• Animated switches
• Rattling and vibrations
• Accurate handling and flight characteristics
• Accurate performance based on performance charts
• Realistic night lightning [sic] with custom lights and textures
• VR ready (includes yoke manipulator)
• 8 liveries and more to come

Also in the description on the product page, the developer provides us with an overview of their ‘nice comprehensive menus’ along with features in each tab.

• Windows for managing maintenance, weight and balance, doors and accessories, controls position and performance charts.
• Maintenance module; if you want a more realistic experience you can choose if you want the aircraft to require maintenance with time and usage, depending on how you fly and engine exceedance the mechanical components will degrade and performance will be affected.
• Weight and balance; a graphic interface gives you the chance to modify the cargo, passengers, fuel and CG
• Doors and accessories; open and close doors, add or remove wheel chocks, engine and pitot covers or controls lock.
• Performance; this window will also allow you to see some performance charts.
• Controls position indicator; a small window on the right bottom corner will show the position of your controls.

The Nimbus Simulation Studios BN-2 Islander is available to purchase from the X-Plane.org Store for $34.95. In addition, check out the update TorqueSim released to their version of the Islander yesterday.

Thanks to Bjørnar | TheWingedViking, for the news scoop on the Threshold Discord.